A forum hosted by Poverty Action Waikato

Inside

Inclusion

In-group

Outside

Exclusion

Out-group

Talking together about how easy or hard it is to live in New Zealand in your culture?

Living in New Zealand in your culture:Poverty and cultural privilege

Poverty

• one word that symbolises poverty and inequality for you

Poverty• Shrivel, frustration, hopelessness,

dependency, injustice, desperate, trapped, stench, abandoned, chains, unemployment, trickle down, temptation to crime, pain, hunger, merry-go-round, welfare, powerlessness, ill health, disadvantage, state house, no house, broken, broke, cold, losing, children, alone, ill health, disadvantage, worthless, despair, illiteracy, frightened, disenfranchised, misunderstood, lost, sad, unfair, nothing, dirty, rejection, suicide, I’ve had enough, sense of inadequacy, why?

Privilege

The invisible knapsack

“If you are poor it is your fault..”

Poverty and Privilege are structurally created

….Yeah right!!

History and intercultural relations

“Land loss has had a huge impact on Māori whānau who were living off the land. Poverty is about what has been taken away, it’s about what has been lost…”

Thames, Hauraki

The Market Economy

“My kids will come back home one day and make a difference. Right now they are not ready. Right now my children are living in the western world and are earning the big money. Their focus is on their careers, on getting educated and getting jobs. They have been educated in a Pākehā system. When my daughter is 40 she will come back.”Thames, Hauraki

Dominant culture Capitalism

Sharing stories

Tell us about your experience/s of how easy or hard it is to live in New Zealand in your culture

We are asking you to share your stories today so that we can advocate for social change. We will not include any personal names in our reporting or advocacy. However, cultural groups will be named in general terms. We will check again at the end of the session your consent for telling these stories in our advocacy.

Concepts of culture

• Culture can be understood as the way in which a group of people live together: – the way they socialise; – the food they grow, prepare, and eat; – the location – geography, climate, community, and neighbourhood in

which they live; – the work that is available and who does different forms of work; – the systems of law, education and religion; and – the beliefs and ways of thinking about the world they live in and the

world outside.• Culture informs the daily lives of people. • Culture is the framework for how people live their lives or come

to understand the world about them (Black, 2010, p. 18-19).

Ongoing conversations for social change

We see this conversation today as an ongoing conversation full of many complexities

Please contact us if you would like to tell us more about your experience/s of how easy or hard it is to live in New Zealand in your culture

Contact details: Poverty Action Waikato, Anna Cox and Dr Rose Black(07) 856 5820, anna@anglicanaction.org.nz