Mapping the Relationship Between Cultural Meanings and Political Responses to Poverty, 1970-2010

Mediation, Regulation, Critique: Mapping the Relationship between Cultural Meanings and Political Responses to Poverty, 1970-2010 By Greg Gilbert A thesis submitted to Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology For Rachel, for Tui Love, for Ida June iii iv Abstract Since 1970 there has been growing concern over poverty in New Zealand in academia, government, and popular culture. From 1970 until 1984, this concern focused on New Zealand’s prolonged recession and falling standards of living in a period of high inflation. Since then, however, poverty and economic disparity have increased dramatically. The 1970- 1984 period is now looked upon as relatively generous and committed to economic equality. The increase in poverty in contemporary times is marked by two political features. Neoliberal economic and social policies have resulted in the polarisation of wealth, increased employment insecurity, and reduced income for those reliant on state benefits (Harvey 2005). At the same time, discourses of morality have blamed beneficiaries for their “dependence” on the state. These features are not simply coincidental: the Governments that pursued income supplement reductions in New Zealand also employed the rhetoric of “welfare dependency” (O’Brien, Bradford, Stevens, Walters & Wicks 2010). As such, the link between moral discourse about poverty and political outcomes for the poor seems undeniable. I argue in this thesis that the relationship between these moral discourses and political outcomes is not as straightforward as the narrative above suggests. To make this argument I analyse moral discourses of poverty in the pre-neoliberal and neoliberal periods and find that these discourses are not as clearly aligned with macroeconomic periods as some suggest. Using this analysis, I then draw upon three traditions of cultural studies with macro- sociological theoretical orientations to determine a more fruitful analysis of the relationship between cultural meaning and political outcomes. I propose in this thesis that an analysis of the cultural meaning and political outcomes of poverty requires an investigation into three related spaces of contestation: mediation, regulation, and critique. To operationalise this analysis I focus specifically on newsprint mediation of poverty and neoliberalism, the institutional arrangements of the state that correspond to macroeconomic periods, and anti-poverty social movements. I also argue – counter to trends in sociological cultural studies – that the concepts of ideology and class must be re-introduced to effectively analyse the relationship between the cultural meanings and political outcomes of poverty. In my analysis I find considerable spaces of contestation between newspaper media, state institutions, and social movements. At the same time, synergies between them emerge. In all three, a “cultural logic” that promotes social and ethnic identities over economic identities becomes institutionalized within social movements, state institutions, and media reporting within the neoliberal era. This promotion of identities runs counter to the economic regulation of the period, where polarization occurs throughout society. As this “cultural logic” is institutionalized in the state, it is used to promote the understanding that economic disparity occurs between cultural identities rather than across them. As such, it translates v potentially radical claims for economic redistribution into claims for inclusion. From this finding I conclude that the cultural logic, although it is called upon by actors across the political spectrum, nevertheless constitutes an ideology. It not only serves, in economic terms, a limited class at the expense of many, but also masks relative class benefits. vi Acknowledgements My many thanks begin at home. I owe Rachel everything for her love and humour and strange confidence in my abilities; my parents and extended family for their faith and encouragement. I especially thank Ben and Kate for seeing me through the difficult end of the project. Thank you also to Jane Duthie, Luis Pacheco and Helen Rayner – my family away from home – for distracting me with their laughter and their gardens. The wonderfully supportive and thoughtful people in the School of Social and Cultural Studies also deserve gratitude for their critical insight and well-timed pints of beer. Chamsy el-Ojeili has been a remarkable mentor, sparring partner and friend; his tireless conversations about social theory, the state of the world, and raising children have been my sustenance. Sandra Grey guided me through difficult points in the project and challenged my conception of the world. She also embodied the Gramscian ideal – optimism of the will