Journal of the Sociological Association of Aotearoa/New Zealand Volume 28 Issue 2 2013 Editors: Charles Crothers (School of Social Sciences and Public Policy, AUT) Robert Webb (Department of Sociology, University of Auckland) Objective: To foster a refereed journal to disseminate and promote research and thought that has, as its objective, the clarification and development of theoretically informed research in sociology and related disciplines, with a predominant, though not exclusive, concern with New Zealand. Contributors: For information on the contribution of articles, see Instructions for Contributors on the Journal website. For further information about the Journal go to https://sites.google.com/site/nzsociology/journal Books for review to: Book Review Editor, New Zealand Sociology, c/- Department of Social Sciences, AUT University PO Box 92006, Auckland 1142. [email protected] ISSN 1173-1036 (Online) © 2013 The Editors, New Zealand Sociology Opinions expressed in the Journal are those of the individual contributors and no responsibility is accepted for them by the Editors or SAANZ. The Journal is abstracted in the International Bibliography of the Social Sciences and Sociological Abstracts, and full text is carried by Socindex and the Australia and New Zealand reference centre, and the RMIT Press’s Informit. New Zealand Sociology Volume 28 Issue 2 2013 Contents Editorial: 4 International Year of Statistics 2013 Charles Crothers Articles: 16 Egalitarian Myths in New Zealand: A review of public opinion data on inequality and redistribution Peter Skilling 44 ‘A Profession of Faith’ or a Profession: Social Work, Knowledge and Professional Capital Liz Beddoe 64 No longer more educated: Changes amongst those of no religion in New Zealand Nigel V Smith 77 Socio-economic factors and suicide: The importance of inequality Bruce Curtis, Cate Curtis and Robert W. Fleet 93 But Wait There’s More: Why Pie Carts are Classic Items of Kiwiana Lindsay Neill Student Prize Essays 104 From Bad Women to Mad Women: A Genealogical Analysis of Abortion Discourses in Aotearoa New Zealand Marita Leask 120 Social Movements and Contestation in Post-Crisis Capitalism: A Case Study of Syriza Bartek Goldmann Reports, Notes, Comments 135 Top Market Incomes 1981-2011 Brian Easton 145 Research Note: Distributions, Dimensions and Determinants: 2013 Census and New Zealand General Social Survey 2008-2012 results relating to Inequality Charles Crothers 2 Contents 169 SAANZ Conference 2013Author Meets Critics Panel- Kevin Dew: The Cult and Science of Public Health: A Sociological Investigation. Geoff Fougere, Julie Park, David Craig and Kevin Dew 185 Forthcoming Funded Research Projects- The subnational mechanisms of the ending of population growth. Towards a theory of depopulation Natalie Jackson Researching Ourselves: Social Surveys in Twentieth-Century New Zealand Charlotte Greenhalgh The Crown: Perspectives on a Contested Symbol and its Constitutional Significance in New Zealand and the Commonwealth Cris Shore & David Williamson Recent Honours Book Reviews 195 Review Essay: Jon Johansson and Stephen Levine (eds.) (2012) Kicking the Tyres: The New Zealand General Election and Electoral Referendum of 2011. Leon Iusitini 205 Gershon, Ilana (2012) No Family is an Island. Cultural Expertise among Samoans in Diaspora. Reviewed by Cluny Macpherson 209 John Pratt and Anna Eriksson (2013) Contrasts in punishment: An explanation of Anglophone excess and Nordic exceptionalism. Reviewed by Ronald Kramer 214 Peter Robinson (2013) Gay Men’s Relationships Across the Life Course, Reviewed by Timothy Marjoribanks 218 Cris Shore and Susanna Trnka (eds.)(2013) Up Close and Personal: on peripheral perspectives and the production of anthropological knowledge. Reviewed by Charles Crothers 3 New Zealand Sociology Volume 28 Issue 2 2013 Editorial: International Year of Statistics 2013 Charles Crothers Although the International Year of Statistics has not had high visibility in New Zealand it is useful to consider the relationship of New Zealand statistics to New Zealand sociology. Given that many outsiders still (rather erroneously?) consider Sociology as a discipline founded on the methodology of surveys, a close relationship might be expected. This editorial will consider: ‐ the architecture of NZ’s official social statistics system (structures and goals) ‐ the foundation of data-collections ‐ further processing capabilities ‐ non-Government statistics ‐ use of statistics by the New Zealand Sociological community. Statistics are often in the public eye: they provide excellent and cheap fodder for the media. For example, in the week when I began to write this editorial the New Zealand Herald ran: ‐ StatsNZ material comparing household costs over time drawn from