New Zealand Political Studies Association 2025 Conference, University of Otago: ‘Political Hope’

Members of the Mining the Sea team recently had the opportunity to present on our ongoing research at the New Zealand Political Studies Association’s annual conference hosted at the University of Otago from 19-21 November. This year, the conference had the broad theme of ‘Political Hope’. Six members of the team presented papers across two panels. The papers presented were:

• The Right Hand does not Know What the Left Hand Is Doing: Blue Economy and Deep-Sea Mining in Fiji (Viliame Kasanawaqa)

• Pacific Extractivism, Past and Future: The Pursuit of Deep Sea Mining in Nauru (Xavier Dickason)

• Civil Society Mobilisation and the Politics of Deep Sea Mining in the Pacific: A Case Study of the Campaign for a Moratorium (Associate Professor Pascale Hatcher)

• She doesn’t even go here: the United States, the International Seabed Authority, and implications for Pacific Island Countries (Alex Teague)

• American Samoa and Pacific Regionalism: The Politics of Oceanic Governance, Deep Sea Mining, and Transnational Diaspora (Dr Luisa Leo)

• Representing the Abyss: Deep Sea Mining and the Politics of Visualization (Dr Nicolai Skiveren)

Thank you to all those who attended the panels for the contributions and questions that emerged from discussions, as well as the NZPSA for hosting.