Research Interests
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Studies Anthropology of Development Archaeology of New Guinea and Pacific Islands Australian Government and Politics Comparative Government and Politics Culture, Gender, Sexuality Development Studies Economic growth, development and trade Globalisation and Culture Government and Politics of Asia and the Pacific International Relations Language in Culture and Society Multicultural, Intercultural and Cross-cultural Studies New Zealand Government and Politics Pacific Cultural Studies Pacific History Pacific Literature Philosophy of Specific Cultures Regional Analysis and Development Screen and Media Culture Studies of Pacific Peoples' Societies Visual CulturesMs Solstice Middleby
Higher Degree by Research Candidate
School of Society and Culture
College of Education, Behavioural and Social Sciences
In addition to her PHD Candidacy, Soli is an author, partnership broker and former Australian Diplomat to the Pacific. She has lived and worked across the Pacific Region for the last 20 years, making homes in Goroka and Suva and establishing a wide base of Pacific connections. Soli has supported Pacific-led development through partnerships approaches, innovation and multi-stakeholder collaborations working with AusAID, DFAT, IUCN and most recently as the CEO of the Australia Pacific Training Coalition (APTC) where she led the program towards a Pacific led approach from 2018-2021. Soli is the Director of Coconuts and Kurrajongs, and online store showcasing Pacific products and has been involved with various community projects including the first TEDx event to be held in a Pacific Island Country and Tokani: Friends of the Fiji Museum. Soli's doctoral research is focused on Pacific regionalism, specifically how power is understood and exercised within the practice of regional agreement making within the Pacific Islands Forum.
My doctoral research is exploring how power works within Pacific Regionalism to centre or decentre Pacific interests. This comes at a significant time as the Pacific ‘region’ is contested space for responding to a growing range of uncertainties, including climate change, COVID-19, and geostrategic competition that can’t be addressed at local or global level alone. I am use ethnographic methods that foreground Pacific perspectives to explore how power is both understood and exercised within the the ‘practice’ of consensus agreement-making within the Pacific Islands Forum as my unit of analysis. Outcomes hope to include a greater understanding of the political dynamics that evolve and consolidate the Pacific ‘region’ and an assessment of the state of Pacific-centred regionalism.
| Date | Position | Institution name |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 - ongoing | PHD Candidate | University of Adelaide |
| 2022 - ongoing | Director | Coconuts and Kurrajongs |
| Language | Competency |
|---|---|
| Tok Pisin | Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review |
| Date | Institution name | Country | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australian National University | Australia | Masters of Applied Anthropology and Participatory Development | |
| Australian National University | Australia | BA (Development Studies) Hons |
| Date | Title | Institution name | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Accredited Partnership Broker | Partnership Brokers Association | - |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Taylor, D. M., Middleby, S., & Vunibola, S. (2025). Aid in the Age of Amazon: Imperial Logics, Pacific Resistance and an Alternate Paradigm. Development Policy Review, 43(5), 8 pages. |
| 2023 | Taylor, D. M., & Middleby, S. (2023). Aid is not development: The true character of Pacific aid. Development Policy Review, 41(S2), 10 pages. Scopus14 WoS12 |
| 2023 | Middleby, S., Taylor, M., Habru, P., Naupa, A., & Tarai, J. (2023). Perspectives from Melanesia: Aboriginal relationalism and Australian foreign policy. Australian Journal of International Affairs, 77(6), 1-7. Scopus3 WoS2 |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Middleby, S., & Tago, L. K. T. (2025). The Boe Declaration. In Security Cooperation in the Pacific Islands (pp. 30-45). Routledge. DOI |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2022 | Authors: Middleby S. Title: Do You Want To Meet Your Grandma?. Extent: 36. |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2023 | Middleby, S. (2023). Mediating the power imbalances of development: A paradox for partnership brokers. Partnership Brokers Association. |
| 2022 | Taylor, M., & Middleby, S. (2022). More of the same is not the answer to building influence in the Pacific. 9Dashline. |
| 2022 | Aumua, A., & Middleby, S. (2022). 2050: A Pacific geostrategic vision for the world’s only Blue Continent. Griffith University. |
| 2022 | Middleby, S., Wallis, J., & Powles, A. (2022). AUKUS and Australia’s relations in the Pacific. East Asia Forum. |
| 2022 | Middleby, S., Powles, A., & Wallis, J. (2022). AUKUS adds ambiguity to the Australia-New Zealand alliance. Australian Strategic Policy Institute. |
| Date | Office Name | Institution | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 - 2021 | Chief Executive Officer | Australia Pacific Training Coalition | Fiji |
| 2012 - 2015 | Regional Counsellor | Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade | Fiji |
| 2005 - 2009 | Development Specialist | AusAID | Papua New Guinea |
