ABSTRACT
Although there is an extensive literature on public engagement on the use of new and emerging technologies such as nanotechnology, there is little evidence of the participation of marginalised indigenous communities in processes of such engagement. How do particular cultural values and worldviews shape the perceptions of new technologies among such indigenous peoples? This article addresses this question through an analysis of the deliberations of an indigenous Maori citizens' panel on nanotechnology in Aotearoa New Zealand. An active process of public engagement with the nation's Maori stakeholders, and their conversations with nanotechnology experts, sustainability activists and Maori researchers, helps map an alternative, culture-based architecture of public engagement on policies around new technologies. The analysis is grounded in a concept of active citizenship that we term 'sustainable citizenship'.
Subject(s)
Community Participation/psychology , Nanotechnology , Policy Making , Decision Making , Humans , New ZealandABSTRACT
This article critically analyses the discourse of consumer choice embedded in health communication interactions between maternity-care providers and migrant ethnic Chinese mothers in New Zealand. Findings indicate that Chinese mothers, as the customers of the New Zealand maternity and health care services, are encouraged to "fit in" with the Western discourse of choice. However, the mothers' cultural predispositions for childbirth and communication have a significant impact on the ways in which they respond to and resist this discourse. Drawing on theoretical insights from postcolonialism and Third World feminism, this article contributes to the study of intercultural health communication by examining cultural dilemmas in the discourse of choice that is often taken for granted in Western health contexts. In doing so, it builds a platform for an inclusive maternity care and health environment in multicultural societies.
