In this article, ESRA researcher Neil Vallelly interrogates the origins of wellbeing policy, arguing that the ‘idea that wellbeing is linked to a society that glorifies and hoards private property, exploits and precaritises work, and sees debt as a necessary component of having a place to live, access to healthcare, and getting an education, is one that we must challenge at every opportunity.’ more

In this chapter excerpt from the forthcoming ESRA collection ‘Whose Futures?’ Shannon Walsh considers the New Zealand Productivity Commission’s recent inquiry into Technological change and the future of work. He examines the inquiry as a case study in the limitations of mainstream economic thought on the question of the future of technology and technological change. more

ESRA researchers and community activists team up for our annual Budget report. more

ESRA researcher Shannon Walsh takes a moment to reflect on how another think-tank, the New Zealand Initiative, has chosen to respond to the current crisis. more

ESRA researcher Jack Foster considers the financial aspects of the current crisis more

One year on from the white supremacist terrorist attack in Christchurch, gender-based violence specialist Hala Nasr reminds us that everyday racism and white supremacist terrorism are deeply connected. In this powerful reflection, Hala encourages us to honour the memory of the victims of the attack by tackling the indifference toward racism that is still very much embedded in our society. more

In this intervention ESRA researcher Ben Rosamond offers a timely analysis of the governments COVID-19 recovery package. more

In this chapter from the forthcoming ESRA collection ‘Whose Futures?’ Sy Taffel, Senior Lecturer in Media Studies and co-director of the Political Ecology Research Centre at Massey University, offers a diagnosis of dominant narratives of possible ecological futures and what they mean for us. more

In this intervention, ESRA researcher Vanessa Cole considers the Government’s controversial Kiwibuild policy and their continued failure to respond adequately to the housing crisis. more

Recently, ESRA researcher Amanda Thomas spoke to Sophie Handford about the upcoming school strike for climate and the need for inter-generational solidarity in the struggle for climate justice. more

ESRA researchers have teamed up with community researchers and activists to consider what the 2019 ‘Wellbeing budget’ means for those who are worst served by our current system. more

This interview between documentary film maker Baz Macdonald and ESRA Researcher Campbell Jones discusses capitalism, crisis, and the prospects for change. more

Download a free copy of ESRA’s first book, ‘New Forms of Political Organisation’, or purchase a hard copy. more

This is the first of a series of occasional interventions on the subject of income distribution and adequacy in Aotearoa New Zealand. more

Aotearoa New Zealand has recently been in the global news as a bolthole for global billionaires preparing for the apocalypse, especially wealthy tech entrepreneurs and financial investors from the US. This report aims to shed light on how this segment of the global elite imagines the future. more

Solutions to traffic should never have to include depriving low income families of their ability to move around or put food on the table. more

Amanda Thomas is a lecturer in Environmental Studies at Te Herenga Waka, Victoria University of Wellington. Her research is largely grounded with communities, and examines democracy and the ways that environmental politics interact with social justice. more

Anna-Maria is Senior Lecturer at Auckland University of Technology where she teaches global political economy. Her research focuses on cultural studies of capitalism and the contestation of commodification. more

Ben is an activist, researcher and union official with NZEI based in Tāmaki Makaurau. His research to date has focused on revolutionary strategy, the place of sovereignty in relation to other models of political organisation, and contemporary critical theory. more

Catherine is a researcher and editor based in London, and a master’s graduate of the University of Auckland, Tāmaki Makaurau. Grounded in historical materialism, her work is centrally interested in intersections of finance and colonisation, and possibilities for their overcoming. more

Campbell is convenor of the sociology programme at the University of Auckland and the University of Auckland Critical Theory Network. His research focuses on questions of work, finance, economic policy and political organisation. more

Gabi is an artist, graphic designer, and researcher based in Auckland. As one of the co-founders of Pipi Press, she has recently released a beautiful book titled In Common, which brings together poetic, artistic, and academic responses to the idea of the commons. more

Jack is a PhD candidate at Te Herenga Waka, Victoria University of Wellington and editor of Counterfutures journal. His research interests include political economy, political theory, and public policy. more

James is a PhD candidate and activist in Tāmaki Makaurau. He currently works and studies at the University of Auckland. James principally locates his research interests in Marxist politics, economic planning, and continental philosophy. more

Jonathan’s research is concerned with philosophy and political economy. He has taught Sociology at Massey University, and Political Studies, International Relations, and Business at the University of Auckland. more

Nathalie is a researcher at FIRST Union, a PhD candidate and member of teaching staff in sociology at the University of Auckland and a community activist. Her work involves primary research in tactics of activist and industrial leverage, critique of capitalist economics, radical political strategy and critical theory. more

Neil is a member of the Centre for Global Migrations at the University of Otago, where he teaches in the Schools of Arts and Social Sciences. His research interests include the political economy of neoliberalism, post-capitalism, borders, and displacement. He is the author of Futilitarianism: Neoliberalism and the Production of Uselessness (Goldsmiths Press, 2021). more

Shannon is a PhD candidate and teaching fellow in sociology at the University of Auckland. He is interested in political economy, Marxian economics and critical research methods. more

Kāi Tahu, Pākehā. Te Tomokanga fellow in sociology at the University of Auckland. In addition to ESRA, Simon remains a member of Plan C and Black Study Group. His work is interested in indigenous thought and politics, Marxian and critical theory, black studies, communism and conjunctions thereof. more

Vanessa is a researcher and activist specialising in housing and urban planning in Aotearoa. She is an active supporter of the state housing struggle. Vanessa has previously served as the co-ordinator for Auckland Action Against Poverty, and remains the co-chair. more