Research as Seeking Help: Searching for Liberative Knowledge - An Interview with Taimalieutu Kiwi Tamasese

Authors

Taimalieutu Kiwi Tamasese, Pacific Section of the Family Centre in Lower Hutt, Aotearoa New ZealandFollow
David Denborough, The University of MelbourneFollow

Abstract

Indigenous methodologies have been transforming social science research. In this interview, Pasifika researcher, policy analyst, and community worker, Taimalieutu Kiwi Tamasese, speaks with narrative therapist David Denborough about the Just Therapy Team’s significant contributions to developing Pasifika research methods that resist colonizing assumptions and honour culture and relationship. Rather than seeking to establish the researcher as knowledge holder, The Just Therapy Team’s research is guided by values of liberation, sacredness, and belonging to seek solutions to issues affecting communities. Taimalieutu describes the development of innovative research methods capable of eliciting Indigenous knowledges about gender relations and mental health in Samoa to support communities in addressing interpersonal violence. This involved finding ways to work beyond text, embracing art and spirituality, and grappling with the complexities of translation.

Keywords

research methods, Pacific, Samoan, decolonizing, translation, community work, family therapy, gender, textiles, material culture, mental health

Author Bio(s)

Taimalieutu Kiwi Tamasese is the Coordinator of the Pacific Section of the Family Centre in Lower Hutt, Aotearoa New Zealand. She specialises in research with Pacific peoples – for example in relation to mental health, poverty, climate change, housing, unemployment, cultural and gender equity. In relation to social policy analysis, Taimalieutu is engaged in the development of new social policy perspectives emanating from various Pacific cultural rationalities. Taimalieutu Kiwi can be contacted c/o tamasese.k@fc.org.nz

David Denborough is a community practitioner and teacher at Dulwich Centre, one of the homes of Narrative Therapy, and Senior Editor of the International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work. In his academic role at the University of Melbourne, David supervises graduate research projects and supports creative research initiatives through the Narrative Practice Research Network (https://narrativepracticeresearch.org/). David can be contacted c/o daviddenborough@dulwichcentre.com.au or david.denborough@unimelb.edu.au

Publication Date

12-30-2024

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2024.7871

Recommended APA Citation

Tamasese, K., & Denborough, D. (2024). Research as seeking help: Searching for liberative knowledge: An interview with Taimalieutu Kiwi Tamasese. The Qualitative Report, 29(12), 219-231. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2024.7871