Indian immigrant women are a growing minority group within the multicultural spaces of New Zealand society. Despite Indian immigrants being the second largest, and one of the oldest, Asian immigrant groups to this country, their experiences of settling in a new and unfamiliar environment have been largely overlooked. This grounded theory study using dimensional analysis was aimed at answering the question: ‘How do Indian immigrant women engage in occupations when settling in a new environment?’ In-depth interviews and observations of participants performing daily occupations were conducted with 25 Indian immigrant women living in one of three cities/towns located in the North Island of New Zealand. Theoretical sampling with constant comparative analysis was used to guide both ongoing data collection and data analysis. Categories were examined for their relationships and dimensions to arrive at a substantive grounded theory which has been named ‘Navigating Cultural Spaces’. Performing occupations that reflected either the Indian or New Zealand cultures, or a combination of the two, were core elements in how Indian immigrant women settled in New Zealand. These ways of doing everyday tasks have been conceptualised as Working with Indian Ways, Working with New Zealand Ways and Working with the Best of Both Worlds. Working from each of these perspectives, the women sought to Create a Place in which they could ‘be Indian’ in a ‘New Zealand’ context. In order to achieve the purpose of Creating a Place, Indian immigrant women constantly shifted between the three ways of working; thus, performing occupations that allowed them to reveal as much of their Indian culture as they felt comfortable with at any given time and situation. Their actions were influenced by the people, objects and social spaces that constituted the environment in which they engaged in occupations. The significance of this study is that it reveals how the everyday occupations of Indian immigrant women are constantly modified through their interaction and interpretations of the environment, thus allowing them to move between and within the multicultural spaces of New Zealand society. This gives rise to Navigating Cultural Spaces which frames settlement as an ongoing and dynamic process and challenges the applicability of current models of acculturation in a New Zealand context. It is recommended that future research examines the migration process from an occupational perspective in order to assist with the development of migration policy and support services that best facilitate Indian immigrant women Creating a Place in New Zealand.

This research used tuberculosis (TB) as a lens to elucidate how migration, settlement, local agency and support networks influence migrants’ health in New Zealand. The study also examined specific characteristics of TB such as delays in diagnosis and the stigma attached to the disease to gain a broader understanding of TB experience for migrants in New Zealand. The research addressed these aims through the analytical framework of political ecology and incorporation of interviews, participant observation and media analysis. Participants in the research included immigrants from Mainland China, South Korea, and India, and New Zealand health care professionals. The study found that immigration policies, social discrimination and isolation have created structural inequalities between dominant host populations and Asian migrants in New Zealand. These inequalities compounded settlement problems such as language difficulties and limited employment opportunities, resulting in low income levels and perceived stress for Indian, Korean and Chinese people, which has affected their health and well being. Transnational policies and experiences of health care systems in immigrants’ countries of origin and in New Zealand strongly influenced health seeking behaviour of migrants, along with structural barriers such as lack of Asian health care professionals and interpreting services. Local cultural and biological factors including health cultures and physical symptoms also affected these practices. In relation to TB, structural processes along with clinic doctor-patient relationships and social stigmas created barriers to diagnosis and treatment. Factors that facilitated access to health care in general, and TB diagnosis and treatment in particular, included the use of support networks, particularly local General Practitioners from countries of origin, and Public Health Nurses, along with flexible TB treatment programmes. This study shows that the incidence and experience of TB is shaped by migration and settlement processes. It also builds upon other medical anthropological studies that have employed political ecology by demonstrating its usefulness in application to developed as well as developing countries. In addition, the study contributes to the growing area of Asian migration research in New Zealand, illustrating that migration and settlement processes are complex and need to be understood as multidimensional, thus demonstrating advantages in approaching them from a political ecological framework. / Human Research Council, University of Auckland

