Systemic Racism: Refugee, Resettlement, and Education Policy in New Zealand

Public policy in New Zealand increasingly makes reference to “inclusion of diversity,” “equality,” and “equity.” Yet refugees resettling in New Zealand continue to experience systemic racism based on the application of ostensibly neutral rules and universal standards to unequal situations. This paper draws attention to the way in which poorly formulated refugee and resettlement policy has resulted in quota refugees being favoured over others and in assumptions that refugees have needs similar to those of general migrants. The way in which such racism has been translated into general policy arenas, such as education, is also explored.De manière croissante, la politique officielle en Nouvelle Zélande fait référence aux notions d’« inclusion de la diversité », d’« égalité » et d’« équité ». Malgré cela, les réfugiés qui se réinstallent en Nouvelle Zélande continuent à pâtir du racisme systémique émanant de l’application de règles et de normes universels qui, quoique neutres en apparence, s’adressent en fait à des situations tout à fait inégales. Cet article éclaire la façon par laquelle une politique d’immigration et de réinstallation mal formulée a donné lieu à du favoritisme au profit des réfugiés des catégories réservées (« quota refugees ») et a entretenu des croyances que les besoins des réfugiés sont similaires à ceux d’autres immigrants. Est aussi exploré la manière dont ce racisme s’est trouvé reflété dans des domaines de politique générale, tel celui de l’éducation

Coming together or drifting apart? Income maintenance in Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom

There has been long-standing debate in the comparative welfare state literature as to whether social policy regimes come to look more alike over time (“converge”) or else retain their distinctiveness. In this article, we explore this question through a detailed interrogation of the social policy record since 1996 of three states widely classified as “liberal”: Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Overall, we find that the social/economic pressures faced by all three countries are more similar now than they were two decades ago and that each has sought to legitimize its politic response to the global financial crisis (GFC) in similar ways. In terms of the three policy areas we explore, we find convergence is much more substantial in “welfare-to-work” than in either child-contingent support, or pensions. But we also find that any straightforward convergence story is unsustainable, despite the GFC and accelerating globalization, and partisan effects remain important

Refuge or turmoil? : Somali adolescent refugees in Christchurch schools : intercultural struggle and the practices of exclusion

Somali refugees have resettled in New Zealand since 1993. Yet, there is a dearth of information about their experience in this country. This thesis moves into uncharted territory by considering the adaptation of Somali adolescent refugees to secondary school in Christchurch. It argues that, just as Somali adolescents are struggling to cope with the New Zealand school experience, so too are Christchurch schools in a struggle to be inclusive within a constraining socio-political environment. As a result; school remains a continual site of intercultural struggle involving a complex interplay of vested interests, systemic biases, disjuncture, compliance and resistance. The adaptation process through which Somali students travel is fraught with difficulties because they are situated at the intersecting point of two competing cultures at school. As the educational culture prioritises the interests, norms and values of the dominant group, Somali students are frequently asked to choose between educational adaptation and their cultural identity. Data gained from interviews with Somali adolescents, Somali parents and educators demonstrate that the students alternate between resistance and compliance to this demand, highlighting the conceptualisation of school as a site of intercultural struggle. Schools are also experiencing difficulties in coping with the differential needs and culture that Somali adolescents embody, resulting in a dual process of adjustment. Nevertheless, because the power relationship between Somali students and Christchurch schools is unequal, educational institutions are usually able to contest the challenges that Somali students represent. Interview data indicates that policy/practice disjunctures and systemic biases within education constrain Christchurch schools and that they are consequently unsure of how to be inclusive of Somali needs and culture. Throughout the thesis comparisons are drawn with research involving refugees from other ethnic groups and it is clear that the difficulties Somali face reflect those experienced by refugees as a whole. However, such disadvantage is not inevitable and recommendations for improvement are an important contribution of the study

Aspirational yet precarious: compliance of New Zealand refugee settlement policy with international human rights obligations

New Zealand has ratified many of the same international instruments instructing resettled refugees\u27 rights as other resettlement countries. However, New Zealand has adopted broad strategies with little policy specificity or funding to ensure settling refugees\u27 rights are upheld. In examining selected rights, this article demonstrates that New Zealand refugee policy remains aspirational yet precarious in two main ways. First, refugee pathways to protection, via the UN quota system or as Convention refugees, significantly affect both settlement support and family reunification. Second, policy implementation is often inconsistent and, at times, discriminatory, because economic, social and cultural rights are inadequately embedded into New Zealand\u27s human rights framework. It is thus difficult to claim that New Zealand consistently and sufficiently meets its international obligations, despite the aspirations articulated within New Zealand\u27s recently developed Refugee Resettlement Strategy

