Identity crisis: social sustainability, identity and the domestic purposes benefit

Abstract

The concept of sustainability has increased in prominence since 1987, when the Brundtland Report placed the term on to the global agenda. In 1991, New Zealand entrenched sustainable management into legislation in the Resource Management Act. To date, most discussion on sustainability has emphasised the tension between the ecological and economic dimensions of the problematique, whilst largely ignoring the social component. I argue in this thesis that because social sustainability is fundamentally concerned with human behaviour, processes and values, it is essential for the development of sustainable systems. This thesis attempts to bridge the gap between the rhetoric of sustainability and social policy in a New Zealand context by investigating the processes of the New Zealand Social Welfare Department. I focus on the identity construction of women on the Domestic Purposes Benefit and the implications for the development of socially sustainable systems. An historical context is provided, and the current institutional processes are examined. The relationship between the sustainability debate and social policy is developed, and an analysis and conclusions as to the sustainability of the welfare system for single mothers are drawn.