Doctor of Philosophy / This thesis has tried to construct a comprehensive analysis of a clearly defined community of Egyptian Jews in Australia and France, based on the oral history of Egyptian born migrants. Built around the conceptual framework of forced emigration, integration and acculturation, it looks at the successful experience of this particular migrant group within both Australian and French societies. Like the other Jewish communities of Arab lands, the Egyptian Jewish community no longer exists, as it was either expelled or forced into exile in the aftermath of the three Arab-Israeli wars (1948, 1956, 1967). This thesis argues that the rise of an exclusively Arab-Islamic type of nationalism, the growth of Islamic fundamentalism and the escalating Arab-Israeli conflict constituted the fundamental causes for the demise of Egyptian Jewry. As a consequence, almost half of the Jewish population of Egypt went to Israel. The rest dispersed throughout the Western world, mainly in France, North and South America. In Australia, a small group of around 2,000 found a new home. Apart from those who migrated to Israel, the majority of Egyptian Jews experienced a waiting period in Europe before they were accepted by any of the countries of immigration, a period facilitated by international and local Jewish welfare agencies. My interviewees chose Australia mostly to be reunited with family members. They first had to overcome the racial discrimination of the ‘White Australia’ Immigration policy towards Jews of Middle Eastern origin, a hurdle surmounted thanks to the tireless efforts of some leaders of the Australian Jewish community. With their multiple language skills, multi-layered identity and innate ability to interact with a variety of ethnic groups, they succeeded in establishing themselves in an unfamiliar country that initially welcomed them reluctantly. As such, they can be said to have successfully acculturated and integrated into Australian society, whilst retaining their own cultural diversity. The more numerous Egyptian Jews living in France also successfully acculturated. As a larger group, they were better equipped to assert themselves within the older Jewish/French community and retain their distinctive Sephardi culture. Studies such as the present one provide insight into the process of integration and identity reconstruction, as well as the diverse strategies used to ensure a successful acculturation, and the value of a multi-layered identity.

This dissertation is divided into six sections. The first section, the introduction and literature review, also covers the aim and objectives of the thesis. The second section discusses the labour migration from the Philippines to the outside world. It then explores the push forces and pull factors for Filipino migration in terms of: (i) economic issues, including unemployment and unchecked population growth, fiscal deficit and public-sector debt, natural disaster and globalisation; (ii) political factors, including a weak and inefficient state, security problems, and laws and policies; and (iii) dynamics of marriage and family migration, personal choice, wage difference and level of skills. The third section discusses the Philippines Government's roles in promoting migration, in implementing policies to protect its Filipino migrants and in providing supports for 'overseas contract workers' (OCWs). The fourth part of the thesis explains the importance of the remittances that overseas Filipinos send back to their home country. A series of case studies is presented on the fifth chapter; these focus on Filipino professional migration to Australia and particularly the state of South Australia. The case studies provide a more in-depth understanding of the Filipino migrants' role and position in a foreign country. The findings and observations made in the study are synthesised in the concluding sixth section.

This thesis examines the positioning of white, English-speaking, immigrant women from Africa to Australia. I explore the effects that minimal differences have on issues of identity. Notions of identity, memory, and belonging are contrasted with white settlement in Rhodesia in the last century. My personal history and the desire to write a thesis relevant to the Australian experience led me to ask, "How do women from a privileged background, from Rhodesia and Zimbabwe, understand their experiences as immigrants to Australia?" The relevance lies in the perception that Australia is populated by immigrants and this research interrogates at a deeper level some specific issues presented by this sample group and my interpretation of their experiences augments the literature in this area. I questioned (individually) a small group of immigrants using unstructured interviews; the use of my own experiences and ‘long/desk drawer’ makes the study significantly autobiographical. Notions of migration into Australia from Southern Africa are explored using theories and themes of rites de passage. I interrogate the meanings attributed to assimilation and integration in immigration and connect these to the theory. Identity, memory, and reflection are discussed in the context of separation from Africa and integration into Australia. The similarities and differences and embodied history (habitus) that shape us, interweave the trope of rites de passage, uncovering a multiplicity of identity—attributed, assumed, and self-determined. I examine the ways in which Australians of Anglo-Saxon and British origin tend to position English-speaking immigrants from non-British backgrounds as outsiders and suggest that this attribution has more to do with similarities than differences. Reflection and discussion of other times and places reveals how memories intersect with ‘new’ lives in Australia and the complexities of time in migration as rites de passage make possible an exploration of present experience shadowing earlier experience. Finally, I discover that identity and belonging as continually negotiated spaces are illuminated by the contrast I drew between assimilation and integration as conceptual tools in understanding the migrant experience.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--McMaster University, 2006. / Supervisor: K. Bruce Newbold. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Western Sydney, Hawkesbury, 1999. / Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 312-325).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (J.C.L.)--Catholic University of America, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 69-72).

Zugl.: Oslo, University, Diss., 2004.