Talanoa has been defined as 'talking about nothing in particular ' , 'chat' or 'gossip' . It is within the cultural milieu of talanoa that knowledge and emotions are shared and new knowledge is generated. Talanoa has recently been taken up by development researchers and others as a culturally appropriate research method in Pacific contexts. However, talanoa is often treated as synonymous with 'informal open-ended interviews' and tends to gloss over the deep empathic understanding required in such exchanges. Highlighting the connection between talanoa and empathy is vital in ensuring that development practitioners and researchers are implicitly aware of the political dimensions, cultural appropriacy and socio-ecological impact of their research methods. This connection is also critical in illuminating how talanoa as a method may decolonise research in the Pacific, inform the decolonisation of research in other cultural contexts, and contribute to ethical and empowering development policy and practice. We will argue for the merits of what we refer to here as 'empathic apprenticeship': an intentional, embodied, emotional, and intersubjective methodology and process between the researcher and the participant. An empathic apprenticeship has the potential to enhance shared understandings between all human beings and is essential if talanoa is intended as a decolonising research methodology.
Polystyrene (PS) is a petroleum-based plastic made from styrene (vinyl benzene) monomer.Sinceitwasfirstcommerciallyproducedin1930,ithasbeenusedforawide range of commercial, packaging and building purposes. In 2012, approximately 32.7 milliontonnesofstyrenewereproducedglobally,andpolystyreneisnowaubiquitous household item worldwide. In 1986, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that the polystyrene manufacturing process was the fifth largest source of hazardous waste. Styrene has been linked to adverse health effects in humans, and in 2014,itwaslistedasapossiblecarcinogen.Yet,despitemountingevidenceandpublic concernregardingthetoxicityofstyrene,theproductofthepolymerisationofstyrene,PS, isnotconsideredhazardous.Thischapterdrawsonaseriesofmovementscalledthe'new materialisms'toattendtotherelational,unstableandcontingentnatureofPS,monomers and other additives in diverse environments, and thus, we highlight the complexities involvedinthecategorisationofPSas'hazardous'andthefutilityofdemarcatingPSas 'householdwaste'.WhilelocalexamplesaredrawnfromtheNewZealandcontext,the keymessagesaretransferrabletomostpolicycontextsanddiversegeographicallocations.
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