title: Hidden hardship in Aotearoa: An explorative study of older adult hardship

authors: Jex-Blake, Rebecca Beryl

subjects: Older adult

abstract: Poverty remains one of the most urgent issues in modern times (Lister, 2004). One fifth of older New Zealanders report hardship (Ministry of Social Development 2018), yet little is known about the daily experience of living in hardship as an older adult New Zealander. Financial hardship in older adult populations is strongly associated with increased mental health concerns, limited social resources and deteriorating physical health. To exacerbate matters, New Zealand is an aging nation, a factor which leads to increased strain on services that are already under considerable pressure. The situation for this demographic can be compromised by limited savings, the need to care for grandchildren and escalating living costs, which means this demographic is more vulnerable. To examine older adult hardship in New Zealand, I undertook a qualitative study that involved in-depth interviews with four participants about the challenges of living in hardship as an older New Zealander. Specific challenges experienced by the participants in relationship to their hardship included self-perceived and externally perceived illegitimacy to receive help, and the requirement to portray themselves as valued members of society. Analysis revealed that the participants’ narratives reflected the challenge of interacting with the shame and stigma promoted by wider neoliberal social narratives about ageing and the poor. Agentive strategies actioned were tactics such as delegitimization of dependency, positive fatalism, humour, othering and withdrawal from society. These strategies result in the hiding and minimization of their experiences of hardship, which can perpetuate the issue of older adult hardship.

text: Hidden hardship in Aotearoa: An explorative study of older adult hardship Poverty remains one of the most urgent issues in modern times (Lister, 2004). One fifth of older New Zealanders report hardship (Ministry of Social Development 2018), yet little is known about the daily experience of living in hardship as an older adult New Zealander. Financial hardship in older adult populations is strongly associated with increased mental health concerns, limited social resources and deteriorating physical health. To exacerbate matters, New Zealand is an aging nation, a factor which leads to increased strain on services that are already under considerable pressure. The situation for this demographic can be compromised by limited savings, the need to care for grandchildren and escalating living costs, which means this demographic is more vulnerable. To examine older adult hardship in New Zealand, I undertook a qualitative study that involved in-depth interviews with four participants about the challenges of living in hardship as an older New Zealander. Specific challenges experienced by the participants in relationship to their hardship included self-perceived and externally perceived illegitimacy to receive help, and the requirement to portray themselves as valued members of society. Analysis revealed that the participants’ narratives reflected the challenge of interacting with the shame and stigma promoted by wider neoliberal social narratives about ageing and the poor. Agentive strategies actioned were tactics such as delegitimization of dependency, positive fatalism, humour, othering and withdrawal from society. These strategies result in the hiding and minimization of their experiences of hardship, which can perpetuate the issue of older adult hardship.

year: 2021

title: Anaerobic growth and denitrification by Rhizobium japonicum and other rhizobia

authors: Daniel, Roy M.

subjects: Rhizobium japonicum

abstract: The product of nitrate respiration in Rhizobium japonicum and a number of other rhizobia capable of anaerobic growth utilizing nitrate was N2O. No N2 or ammonia was formed. Nitrate reduction was linked to ATP formation during anaerobic but not during aerobic growth. Free-living rhizobia may remove fixed nitrogen from the soil by denitrification.

text: Anaerobic growth and denitrification by Rhizobium japonicum and other rhizobia The product of nitrate respiration in Rhizobium japonicum and a number of other rhizobia capable of anaerobic growth utilizing nitrate was N2O. No N2 or ammonia was formed. Nitrate reduction was linked to ATP formation during anaerobic but not during aerobic growth. Free-living rhizobia may remove fixed nitrogen from the soil by denitrification.

year: 1980

title: New Zealand history is Maori history: Tikanga as the ethical foundation of historical scholarship In Aotearoa New Zealand

authors: Mahuika, Nepia

subjects: Arts & Humanities

abstract: IT SHOULD COME AS NO SURPRISE TO FIND that New Zealand history is Māori history. In 1987 when Tipene O’Regan stated that the ‘the past belongs to all New Zealanders, but first it is ours’, he was drawing attention to New Zealand history’s foundation in Māori history.1 Thinking about New Zealand history as Māori history does not mean denying the histories of European, Asian and Pasifika immigrants, but draws attention to the notion that ‘settler’ aspirations to claim ‘Aotearoa’ as home occur within a much broader narrative of indigenous occupation and struggle.2 Indeed, how can New Zealand history be the story of ‘here’ when it has ‘othered’ indigenous narratives that speak to the heart of what it is to belong in the land of the long white cloud? Yes, New Zealand history is Māori history – and that presents a problem for tangata whenua self-determination. Likewise, for Pākehā, it is an issue because until New Zealand history recognizes and enables the centrality of Māori history it will always fail to articulate the collective ‘us’ that is so often assumed in the discourse of ‘full and final settlement’.3 In its current form it will never be able to ethically or adequately account for the shaping of a New Zealand identity that finds ‘composure’ in the story of how Pākehā became ‘native’ New Zealanders.4 For Māori, these issues are keenly felt, because while New Zealand history has always been about us, it has predominantly been articulated on the colonizers’ terms. In the ‘discursive constructions’ that are New Zealand histories, the indigenous have regularly been culturally appropriated, dislocated and misrepresented.5 Even when Māori have turned their back on the writing of New Zealand history it has been, and will still be, a history of being or becoming ‘native’. Yes, New Zealand history is Māori history – so why does it feel like the story of Pākehā settlers?

text: New Zealand history is Maori history: Tikanga as the ethical foundation of historical scholarship In Aotearoa New Zealand IT SHOULD COME AS NO SURPRISE TO FIND that New Zealand history is Māori history. In 1987 when Tipene O’Regan stated that the ‘the past belongs to all New Zealanders, but first it is ours’, he was drawing attention to New Zealand history’s foundation in Māori history.1 Thinking about New Zealand history as Māori history does not mean denying the histories of European, Asian and Pasifika immigrants, but draws attention to the notion that ‘settler’ aspirations to claim ‘Aotearoa’ as home occur within a much broader narrative of indigenous occupation and struggle.2 Indeed, how can New Zealand history be the story of ‘here’ when it has ‘othered’ indigenous narratives that speak to the heart of what it is to belong in the land of the long white cloud? Yes, New Zealand history is Māori history – and that presents a problem for tangata whenua self-determination. Likewise, for Pākehā, it is an issue because until New Zealand history recognizes and enables the centrality of Māori history it will always fail to articulate the collective ‘us’ that is so often assumed in the discourse of ‘full and final settlement’.3 In its current form it will never be able to ethically or adequately account for the shaping of a New Zealand identity that finds ‘composure’ in the story of how Pākehā became ‘native’ New Zealanders.4 For Māori, these issues are keenly felt, because while New Zealand history has always been about us, it has predominantly been articulated on the colonizers’ terms. In the ‘discursive constructions’ that are New Zealand histories, the indigenous have regularly been culturally appropriated, dislocated and misrepresented.5 Even when Māori have turned their back on the writing of New Zealand history it has been, and will still be, a history of being or becoming ‘native’. Yes, New Zealand history is Māori history – so why does it feel like the story of Pākehā settlers?

year: 2015