title: Breaking barriers and empowering perspectives: Centering women's voices in the mongrel mob wāhine toa

authors: Arnold, Annaliese

subjects: gang research

abstract: Gang communities in Aotearoa New Zealand have traditionally been sites of masculinity where specific forms of 'maleness' - including resistance to authority, antisocial behaviour, and expressions of violence - are embraced, expressed, and enforced through various internal cultural norms and reactions to the outside world. The dominant narrative that informs public perceptions of New Zealand gangs is often centered on crime, poverty, and Indigeneity. Much less is known about the role of women in these communities, particularly as their voices have only recently emerged from one of the largest gang chapters in the country. This research, conducted in close collaboration with wāhine within the Mongrel Mob Kingdom's first female-only chapter, Mongrel Mob Wāhine Toa, uses a participatory action research approach with photovoice methodology. Drawing on the personal narratives of six wāhine, this study aims to better understand their perspectives and experiences of contributing to a fledgling movement that privileges women within a predominantly male-centered gang environment. Photovoice is used alongside semi-structured interviews to provide depth and breadth to the data, allowing the wāhine to visually and verbally express their experiences and perspectives. Themes include navigating marginality, empowerment, and resistance. The long-range goal of this work is to inform context-sensitive policies and interventions for wāhine in gangs in Aotearoa. By foregrounding the perspective of wāhine, this study contributes to breaking down barriers and reshaping discourses around women in gangs, with implications for well-being and empowerment.

text: Breaking barriers and empowering perspectives: Centering women's voices in the mongrel mob wāhine toa Gang communities in Aotearoa New Zealand have traditionally been sites of masculinity where specific forms of 'maleness' - including resistance to authority, antisocial behaviour, and expressions of violence - are embraced, expressed, and enforced through various internal cultural norms and reactions to the outside world. The dominant narrative that informs public perceptions of New Zealand gangs is often centered on crime, poverty, and Indigeneity. Much less is known about the role of women in these communities, particularly as their voices have only recently emerged from one of the largest gang chapters in the country. This research, conducted in close collaboration with wāhine within the Mongrel Mob Kingdom's first female-only chapter, Mongrel Mob Wāhine Toa, uses a participatory action research approach with photovoice methodology. Drawing on the personal narratives of six wāhine, this study aims to better understand their perspectives and experiences of contributing to a fledgling movement that privileges women within a predominantly male-centered gang environment. Photovoice is used alongside semi-structured interviews to provide depth and breadth to the data, allowing the wāhine to visually and verbally express their experiences and perspectives. Themes include navigating marginality, empowerment, and resistance. The long-range goal of this work is to inform context-sensitive policies and interventions for wāhine in gangs in Aotearoa. By foregrounding the perspective of wāhine, this study contributes to breaking down barriers and reshaping discourses around women in gangs, with implications for well-being and empowerment.

year: 2025

title: Ngā tai e rere nei i waho o Mauao

authors: Ngahuia, Dixon

subjects: Waiata Māori

abstract: "I te ao o ngā tūpuna he maha ngā kaupapa o taua wā i mau ki rō waiata, e whakaata mai ana i ngā kōrero-ā-iwi, ngā taukumekume i waenganui Māori, Pākehā, i waenganui hoki i ngā Māori anō. Nā wai hoki ka puta mai ngā herenga ki waenganui i tēnā iwi, i tēnā hapū, ka whakahoahoa tēnā iwi ki tēnā, te mutunga mai ka whānau ake ngā rōpū hou hei wānanga i ngā kaupapa i manawapātia. I pērā anō hoki ngā iwi o Tauranga Moana, ka huri atu ki tēnei iwi, ki tēnā hei huarahi tautoko āwhina mai i aua kaupapa nei. Ko ngā pupurihanga o ēnei taonga tuku iho e whakaahua mai ana i ngā kaupapa i waenganui i te ao Māori i aua wā, mō te iwi, mō te tangata kotahi rānei. Mā ēnei hoki kitea atu ai tā rātou titiro ki te ao i aua wā. 

He whiringa kōrero tēnei pepa mō tētehi waiata a Ngāi-TeRangi e whakamōhio ake ana i tētehi taukumekume i waenganui i a rāua ko Ngāti Kahungunu. Ka kitea i roto i ngā kōrero ka puta ngā huarahi whakapā atu ai ki tēnā iwi, hapū i waenganui, i waho atu rānei o Ngāi-TeRangi hei āwhina mai i te pupuri mana. Arā anō hoki te whakanui i ēnei momo waiata, ōna mana me te mātauranga Māori e pupū ake ana i konei. 

