Romitesh began his PhD candidacy with the DPA in 2022. Romitesh’s PhD research examines the symbiotic relationship of politics and masculinity in the Fijian national context. Drawing upon scholarship on masculinities, feminist institutionalism and political decolonisation, he analyses how masculinity and politics are mutually constructed and reinforced. A Fijian national, he completed his Bachelor of Arts (History/Politics and Economics), Post Graduate Certificate in Gender Studies and Master of Arts (Politics and International Affairs) at the University of the South Pacific.

Romitesh Kant’s broader research interests revolve around the politics of ethnicity, constitutional developments in Fiji, human rights, and digital media and politics in the Pacific. His research has been published in journals such as the Pacific Journalism Review, Asia and Pacific Policy Review, Media International Australia, The Contemporary Pacific, Anthropological Forum, and the Journal of South Pacific Law. He also was a co-director of a documentary that explores how Fijians – and the Fijian society at large – is coping with the challenges and opportunities of living in an age of “smart” communication technologies (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UP3SFQzNYbY).

Apart from his academic research experience, Romitesh has been a consultant with national, regional, and international non-governmental organisations and academic institutions. This has included work with the Rainbow Pride Foundation, the Citizen’s Constitutional Forum; the Fiji Women’s Rights Movement, UN Women Pacific Office; and the Asia Foundation. Romitesh was part of a team of four from the University of Queensland contracted by the Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development program to conduct a scoping study in Fiji, PNG, and Samoa to set up a Pacific Gender Research Portal. Most recently, he worked with the Urgent Action Fund- Asia and the Pacific in providing analysis and advice on the setup and design of an independent Pacific Feminist Fund (PFF). In addition, Romitesh has extensive experience teaching politics, human rights, ethics and gender studies at the University of the South Pacific.

Thesis
Politics and its Mal[e]Contents: Unravelling ‘Political Masculinities’ in Fiji

Supervisors
Professor Stewart Firth
Dr Sonia Palmieri
Dr Kerryn Baker