Knowledge Power S Pacific

Small Island Developing States are often depicted as being among the most vulnerable of all places to the effects of climate change, and they are a cause c?l?bre of many involved in climate science, politics and the media. Yet while small island developing states are much talked about, the production of both scientific knowledge and policies to protect the rights of these nations and their people has been remarkably slow.This book is the first to apply a critical approach to climate change science and policy processes in the South Pacific region. It shows how groups within politically and scientifically powerful countries appropriate the issue of island vulnerability in ways that do not do justice to the lives of island people. It argues that the ways in which islands and their inhabitants are represented in climate science and politics seldom leads to meaningful responses to assist them to adapt to climate change. Throughout, the authors focus on the hitherto largely ignored social impacts of climate change, and demonstrate that adaptation and mitigation policies cannot be effective without understanding the social systems and values of island societies.

Bringing together scholarly contributions on communications issues across the South Pacific islands, this work aims to create a better understanding of what affects information flow and communication in smaller nations and how these impact on national development, governance and the creation of more cohesive societies.

This text examines the politics of culture and the culture of politics in Pacific Asia through case studies on the South Pacific, China, South Korea, Thailand and Southeast Asia. The contexts and cultures of the chapters are wide-ranging and Callahan skilfully ties them together with the objective of analyzing the relation between the state’s cultural governance and resistance to it. The themes covered include: governmentality and cultural production popular culture and resistance East/West relations gender, identity and democracy civil society, social movements and democracy national and transnational identity production. Cultural Governance and Resistance in Pacific Asia addresses the dynamics between Asian studies and cultural studies, and the overlap between comparative politics and international relations, and as such will appeal to students and scholars of Asian studies, cultural studies, comparative politics, sociology and anthropology alike.

Small Island Developing States are often depicted as being among the most vulnerable of all places to the effects of climate change, and they are a cause celebre of many involved in climate science, politics and the media. Yet while small island developing states are much talked about, the production of both scientific knowledge and policies to protect the rights of these nations and their people has been remarkably slow. This book is the first to apply a critical approach to climate change science and policy processes in the South Pacific region. It shows how groups within politically and scientifically powerful countries appropriate the issue of island vulnerability in ways that do not do justice to the lives of island people. It argues that the ways in which islands and their inhabitants are represented in climate science and politics seldom leads to meaningful responses to assist them to adapt to climate change. Throughout, the authors focus on the hitherto largely ignored social impacts of climate change, and demonstrate that adaptation and mitigation policies cannot be effective without understanding the social systems and values of island societies.

One of the first books to focus on different national perspectives of knowledge production and research in higher education in the Asia-Pacific region, it compares, contrasts, and critically analyzes how policy in Asia-Pacific countries is furthering a supportive (or non-supportive) environment for the promotion of research within higher education.

This book showcases vital lessons learned from research, field projects and best practice examples with regard to climate change adaptation in countries throughout the Pacific region, a part of the planet that is particularly vulnerable to and affected by climate change.The book's primary goals are to document the wealth of experiences in the region available today, to encourage cross-sector interactions among the various stakeholders in the region, and to help transfer results to other countries and regions. Accordingly, it gathers a set of papers presented at a symposium on climate change adaptation held in Fiji in July 2016, focusing on "Fostering Resilience and Improving the Quality of Life". In these contributions, local and international experts present a variety of initiatives showing how Pacific countries are coping with the many problems associated with climate change, including initiatives in education and awareness work taking place across the region, operational aspects and their implications for policy-making, and challenges in urban and rural areas.