Women talking politics 2018: A research journal of the NZPSA

Abstract

2018 marks a year on from a general election which bought increased numbers of new women into New Zealand’s parliament coupled with the celebrations to mark 125 years since women gained the right to vote. This year’s edition of Women Talking Politics highlights the new women in our political system, as well as promoting the innovative political studies research being undertaken by women in New Zealand.

The journal opens with a section on New Zealand women political leaders today, including an analysis of Jacinda Ardern’s leadership by Claire Timperley and a collection of new women MP’s reflections of their first year in parliament, collated by Jean Drage.

The articles present four diverse perspectives on the challenges of inequity within sectors and societies, and include contributions by Julie MacArthur and Noelle Dumo on women in the energy sector, Igiebor Oluwakemi on women academic leaders in Nigeria, Gay Marie Francisco on the election of the first openly transgender MP in the Philippines, and Emily Beausoleil on her experiences participating in Ruku Pō.

The reflections present engaging pieces by emerging women researchers. Laura Sutherland makes a feminist case for a Universal Basic Income, Akanksha Munshi-Kurian argues for the need to ‘lean out’, Millie Godfery presents a series of poems from her collection ‘Places not Spaces’, and Sarah Pfander discusses the challenges of achieving restorative justice in NZ’s criminal justice system.

The research briefs show present research being undertaken by women in New Zealand, including by Veronika Triariyani Kanem, Estelle Denton-Townshend, Sylvia Frain, Lara Greaves, Cassandra Lewis and Claire Gray.

Finally, there are four engaging reviews: Margaret Hayward reviews Stardust and Substance (ed. Stephen Levine); Kathryn Cammell reviews ‘Are we there yet?’, the exhibition of women’s suffrage in the Auckland War Memorial Museum; Rae Nicholl reviews Make her Praises Heard Afar: New Zealand Women overseas in World War One, by Jane Tolerton; and Gauri Nandedkar reviews Brit(ish): On race, identity and belonging, by Afua Hirsch.