We now have 2024 grants, and the big winner is of course anything to do with Maori.
Some examples include:
- We all aspire for a future that is fair, just and sustainable. And in Aotearoa, this future should be based on the foundational document, Te Tiriti o Waitangi. But how do we transition to a decolonised nation that respects and upholds collective Indigenous rights?
- This study will be the first to systematically study how mōteatea (traditional chants or laments) can be used as either alternative modes of therapy, or to compliment existing clinical approaches. This is a move toward centring the promotion of wellbeing as opposed to the treatment of illness.
- This study will use wānanga, workshops, and interviews to reveal the importance traditional clothing making has in transmitting knowledge, preserving traditions, and fostering connection.
- This research will develop a new model of Aotearoa New Zealand’s economy, challenging assumptions around safe depletion. It will do this by combining concepts from Te Ao Māori and contemporary economic methods.
- This research project will investigate current and historical relationships between Māori people and government tax, with the aim of proposing new, Te Tiriti-affirming tax systems.
David Farrar runs Curia Market Research, a specialist opinion polling and research agency, and the popular Kiwiblog where this article was sourced. He previously worked in the Parliament for eight years, serving two National Party Prime Ministers and three Opposition Leaders.
5 comments:
I was looking at this the other day, thinking the same thing. A lot of the grants are for useless research which seems to be trying to just promote a predetermined political stance, but not only that, that research is typically given more funding than more important "colonial" research such as studies of ecology or medicine. Most grants are for $360,000.00, but "The significant contribution of wāhine from Te Tai Tokerau" gets $859,000.00, "Unearthing stories of early Māori ancestry and adaptation in Te Tai Tokerau" gets $941,000.00, "Alleviating unique cultural pressures on Māori workers" gets $870,000.00 and "Imagining honourable kāwanatanga: preparing for a Tiriti-based future" gets $757,000.00. Funny how sovereignty gets conveniently forgotten about when it comes to receiving money.
Research grants will always be sought, some likely are worthy, others clearly not. It is natural for some people to ‘try their luck’ once they realise the possibilities to gain money. It is up the those controlling the funds to filter out the wheat from the chaff - without bias. If they’re failing in their basic responsibility they need to go.
Blatantly this is just another massive money-laundering operation delivering taxpayer money to favoured groups.
Insane - has anyone managed to articulate why/how restoring literal Stone Age knowledge is beneficial to anyone in today’s world?!!
Is anyone else in the world looking to the Stone Age for guidance? For “other ways of knowing” ?!? Anyone?? (Excluding the similarly deluded aborigines)
Throwing money at dodgy research happens all the time - ask any research scientist whose pet project gets overlooked in the heat of the battle for funds. As they say, the truth is out there, and assuming we actually care about the truth, we just need to know where to look. But picking winners to fund is all about politics, be it shovel-ready regional development projects or the next cure for cancer. The politics of academia are no less intense than those inside Parliament . What David Farrar might find more productive is to look into the outcomes of projects already funded by Marsden to determine their fate. How many resulted in hard conclusions reported in peer-reviewed papers and published in reputable scientific journals? How many simply lapsed once the money had been spent? But don't hold your breath. Research scientists need to feed their families every bit as much as those who wield the shovels. David's research just proves that some are more adept at playing the game than others. And nothing will ever change that while the real politicians control the purse-strings.
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