Branding Strategies and Languages of Consumption

This article seeks to contribute to the limited literature on languages of consumption by focusing on the ways in which brands help to articulate the relationships between producers and consumers. A particular theme is the invention and exploitation of identities of place employed in branding strategies. This is illustrated by case studies of ‘clean, green’ New Zealand, and of corporate branding activites in the brewing and wine making industries.     

Immigrant and locally bom Pacific Island Polynesians: Two populations?

At a huihuinga organised during the Conference on Pacific Studies at the University of Auckland in August 1985, there was a spirited exchange of views among participants on residence of Pacific Island Polynesians in New Zealand. As part of a wider critique of Pakeha cultural hegemony and superiority several Maori speakers stressed that Pacific Island Polynesians were manuhiri (visitors) in New Zealand and, like most of the people of European descent, they had "overstayed their permits" in the eyes of the tangata whenua . In responding to these claims, speakers from Samoa and Fiji sought to dispell a myth, still widely held in New Zealand, that the great majority of resident Pacific Island Polynesians were born in the islands. They reminded participants at the Auckland Conference that almost half of the people classed on the basis of ethnicity as Pacific Islanders in the 1981 census had been born in New Zealand. They were not "immigrants".     

Health, sexuality and place: the different geographies of HIV-positive gay men in Auckland, New Zealand

This paper employs interview narratives alongside participant-led photography and caption writing to examine the different daily geographies of 15 HIV-positive gay men in Auckland, New Zealand. Difference for these men is rooted in both their HIV status and their sexuality, and this difference has implications for their engagement with the world at a range of spatial and temporal scales. Giving voice to such experiences begins to answer calls for geographers to consider more deeply the connections between health, sexuality and place.     

The Gambler: (re)placing the desire of money

Abstract:  The Gambler conjures a world of myth: not as a fiction of human consciousness but as unconscious image-language. Its ambition is to write geography as material subject. In tracing the discourse written in the built environment the text ranges over the analyses of Marx and Freud and into the gestural worlds of Kafka and the blood sports of the ancient Colosseum. It discovers the myth of New Zealand horse racing, written in pictures in the local pub where virtual racing, abstracted from the living world, (dis)plays on the television screen. Here, finally, The Gambler comes to terms with loss.     

Place ‘From One Glance’: the use of place in the marketing of New Zealand and Australian wines

Associations between place and wine are historically deep. Past and current narratives of wine production are wedded to environment attributes of particular places, and in both the European and Australasian settings this has been codified by way of formal labelling requirements for the place of origin for wines. In this paper we explore the role of place references on the front labels of Australian and New Zealand wines through a small initial survey. The results reveal that the importance of place references is stronger for New Zealand wines. We argue that this reflects strongly the very different structures of the industries in the two countries, with the emphasis for New Zealand producers on high-quality wines for which origin statements are expected as opposed to the Australian focus on the production of bulk, value-driven wines dependent on the blending of wines across regions and places. This in turn has implications for the future development and marketing trajectories of the two industries.     

Globalising New Zealand : Fonterra Co-operative Group, and shaping the future

New Zealanders have little collective vision of their position and future in a globalising world. Recent developments in New Zealand's primary sector show potential pathways to the future. We explore two claims: thinking about New Zealand is to think about the emergence of Fonterra Co-operative Group in New Zealand's globalising economy. Thinking about Fonterra is to think about New Zealand and the implications that spring from globalising activities. Fonterra is a lens to understand better the possibilities and development options and the challenges that are arising as New Zealand forges its place in a globalising world.     

Place invaders: Identity,place attachment and possum control in the South Island West Coast of New Zealand

The pesticide 1080 (sodium fluoroacetate) is used in New Zealand as the primary means of controlling the Australian brushtail possum, a problem pest. This study identified place and its role in identity as an important mediator of the perspectives of those that either strongly supported or opposed its use. Individuals' differing constructions of place influenced the way they perceived ‘others’ as a threat to their place and their views on control of its management and protection. This study may contribute to a new understanding of the importance of place in this and other similar natural resource disputes.     

Gendered Work: Female Labour in Pipfruit Production in New Zealand and Chile

This article seeks to contribute to the literature on female labour in the pipfruit industry in New Zealand and Chile. As added workers seeking to supplement household incomes by casualised, seasonal employment, these female workers are significant contributors to what are often declining household incomes, given changes in production and the labour market of the 1990s. But this enhanced role continues to exist alongside normative expectations about domestic roles and responsibilities. This research reports on a survey that was completed by female workers in both Chile and New Zealand. While there are differences in the respective labour markets of the two countries concerned, the role of women in balancing employment and domestic responsibilities is characteristic of both situations. It is the intersection between normative expectations and participation in casual/seasonal labour in the two research sites that is the focus of this article.     

'Driving people crazy': A geography of boy racers in Christchurch, New Zealand

Abstract:   So-called 'boy racers' form a subculture, which is subject to ongoing public scrutiny and media attention, usually negative. This study aimed to deconstruct the term 'boy racer' and to explore the subculture in detail, within the context of Christchurch, New Zealand, using a phenomenological ethnographic approach. This included conducting semistructured interviews and observing the activities of participants. Results show the subculture has a relatively diverse membership and a range of associated behaviours, activities and attitudes. Moreover, performances within the subculture are linked to place, and are seen by other members of the community as threats to normative boundaries.     

