Multicultural societies are often discussed through a familiar opposition. Assimilation is presented as the demand that migrants abandon their language, customs, religion and inherited ways of life, while integration is treated as the more generous alternative, allowing people to belong without becoming culturally identical. That distinction remains important. Yet it leaves another question largely untouched: … Continue reading When Diversity is Organised
When Everything Becomes Social Cohesion
Social cohesion is having its season in Aotearoa New Zealand. Political parties invoke it, government agencies place it in strategic plans, and community organisations discover it in funding applications with the enthusiasm once reserved for words such as diversity, inclusion and resilience. The phrase is everywhere. The evidence of progress is harder to find. This … Continue reading When Everything Becomes Social Cohesion
Citizenship Is Not Equality
Citizenship carries a seductive promise. Once the passport arrives, the outsider has crossed the line. The law no longer distinguishes between the old citizen and the new one. Both vote. Both possess the same legal standing. Both are told, in the language of democracy, that they now belong equally. Yet anyone who has spent enough … Continue reading Citizenship Is Not Equality
