Title 1:

[Cover photograph: Luke King / Cover image: fern sculpture by Virginia King]


Negotiating the Boundaries:
The Politics of Cross-Cultural Research in the Social Sciences - A Symposium
(Massey University, Auckland Campus, 16 July 2001)

Introduction by Jennifer Lawn and Eleanor Rimoldi

Social and Cultural Studies 1
(November 2001)
ISSN: 1175-7132


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from the Introduction:

We are delighted to open the Social and Cultural Studies monograph series with the edited transcript of a seminar convened by Associate Professor Marilyn Waring, "Mono-Bi-Multi Cultural Research: Who Should Do What and When?" Held on July 16, 2001 at massey University's Auckland campus, the seminar addressed the ethics of research with ethnic groups in New Zealand's increasingly multicultural society.

The panellists reflect on issues such as:

• Is there a place for Pakeha in research on other ethnicities?
• Who should study whom?
• What is insensitive or unsafe in research on one cultural group by another?
• How can researchers maintain integrity in their work?
• What is the role of mentors and gatekeepers?
• What counts as knowledge?
• How is "monocultural research" defined? Is there such a thing?
• Where does research go once it is finished? What measures need to be in place for implementation, ownership, follow-up?
• What happens when interest groups conflict?
• How do experienced researchers deal with passion, anxiety, desperation, paradox?

- Jennifer Lawn & Eleanor Rimoldi

Notes on Contributors:

Dr Peter Mataira is of Ngati Porou descent and has research interests in Maori development and entrepreneurship. He teaches Social and Com­munity Work Practice in the School of Social and Cultural Studies, Massey University, Auckland Campus. Peter is a Visiting Fellow to the University of Hawaii, School of Social Work, during 2002.

Pa'u Tafaogalupe Mulitalo-Lauta lectures in the Social Work programme in the School of Social and Cultural Studies, Massey University, Auckland Campus. He has worked in various government departments and was a probation officer in Mangere before becoming a lecturer in So­cial Policy and Social Work. He is the author of Fa'asamoa and Social Work within the New Zealand Context (2000), the first book to offer a view of social work in the context of the Samoan ethnic group in New Zealand.

A/Prof Rajen Prasad lectures in Social Work and Social Policy in the School of Social and Cultural Studies, Massey University, Auckland Campus. He returned to the University after a five-year term as New Zealand's Races Relations Conciliator and Human Rights Com­missioner. His professional life centers on children and families and education for the social services.

Prof Paul Spoonley is Regional Director (Auckland) for the Col­lege of Humanities and Social Sciences and a member of the School of Social and Cultural Studies. He began research with the Niuean commu­nity in the 1970s and has since been funded to work with Maori (Here­taunga) communities and Pacific peoples, alongside work on the extreme right in New Zealand.

Wong Liu Shueng is Team Leader for the Education Department at the Race Relations Office in Auckland.

Prof Marilyn Waring is internationally known for her work in political economy, and development assistance and human rights. Her book Counting for Nothing is an international best seller, and the basis of the Canadian documentary Who's Counting. She has taught at Harvard and Rutgers Universities, and delivered a number of major Memorial lectures in North America.