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Item Forced assimilation and development : the Chinese-Indonesians under Soeharto's New Order (1965-1998) : a research project presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of International Development, Development Studies, Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand(The Author, 2014) Sidjaya, Calvin MichelChinese Indonesians are an ethnic minority who have settled in Indonesia since at least the 15th century who comprise 1.2% of the Indonesian population. From 1965-1998, Chinese-Indonesians became subject to various assimilationist laws under the rationale that this ethnic minority had failed to integrate into Indonesian society. Under Soeharto’s administration, Chinese-Indonesians had to give up their political and cultural rights, although they were allowed to participate widely in the economic sector. This desk-based research studied assimilationist laws and their impact on the ‘development’ of Chinese-Indonesians by studying various laws and through the use of an online questionnaire to a sample of Chinese-Indonesians. At first glance, this ethnic group can be classified as ‘developed’ at least economically, however when investigated further, systemic political and cultural exclusion has harmed their full human development. The case of Chinese-Indonesians reflects Amartya Sen’s argument in ‘Development as Freedom (1999), that wealth is only one aspect of human development. However care should be taken when considering the Chinese-Indonesian case. Generalisations should not be made about the harms that can result from assimilation policies as they were formulated during the Cold War. Assimilation is still important but should not be coercive and ensure multiple identities (such as ethnic and national identity) can coexist. This research report also uses right to development as framework. It concludes that the right to development may not be inclusive to Chinese-Indonesians’ situations because it still narrow down development as ‘growth’.Item Language change : linguistic imperialism or empowerment? : observations on the use of English in contemporary urban Samoa : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Social Anthropology at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand(Massey University, 2014) Vague, PhillipaEnglish is widely considered to be a global language, the lingua franca of the modern world, and the language of globalisation. For some cultures, this English imperialism equates to the loss of their indigenous language(s). Amidst growing concerns that language loss is occurring in the Pacific, this research seeks to explore the use and purpose of English in contemporary urban Samoa, and considers the effect this is having on Gagana Samoa – the Samoan language. Drawing on Pierre Bourdieu’s practice theory, this study argues that English occupies an important place in Samoan society as it possesses symbolic and economic capital which can be utilised by both individuals and family units, within Samoa and overseas. Furthermore I explore the role of music in English language acquisition and use, and assert that music is a means of gaining symbolic capital within Samoan society. Finally I discuss Samoan perspectives of language change and consider the future of the English and Samoan languages in Apia. The fieldwork for this research was conducted over a period of six weeks in the village of Moata’a, and the wider Apia area in Upolu, Samoa. My research methods consisted of participant observation, discussions with key informants and informal interviews. I also carried out observations at three early educational establishments, Sunday school, preschool and primary school.
