Suchergebnisse

AbstractThis article considers prospects for effective development partnership in Solomon Islands following the transition of development assistance from the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) to bilateral donors in 2013. It focuses on the shifting nature of Australian aid that has transitioned from an interventionary approach under RAMSI to a partnership‐based approach under the bilateral program. Prospects for partnership in Solomon Islands are complicated by issues of state fragility, political instability and aid dependency that undermine local ownership and alignment. While the rhetoric of partnership guided RAMSI transition, Australia's post‐RAMSI aid responds to these challenges through a hybrid approach incorporating partnership and interventionary modalities. This hybrid approach reflects Australia's role in the co‐production of sovereignty in Solomon Islands. Recognition of the hybrid nature of Australian aid, and, by implication, Australia's 'ownership' of development problems in Solomon Islands, will be important to the effectiveness of future support.

This article presents case study findings on the Vanuatu-based Northern Islands Market Vendors' Association (NIMVA) as a vehicle for women-led collective action. While NIMVA's existence and organisational strength challenges existing political norms, strong gender norms restricting the role of women in society and politics continue to marginalise its capacity to participate politically and pursue transformative change. Using a "permitted empowerment" frame, the article assesses NIMVA's emergence as a vehicle for women market vendors to undertake collective action to improve livelihoods, and the implications for those seeking to support more inclusive forms of local-level development. ; This research was co-funded by the Australian Government-funded Pacific Research Program and the Australian National University's Department of Pacific Affairs

Understanding how citizens participate in politics is important because it shapes political culture and the tenor of democracy. The standard research framing of Pacific politics, centring around institutions both formal and informal, fails to fully account for the myriad of ways in
which non-elite Pacific Islanders experience and relate to politics in their daily lives. This scholarly approach results in limited engagement with informal sites of politics and non-elite engagement with these sites. We argue that what is missing is a research approach that focusses on how
ordinary people actively and purposefully participate in politics in the region, and what it means for Pacific Islanders to be citizens who participate in politics. The concept of political participation provides a more fruitful entry point to fully understanding the changing political dynamics
of the region.