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The night is darkest before dawn

As a Pākehā Scotsman who spent most of his festive seasons in the northern hemisphere, I associate Christmas (and Pākehā New Year) with a time of darkness and renewal, with a pivotal pause and reflection point before making resolutions for the year ahead. In Aotearoa, that pivotal point in our annual journey is better reflected with the Māori New Year in June/July. I thank Tangata Whenua for sharing the gift of Matariki. Having said that, old habits are hard to shake off, and – as my comrade and friend Ian Hyslop has said – the slow days between Christmas and New Year are a time for reflection.

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A politics of hope

A guest post by Bex Silver.

We are entering a dark period in the short history of our nation. There have been dark times before, and we have got through them. We will get through this too.

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Practising nonviolent direct action

I wrote the following blog post for a Palestinian human rights group and for activists involved in campaigning for a ceasefire and an end to the genocide in Gaza. As the genocide continues, there may well be a need to adopt more assertive tactics. However, many other campaigns contending issues impacting the rights and well-being of the people of Aotearoa may also benefit from considering nonviolent direct action as a part of their repertoire. The resources listed at the end of this post will be of value to those involved in activist education and to social work educators who want to include nonviolent direct action (NVDA) in the social work curriculum.

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What the genocide in Gaza teaches us

As a social work educator, I’m committed to helping students learn the knowledge, skills and values they need to – amongst other things – assert and protect the human rights of the people with whom they work. The IFSW (2014) definition of social work states, “Principles of social justice, human rights, collective responsibility and respect for diversities are central to social work”. But our understanding of human rights is informed not only by academic learning but also by our observations of the operation of international institutions in the real world.

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Vicious nostalgia: Te Reo, climate, Palestine and social work

A guest post from Dr David Kenkel

A dictionary definition describes nostalgia as  “A wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for return to, or of, some past period or irrecoverable condition” (Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, 2024). Nostalgia can be vicious; it is often a great deal more than the wistful yearnings for earlier remembered paradises.

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