title: Decolonising otherness and sense of belonging: Autoethnography of a Korean woman migrant in Aotearoa New Zealand during the pandemic (2020-2022)

authors: Lee, Jinah

subjects: autoethnography

abstract: This autoethnography examines my lived experiences as a Korean migrant in Aotearoa New Zealand during the 2020-2022 global pandemic, interwoven with narratives from Asian women migrants in my doctoral research. Through personal and collective storytelling, I explore the intricate interplay between belonging and otherness, a duality that resonates deeply across our shared experiences. Employing a qualitative methodological approach, this study critically engages with decolonising perspectives, neo-racism, and social identity theory to unpack the complexities of ethnic and racial exclusion, cultural hybridity, and the pervasive ‘us and them’ dichotomy amplified by colonial worldviews. The narrative reveals layers of otherness ― manifested in feelings of displacement, experiences of victimisation, and unintentional harm ― while highlighting the profound human need for belonging. The findings reveal nuanced lived realities often overlooked in broader societal discourses. This study contributes to understanding the dynamics of social identity, power relations, and belonging, offering critical insights into how Asian women migrants negotiate their place in a world shaped by ethical and racial divides. It calls for a re-examination of narratives that perpetuate exclusion, advocating for more inclusive frameworks that honour diverse experiences.

text: Decolonising otherness and sense of belonging: Autoethnography of a Korean woman migrant in Aotearoa New Zealand during the pandemic (2020-2022) This autoethnography examines my lived experiences as a Korean migrant in Aotearoa New Zealand during the 2020-2022 global pandemic, interwoven with narratives from Asian women migrants in my doctoral research. Through personal and collective storytelling, I explore the intricate interplay between belonging and otherness, a duality that resonates deeply across our shared experiences. Employing a qualitative methodological approach, this study critically engages with decolonising perspectives, neo-racism, and social identity theory to unpack the complexities of ethnic and racial exclusion, cultural hybridity, and the pervasive ‘us and them’ dichotomy amplified by colonial worldviews. The narrative reveals layers of otherness ― manifested in feelings of displacement, experiences of victimisation, and unintentional harm ― while highlighting the profound human need for belonging. The findings reveal nuanced lived realities often overlooked in broader societal discourses. This study contributes to understanding the dynamics of social identity, power relations, and belonging, offering critical insights into how Asian women migrants negotiate their place in a world shaped by ethical and racial divides. It calls for a re-examination of narratives that perpetuate exclusion, advocating for more inclusive frameworks that honour diverse experiences.

year: 2025

title: Mill wives: a study of gender relations, family and work in a single-industry town

authors: James, Beverley L.

abstract: The experiences and everyday practices of wives of production workers in a town with one dominant industry that imposes a variety of demands on workers and their spouses is the focus of this thesis. The town is Kawerau, established for the milling and manufacture of timber, pulp and paper, and situated in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand. It has a specifically masculine character on account of restricted employment opportunities and traditionally male occupations. 

I am concerned with the ways in which the women are engaged in maintaining home and family. Marriage constitutes the ground for establishing a household, and the complementary relationship between spouses is central to creating a home. This complementarity is expressed through male employment, for many involving shiftwork, and the primary involvement of women with domesticity. Those women who were also employed modified their involvement according to domestic and family obligations, which were given prior importance. Though both may be wage earners, wives and husbands have different obligations and orientations to the family.

Complementarity is made visible through gender distinctions; a major one being the wife and ‘home’s’ reliance on the husband’s job. His job provides the necessary financial basis for the home. Its contractual and disciplined character pervades the home and furnishes the conditions under which the women as wives are expected to cope domestically. A wife’s access to housing and income sufficient to maintain personally acceptable standards are influenced by the husband’s contract with the mill. 

