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    "A dialogue of deliberated uncertainty" : an interpretation of religious pluralism within the context of democracy : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Religious Studies at Massey University
    (Massey University, 2000) Harper, Dian Merrilyn
    When Race, the editor of World Faiths Encounter, launched the journal in 1992 he indicated that "the mixed contents" were "intended to aid many kinds of dialogue." He spoke of this in terms of an encounter which he perceived as a "many sided endeavour... [that] requires openness, respect and receptivity to whatever comes." 1 Race, Alan, "Launching a Journal". World Faiths Encounter. Number 1, [March, 1992] page 2. The focus of this thesis is to investigate one aspect of that encounter, the nature of religious pluralism within the context of democracy and its resolution within the concept of "process pluralism". In line with this intention, the key statements in several selected articles, those relevant to the topic of "Religion in Democracy and Democracy in Religion." from World Faiths Encounter have been identified and catalogued using an adapted version of Race's familiar delineation of exclusivism, inclusivism and pluralism. These results are recorded in a database [appendix 1] that has been constructed for this purpose. This analysis has been useful to get a preliminary idea of where the writers are in terms of their investment in pluralism but its main function has been to identify questions, arising from the key statements of each, that relate directly to pluralism in the context of democracy. Each of these questions is addressed in a series of reports that make up the main body of the thesis. While each report follows its own separate enquiry, all of the reports also contain within their conclusion a further common question: How do the observations made in this paper contribute to a profile of process pluralism? The various answers to this common question make up the final report of the thesis and address the question of what is meant by the thesis title, "A Dialogue of Deliberated Uncertainty." It is suggested that this report be read first to provide an overview of what is to follow and to "come to grips" at once with what is meant by the concept of "process pluralism" that is introduced and developed in the thesis.
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    The new Christian conservatism : an analysis of a social movement, 1970-1997 : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Sociology at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1997) Saxton, Peter John Waring
    This thesis analyses the social and political mobilisation of groups of conservative Christians in the period 1970 to 1997, via a theory of cultural articulation. Previous ways of accounting for moments of conservative Christian activism, such as the secularisation thesis, are critiqued for their inability to account for the periodic resurgence of such activism in New Zealand, particularly in the period since 1988. Alternatively, cultural articulation theory forces an analysis of the multi-dimensional determinants of mobilisation, by taking advantage of the subjective, structural, dramaturgical, and institutional approaches to cultural analysis, and by placing a focus on how a social movement interacts with changes in the social/cultural/political environment. By tracing several key moments in New Zealand's recent history, the mobilisation of conservative Christians is therefore explained in terms of the opportunities these moments gave for the formation, development, and continuing articulation of a conservative Christian ideology. This "exploration" revealed a critical moment around 1988 when, although many factors were predictive of a busy period of activism, the mobilising ideology of Christian Conservatism became hindered by a lingering tradition of church-state separation. The solution for conservative Christians, in the form of a New Christian Conservatism, was the result of an ideological innovation which re-mobilised the movement, by claiming that all spaces were political and hence contestable. This re-narration of their core ideology was matched with a greater flexibility, and professionalism, in the movement's articulations with its environment in the 1990s. Two examples of the New Christian Conservatism are highlighted as evidence of the movement's potential with this new ideology, as the identity of conservative Christians was re-moulded to suit the political culture in the 1990s. The New Christian Conservatism is finally posited as a movement that challenges the prevailing legitimacy of political pluralism in New Zealand, and which has the potential, if properly organised, to gain entry into the formal political sphere under MMP. However, this can only be achieved if the movement overcomes the fundamental problems of accommodation and compromise, issues which have prevented the movement from expanding in influence to date.