and pessimism of the intellect – and a generosity of spirit. David Pearson provided crucial early guidance for which I am grateful, and Trish Nickel offered enthusiasm and energy at vital moments. I would also like to thank Monica Litchi for making the School a welcoming space. vii Table of contents Introduction 1 Methodology 4 Terminology 7 Thesis structure 8 Chapter 1: Overview of poverty in New Zealand 1970-2010 15 1970-1984 15 Decline narratives and social welfare policy 1970-1984 19 1984-1993 21 1999-2010 27 Conclusion 29 Chapter 2: Morality and poverty 31 The poverty-free myth 32 The deserving versus undeserving poor 37 Anti civil groups, or the undeserving poor, in the 1970s 42 Welfare dependency and personal responsibility: The undeserving poor in the neoliberal era 62 Conclusion 68 Chapter 3: Narrative, discourse, hegemony: Meaning and politics 70 The role of culture within social life 73 The identities of the poor in sociological cultural studies 85 The critique of capitalism and the state in sociological cultural studies 93 Institutions in social analysis and actors’ influence on institutions 101 Towards a study of political space, or the institutional coordinates of contestation 106 Social power and differentiated institutions 112 viii The coordinates of political space for analysing poverty in New Zealand 116 The outlay of the project 118 Chapter 4: Poverty in popular newsprint media 120 Sociological cultural studies of news media 121 Mediation of the New Right in the pre-neoliberal era 126 Mediation of the New Right and “the poor” 1984-1991 130 Successful contestation of benefit policy: The challenge to proposed superannuation changes in 1991 134 De-legitimisation of political claims: Hikoi of Hope 142 De-legitimisation of anti-poverty actions: Media trends 152 Legitimate anti-poverty advocates: The effectiveness of direct mediation 157 Conclusion: Poverty, advocacy and legitimacy 159 Chapter 5: Politics within the state 164 Consolidated and emergent social power in the New Zealand state, 1970-1984 167 1984-1993: The market-led state 178 1993-2010: The establishment of the market-based hegemony 190 Conclusion 202 Chapter 6: Politics from below: Demands, actors, structures 205 The role of critical social actors 206 Periodisation of social movement politics 207 Types of demands: The transformation of the radical Into the inclusionary 210 The women’s, Māori, and labour movements in New Zealand 213 The anti-poverty movement 215 Conclusion 232 ix Conclusion 235 Sociological cultural studies and the return of ideology As a critical concept 237 Political strategy for anti-poverty movements 242 Bibliography 245 Appendix A: The women’s, Māori, and labour movements 272 x List of Abbreviations ACC Accident Compensation Commission AUWRC Auckland Unemployed Workers Rights Centre CCCS Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies CER Closer Economic Relations (agreement between NZ and Australia) CPAG Child Poverty Action Group CTU Council of Trade Unions DPB Domestic Purposes Benefit DSW Department of Social Welfare ECA Employment Contracts Act FOL Federation of Labour HNZ Housing New Zealand IMF International Monetary Fund MSD Ministry of Social Development NSC New Spirit of Capitalism OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development PAC Poverty Action Coalition RBNZ Reserve Bank of New Zealand SHAC State Housing Action Committee SOE State Owned Enterprise WFF Working for Families xi Introduction Since 1970, the social meanings attributed to poverty have changed dramatically, as have political responses to the poor. The connotations of the word, the prevalence of its use, and common understandings of its underlying causes all mark cultural shifts in New Zealand, while the composition, depth, and prevalence of poverty speak to changes in the material organisation of the state and economy. This project aims to understand poverty on its multiple levels: as a cultural referent and moral marker, as an effect of economic systems and political decisions, and as a governing practice through which social order is contested and disciplined. The exploration into poverty thus confronts the relationship between meaning and politics. The question of politics is always already-present in the analysis of culture when using sociological cultural studies. As Wagner (2001) asserts, the sociological project attempts to find coherence in the face of social contingency, and thus needs to be regarded as a political project from the outset. Sociological cultural studies provide this coherence, in part, through the analysis of cultural production, continuity, and challenge to ways in which meaning is constructed. For the theories employed in this dissertation, culture – or the way that meaning made – provides

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