A Conversation with Asher Emanuel of The Valley

Asher Emanuel’s The Valley: Crime and Punishment in a New Zealand City (2026) is a work of investigative journalism that interrogates the justice system in Aotearoa through the lives and stories of two men, Nathan and Rikihana, from the Hutt Valley in the Wellington region. In its course, The Valley involves issues of housing and homelessness, mental health and addiction, punitive versus rehabilitative or special approaches to crime and its effects, and the roles of various legal workers, from lawyers to judges to probation officers and more. The Canterbury Socialist Society is delighted to host Asher in conversation with our own executive member and law student Courtney Fraser.