Sites: A Journal of Social Anthropology and Cultural Studies

Hope

Katriona Longmuir — 2024-04-23

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a life-shortening genetic condition involving progressive muscular wasting for which there is no hope of recovery at present. The lives of people with DMD, cherished by their families, are systematically marginalised and undervalued by healthcare bureaucracies while enrolment in clinical trials of new treatments offers possibilities of longer-term biomedical solutions. How is hope preserved under such circumstances and what activities can promote a full and meaningful life for those with DMD Ethnographic research within the DMD community in Aotearoa New Zealand provided a basis for addressing these questions and for understanding different concepts of hope and social suffering, the value of life in DMD and disability studies, and how these are shaped by regimes of governmentality.

Critical Tiriti Analysis of He Mata whāriki, he matawhānui

Heather Anne Came — 2024-04-23

Hapū are interested in local government due to their decision-making influence over the cultural, social, economic and environmental wellbeing of a district that can enable or restrict tino rangatiratanga. In Aotearoa, the debate about Indigenous engagement in local government is shaped by Te Tiriti o Waitangi responsibilities to protect and promote the interests of hapū. There is currently a major review of local government underway, which is providing a once-in- a-generation opportunity to have a courageous conversation about the future of this sector. This paper presents a Critical Tiriti Analysis (CTA) examining to what extent He mata whāriki, he matawhānui–the local government draft review report–has engaged with te Tiriti. It includes a postscript on the final report released while this paper was under review. In the draft report we found variable engagement. It was strongest regarding relationships and governance and weaker in relation to tino rangatiratanga, ōritetanga (equitable citizenship) and wairuatanga (spiritual domain). This review challenges local and regional government to lift their game in relation to their te Tiriti responsibilities and concludes that local Māori solutions, mātauranga Māori knowledge and leadership are required at all levels of local and regional government. National states of emergency and devastating disasters in the context of Cyclone Gabrielle will no longer wait for the bureaucracy of the local government.

Operations In Critical Waiting Processes

Duzán D. Avila Castellanos — 2024-04-23

This paper offers an alternative approach to the essential matter of the factors involved in the process of waiting, especially in critical contexts such as civil emergencies. Some categories for the analysis of waiting are developed here, taking an alternative theoretical perspective, where waiting processes are conceived of as operational and institutionalised in nature, rather than mere temporal phenomena. Importantly, this paper contributes to research in the field of anthropology studying processes of waiting, as it presents a unique perspective of analysis. This perspective shifts the focus of these processes from temporalities to institutions and highlights the essential importance of operations in their analysis. In order to exemplify the proposed perspective, empirical waiting processes in crisis will be analysed. These examples of critical waiting have been selected with consideration to their historical, political or social impact. The demand for operational behaviour among the people waiting has also been considered in these examples. These processes will be analysed using categories established from an institutional and operational approach based on the materialistic philosophical approach of the Spanish philosopher Gustavo Bueno Martinez, sometimes called Discontinuous Materialism.

Dressed to Kill

Revena Correll Trnka — 2024-04-23

Recent trends in contemporary horror TV present queer women as Western media’s latest anti-hero, foregrounding presentations of hyper-femininity as central to queer women’s violence. I examine how representations of ‘violent lesbians’ are used by viewers to aid in shaping and understanding their own identities. Drawing on fashion theory as well as Barbara Creed’s concept of the ‘monstrous feminine’ to examine the role depictions of hyper-femininity play in both highlighting and undermining women’s power, I present a textual analysis of two queer horror shows – Ratched (2020–) and Killing Eve (2018–2022) – alongside discussions with fans via focus groups and interviews. I examine how these shows represent queerness and femininity in relation to violent women, and how women and non-binary individuals collectively create meaning out of these representations. I argue that while these shows present viewers with alternative images of femininity, they also reinforce certain gender norms, supporting dominant power structures that present a restrained image of queer women’s deviancy, and one that is not available to all bodies. Viewers critically engage with this material, utilising these shows to expand their own understandings and expressions of identity, while also challenging the shows’ limitations.