The waiata of our tūpuna Māori (Māori ancestors) capture in verse many issues and topics that were of significance at the time they were composed. They provide us with snapshots of iwi histories, including accounts of battles between Māori and Pākehā and between Māori and Māori. They tell us of alliances formed and reformed between tribes and hapū and of the reasons for these alliances. We see how the alignment and realignment of kin loyalties related to the issues of the day. Tauranga Moana iwi were not immune to such activities: tribal loyalties were chameleon-like, many alliances being pursued in relation to common interests. The ‘oral mapping’ of these local narratives that we find in waiata provides an illustration of topics relevant to individuals and to iwi: personal and collective statements about the ‘order’ of their day. They provide us with an insight into our ancestors’ ‘ways of seeing the world’. Above all, they are fundamental to the illustration and preservation of Māori knowledge. 
 
This paper presents an analysis of a Ngāi-TeRangi waiata tangi (lament) which relates to activities linking the iwi in a political stance against Ngāti Kahungunu. What is demonstrated is the intricate network of iwi and hapū involvement, within and without Ngāi-TeRangi, in the quest for honour. What is also demonstrated is the importance of waiata as significant literary achievements, as oral treasures."

text: Ngā tai e rere nei i waho o Mauao "I te ao o ngā tūpuna he maha ngā kaupapa o taua wā i mau ki rō waiata, e whakaata mai ana i ngā kōrero-ā-iwi, ngā taukumekume i waenganui Māori, Pākehā, i waenganui hoki i ngā Māori anō. Nā wai hoki ka puta mai ngā herenga ki waenganui i tēnā iwi, i tēnā hapū, ka whakahoahoa tēnā iwi ki tēnā, te mutunga mai ka whānau ake ngā rōpū hou hei wānanga i ngā kaupapa i manawapātia. I pērā anō hoki ngā iwi o Tauranga Moana, ka huri atu ki tēnei iwi, ki tēnā hei huarahi tautoko āwhina mai i aua kaupapa nei. Ko ngā pupurihanga o ēnei taonga tuku iho e whakaahua mai ana i ngā kaupapa i waenganui i te ao Māori i aua wā, mō te iwi, mō te tangata kotahi rānei. Mā ēnei hoki kitea atu ai tā rātou titiro ki te ao i aua wā. 

He whiringa kōrero tēnei pepa mō tētehi waiata a Ngāi-TeRangi e whakamōhio ake ana i tētehi taukumekume i waenganui i a rāua ko Ngāti Kahungunu. Ka kitea i roto i ngā kōrero ka puta ngā huarahi whakapā atu ai ki tēnā iwi, hapū i waenganui, i waho atu rānei o Ngāi-TeRangi hei āwhina mai i te pupuri mana. Arā anō hoki te whakanui i ēnei momo waiata, ōna mana me te mātauranga Māori e pupū ake ana i konei. 

The waiata of our tūpuna Māori (Māori ancestors) capture in verse many issues and topics that were of significance at the time they were composed. They provide us with snapshots of iwi histories, including accounts of battles between Māori and Pākehā and between Māori and Māori. They tell us of alliances formed and reformed between tribes and hapū and of the reasons for these alliances. We see how the alignment and realignment of kin loyalties related to the issues of the day. Tauranga Moana iwi were not immune to such activities: tribal loyalties were chameleon-like, many alliances being pursued in relation to common interests. The ‘oral mapping’ of these local narratives that we find in waiata provides an illustration of topics relevant to individuals and to iwi: personal and collective statements about the ‘order’ of their day. They provide us with an insight into our ancestors’ ‘ways of seeing the world’. Above all, they are fundamental to the illustration and preservation of Māori knowledge. 
 
This paper presents an analysis of a Ngāi-TeRangi waiata tangi (lament) which relates to activities linking the iwi in a political stance against Ngāti Kahungunu. What is demonstrated is the intricate network of iwi and hapū involvement, within and without Ngāi-TeRangi, in the quest for honour. What is also demonstrated is the importance of waiata as significant literary achievements, as oral treasures."

