ABSTRACT
New Zealand (NZ) is well known internationally for its livestock industries. Yet little attention has been paid to the market-making activities that have shaped, and livelihood prospects that stem from, NZ’s leading presence in the world livestock economy. In the context of neo-liberalising economic reforms, NZ’s dairy and sheep (meat and wool) economies have changed dramatically. The practices of ‘doing dairy’ and ‘doing sheep’ in NZ in a globalising era are no longer what they were in the past. Nowhere is this more so than in the forging of market relations. With this has come a new generation of issues relating to livelihood, the ramifications and implications of which are only slowly edging into the public spotlight. Globalising economic entities and globalising governmental frameworks are reworking the relationship between markets and livelihoods in New Zealand.
