THE IMPACTS OF RESOURCE SECTOR RESTRUCTURING ON OCCUPATIONAL AND COMMUNITY IDENTITY By

SIA is generally focussed on assessing the potential or actual effects of projects, programmes and policies in the shorter term. There are, however, important longer term impacts that can eventuate and require attention in strategic applications of SIA. This paper examines the longer-term social impacts of resource sector restructuring in rural New Zealand. Previous research showed that natural-resource based communities experienced a wide range of social impacts as a result of both government and private sector restructuring during last two decades. Ongoing research has focussed on changes in the inter-relationships between work, business ownership and transfer, and community change. Of particular interest is the transformation of work by new technology and management practices, with implications for occupational identity and community life. Individual and family work histories obtained from in-depth personal interviews are being used to identity and describe the changing nature of work in natural resource based production and processing industries. Individual experiences are analysed in the context of community change through community case studies. Of particular interest are changes in the way skills are developed and transferred by individuals and groups through families and community structures to reinforce occupational and community identity. Preliminary results show that industry restructuring, economic diversification and increased individual and occupational mobility have weakened occupational and community identity. These results will interest agencies, industry groups, training organisations, and facilitators of communitybased development, who attempt a strategic approach to social and economic change.