Andy Oakley: For Social Cohesion, Should We Scrap the Terms Pākehā and Māori in New Zealand?

In today’s opinion piece, the question is a big one: Should New Zealand ban the words Māori and Pākehā?

Not just discourage them — I mean remove them from legislation, from government documents, from schools, and from official use entirely. For the sake of actual social cohesion, these two words have become more harmful than helpful.

Mike Grimshaw: It’s the (social adhesion) economy, Stupid!

One of the on-going issues of modern life, identified from the rise of industrial and urban society in the early 19th century, is the sense of insecurity, of a lack of cohesion within society. New Zealand prefers not to think with Karl Marx; but if we go to Marx for description, not prescription – that is, go to Marx to get an on-the-ground sense of what was happening with the rise of modernity (not to go to him for answers) – then we can recognize that much of what he declared in 1848 in the Communist Manifesto holds true today…even in New Zealand:

Dr James Kierstead: How to work well with others

Worries about social cohesion are on the rise. Initiative Chair Roger Partridge aired his concerns in the Herald last month, and this month saw the launch of a report on the subject by the Helen Clark Foundation.

One aspect of social cohesion is cooperation. Studies have repeatedly shown that ethnically diverse societies are worse at some types of cooperation, especially when it comes to providing public goods.

Peter Williams: Just what is Social Cohesion?

Every so often a phrase creeps into the lexicon which we’re supposed to understand and accept as a good thing for life.

Like social cohesion.

Just who used it first in modern New Zealand parlance I don’t know but it’s not a new concept.

Gary Moller: New Zealand Faces Dual Crisis - Rising Excess Deaths and Declining Birth Rates

New Zealand society is quietly facing two alarming demographic trends that could have long-term consequences: a significant rise in excess deaths and a rapid decline in birth rates. Both phenomena have triggered concerns among some citizens, yet they remain largely uncommented on by the government and the media.

Roger Partridge: The inequality debate we should be having

The debate about inequality is one of the most impassioned in contemporary politics. It touches on core beliefs about justice, rights and the ideal structure of society.

Important philosophical differences fuel the debate, each stemming from divergent worldviews and principles. Equality of opportunity versus equality of outcome. Individualism versus collectivism. Meritocracy versus structural determinism. The debate spans the gulf between the political left and right and between advocates and opponents of the politics of identity.

Karl du Fresne: Why social cohesion should be the key issue in 2023

I’ve thought for some time that social cohesion will be a key election issue – perhaps the key election issue – next year. If it isn’t, it should be.

This belief may simply reflect my own anxieties, but it gained some weight this week when Victoria University politics lecturer Bryce Edwards reported a survey that showed mounting concern among New Zealanders about social division.

Even during the 1981 Springbok tour, generally regarded as a high-water mark of polarisation in New Zealand, the country wasn’t split in the way it is now.

Bryce Edwards: New Zealand’s social cohesion is being torn apart

New Zealand is becoming a less socially cohesive country. And the driver of this division is worsening inequality. That’s the view of most New Zealanders according to a survey conducted for the New Zealand Herald. It shows that inequalities of wealth and housing access are tearing the country apart.

The survey of 1000 people run by research company Dynata in late November showed that 64 per cent of the public thought that New Zealand society is becoming more divided. Only 16 per cent thought NZ has become more united in the last few years.

This survey backs up an earlier one carried out in January by Curia Research in which a large majority of 72 per cent said that we are more divided, with only 10 per cent believing we are less divided.