title: UNDER THE VOLCANO: The People of Kalapana, 1823 to 2010 [Book review]

authors: McCormack, Fiona

subjects: Social Sciences

abstract: Kalapana is a significant place in Hawaiian imaginaries. It was one of the few Hawaiian communities to survive as such into the twentieth century. It also lies in the shadow of Kīlauea, the most active of the Hawaiian volcanoes and home of the goddess Pele. Under the Volcano, authored by Langas and kūpuna (elders), is divided into three parts. In part 1 (chapters 1–2), Langlas describes the abandonment in 1819 of the priest-led religion of heiau (temples), the subsequent conversion to Christianity, and the multi-layers of property-making enmeshing Kalapana: for instance, the overlapping land stewardship regimes associated with the different strata of pre-contact Hawaiian social organization—ahupua‘a, moku, and kuleana; the mid-1800s Māhele (land division); and the impact of the subsequent splitting of land into government lands, crown lands, private property, and homesteads. While this history of land reform played out throughout the Hawaiian archipelago, certain distinctive features set Kalapana apart. For instance, while no commoners received kuleana awards in Kalapana, the sale of government land in combination with the Hawaiian practices of joint family inheritances as well as of sharing land, meant that “a class distinction between owners and non-owners” (27) did not develop. This emphasis on egalitarianism is a key characteristic of Kalapana, as is the vibrant hybrid culture that emerged as a result of absorbing the changes in land ownership and beliefs.

text: UNDER THE VOLCANO: The People of Kalapana, 1823 to 2010 [Book review] Kalapana is a significant place in Hawaiian imaginaries. It was one of the few Hawaiian communities to survive as such into the twentieth century. It also lies in the shadow of Kīlauea, the most active of the Hawaiian volcanoes and home of the goddess Pele. Under the Volcano, authored by Langas and kūpuna (elders), is divided into three parts. In part 1 (chapters 1–2), Langlas describes the abandonment in 1819 of the priest-led religion of heiau (temples), the subsequent conversion to Christianity, and the multi-layers of property-making enmeshing Kalapana: for instance, the overlapping land stewardship regimes associated with the different strata of pre-contact Hawaiian social organization—ahupua‘a, moku, and kuleana; the mid-1800s Māhele (land division); and the impact of the subsequent splitting of land into government lands, crown lands, private property, and homesteads. While this history of land reform played out throughout the Hawaiian archipelago, certain distinctive features set Kalapana apart. For instance, while no commoners received kuleana awards in Kalapana, the sale of government land in combination with the Hawaiian practices of joint family inheritances as well as of sharing land, meant that “a class distinction between owners and non-owners” (27) did not develop. This emphasis on egalitarianism is a key characteristic of Kalapana, as is the vibrant hybrid culture that emerged as a result of absorbing the changes in land ownership and beliefs.

year: 2018

title: Understandings of homelessness in Aotearoa New Zealand and how they impact a local response: A case study of The People's Project in Hamilton

authors: Shum, Renée Frances

subjects: The People's Project

abstract: Administrative and census data documented the increase of homelessness in Aotearoa New Zealand between 2006 and 2018. At the same time, homelessness increased in significance as a social issue. In 2009, the first New Zealand definition of homelessness was published by Statistics New Zealand. In 2013, a rigorous definition of severe housing deprivation was conceptualised by New Zealand academics. However, New Zealand governments ignored these definitions as the basis for formal recognition and enumeration of homelessness, leaving questions around the composition of homelessness in New Zealand open to debate. 

Informed by academic literature on understandings of homelessness and government responses to homelessness in Australia, Canada and the United States of America, this thesis examines governmental understandings and public sector considerations of homelessness in New Zealand between 2008 and 2018. It traces the influence of New Zealand central governmental understandings of homelessness on the response to homelessness at a local level in Hamilton city. Using The People’s Project in Hamilton as a case study, this research evaluates some of the challenges and opportunities of coordinating a system-wide approach and Housing First response to homelessness in the New Zealand context. 

Results from a systematic review of academic and grey literature, and semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders from both public sector agencies and The People’s Project, reveal nuanced geographies of homelessness at national and local scales. The dominant political discourse employs limited meanings and constrains understandings of homelessness. As a form of cultural signification, this political discourse coalesced with locally specific factors inform a response to homelessness in Hamilton. The political ambivalence of Housing First provided an opportunity to both remove the visible presence of homelessness in Hamilton, and for The People’s Project to drive systems disruption with public sector services. Lack of a central government mandate limited efforts at the local level in Hamilton for the public sector to respond to homelessness.

The findings of this research confirm that a consistent understanding of homelessness is instrumental in supporting an effective response to end and prevent homelessness. As the New Zealand Government implements its first ever homelessness action plan, it is imperative that central government implement all of the necessary changes to ensure public sector systems support rather than hinder local efforts in response to homelessness. Crucially, the government needs to ensure that whatever policy settings are put in place are responsive to New Zealand specific manifestations of homelessness.

text: Understandings of homelessness in Aotearoa New Zealand and how they impact a local response: A case study of The People's Project in Hamilton Administrative and census data documented the increase of homelessness in Aotearoa New Zealand between 2006 and 2018. At the same time, homelessness increased in significance as a social issue. In 2009, the first New Zealand definition of homelessness was published by Statistics New Zealand. In 2013, a rigorous definition of severe housing deprivation was conceptualised by New Zealand academics. However, New Zealand governments ignored these definitions as the basis for formal recognition and enumeration of homelessness, leaving questions around the composition of homelessness in New Zealand open to debate. 

