Stephanie Denne

Citation

Thesis Title
Becoming (non)violent: Accountability, subjectivity and ethical non-violence in response to intimate partner violence

Read article at Massey Research Online:

Despite Aotearoa New Zealand's history of progressive domestic violence legislation and policy, our increasingly institutionalised systems of response are struggling to reduce the alarmingly high rates of domestic violence in our communities. Therefore, how we currently understand and respond to domestic violence needs to change. Drawing on the work of Judith Butler, Ms Denne analysed accounts of violence at sites of domestic violence intervention, interrogating the ways men are 'held to account' for their violence within a Eurocentric and neoliberal knowledge economy. She found that targeted individualistic interventions reproduced fixed and inflexible identity categories of difference that were complicit with multiple and intersecting sociocultural conditions which enable violence against women and children. Ms Denne advocates for a transformation in narratives of accountability, where the development of collaborative community partnerships can open reflexive spaces for ethical activism and non-violence in the field of domestic violence research and response.

Supervisors
Associate Professor Leigh Coombes
Professor Mandy Morgan