Hello and welcome to the October newsletter of morethanhumanworlds! This month, I'm sharing two upcoming seminars on plantation biopolitics and cosmopolitical symbols, a postgraduate workshop on book publishing hosted by the Asian Studies Association of Australia, three new publications on Indigenous peoples' rights in Indonesia, multispecies stories and human rights, and the John Legge Thesis Prize, and a series of thought-provoking publications on Indigenous epistemologies, anthropology and the Pacific, and Melanesian visions for a postcolonial future. In this month's Morethanhuman Matters interview, I speak with Jamie Wang, a writer, poet, and PhD candidate in Environmental Humanities in the Department of Gender and Cultural Studies at the University of Sydney. Jamie’s research explores sustainability practices and technological sustainable solutions in the context of urban natures, housing development projects, transportation, water infrastructure, and urban agriculture. If you'd like to share resources, news, or anything else related to morethanhumanworlds, please send them to me for inclusion in the November newsletter. Enjoy and thank you for subscribing to morethanhumanworlds! |
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UPCOMING EVENTS Join us on 2 October for a seminar on multispecies resistance and collaboration in West Papua's oil palm nexus. This event is part of the London School of Economics' Department of Anthropology Seminar Series. Contact me for the zoom link! Join us on 9 October for an online symposium on the anthropology of political symbols, organized by the University of Sydney's Department of Anthropology. I'll be giving a talk about monkeys as cosmopolitical symbols in the West Papuan anti-racism movement. Contact me for the zoom link! |
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Join us on 24 November for a workshop "From PhD to Book: Recent experiences in the publishing industry," organized by the Asian Studies Association of Australia. This workshop brings together early and established scholars working in academic book publishing to share their personal publishing experience in adapting their PhD thesis into a book and presenting their work to publishing houses. Speakers:
Nathan Hollier (CEO, Melbourne University Publishing)
Kevin Carrico (Monash University)
Sophie Chao (University of Sydney)
Benjamin Hegarty (University of Melbourne) |
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NEW PUBLICATIONS Read an essay on amphibious justice, published by the Sydney Environment Institute. This essay examines how the morphological, physiological, and ethological attributes of amphibious critters can help us rethink justice with, for, and about, more-than-human worlds. Read an article on the social and environmental impacts of oil palm expansion in West Pappua. Written by Farid M. Ibrahim, this article was published in ABC News following the announcement of the John Legge PhD Prize. Read an essay on multispecies stories and why they matter for human rights. This essay was published by Australian human rights not-for-profit organization Right Now. | | |
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“A more inclusive form of urban movement attends to the various mobilities and interplays required to sustain diverse entities. It may emerge as a more ‘difficult’ and less straight-forward practice, yet at the same time one that is more supportive of permeable, ethical, and imaginative ways of moving.” Jamie Wang |
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MORETHANHUMAN MATTERS This week, morethanhuman matters interviews Jamie Wang, a writer, poet, and PhD candidate in Environmental Humanities in the Department of Gender and Cultural Studies at the University of Sydney. Jamie’s research explores sustainability practices and technological sustainable solutions in the context of urban natures, housing development projects, transportation, water infrastructure, and urban agriculture. | | |
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TOP THREE READINGS Gegeo, D. W. 2001. Cultural Rupture and Indigeneity: The Challenge of (Re)visioning ‘Place’ in the Pacific. The Contemporary Pacific 13, 491–507. On what it means to be "indigenous" and its relationship to physical "space" and cognitive-cultural "place," explored through the lens of recent events in the Solomon Islands, including the historical pattern of inter-island migration, the recent ethnic cleansing cultural rupture, and the resulting dialogue about identity and indigeneity among Solomon Islanders living abroad and at home via the internet. Hau’ofa, E. 1975. Anthropology and Pacific Islanders. Oceania 45, 283–289. On rethinking the anthropology of the Pacific from Indigenous perspectives - a reflection from Tongan and Fijian writer, poet, and anthropologist Epeli Hau'ofa. |
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Narokobi, B. 1980. The Melanesian Way : Total Cosmic Vision of Life, (and his Critics and Supporters). Boroko: Institute of Papua New Guinea Studies. On Papua New Guinean philosopher and politician Bernard Mullu Narokobi’s influential concept of “the Melanesian Way,” a spiritual vision that Narokobi identified as central to the creation of a culturally self-aware and self-determined postcolonial subjectivity among Papua New Guinean peoples. Silverman, E. K. 2018. The Sepik River, Papua New Guinea: Nourishing Tradition and Modern Catastrophe. In Island Rivers: Fresh Water and Place in Oceania (eds) J. R. Wagner & J. K. Jacka, 187–222. Canberra: Australian National University Press. A reflection on the ontology of rivers and how watery bodies mediate transitions between tradition and modernity in Papua New Guinea. |
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