How socially cohesive was New Zealand’s first lockdown period from the perspective of culturally diverse older New Zealanders?

Abstract

ABSTRACT Aotearoa, New Zealand’s (NZ) initial pandemic response has been held up internationally as a model of social cohesion and compassion, made salient by the ‘team of five million’ messaging promoted by the New Zealand government. This paper considers whether the first New Zealand COVID-19 lockdown was viewed and experienced as socially cohesive from the perspective of diverse older New Zealanders. This study presents a deductive analysis based on 44 individual or group interviews with Māori, Pacific, Chinese, Korean and New Zealand European (NZE) people aged 60 and over. This paper presents a critical, intersectional discussion around social cohesion experienced by older New Zealanders during lockdown, by considering their views and experiences of belongingness, legitimacy, recognition, inclusion and participation. We suggest that New Zealand European participants benefited most from national appeals for solidarity and reported enhanced feelings of belongingness and inclusion. Māori, Chinese, Korean and Pacific experienced belongingness and inclusion primarily on a community level owing to the culturally-specific support they received. We conclude that future pandemic planning should aim to strengthen targeted culturally-specific community initiatives already in action whilst improving aspects of inclusion and participation for all older New Zealanders.