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Recent Submissions

Captive friends: What kind of autonomy is required for friendship?
(2025-12-02) Weijers, Dan M.
Review of Matthew Lindauer, The Fruitfulness of Normative Concepts (Oxford UP, 2025)
(Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, 2026) Ulatowski, Joseph W.
Critical balance and the physics of magnetohydrodynamic turbulence
(American Astronomical Society, 2020) Oughton, Sean; Matthaeus, William H.
A discussion of the advantages and limitations of the concept of critical balance (CB), as employed in turbulence phenomenologies, is presented. The incompressible magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) case is a particular focus. The discussion emphasizes the status of the original Goldreich & Sridhar CB conjecture relative to related theoretical issues and models in an MHD description of plasma turbulence. Issues examined include variance and spectral anisotropy, influence of a mean magnetic field, local and nonlocal effects, and the potential for effects of external driving. Related models such as Reduced MHD provide a valuable context in the considerations. Some new results concerning spectral features and timescales are presented in the course of the discussion. Also mentioned briefly are some adaptations and variations of CB.
Decision-making for wāhine Māori facing breast cancer surgery: A qualitative study
(Taylor & Francis, 2025) Burrett, Vanessa; Blackmore, Tania Louise; Norman, Kimberley; Turanga, Karen; Scarlet, Jenni; Campbell, Ian; Lawrenson, Ross
Wāhine Māori (women/females) are disproportionally affected by breast cancer in Aotearoa New Zealand. Following a breast cancer diagnosis, wāhine must make important surgical decisions while navigating a Westernised health system that can be dismissive of Māori views of health and tikanga (customary practices). We investigated the decision-making process of wāhine who had undergone surgery for breast cancer within the preceding 12 months. Fifteen wāhine shared their perspectives on surgery, shared decision-making and information provided prior to surgery. Thematic analysis revealed that fear was a primary influence on decision -making, but this emotion could be mitigated by a good quality patient-clinician relationship fostered by the shared decision-making process. In particular, whakawhanaungatanga (establishing connection and relationships) was an essential basis for shared decision-making. Shared decision-making, in turn, enabled tino rangatiratanga (self-determination) and provided support during the difficult decision-making period. Multi-modal presentation of medical information, with inclusion of Te Reo Māori is relevant to many wāhine and could offer more equitable access to diagnostic information. These findings raise awareness of the importance of recognising tikanga, in particular, whakawhanaungatanga for wāhine Māori diagnosed with breast cancer.
Social work education under pressure: Access, workforce sustainability and the limits of acceleration
(University of Otago Library, 2026) Marlowe, Jay; Keddell, Emily; O'Donoghue, Kieran; Glubb-Smith, Kelly; Crichton-Hill, Yvonne
Recent revisions to the Social Workers Registration Board (SWRB) Education Standards 2026 mark a significant shift in social work education in Aotearoa New Zealand, removing time-based requirements and enabling shortened qualifying pathways, including the potential compression of postgraduate routes to registration. Drawing on the SWRB’s Official Information Act response and sector scholarship, this paper examines the implications of this shift for professional preparation, equity, and workforce sustainability. While the SWRB frames flexibility and compressed timeframes as a response to student financial hardship, declining enrolments and, most notably, workforce shortages, we argue that accelerated qualification pathways risk misdiagnosing the workforce crisis and positioning educational design as the primary lever for resolving what are fundamentally structural and political challenges. In doing so, costs and risks are displaced across the profession and sector, signalling concerns for workforce capability, organisational capacity, student learning and progression, and public safety. The paper contends that equity is not served if shortened pathways become diminished pathways and calls for coordinated system-level responses that preserve rigorous and coherent professional education.