Our world is increasingly turbulent and unstable. With the rise of online hate speech, the complexities of maintaining New Zealand’s independent foreign policy, navigating a rapidly-evolving media landscape, responding to global humanitarian crises and conflicts, and growing concerns of corruption in an increasingly interconnected world.
This research stream is dedicated to understanding these issues through a New Zealand lens. Particularly using the experience and knowledge of our patron, the Rt. Hon. Helen Clark, we’ll explore how these global forces impact New Zealand and its people, and how we can best navigate this complex world.
Our research focus areas include:
- Sexual violence: Current research that will look at the under-reporting of sexual violence, inadequacies in definitions of consent, the rise of deep-fake AI, and the practice of virginity testing. This work is lead by Sarah Bell, Dr. Anna High, Dr. Emily Henderson and Sophia Harre. You can read more here.
- Foreign policy: We have hosted webinars to discuss New Zealand’s independent foreign policy in a world of shifting alliances, aiming to ensure our voice resonates on the international stage while upholding our values. Inaugural Honorary Senior Fellow Stephen Jacobi, will be contributing to this research stream in the coming months, drawing on his experience in the business, trade and foreign policy space.
- Public policy, governance and the future of democracy: Inaugural Honorary Senior Fellow Professor Jonathan Boston ONZM will be contributing to this research stream in the coming months. He will draw on his deep research experience on issues of public management, social policy, climate change policy, tertiary education policy, and comparative government.
- Social media and traditional media: We have investigated the multifaceted impact of social media on New Zealand society, focusing on fostering responsible use, mitigating its potential downsides, reducing harm from online extremism, and advocating for greater transparency in social media algorithms.
- War and humanitarian crises: We explore how ongoing war and humanitarian crises impact New Zealand, and what we could be doing for those in need.
- Combating corruption: We delve into the issue of corruption, exploring strategies to strengthen transparency and accountability within institutions.
