title: A human rights approach to climate change:   Examining the relationship between support for human rights and belief in climate change

authors: Athy, Ariana

subjects: Climate change

abstract: Climate change impacts human rights, and Māori and other indigenous communities around the world are amongst those most vulnerable to its consequences. This has led the United Nations to recommend a human rights-based approach to climate action. However, no research has examined the relations between support for human rights and climate change beliefs, which is critical if such a rights-based approach is to receive widespread public backing. Here we  investigate the cross-sectional and longitudinal relations between support for human rights and climate change beliefs/concern with data from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study (N ≈ 17,656) using a combination of variable- and person-centred analyses. Cross-lagged results indicate support for the item regarding physical human rights had a more reliable bidirectional, longitudinal relationship with climate change beliefs/concern, compared to the item regarding economic human rights. A latent profile analysis revealed six distinct subgroups of New Zealanders, with climate change beliefs/concern differing between subgroups but with human rights support being consistently high. Lastly, latent transition analysis revealed that all but one of the subgroups were relatively unstable across the one-year period, but New Zealanders tended to move from profiles of lower climate beliefs/concern into profiles of higher climate beliefs/concern. Findings reveal novel implications for a rights-based climate change response.

text: A human rights approach to climate change:   Examining the relationship between support for human rights and belief in climate change Climate change impacts human rights, and Māori and other indigenous communities around the world are amongst those most vulnerable to its consequences. This has led the United Nations to recommend a human rights-based approach to climate action. However, no research has examined the relations between support for human rights and climate change beliefs, which is critical if such a rights-based approach is to receive widespread public backing. Here we  investigate the cross-sectional and longitudinal relations between support for human rights and climate change beliefs/concern with data from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study (N ≈ 17,656) using a combination of variable- and person-centred analyses. Cross-lagged results indicate support for the item regarding physical human rights had a more reliable bidirectional, longitudinal relationship with climate change beliefs/concern, compared to the item regarding economic human rights. A latent profile analysis revealed six distinct subgroups of New Zealanders, with climate change beliefs/concern differing between subgroups but with human rights support being consistently high. Lastly, latent transition analysis revealed that all but one of the subgroups were relatively unstable across the one-year period, but New Zealanders tended to move from profiles of lower climate beliefs/concern into profiles of higher climate beliefs/concern. Findings reveal novel implications for a rights-based climate change response.

year: 2021

title: Play makes us happy! Listening to the perspectives of Chinese immigrant children and parents about well-being in New Zealand

authors: Gai, QiTong

abstract: As the global population of immigrant children increases, the well-being of this group has gained more attention. However, one underrepresented group in academic literature is Chinese immigrant children in New Zealand. This study sought to address this gap, examining their well-being through their own experiences and perspectives, with a specific focus on subjective happiness and its influencing factors. The project is qualitative research, using data from go-along interviews with eight Chinese immigrant children and semi-structured interviews with their parents. The findings indicated that all eight children expressed contentment and satisfaction with their lives in New Zealand, suggesting successful integration into New Zealand society. Additionally, the findings showed that play, friendship, family support, and learning about Chinese culture were significant contributors to the children's well-being. The play emerged as a central theme influencing the well-being of these immigrant children. The children associated their happiness with various aspects of play, including personal play, play with friends, school activities, sports participation, attending interest classes, and learning about Chinese culture. Parents corroborated this sentiment, identifying play as fundamental to their children's physical and mental health. They underscored the importance of personal growth, health, happiness, and the pursuit of personal interests and hobbies. While acknowledging the relaxed lifestyle New Zealand offers their children, parents expressed concerns about the quality of math education and their children's capacity to handle future pressures. Reflecting on the future, both children and parents expressed optimistic expectations. However, this study has its limitations. It was conducted with a small sample size, relied on self-reported data, and focused narrowly on Chinese immigrants in Hamilton, during children's go-along interviews no children took photos, and the potential influence of parental religious beliefs was not addressed. These limitations pave the way for future research opportunities. Future research can address these limitations and further explore the role of play in shaping the well-being of Chinese immigrant children. Particularly, it can examine the transition from 'Tiger parenting' to recognizing the importance of play, an initial observation pointed out in this study.