HES – which goes back to about 1970; - Review of the NCEA drawing on studies of a few schools; - Results of an NZCER survey of teachers, principals and parents concerning their views on the NZCEA standards; and - The (dismal for New Zealand) international results from the PISA survey. Perhaps the most interesting development is that the NZ Herald has joined the Evening Post in recently hiring a data journalist.1 This upgrades newspapers’ capacities to handle data and goes hand in hand with another development of data visualisation which advances presentation of statistical material. Early New Zealand interest in social statistics, from the 1920s on, came from economists, historians and economic historians. But it could be readily 1 For more general background on data journalism see http://datajournalismhandbook.org/1.0/ en/ introduction.html. 4 Editorial argued that interest in social statistics emerged in 1970s with a compilation on social trends (Statistics, 1977) a UNESCO-commission-sponsored social indicators development conference (Cant, Hill and Watson, 1979) and the subsequently set-up social indicators unit which produced a Social Indicators Survey (1985). Alongside these developments were extensive survey work carried out in the health sector and on housing (through the National Housing Commission). Also a more sophisticated approach to social demography emerged (e.g. Pool, 1986). While most sociologists tended at best to flirt with statistics, Thorns and Sedgwick put together a major compilation of historical statistics (1997). The architecture of NZ’s official social statistics system (Structures and goals) The opportunity-structure for the sociological utilisation of statistics is largely set by the government’s Official Statistics System (OSS) which covers (under part 1 of the Statistics Act) all agencies that produce official statistics. StatsNZ is the main agency and leads in coordinating activity across the OSS. Within StatsNZ there is a Cultural and Social Statistics Division headed by one of a group of Deputy Statisticians. It is important to remember that the Government Statistician is accorded statutory independence from the Government of the day in respect to the formulation of statistics. The Statistics Advisory Council which includes representatives (currently Prof. Natalie Jackson from Waikato University) can funnel advice from academics. The OSS includes information on statistical activities of other government units although this is presently not available on their website. An important function of OSS is to develop domain plans for directions of statistical developments, which take the particular form of Tier 1 statistics which are those prioritized as central in the overall statistical system.2 The Foundation of Data-Collections Official statistics include the operational statistical procedures and records of many Government departments, particularly those that the public comes into contact with (e.g. Police, Inland Revenue, Ministries of Education and Social Welfare etc) one general source for locating appropriate data series.3 While such 2 See http://www.statisphere.govt.nz/tier1-statistics.aspx 3 See http://www.justice.govt.nz/publications/global-publications/o/official-information-your- right-to-know 5 New Zealand Sociology Volume 28 Issue 2 2013 data tell much about operations sociologists have always had a difficulty in establishing the extent to which such information also tells about the wider social reality beyond the records kept of those in contact. There are ongoing efforts to ensure that the data kept is of high quality and that common protocols are used across different government units, but the extent to which internal government information can be pressed into social science service still needs constant attention and debate. In addition, the state collects information from the wider community. Although sociologists might well be interested in data collected on firms (e.g. the ‘Business Operations Survey) it is more likely that individual and household surveys will have more sociologically pertinent information. The surveys currently being deployed by StatsNZ (or that are still fairly contemporary) include: ‐ Census of population and dwellings ‐ Disability survey ‐ General social survey (GSS) ‐ Household economic survey (HES) ‐ Household labour force survey (HLFS) ‐ Household use of information and communications technology ‐ Longitudinal immigration survey New Zealand ‐ New Zealand income survey (NZIS) ‐ Post-enumeration survey ‐ Survey of family, income, and employment (SoFIE) ‐ Te kupenga: survey of Māori Wellbeing ‐ Time use survey ‐ Working Life Survey (HLFS) To these need to be added surveys regularly carried out by other government departments. Which include: