ABSTRACT
Ethnicity operates either explicitly or implicitly within a society where the world-views of the majority settler populations are privileged in practice over indigenous or minority views. This is especially true of New Zealand, where the vast majority of surveys include ethnicity questions, information which is subsequently used to determine whether differences within a population are related to people’s recorded ethnic identification. In practice, though, all too often ethnicity is uncritically assumed to be a fixed, unchanging description of self-identification and the explanatory variable of difference. This chapter explores the concepts of ethnic identification and ethnic mobility, drawing on the quinquennial New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings, a survey in which ethnicity questions are required by governing legislation.