text: Play makes us happy! Listening to the perspectives of Chinese immigrant children and parents about well-being in New Zealand As the global population of immigrant children increases, the well-being of this group has gained more attention. However, one underrepresented group in academic literature is Chinese immigrant children in New Zealand. This study sought to address this gap, examining their well-being through their own experiences and perspectives, with a specific focus on subjective happiness and its influencing factors. The project is qualitative research, using data from go-along interviews with eight Chinese immigrant children and semi-structured interviews with their parents. The findings indicated that all eight children expressed contentment and satisfaction with their lives in New Zealand, suggesting successful integration into New Zealand society. Additionally, the findings showed that play, friendship, family support, and learning about Chinese culture were significant contributors to the children's well-being. The play emerged as a central theme influencing the well-being of these immigrant children. The children associated their happiness with various aspects of play, including personal play, play with friends, school activities, sports participation, attending interest classes, and learning about Chinese culture. Parents corroborated this sentiment, identifying play as fundamental to their children's physical and mental health. They underscored the importance of personal growth, health, happiness, and the pursuit of personal interests and hobbies. While acknowledging the relaxed lifestyle New Zealand offers their children, parents expressed concerns about the quality of math education and their children's capacity to handle future pressures. Reflecting on the future, both children and parents expressed optimistic expectations. However, this study has its limitations. It was conducted with a small sample size, relied on self-reported data, and focused narrowly on Chinese immigrants in Hamilton, during children's go-along interviews no children took photos, and the potential influence of parental religious beliefs was not addressed. These limitations pave the way for future research opportunities. Future research can address these limitations and further explore the role of play in shaping the well-being of Chinese immigrant children. Particularly, it can examine the transition from 'Tiger parenting' to recognizing the importance of play, an initial observation pointed out in this study.

year: 2023

title: The Price of Mauri: Exploring the validity of Welfare Economics when seeking to measure Mātauranga Māori

authors: Awatere, Shaun

subjects: welfare economics

abstract: Since the 1980s New Zealand has pursued neo-classical or market-based policies with a particular fervour. Market-based options are seen by resource management decision makers as essential frameworks for efficiently allocating resources, an approach that continues to support the view of the inherent dominance of Western knowledge. This is particularly concerning, given that Māori (the indigenous people of New Zealand), have an important role to play in New Zealand resource management and perceive their own knowledge systems have been marginalised. The primary goal of this thesis is to explore the validity of welfare economics when seeking to measure quantitatively Mātauranga Māori or Māori views of the environment through the contingent valuation method. A contingent valuation study is carried out using three separate samples drawn from the general Māori population in Auckland city, a hāpu/sub-tribe indigenous to the Auckland isthmus, and drivers of motor vehicles in Auckland city. Data collection modes include a postal survey and face-to-face interviews. This thesis challenges the validity of political-legal ethnicity constructs to measure Mātauranga Māori. The search for a central tendency will lead to biased, misleading and inaccurate results. The thesis also challenges the validity of contingent valuation to produce true economic measures and to measure and identify Mātauranga Māori. Despite advances in analytical techniques, economic efficiency measures are always deficient, given the difficulty of capturing and anticipating all impacts and valuing them appropriately. Mātauranga Māori is derived from a Māori epistemology and should be considered or analysed with primary reference to this body of knowledge. Economic analysis is only one important cog in the machinery of resource management policy. Given that an economist's contribution to local and regional resource management is most valuable when focusing on the  economic efficiency  of the proposed resource allocation, it is appropriate that other perspectives such as Mātauranga Māori be considered.

text: The Price of Mauri: Exploring the validity of Welfare Economics when seeking to measure Mātauranga Māori Since the 1980s New Zealand has pursued neo-classical or market-based policies with a particular fervour. Market-based options are seen by resource management decision makers as essential frameworks for efficiently allocating resources, an approach that continues to support the view of the inherent dominance of Western knowledge. This is particularly concerning, given that Māori (the indigenous people of New Zealand), have an important role to play in New Zealand resource management and perceive their own knowledge systems have been marginalised. The primary goal of this thesis is to explore the validity of welfare economics when seeking to measure quantitatively Mātauranga Māori or Māori views of the environment through the contingent valuation method. A contingent valuation study is carried out using three separate samples drawn from the general Māori population in Auckland city, a hāpu/sub-tribe indigenous to the Auckland isthmus, and drivers of motor vehicles in Auckland city. Data collection modes include a postal survey and face-to-face interviews. This thesis challenges the validity of political-legal ethnicity constructs to measure Mātauranga Māori. The search for a central tendency will lead to biased, misleading and inaccurate results. The thesis also challenges the validity of contingent valuation to produce true economic measures and to measure and identify Mātauranga Māori. Despite advances in analytical techniques, economic efficiency measures are always deficient, given the difficulty of capturing and anticipating all impacts and valuing them appropriately. Mātauranga Māori is derived from a Māori epistemology and should be considered or analysed with primary reference to this body of knowledge. Economic analysis is only one important cog in the machinery of resource management policy. Given that an economist's contribution to local and regional resource management is most valuable when focusing on the  economic efficiency  of the proposed resource allocation, it is appropriate that other perspectives such as Mātauranga Māori be considered.

year: 2008