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Abstract
Sociology is applied in New Zealand in numerous ways to planning, resource management and social change through social impact assessment (SIA). Sociological thinking and thinkers have played a significant part in the development of SIA since the late 1970s. This article traces the genesis of SIA in major energy projects, through neo-liberal restructuring to recent applications, and examines, in particular, the issues for sociologists in the nexus between theory and practice.
Introduction
From an earnest beginning in the era of "think big" economic development, to the neo-liberal era of private sector applications, to the adversarial context of the Resource Management Act since 1991, sociology has been applied to planning, resource management and social change in New Zealand. The general term for this activity is social impact assessment (SIA). SIA can be, and often is, defined narrowly as a technique for predicting the social impacts of projects, and is closely associated with environmental impact assessment (EIA). The field, however, is now recognised by most practitioners as a combination of social research, social monitoring and social development activities. SIA is regarded as a broad engagement with the social consequences of development, one incorporating interdisciplinary concerns about sustainable development, human rights and urban and rural futures (Esteves, et al., 2012). Social science, and particularly sociology, lies at the core of SIA practice (Fitzgerald, 2001).
In this article we present a partial history of SIA in New Zealand, focusing on its application to resource community change and development since the 1970s. Our account draws on our own professional, project-based experience, informal conversations with New Zealand SIA practitioners and several published historical commentaries (Buchan and Rivers, 1990; Fitzgerald, 2001; Memon and Morgan, 2001; Taylor et al., 2004). Initial ideas for the article were presented and discussed at the New Zealand Association for Impact Assessment (NZAIA) conference in Wellington in December 2015. Of considerable interest in the history of SIA in New Zealand is the cross-fertilisation, over time, between sociologists based in different work environments, including central government, universities, regional and local government, private sector firms and self-employed researchers. With no single institutional base, this area of applied sociology has adapted to different demands and work environments over time, ranging from central government policy-making, to land-use planning, academic teaching...