Sites Journal article

Sites: a journal of social anthropology and cultural studies is a peer-reviewed journal dedicated to publishing scholarly papers which explore aspects of Pacific societies and cultures. Asia:NZ's research director Dr Andrew Butcher has published an article entitled 'Well, they're very good citizens': New Zealanders' Perceptions of Asians in New Zealand in Sites Vol. 5 No. 2 2008. For copyright reasons we cannot reproduce the full text, but we offer you the abstract of the article below.

Abstract

Drawing on the Asia New Zealand Foundation's tracking studies of New Zealanders' perceptions of Asia, this article examines how these perceptions have changed over time and what the characteristics of these perceptions are, in terms of geography and age. Particular attention is given to changing perceptions vis-à-vis the diversifying ethnic composition of New Zealand's population, both during the period of the tracking study, and through forward demographic projections. Inevitably, changes to New Zealand's population provoke questions about New Zealand's national identity and the place of Asians within that, and this article concludes by asking to what extent Asians will be involved in the 'making of New Zealand' in the twenty-first century.

The full text of the article is available in Sites Vol. 5 No. 2 2008.