John Overton

International Students Pursuing Postgraduate Study in Geography: impediments to their learning experiences

There are significant numbers of international postgraduate students studying in Western universities thanks to scholarships provided by governments and other donors. While these fully funded students are generally welcomed by geography departments, inadequate attention has been paid to considering how to facilitate their learning experiences given the particular impediments they face. Based on research conducted at Massey University, New Zealand, and an extensive literature review, this article argues that academic success is strongly related to the personal well-being of students. Particular pressures were faced by students during the first few months as they adapted to a new cultural, linguistic and learning environment. Female students and those with families faced additional, continuing pressures.

The poverty consensus: some limitations of the ‘popular agenda’

The New Poverty Agenda is said to represent a break with the past and to offer a rationale for aid that is built on partnerships towards a common and realizable goal - the elimination of poverty. However, recent critiques have highlighted problems with the practice of poverty policy, and particularly limitations identified from its association with global actors which stand accused of contributing to poverty. For some, there is no new agenda; a poverty focus merely represents a different path to the same ends (i.e., political reform and economic adjustment). This paper investigates the implications for smaller donors, such as Australia and New Zealand, of adopting poverty policy as defined by the World Bank and others. It argues that certain contexts, such as the Pacific, demonstrate the weaknesses of an all-encompassing policy that remains muddled and contradictory. In terms of effective partnerships, much more could be gained by first seeking to learn more about the nature of poverty in the immediate region and its underlying causes.

Unethical ethics?: applying research ethics in Uzbekistan

This paper discusses the problems of seeking to apply Western notions of research ethics to Uzbekistan. These problems are not unique to Uzbekistan, but reflect a significant ‘disconnect’ between Western-influenced principles of ethical research and the practicalities of work and research in developing countries. It is vital to take ethical considerations into account in conducting development-related research. However, the approval mechanisms used by universities and ethical boards may encourage obfuscation, discourage some research from taking place at all, and may indeed be counterproductive. In this paper, we advocate a ‘principled’ approach, which accepts the need to take the local situation into account and applies ethical research principles to that context. It is argued that this is in fact a more ‘ethical’ approach than the status quo, which encourages cultural and ethical imperialism, and perpetuates existing structures rather than challenging them. If we believe that research can (and should) be of potential benefit to its subjects, in this case people living in a developing country, then we face a conundrum. The formulaic nature of some Western ethics procedures can effectively bar research from being conducted in countries such as Uzbekistan. However, if development interventions are to be appropriate, then they must be based on sound field-based research. The paradox is that, in an attempt to act ‘ethically’, researchers may be discouraged from working in regions such as Uzbekistan. The consequence is that the development and academic communities are effectively acting in an unethical manner, denying the people of Uzbekistan the benefits of research and development interventions.

Vakavanua, vakamatanitū: discourses of development in Fiji

Discourses about development have contributed to profound socio-economic transformation in all parts of the world. This paper examines the development debate in Fiji with particular reference to two distinctive approaches: state-led developmentalism (vakamatanitū) and a discourse about custom-led development (vakavanua). Political and economic dimensions of these alternative discourses are reviewed with particular reference to land tenure systems in Fiji. Challenges to both vakamatanitū and vakavanua from an emerging literature on globalism will shift the focus of debate from ‘intentional’ to ‘immanent’ development in Fiji.

R. Gerard Ward: quintessential Pacific geographer

In December 1998 Professor R. Gerard Ward retired after 27 years as Professor of Geography in the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies at the Australian National University. Ward’s contributions to his discipline, the social sciences, and the discourses about development in the Pacific region have been very considerable. This paper reviews some of the achievements of one of the twentieth century’s eminent Pacific geographers. After establishing his academic roots in the Department of Geography at the University of Auckland in the 1950s, we outline the major clusters of his writing on land use and land tenure, population dynamics and urbanisation, Pacific history and prehistory, Pacific development issues, informal markets, transport systems and tele-cost worlds. The paper concludes with an assessment of three unusual features of Ward’s writing: the breadth of his interests, the range of scales he felt comfortable working at, and the innovative nature of ideas introduced into debates about Pacific development. A comprehensive list of Ward’s publications is attached to this paper.

Integration or Self‐Sufficiency? Peninsular Malaysia and the Rice Trade in Southeast Asia

The issue of food self-sufficiency has recently come under scrutiny as global trade liberalisation has been in conflict with national development strategies founded on protection and encouragement of staple food production. This paper examines the case of rice in Peninsular Malaysia from an historical perspective. It traces the evolution of self-sufficiency strategies from colonial times tothe present and notes how and why such policies have been questioned both in the past and in recent years. It then suggests that a more integrated Southeast Asian regional rice economy may evolve as support for national self-sufficiency wanes and, in this, there may be much to learn from the colonial era when such a regional rice trade thrived.