'Reddish eddying waters' : a study of work, gender and class consciousness in a working class town

Abstract

The work and workers in the industrial town of Mataura, Eastern Southland, New Zealand provide the focus for this ethnographic study. Drawing on extensive fieldwork involving both participant observation and quantitative techniques this study considers local understandings of work, gender and class and provides an insight into the multiplicity of meanings which constitute the cultural life of men and women in this New Zealand working-class town. More specifically, this ethnography describes and interprets the work histories and contemporary work practices of the men and women of Mataura and considers emergent themes relating to interactions between gender, class consciousness, ethnic and generational identities.