title: Exclusion and inaction: Academic precariat experiences of union representation in Aotearoa New Zealand

authors: Salter, Leon

abstract: During the last 40 years, neoliberal reforms to the tertiary sector have led to the casualisation of academic labour and the emergence of an academic precariat in Aotearoa New Zealand. Despite the increasing size of the academic precariat, it does not appear that their voices, concerns, or interests have been adequately represented by the national tertiary union. By drawing on open-text responses from the Precarious Academic Work Survey (PAWS) about what unions could do to improve precarious academic working conditions, we discuss the issues created by the under-representation of precarious academics by the sector union. We communicate the results via four key themes of exclusion, participation, voice, and organising. Most participants articulated frustration and disaffection with the union, suggesting the need for a shift in strategy. This study adds to the growing body of employment relations research recognising that employee voices are multiple, diverse, and fragmented; indicating that unions must attend to the differential experiences of people working in the tertiary sector attributable to employment practices.

text: Exclusion and inaction: Academic precariat experiences of union representation in Aotearoa New Zealand During the last 40 years, neoliberal reforms to the tertiary sector have led to the casualisation of academic labour and the emergence of an academic precariat in Aotearoa New Zealand. Despite the increasing size of the academic precariat, it does not appear that their voices, concerns, or interests have been adequately represented by the national tertiary union. By drawing on open-text responses from the Precarious Academic Work Survey (PAWS) about what unions could do to improve precarious academic working conditions, we discuss the issues created by the under-representation of precarious academics by the sector union. We communicate the results via four key themes of exclusion, participation, voice, and organising. Most participants articulated frustration and disaffection with the union, suggesting the need for a shift in strategy. This study adds to the growing body of employment relations research recognising that employee voices are multiple, diverse, and fragmented; indicating that unions must attend to the differential experiences of people working in the tertiary sector attributable to employment practices.

year: 2023-10-19

title: Wounded bodies and illness narratives: a history of attitudes and behaviour towards HIV-positive homosexual men in New Zealand between 1983 and 1997

authors: Ware, Cheryl Anne

subjects: HIV/AIDS

abstract: New Zealand had its first case of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in 1983, two years after the disease was identified in America. The HIV/AIDS epidemic devastated a society that was unprepared for the social and medical implications of a deadly disease, and many New Zealanders were thrust into a state of moral panic. 

This thesis contributes to New Zealand’s social and cultural histories of health and illness by examining individual homosexual men’s experiences living with HIV/AIDS. It examines the previously untold individual experiences of homosexual men with HIV/AIDS as discussed in their life narrative interviews. The thesis considers that while these men’s experiences are individually subjective, dominant thematic threads emerge across the narratives which indicate patterns in gay men’s experiences with HIV/AIDS in New Zealand. 

Homosexual men with HIV/AIDS faced the double stigma of being gay in a society that condemned homosexuality, and living with a previously terminal disease. Images of homosexual men as ‘guilty’, and ‘deviant’ were spread through public channels including newspaper and magazine articles, which fuelled pre-existing anti-homosexual feelings.  

By drawing on the men’s individual narratives, the thesis describes and analyses the negotiations that occur between their individual and collective memories. The participants used their individual narratives both to obtain agency, and also to dispel derogatory archetypes that have been constructed about homosexual men. 

These men’s individual narratives have not previously been recorded, and are valuable to New Zealand history because they offer first-hand accounts of the patients’ experiences living with HIV/AIDS in New Zealand.

text: Wounded bodies and illness narratives: a history of attitudes and behaviour towards HIV-positive homosexual men in New Zealand between 1983 and 1997 New Zealand had its first case of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in 1983, two years after the disease was identified in America. The HIV/AIDS epidemic devastated a society that was unprepared for the social and medical implications of a deadly disease, and many New Zealanders were thrust into a state of moral panic. 

This thesis contributes to New Zealand’s social and cultural histories of health and illness by examining individual homosexual men’s experiences living with HIV/AIDS. It examines the previously untold individual experiences of homosexual men with HIV/AIDS as discussed in their life narrative interviews. The thesis considers that while these men’s experiences are individually subjective, dominant thematic threads emerge across the narratives which indicate patterns in gay men’s experiences with HIV/AIDS in New Zealand. 

Homosexual men with HIV/AIDS faced the double stigma of being gay in a society that condemned homosexuality, and living with a previously terminal disease. Images of homosexual men as ‘guilty’, and ‘deviant’ were spread through public channels including newspaper and magazine articles, which fuelled pre-existing anti-homosexual feelings.  

By drawing on the men’s individual narratives, the thesis describes and analyses the negotiations that occur between their individual and collective memories. The participants used their individual narratives both to obtain agency, and also to dispel derogatory archetypes that have been constructed about homosexual men. 

These men’s individual narratives have not previously been recorded, and are valuable to New Zealand history because they offer first-hand accounts of the patients’ experiences living with HIV/AIDS in New Zealand.

year: 2011

title: Renewal and resistance: Moko in contemporary New Zealand

authors: Nikora, Linda Waimarie

subjects: maori

abstract: Moko is still here, contrary to the widely held belief that the art and custom of moko-Maori skin adornment-had vanished from New Zealand communities. Over the last two decades an increasingly visible number of Maori have revived and renewed the practice, taking colour into their skin. As an indigenous people, re-taking moko confronts and refutes the myth of a 'dying race'. It calls on Maori to recommit to strong Maori identities, customs and traditions and challenges the viewer to re-examine their social representations of moko and moko wearers. This paper reports the resistance strategies of a group of 83 moko wearers. Strategies include (1) educating, representing and reconstructing; (2) invalidating and minimizing representations; (3) building and enhancing social networks; and (4) securing cultural identity and pride. They reflect the celebration of cultural resilience.

text: Renewal and resistance: Moko in contemporary New Zealand Moko is still here, contrary to the widely held belief that the art and custom of moko-Maori skin adornment-had vanished from New Zealand communities. Over the last two decades an increasingly visible number of Maori have revived and renewed the practice, taking colour into their skin. As an indigenous people, re-taking moko confronts and refutes the myth of a 'dying race'. It calls on Maori to recommit to strong Maori identities, customs and traditions and challenges the viewer to re-examine their social representations of moko and moko wearers. This paper reports the resistance strategies of a group of 83 moko wearers. Strategies include (1) educating, representing and reconstructing; (2) invalidating and minimizing representations; (3) building and enhancing social networks; and (4) securing cultural identity and pride. They reflect the celebration of cultural resilience.

year: 2007