Neighbourhoods and health: A review of the New Zealand literature

Over the past two decades, there has been a resurgence of interest into place‐based influences on health. Researchers have identified that various characteristics of neighbourhoods exert an influence on the health outcomes and behaviours of local residents. Understanding the processes linking places to health provides considerable potential for a range of policy interventions. We review the New Zealand‐based neighbourhoods and health research. Consideration is given to the types of neighbourhood characteristics, as well the range of health outcomes that have been studied. Finally, we suggest some priorities for further research into the mechanisms underpinning neighbourhood influences on health in New Zealand.     

Placing narrative correspondence in the geographer's toolbox: Insights from care research in New Zealand

Abstract:  To date, narrative correspondence has been relatively neglected as a geographical research method. This is particularly true within the subdiscipline of health geography. Drawing on the literature on narrative approaches, as well as a qualitative study of informal carers' experiences of transitions in the place of care for older people in New Zealand, this paper highlights the valuable insights this approach can offer into the interrelationship between people, place and care. More specifically, it explores how caring identities and care related behaviour are constructed and reconstructed over time and space.     

Placing Geographical Imagination in Film: New Zealand Filmmakers' Use of Landscape

The paper explores the role of landscape in New Zealand films. How is the New Zealand landscape imagined and revealed? What kind of landscape do filmmakers present? I argue that New Zealand filmmakers tap into specific geographical imaginations when they make films, and that this results in certain kinds of landscapes being produced. I sketch the methodology used in a survey of New Zealand films and ‘read’ a selection of opening and closing sequences and ‘generic places’ found in a selection of contemporary New Zealand films. 1 then offer some conclusions about New Zealand films, and their production, portrayal and imagining of New Zealand.     

Shifting relationships to place: a relational place-based perspective on SES resilience

Disasters literally and figuratively shake the foundations of place in a community. If place is seen as both a construction of and contributor to identity, then the impact of disasters can result in not only physical displacement but can also fundamentally displace community and individual identity. Despite this, resilience theory, a widely used approach for dealing with disaster, provides little empirical or theoretical background on the role of place in shaping response and recovery from disruption. On 22 February 2011, the ground beneath the city of Christchurch, New Zealand, shook, destabilizing the physical and psychological landscape and displacing the foundations of place identity for many communities. Through the case study of Project Lyttelton, a grassroots community organization close to the epicenter of the 22 February earthquake, this paper seeks to understand and explore the nuances of place and identity, and its role in shaping resilience to such displacing events. We argue that place is an integral component of social systems that requires consideration within resilience frameworks in order for social factors to be properly integrated. From this, we make the case for increased awareness of the connections between these processes and the related consequences for post-disaster realities at both the community and policy level.     

Public Perceptions of Natural Character in New Zealand: Wild Nature Versus Cultured Nature

Results of empirical research undertaken in New Zealand to determine public perceptions of natural character in the biophysical environment are presented and related to recent theoretical literature. The research comprised two distinct case studies using Q method and photographs, in which participants evaluated natural character in terms of their own landscape experiences by ranking the photographs in order of preference. The results confirm prevailing responses to nature recently specified in North American literature, and have some policy implications for environmental management in New Zealand.     

Emplaced professional identities: Restructuring and the contested space of town nursing skill

Abstract:  Health sector restructuring influences most health professionals, and those working in small town hospitals in New Zealand have been affected in particular ways. This paper focuses on the shift in skill requirement for nurses as a result of the loss of surgical services and the downsizing of a town hospital. The shift in nursing skill was contested by nurses who perceived it to be an assault on their skilled professional identities. However the majority of the nurses acquiesced and remained at the town hospital. Rather than read this acquiescence as passivity and victimization on the part of the nurses, their narratives suggest a more complex interpretation which prompts an exploration of the 'investments' that nurses may have in at least temporarily acquiescing. The interdependent relationship between profession and place in which neither profession nor place appear to operate independently in the constitution of identity, is highlighted. Understanding professional identities as emplaced in this way, provides a way of beginning to make sense of how people negotiate, contest, accept or reject change at work in small towns.     

Geography–Internationalisation and the Condition of Forestry in New Zealand

Abstract. Internationalisation is used as a device with which to reexamine geographies of national development and geography in national development in New Zealand. The second half of the paper discusses national and internationalised forestry in New Zealand before considering some of the new possibilities confronting geographers as the New Zealand economy becomes increasingly internationalised.     

Trans-Tasman migration: New Zealanders' explanations for their move

Abstract:  This study investigates why New Zealanders move to Australia. A survey of New Zealanders living in Australia found 'pull' factors, notably greater opportunities and better climate, were the most common reasons. While desire for change or sense of adventure was important, dissatisfaction with life in New Zealand was also a factor. Results indicated a form of transnationalism as migrants felt at home in both countries. They maintained links with New Zealand evident in support for New Zealand sporting teams, expressions of New Zealand nationality, emotional connection and regular contact with New Zealand.     

Prospects for the New Zealand Geographer Seeking a Lectureship in Britain

During 1993 advertised geography lectureships in British Universities reached unusually high levels, most probably due to major structural changes in tertiary education and the provision of funding attached to research ranking, superimposed on the general trends of increasing student numbers and an ageing academic population. As the research assessment exercise takes place every four years, and the new academic league tables have just been published, it is predicted that a similar surge in advertised lectureships will occur during 1997 and 1978. Research active New Zealand geographers are well placed to capitalise on this projected recruitment phase, which is likely to peak between April and July and again in November. Some specialist subjects within the discipline are in greater demand than others although their popularity may change over time. Many of the traditional obstacles that have in the past discouraged New Zealanders from targetting an academic position in Britain are now more perceived than real.