Creating a home and maintaining family life are continual processes, achieved through managing the consequences of the husband’s job by the wife, in the confines of their home. This thesis highlights three aspects of his job which, as ‘givens’, constrain the woman’s organisation of the household in significant ways: the husband’s wage, hours of work (especially shiftwork) and industrial disputes. It is the contradictions and ambivalence involved in coping with these aspects that I explore. The study is influenced by feminist theoretical work concerning the relationship between ‘home’ and ‘work’ and ‘public’ and ‘private’ as symbols and experience.

text: Mill wives: a study of gender relations, family and work in a single-industry town The experiences and everyday practices of wives of production workers in a town with one dominant industry that imposes a variety of demands on workers and their spouses is the focus of this thesis. The town is Kawerau, established for the milling and manufacture of timber, pulp and paper, and situated in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand. It has a specifically masculine character on account of restricted employment opportunities and traditionally male occupations. 

I am concerned with the ways in which the women are engaged in maintaining home and family. Marriage constitutes the ground for establishing a household, and the complementary relationship between spouses is central to creating a home. This complementarity is expressed through male employment, for many involving shiftwork, and the primary involvement of women with domesticity. Those women who were also employed modified their involvement according to domestic and family obligations, which were given prior importance. Though both may be wage earners, wives and husbands have different obligations and orientations to the family.

Complementarity is made visible through gender distinctions; a major one being the wife and ‘home’s’ reliance on the husband’s job. His job provides the necessary financial basis for the home. Its contractual and disciplined character pervades the home and furnishes the conditions under which the women as wives are expected to cope domestically. A wife’s access to housing and income sufficient to maintain personally acceptable standards are influenced by the husband’s contract with the mill. 

Creating a home and maintaining family life are continual processes, achieved through managing the consequences of the husband’s job by the wife, in the confines of their home. This thesis highlights three aspects of his job which, as ‘givens’, constrain the woman’s organisation of the household in significant ways: the husband’s wage, hours of work (especially shiftwork) and industrial disputes. It is the contradictions and ambivalence involved in coping with these aspects that I explore. The study is influenced by feminist theoretical work concerning the relationship between ‘home’ and ‘work’ and ‘public’ and ‘private’ as symbols and experience.

year: 1985

title: Paremias xeocosmolóxicas de predición do tempo en galego e maorí (Geocosmologic paroemias of weather prediction in Galician and Maori)

authors: Lopez-Fernandez, Laura

abstract: This comparative study collects phraseological units -dictons- (Rodegem 1984 e Sevilla Muñoz 1988; 1992) related to the semantic field of weather forecast from two cultures, which have not been in contact, and which are located in the antipodes of the planet: Galician and Maori. The methodology used utilizes a diachronic analysis (although not diastratic), of geocosmological proverbs, that can be or not in use nowadays, which include dictons about atmospheric phenomena, observation of the stars and star lore, and weather forecast through observation of animals, especially birds. The dictons collected in Maori do not come from informants but from the few books and digital sources available at the moment and this represents only a fragment of their traditional oral culture, thought and legacy of the different iwis. The collected dictons in Galician have been collected from a variety of digital corpus and resources.

text: Paremias xeocosmolóxicas de predición do tempo en galego e maorí (Geocosmologic paroemias of weather prediction in Galician and Maori) This comparative study collects phraseological units -dictons- (Rodegem 1984 e Sevilla Muñoz 1988; 1992) related to the semantic field of weather forecast from two cultures, which have not been in contact, and which are located in the antipodes of the planet: Galician and Maori. The methodology used utilizes a diachronic analysis (although not diastratic), of geocosmological proverbs, that can be or not in use nowadays, which include dictons about atmospheric phenomena, observation of the stars and star lore, and weather forecast through observation of animals, especially birds. The dictons collected in Maori do not come from informants but from the few books and digital sources available at the moment and this represents only a fragment of their traditional oral culture, thought and legacy of the different iwis. The collected dictons in Galician have been collected from a variety of digital corpus and resources.

year: 2015