Informed by academic literature on understandings of homelessness and government responses to homelessness in Australia, Canada and the United States of America, this thesis examines governmental understandings and public sector considerations of homelessness in New Zealand between 2008 and 2018. It traces the influence of New Zealand central governmental understandings of homelessness on the response to homelessness at a local level in Hamilton city. Using The People’s Project in Hamilton as a case study, this research evaluates some of the challenges and opportunities of coordinating a system-wide approach and Housing First response to homelessness in the New Zealand context. 

Results from a systematic review of academic and grey literature, and semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders from both public sector agencies and The People’s Project, reveal nuanced geographies of homelessness at national and local scales. The dominant political discourse employs limited meanings and constrains understandings of homelessness. As a form of cultural signification, this political discourse coalesced with locally specific factors inform a response to homelessness in Hamilton. The political ambivalence of Housing First provided an opportunity to both remove the visible presence of homelessness in Hamilton, and for The People’s Project to drive systems disruption with public sector services. Lack of a central government mandate limited efforts at the local level in Hamilton for the public sector to respond to homelessness.

The findings of this research confirm that a consistent understanding of homelessness is instrumental in supporting an effective response to end and prevent homelessness. As the New Zealand Government implements its first ever homelessness action plan, it is imperative that central government implement all of the necessary changes to ensure public sector systems support rather than hinder local efforts in response to homelessness. Crucially, the government needs to ensure that whatever policy settings are put in place are responsive to New Zealand specific manifestations of homelessness.

year: 2021

title: Population diversity in Aotearoa New Zealand: Insights from the CaDDANZ research programme

authors: Stone, Geoff

abstract: CaDDANZ was a New Zealand Government-funded project studying the impacts of growing population diversity in Aotearoa New Zealand. The project ran from 2014 to 2020 and was extended to March 2021 due to the effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Staffed by a multidisciplinary team of researchers, CaDDANZ aimed to identify changing demographics and the impacts of ethnic and demographic diversity on aspects of economic and social change. This report has synthesised a bundle of key insights that could only have surfaced through the reflection on the interplay between the research questions that the original bid set out to address. While we, as a project team, did not intend to produce transdisciplinary or even interdisciplinary work on migration, diversity or the diversity dividend, setting a goal to synthesise something from the project as a whole has produced this report. Using social cohesion as a sorting mechanism for the insights has meant this overview is selective and high level. Not all the projects can be read against a social cohesion or even social inclusion lens. In particular, many of the econometric outputs explicitly addressed aspects of diversity as an economic dividend and that work is not highlighted in the synthesis. 
Three broad themes are addressed 
1. Immigration and diversity – understanding population trends 
2. [Re] conceptualising ethno-demographic diversity in Aotearoa – Tangata whenua perspectives 
3. Diversity in context – in different settings and over time 
The report concludes with four high-level insights 
1. Immigration policy needs to re-examine its position in relation to Tiriti o Waitangi where any Crown partnership relationship is currently lacking. 
2. Despite social cohesion being a negotiated term, its use as a framing for the impacts of migration on both the host country and individual migrant lives is underpinned by its use in the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the terrorist attack on Christchurch mosques on 15 March 2019 and is preferable to the concept of a diversity dividend.1 
3. While ethnocultural diversity is the default for ‘diversity dividend’ research, the concept of the social organisation of difference has broader relevance to social justice-oriented policy development.2 
4. The use of wide range of different methodologies is vital for the production of wellevidenced, theory-informed strategies and policies.

text: Population diversity in Aotearoa New Zealand: Insights from the CaDDANZ research programme CaDDANZ was a New Zealand Government-funded project studying the impacts of growing population diversity in Aotearoa New Zealand. The project ran from 2014 to 2020 and was extended to March 2021 due to the effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Staffed by a multidisciplinary team of researchers, CaDDANZ aimed to identify changing demographics and the impacts of ethnic and demographic diversity on aspects of economic and social change. This report has synthesised a bundle of key insights that could only have surfaced through the reflection on the interplay between the research questions that the original bid set out to address. While we, as a project team, did not intend to produce transdisciplinary or even interdisciplinary work on migration, diversity or the diversity dividend, setting a goal to synthesise something from the project as a whole has produced this report. Using social cohesion as a sorting mechanism for the insights has meant this overview is selective and high level. Not all the projects can be read against a social cohesion or even social inclusion lens. In particular, many of the econometric outputs explicitly addressed aspects of diversity as an economic dividend and that work is not highlighted in the synthesis. 
Three broad themes are addressed 
1. Immigration and diversity – understanding population trends 
2. [Re] conceptualising ethno-demographic diversity in Aotearoa – Tangata whenua perspectives 
3. Diversity in context – in different settings and over time 
The report concludes with four high-level insights 
1. Immigration policy needs to re-examine its position in relation to Tiriti o Waitangi where any Crown partnership relationship is currently lacking. 
2. Despite social cohesion being a negotiated term, its use as a framing for the impacts of migration on both the host country and individual migrant lives is underpinned by its use in the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the terrorist attack on Christchurch mosques on 15 March 2019 and is preferable to the concept of a diversity dividend.1 
3. While ethnocultural diversity is the default for ‘diversity dividend’ research, the concept of the social organisation of difference has broader relevance to social justice-oriented policy development.2 
4. The use of wide range of different methodologies is vital for the production of wellevidenced, theory-informed strategies and policies.

year: 2021