Precarious migration and cultural nuance in re-articulations of active citizenship

This chapter presents two case studies of migrant communities in Aotearoa New Zealand – one Pacific-Tongan (case study 1) and the other Asian-Korean (case study 2) – highlighting how they navigate and rearticulate precarity and citizenship in culturally nuanced ways. Rather than simply conforming to status-based or legalistic models of citizenship, both communities engage in what can be understood as relational and cultural citizenship, emphasising meaningful participation in community life, collective well-being, and the shaping of future possibilities. The analysis foregrounds the relational nature of poverty and exclusion, illustrating how systemic marginalisation intersects with economic, political, and gendered dimensions of migrants’ everyday lives. In this context, citizenship becomes a conditional and contested space that migrants must re-negotiate and reconfigure. Importantly, the case studies reveal the role of cultural continuity in enabling migrant communities to sustain belonging and buffer one another against the impacts of structural precarity.