year: 2002-09

title: Power, accommodation and resistance: A Foucauldian perspective on how internal management  controls are compromised in Chinese hotels

authors: Wang, Jing

abstract: Purpose
The purpose of the thesis is to consider elements of internal management controls employed in hotels in China, specifically with respect to accounting and behavioural control. Accounting and behavioural controls involve mechanisms used to motivate, monitor, measure and sanction the actions of managers and other employees.  Internal management control is part of a system of integrated elements (people, structures, processes and procedures) acting together to provide reasonable assurance that an organisation achieves its business goals. The thesis concentrates on internal management control. Accounting controls, being a subset of internal management controls, suit tasks that are routine, familiar and certain; where few exceptions are likely to challenge routines. Examples of mechanisms studied involve highly standardised production models where: costing, budgeting and targeted performance outputs are applied. In contrast, behavioural controls are used to target similar objectives, except those which require tasks that are transparent in terms of input-output, familiarity and routine. The essential difference between accounting and behavioural controls being timeliness; behavioural controls are to be preferred where tasks are to be monitored in real-time rather than after the event. The latter being the territory for accounting controls. 
 While research shows culture effects control few researchers have adopted a qualitative Foucauldian approach. This thesis employs a Foucauldian approach to investigate how internal management controls have developed within the Chinese hospitality industry. 
Method
Two approaches are employed to investigate the research question: ethnographic observations and interviews with staff. The decision to employ an ethnographic approach arose because the researcher had previously worked in the hospitality industry where she was trained as a manager. Interviewees were staff who worked in the hotel industry in China. 
Findings
The thesis details incidents involving various forms of accommodation with managers that resulted in breaches of internal management controls. Such accommodation may simply be a means to preserve job security, reduce work load, or obtain a promotion; in all these cases its effect is to compromise internal management controls. 
Contributions
This study makes a contribution by applying Foucauldian theory in a Chinese hotel organisational context. The findings disclose not so much overt resistance to controls, but rather resistance by means of accommodation.
Second, the thesis explains how internal management controls may be compromised in spite of the use of disciplinary techniques, such as surveillance, enclosure, discourse, and examination. The thesis illustrates accounting’s evaluating and disciplinary aspects. 
The thesis tries to acquaint the reader with an environment of subjugation and control where accommodation with superiors becomes a necessity. Workers seek to please their supervisors and managers through gift-giving and favours, but in so doing they corrupt the control and performance standards that the managers should protect.

text: Power, accommodation and resistance: A Foucauldian perspective on how internal management  controls are compromised in Chinese hotels Purpose
The purpose of the thesis is to consider elements of internal management controls employed in hotels in China, specifically with respect to accounting and behavioural control. Accounting and behavioural controls involve mechanisms used to motivate, monitor, measure and sanction the actions of managers and other employees.  Internal management control is part of a system of integrated elements (people, structures, processes and procedures) acting together to provide reasonable assurance that an organisation achieves its business goals. The thesis concentrates on internal management control. Accounting controls, being a subset of internal management controls, suit tasks that are routine, familiar and certain; where few exceptions are likely to challenge routines. Examples of mechanisms studied involve highly standardised production models where: costing, budgeting and targeted performance outputs are applied. In contrast, behavioural controls are used to target similar objectives, except those which require tasks that are transparent in terms of input-output, familiarity and routine. The essential difference between accounting and behavioural controls being timeliness; behavioural controls are to be preferred where tasks are to be monitored in real-time rather than after the event. The latter being the territory for accounting controls. 
 While research shows culture effects control few researchers have adopted a qualitative Foucauldian approach. This thesis employs a Foucauldian approach to investigate how internal management controls have developed within the Chinese hospitality industry. 
Method
Two approaches are employed to investigate the research question: ethnographic observations and interviews with staff. The decision to employ an ethnographic approach arose because the researcher had previously worked in the hospitality industry where she was trained as a manager. Interviewees were staff who worked in the hotel industry in China. 
Findings
The thesis details incidents involving various forms of accommodation with managers that resulted in breaches of internal management controls. Such accommodation may simply be a means to preserve job security, reduce work load, or obtain a promotion; in all these cases its effect is to compromise internal management controls. 
Contributions
This study makes a contribution by applying Foucauldian theory in a Chinese hotel organisational context. The findings disclose not so much overt resistance to controls, but rather resistance by means of accommodation.
Second, the thesis explains how internal management controls may be compromised in spite of the use of disciplinary techniques, such as surveillance, enclosure, discourse, and examination. The thesis illustrates accounting’s evaluating and disciplinary aspects. 
The thesis tries to acquaint the reader with an environment of subjugation and control where accommodation with superiors becomes a necessity. Workers seek to please their supervisors and managers through gift-giving and favours, but in so doing they corrupt the control and performance standards that the managers should protect.

year: 2018