title: Sterilisation and intellectually disabled people in New Zealand—still on the agenda?

authors: Hamilton, Carol

subjects: gender

abstract: Support through care and protection within a medical framework, rather than through the idea of independence within the least restrictive environment, continues to guide service provision for intellectually disabled people in the sexuality area. Past practices have included use of involuntary sterilisation. This article outlines the outcome of a search for information undertaken because of concerns that use of sterilisation-related procedures may remain embedded in contemporary approaches to sexuality support management. Verified instances of hysterectomy carried out between 1991 and 2001 were uncovered. Documents tabled at a Parliamentary Select Committee in 2003 expressing concerns about use in relation to young disabled girls were also found. Requests for sterilisation-related procedures exemplify how the right of all vulnerable citizens to full bodily integrity is currently adjudicated in New Zealand. It is suggested that further research is needed to pinpoint and address the underlying social customs through which requests for such procedures are negotiated and resolved.

text: Sterilisation and intellectually disabled people in New Zealand—still on the agenda? Support through care and protection within a medical framework, rather than through the idea of independence within the least restrictive environment, continues to guide service provision for intellectually disabled people in the sexuality area. Past practices have included use of involuntary sterilisation. This article outlines the outcome of a search for information undertaken because of concerns that use of sterilisation-related procedures may remain embedded in contemporary approaches to sexuality support management. Verified instances of hysterectomy carried out between 1991 and 2001 were uncovered. Documents tabled at a Parliamentary Select Committee in 2003 expressing concerns about use in relation to young disabled girls were also found. Requests for sterilisation-related procedures exemplify how the right of all vulnerable citizens to full bodily integrity is currently adjudicated in New Zealand. It is suggested that further research is needed to pinpoint and address the underlying social customs through which requests for such procedures are negotiated and resolved.

year: 2012

title: Differences that matter: From ‘gender’ to ‘ethnicity’ in  contemporary Aotearoa New Zealand

authors: Simon-Kumar, Rachel

subjects: Aotearoa New Zealand

abstract: Gender and ethnicity are recognised as two of the leading axes of marginality in late twentieth century western liberal democratic societies – the former emerged in the wake of Second Wave feminism of the 1970s and the latter, with the rise of ‘identity politics’ in the 1980s and 1990s. Both have similarities. As categories of disadvantage, their basis is ‘natural’ in that the complex webs of social and political organisation, and consequent  disadvantages, based on gender or ethnicity can be traced to physiology, that is, differences in either skin colour or sex. These are also, as Nancy Fraser (1997) points out, ‘bivalent categories’ of disadvantage in that gender and ethnicity display simultaneous discriminations in areas of resource allocation (Redistribution) and as socially acceptable identities (Recognition). 
Here, however, the common trajectory followed by these social markers ends. Drawing on the changing nature of society and governance in New Zealand, the present paper argues that the differences between gender and ethnicity, rather than their similarities,expose fundamental attributes of contemporary marginality in increasingly  diverse western democracies. This paper advances the following proposition (and contradiction): in the past decade, ethnicity and diversity as an axis of social division has gained credibility and has markedly influenced political, economic and social (re)organisation in New Zealand, while in contrast, it has proven harder to justify gender  as structural disadvantage. Thus, while the boundaries of ‘gender’ are ruptured, porous and, at moments, open to erasure, ‘ethnicity’ has coalesced to become a new, valid, and increasingly relevant border of social inequity.

text: Differences that matter: From ‘gender’ to ‘ethnicity’ in  contemporary Aotearoa New Zealand Gender and ethnicity are recognised as two of the leading axes of marginality in late twentieth century western liberal democratic societies – the former emerged in the wake of Second Wave feminism of the 1970s and the latter, with the rise of ‘identity politics’ in the 1980s and 1990s. Both have similarities. As categories of disadvantage, their basis is ‘natural’ in that the complex webs of social and political organisation, and consequent  disadvantages, based on gender or ethnicity can be traced to physiology, that is, differences in either skin colour or sex. These are also, as Nancy Fraser (1997) points out, ‘bivalent categories’ of disadvantage in that gender and ethnicity display simultaneous discriminations in areas of resource allocation (Redistribution) and as socially acceptable identities (Recognition). 
Here, however, the common trajectory followed by these social markers ends. Drawing on the changing nature of society and governance in New Zealand, the present paper argues that the differences between gender and ethnicity, rather than their similarities,expose fundamental attributes of contemporary marginality in increasingly  diverse western democracies. This paper advances the following proposition (and contradiction): in the past decade, ethnicity and diversity as an axis of social division has gained credibility and has markedly influenced political, economic and social (re)organisation in New Zealand, while in contrast, it has proven harder to justify gender  as structural disadvantage. Thus, while the boundaries of ‘gender’ are ruptured, porous and, at moments, open to erasure, ‘ethnicity’ has coalesced to become a new, valid, and increasingly relevant border of social inequity.

year: 2011

title: The Indigenous Exchange Forum: transitions in mine closure

authors: Holcombe, Sarah

abstract: “The Indigenous Exchange Forum: transitions in mine closure” was held on 2–3 November 2021 over Zoom, hosted by the Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining (CSRM) in the Sustainable Minerals Institute (SMI), at The University of Queensland.
The Forum aimed to affirm, connect, and elevate the voices of First Nations leaders and interested community members impacted by mining and mine closure. In doing so, we hoped to begin to build an international network across these Indigenous communities, to enable the sharing of experiences, struggles, and sentiments in relation to mine site transition and mine-related impacts on their lands.
The intent was to recognise each other’s unique cultural position and the impact of mining and mine closure through lessons learned: first with each other and then with industry.
The Forum had a strong foundation of reciprocity. The objective was:
•To provide an independent and culturally safe space to facilitate the connectionbetween First Nations peoples, whose customary lands have been impacted bymining.
•To position First Nations voices individually and collectively in a shared learningjourney full of experiences and lessons learned through online network exchange.
•To facilitate knowledge exchange and elevate the connectivity between Canadian,Australian, and Aotearoa (New Zealand) First Nations regarding impacts, issues, andinnovative ideas and practices in response to mine site transitions and mine closure.

text: The Indigenous Exchange Forum: transitions in mine closure “The Indigenous Exchange Forum: transitions in mine closure” was held on 2–3 November 2021 over Zoom, hosted by the Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining (CSRM) in the Sustainable Minerals Institute (SMI), at The University of Queensland.
The Forum aimed to affirm, connect, and elevate the voices of First Nations leaders and interested community members impacted by mining and mine closure. In doing so, we hoped to begin to build an international network across these Indigenous communities, to enable the sharing of experiences, struggles, and sentiments in relation to mine site transition and mine-related impacts on their lands.
The intent was to recognise each other’s unique cultural position and the impact of mining and mine closure through lessons learned: first with each other and then with industry.
The Forum had a strong foundation of reciprocity. The objective was:
•To provide an independent and culturally safe space to facilitate the connectionbetween First Nations peoples, whose customary lands have been impacted bymining.
•To position First Nations voices individually and collectively in a shared learningjourney full of experiences and lessons learned through online network exchange.
•To facilitate knowledge exchange and elevate the connectivity between Canadian,Australian, and Aotearoa (New Zealand) First Nations regarding impacts, issues, andinnovative ideas and practices in response to mine site transitions and mine closure.

year: 2022