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

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.