On Social Cohesion in Aotearoa New Zealand
I think of social cohesion as made by practices which build plural, diverse senses of home, anchored by a thick sense of belonging to a shared place.
My work reflects on ways of belonging rooted in particular places and lived in a shared, common world. I imagine it as built by teaching values of solidarity, animating those values in practice, and structuring urban spaces so as to bring people routinely into forms of social life that eventually develop into more sustained collective commitments, including via affordable & denser housing development.
I care about the context our relationships are anchored within, and situating anecdotes of personal experience into the broader compounds of history which carry our social and political processes.
On history, I listen to Walter Benjamin, James Baldwin, and Czeslaw Mislosz. On place, Krushil Watene and Seaumus Heaney. On sensations and time, Mark Rifkin and Susan Sontag.
On politics, I like the work of Torange Khonsari and Shannon Winnubst. Khonsari defines the common good and the public good as conceptually distinct, with the common good bringing tangible and intangible goods together as sets of relationships which produce a particular style of pragmatic reasoning, formed as many plural views are brought together in a specific place to steward common resources.
In this way, the common good is distributed, like smaller eddies in a larger river.
In Aotearoa, Te Tiriti gives this work a particular grounding, asking how belonging might be understood from the foundational presence and authority of tangata whenua, while also making possible substantive forms of belonging for tauiwi.
I argue social cohesion threads those everyday practices of living together with these deeper commitments to autonomous, interdependent homing that allow different forms of belonging to endure over time: the immediate, the intrinsic, and the intergenerational.
I currently share my views and develop case studies on the need to recognise New Zealand’s autonomous social commons through our research work on social cohesion with the Helen Clark Foundation.
Request to be interviewed for our research
In April 2025, the Helen Clark Foundation released its inaugural report on social cohesion in Aotearoa New Zealand. Based on nationwide survey data, the report highlighted a potential fraying in the social fabric of our communities. This was most evident across political preferences, work participation, income and ethnicity. Our ongoing study aims to explore how social cohesion is changing and how we can strengthen it. We hope to involve a variety of community leaders and members across the country to share their experiences and priorities related to social cohesion.
This year, we are seeking to speak to those involved in teaching, volunteering, leadership, funding, or policy at a community level.
For this study, ‘community’ refers loosely to social groups based around a shared identity, interest, place, or similar connection, both online and in person.
How do I agree to participate in this study?
If you wish to take part in this study, please contact Rosie via the contact form here to receive a copy of our Information Sheet. Rosie will then schedule the interview at a date and time that suits you.
What will my participation involve?
Your participation in this study will involve one interview with Rosie, conducted online, at a time of your preference. The purpose of the interview is to explore your perspectives and experiences ofsocial cohesion in Aotearoa New Zealand relative to the communities you are engaged in. It will be conversational in nature and designed to capture your views on the challenges and opportunities in this domain, to explore what’s working and what could be strengthened to help build a more cohesive society.
The questions will largely cover four areas:
Teaching, structuring, and practising social cohesion
Hidden forms of social knowledge and practice
The role of leadership in raising awareness and countering negative stereotypes
The role of policy and funding in creating opportunities for social interaction that foster mutual understanding
It is expected that the findings will contribute to the Foundation’s ongoing research in this area and, eventually, to the development of solutions.
Please reach out for more information.
