• Anthropology
• Water
• Religion
• Cultural heritage
• Mining negotiations
• Energy
• Native title
• Customary title
• Theatre
• Performance
• Ghana
• Australia

Kirsty is a PhD candidate within the discipline of anthropology in the School of Culture, History and Language. Her research focuses on Indigenous religious attitudes to and ritual uses of water and other fluids in relation to ideas of cleanliness/purity and, by extension, morality. She considers how influences including colonialism, Christianity and the hydro-power industry have affected local attitudes and uses of these fluids, and asks how multiple co-existing ideas of cleanliness/purity can become politicised. For this research, she undertook 14 months of field research in the Eastern Region of Ghana in 2016, 2017 and 2019.

Kirsty has previous research experience with Australian Indigenous communities under the Native Title and Aboriginal Land Rights legislation in the Central Australia and the Pilbara regions of Australia, having worked for the Central Land Council (CLC) and Yamatji Marlpa Aboriginal Corporation (YMAC) respectively. She has also conducted research into and managed programs about the petroleum, mining and energy industries in Ghana for the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP).

Thesis title:
Fluid Boundaries: Politicising Rituals of Purity in Ghana

Wissing, K. 2019 "Environment as Justice: Interpreting the State(s) of Drowning and Undercurrents of Power in Ghana." Australasian Review of African Studies, Vol 40(1), pp.12-30. https://doi.org/10.22160/22035184/ARAS-2019-40-1/12-30

Wissing, K. 2018 "Assistance and Resistance of (Hydro-)Power: Contested Relationships of Control over the Volta River, Ghana." Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, Special Issue. https://doi.org/10.1177/0263774X18807482

Apoh, W., Wissing, K., Treasure, W. and J. Fardin 2017, "Law, Land and What Lies Beneath: Exploring Mining Impacts on Customary Law and Cultural Heritage Protection in Ghana and Western Australia." African Identities, Vol.15(4), pp.367-386. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14725843.2017.1319752

Treasure, W., Fardin, J., Apoh, W. and K. Wissing 2016, “From Mabo to Obuasi: Heritage and Customary Law in Ghana and Western Australia.” Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law, Vol. 34(2), pp.191-211. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02646811.2016.1133986

Adam, M.A. 2014, “Three Years of Petroleum Revenue Management in Ghana: Transparency without Accountability,” ed. K. Wissing. Africa Centre for Energy Policy, Public Interest Report, No. 2 (July 2014). https://s3.amazonaws.com/oilmoney/CACHES/IMAGES/2017/11/27/10:59:04/ACEP...

Rayner, A. and K. Wissing 2013, "Anthropology Report" submitted as evidence for the Aileron Pastoral Lease Native Title Claim, Northern Territory, Australia. Submitted to the National Native Title Tribunal.