People and Places - Professor Hugh Campbell

In partnership with the University of Otago and New Zealand Geographical Society (NZGS), Otago Branch, Toitū welcomes you to the winter lecture programme – People and Places.

During most of the 20th century, farming was one of the most celebrated professions in New Zealand with people viewing it as an exemplar of how New Zealand was a good country.

These days we are experiencing a rising tide of political controversy, activism and loss of morale in farming sectors such as dairying. This is very much in line with a wider phenomenon in the Global North that geographers call the ‘contested countryside’. New Zealand is unusual in world terms because the ‘contested countryside’ arriving very late in comparison with similar countries elsewhere.
Hugh Campbell, Professor of Sociology, Gender Studies and Criminology, School of Social Sciences, University of Otago, briefly reviews some of the key reasons why the countryside became contested so late in New Zealand and reflects on how our newly contentious ‘social licence to farm’ is shaping the future of farming in New Zealand.

Toitū Auditorium