Politics & Society
Why is housing so unaffordable?
New Zealand is the second most overvalued housing market in the world, with Auckland its most unaffordable city, writes Dr. Michael Rehm.
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Q+A: To give or not to give? The problem of political party donations
Scrutiny surrounding foreign political donations have flared again after revelations that the New Zealand National party received $150,000 as a gift from Chinese Billionaire Lang Lin.
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Q+A: Why does the government remove Māori babies from their family?
In recent months, Oranga Tamariki (the Ministry for Children) has faced widespread criticism for its often-traumatising practice of ‘uplifts’, whereby newborn babies are taken from their mothers into state care. What has been causing the recent spike in uplifts?
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Q+A: What is going on in Hong Kong?
The movement in Hong Kong is now entering its fourteenth week. So, what are the causes of the protests, and what are the stakes for China and the world?
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Q+A: Why do so few people vote in local elections?
Local government elections in New Zealand are fast approaching, but participation in local democracy has been declining for several years. The problem is particularly bad in Auckland where turnout was under forty percent during the last elections in 2016. Lachlan Balfour spoke with Janine Hayward about low turnout in local body elections.
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Why isn’t my professor Pasifika or Māori?
The number of Māori and Pasifika students attending New Zealand universities has been increasing steadily, but for many of these students, they will not be taught by Māori or Pasifika throughout their degree.
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Q+A: How do we measure far-right violence?
On the heels of mass shootings in New Zealand and the United States, we ask: what are the mindsets, trends, and changes of a globally connected right-wing movement? What are the solutions to the growing animosity between identity groups?
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Q+A: What will a post-Brexit Britain look like?
What does the election of Johnson mean for Brexit and a polarized British public? What is the future of the British economy? What will the UK look like in 2024?
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How does party affiliation affect local government elections? 🔊
Local government elections are coming up fast and an increasing number of candidates are becoming affiliated with political parties according to new research.
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Q+A: How did America become the home of mass shootings?
Julia Rallo spoke with Patrick Blanchfield about the epidemic of gun violence and asks the question: do mass shootings emerge from free-speech message boards like 8chan, or from American culture itself?
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Remapping the order of knowing: The idea of ‘Latin America’ revisited ▶
Is ‘Latin America’ part of ‘the West’? Why ask this question and what do these terms mean for understanding the world today? In this lecture, Professor Walter Mignolo will ask what role the Americas played in forming the colonial matrix of power, introduced by Spain and Portugal in the 16th century.
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Summer of protest: Are we witnessing a turning point in Hong Kong politics?
As Hong Kong’s summer of discontent passes its tenth week of street protests, analysts agree on one key point: this is the biggest political crisis the city has seen since its reversion from British colony to Chinese Special Administrative Region in 1997.
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Q+A: Ihumātao: Can protests really change things?
As peaceful protest and occupation continues at Ihumātao in Auckland, what does the future hold for protest movements of this ilk in New Zealand? How effective can these sorts of protest be in enacting change?
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Q+A: Kashmir: What’s behind one of the most volatile rivalries in the world?
What’s driving the conflict in Kashmir? Would granting the region independence lead to peace? How much is this conflict driven by local actions in the region and how much is it fuelled by policies in Islamabad and New Delhi?
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Q+A: Boom or bust: What is the state of housing in New Zealand?
New Zealand is enduring a housing crisis. The chance of buying a home is out of reach for many, while at the same time rents remain high. Gautami Sithambaram spoke with Dr. Campbell Jones about the state of housing in New Zealand and what initiatives young people can take to get into the property market.
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What can we learn from Estonia’s cyber revolution?
Logan Carmichael explores Estonia’s cyber revolution and what we can learn from it.
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Memes, manifestos, murder: fascist radicalisation online, and how we can stop it ▶
In a talk given at the University of Auckland, Emmi Bevensee talks about her doctoral research into fascist radicalisation online.
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Q+A: The pollution of war: what is the environmental impact of the US military?
The US military has taken some measures to reduce its impact on the environment and green gas emissions, but some researchers say these measures do little to assuage the military’s bigger effects on climate change. What are these effects and what can be done about them?
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Q+A: Will voting changes help bring more Kiwis to the ballot box?
Last month, the government announced proposals for how New Zealanders will go to the polls in 2020. The new legislation will allow voters to enrol on election day, make it easier for New Zealanders to vote from overseas, and could see ballots in public places like supermarkets and malls. But what does this mean for New Zealanders and their votes for the next election in 2020?
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Q+A: Banning the bomb: are the days of nuclear weapons numbered?
In 2017, the United Nations General Assembly passed a mandate to negotiate a treaty that would ban nuclear weapons. While the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons passed 122 votes to 1, no nuclear state or NATO member other than the Netherlands voted on the resolution. Doug Becker discusses the treaty and the issue of nuclear non-proliferation with Ira Helfand and Wayne Glass.
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