Resistance or resignation to welfare reform? : the activist politics for and against social citizenship

Altres ajuts: the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN) Research Mobility Programme ; the Royal Society Marsden Fund [06-UOA-133] ; the University of Auckland Faculty Research Development Fund .Since 2008, mature welfare states have, to varying degrees, pursued a strategy of welfare reform that has reconfigured the dominant praxis of social citizenship. Drawing on qualitative data from two studies, this paper explores what bearing this has had on the political subjectivity of welfare claimants in the New Zealand context. The findings suggest welfare claimants engage in diverse political struggles for and against social citizenship to resist, reconfigure and resign themselves to the prevailing socio-political settlement. In light of this, conclusions are drawn about the insurgent politics of low-income social security claimants as political agents in the citizenship-making process

Does a Payment-for-Outcomes Model Improve Indigenous Wellbeing? Commissioning Agencies and Social Impact Bonds in New Zealand

Commissioning agencies and social impact bonds are two examples of New Zealand’s shift towards payment-for-outcomes funding mechanisms over the last decade, as the government attempted to improve both policy innovation and social outcomes. This article highlights that although the commissioning agencies have been more successful than social impact bonds, neither has completely achieved these goals of innovation and improved outcomes. This is particularly concerning given Indigenous Māori are disproportionately impacted by both policies. Discussion concludes by highlighting some of the problems associated with applying a payment-for-outcomes model to Indigenous Peoples, given these funding mechanisms are becoming increasingly popular in other settler nation states

What do New Zealanders think about welfare?

‘Welfare’ is always a controversial topic, with considerable debate about the causes of need and thus who is responsible for ensuring well-being. In its final report the Welfare Working Group (WWG) (2011) acknowledges this, noting that structural factors, such as the recent recession, shape welfare outcomes alongside individual behaviours and problems within welfare institutions. However, the WWG was established specifically to examine ways to reduce longterm benefit dependency in New Zealand amongst people of working age. Its recommendations thus place a particular focus on the individual behaviours of the unemployed. The proposed introduction of Jobseeker Support, a new single work-focused welfare payment to replace all existing categories of benefit, suggests that the circumstances behind working-age benefit receipt are similar and that it is therefore appropriate to extend new reciprocal obligations to a wider range of benefit recipients

Closing the gaps? : the politics of Māori affairs policy : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand

In searching for ways to decolonise, indigenous peoples have promoted indigenous models of self-determination. Governments, in response, have attempted to protect state legitimacy through the depoliticisation of indigenous claims. An analysis of 'Closing the Gaps', a policy strategy introduced by the Labour-Alliance government in June 2000, illustrates that this has certainly been the case in Aotearoa New Zealand. The policy strategy provides an entry point into exploring the conceptual tensions contained within government policy for Māori, the indigenous peoples of Aotearoa New Zealand. Based on an analysis of government documents and interview data, the thesis focuses on three main initiatives incorporated under the 'Closing the Gaps' umbrella. Each initiative highlights a number of bureaucratic, political and conceptual factors that explain why the strategy failed to match political rhetoric. The thesis argues that, in its eagerness to demonstrate a 'commitment' to Māori, the Labour-Alliance government neglected to distinguish between two different sociopolitical projects. The first, 'social inclusion' for all disadvantaged peoples, was framed by a broader 'social development' approach whose ultimate goal was 'national cohesion'. Emphases on 'community empowerment' and 'active citizenship' thus assumed that Māori needs could be met within the universal citizenship rights of the 'nation-state'. In contrast, the second project was concerned with an acknowledgment of the rights of Māori to self-determination as indigenous peoples and signatories of Aotearoa New Zealand's 'founding' document, the Treaty of Waitangi. Māori self-determination is a multidimensional phenomenon, but includes proposals for political and constitutional reform that are in direct tension with the ideas at the basis of 'social inclusion'. This is because they propose a form of strategic 'exclusion' from the mainstream and from state-framed notions of citizenship that regard 'nation' and 'state' as irrevocably tied. This tension was not altogether clear, however, because both projects shared the language of 'self-determination' and 'partnership'. In exploring alternative policy directions, the thesis augments a local literature, which has been critical of government policy for Māori. In addition, it makes a contribution to wider debates concerning the potential of liberal-democratic states to contend with the multinational diversity that indigenous peoples in settler societies represent