Facultad de la entidad para cobrar intereses, honorarios y servicios adicionales.

This community development project had been developed by the social service and community development arm of a Roman Catholic order of nuns, here after known as project 'Y'. Its central aim was community empowerment and its focus was a particular low-income community (here after known as ' A') within a defined geographical area in Auckland. At that stage they had gone through a three-year consultation process with community members and organisations to develop the concept, philosophy and aims. The project had been conceptually developed but not yet implemented. Proposed strategies included adult education and skills development of people living in the area, and policy advocacy around community identified issues. Its central methods were those of community development.

As the interests and aims of 'V' were compatible to those of the research, it was agreed to introduce me to community organisations within the area that would have direct contact with local residents who might be interested in the project. Eventually a member of that order (hereafter known as 'B') who lived in 'A' and was in the dual roles of 'Y working party' member and local community worker agreed to introduce me to a group of women living in the area. She thought it possible that these women could be interested in forming an advocacy group. 'B' also later agreed to co-facilitate the group with me.

'A' is an ethnically diverse area relative to other parts of Auckland and has large Pacific, Maori and European communities living within it, many of whom are migrants with English as their second language. It has a large concentration of state owned houses, high unemployment rates and some serious social problems (unreferenced report)43. Among residents' concerns are limited employment opportunities in the area, high crime rates and poor quality, unaffordable housing (unreferenced report). Kinship networks, churches and community organisations provide a sense of community and belonging for many ' A' residents. At the same time ethnic and religious factions exist within the community and some residents are isolated by Issues of poverty and associated feelings of shame. The area has high proportions of children and young people. Perceptions by economically and culturally dominant communities are often stigmatising, labelling the area as "crime-ridden" and "notorious" (unreferenced report). Despite these barriers to self-determination, ' A' has several churches and other community organisations that provide focal points for 'sense of community'. Many residents do large amounts of voluntary work (unreferenced report) and there are some significant initiatives within the area whose main resources are enthusiasm and community spirit.

At the commencement of the research project, 'B' had l ived and worked within community 'A' for several years. She had strong community networks and well established relationships with many local residents. ' B ' had run a women's refuge, small-scale food and clothing bank and had faci litated group progammes of various sorts for a number of years. Her home had always served as a place that local residents could drop into for a chat and some support if it was needed. As a member of the local church clergy, she filled a role of spiritual guide for many local residents. As a community worker she was often in a development role within the community and was regarded by many residents as someone they trusted and relied upon. 'B' had worked to build strong local networks, particularly among residents in the area who were socially i solated.

WAG contained several different identity groupings in ethnicity (Tongan, Samoan, Palangi), sexuality, spiritual or religious beliefs and whether or not members were mothers. Relationships between group members at the commencement of the group reflected those already described within the wider 'A' community, in that both alliances and factions existed. Two of the women came from the same village in Tonga, others shared kinship networks and some had done personal development courses together. At the same time underlying tensions and estrangements existed across ethnicity and religion within the group, and two of the women were particularly isolated by poverty and lack of social support.

Formation of the Women 's Advocacy Group

' B ' and I began meeting with some of women l iving in the area on a weekly basis. All of these women l ived on low incomes and the majority were migrants from Samoa and Tonga. I explained that I was doing research at Massey University around poverty, human rights and how people living on low incomes could work together to speak out on and help to improve their living situations. As a part of the research I was interested in being a member of a women's advocacy group who spoke out about problems of low income and that took some action to improve the living situations of their communities. I added that I wanted the research to have some good and practical results for people facing issues of poverty. Some of the women in the group were immediately very responsive. We spent several weeks discussing the sorts of issues they faced in relation to low-income, talking about the idea of a women's advocacy research group and getting to know one another. It took some time to arrive at a mutual understanding of what the advocacy research project could be about and there were tensions within this process. Both the advocacy and research aspects of the group's activities were discussed. The research

aspects of the project centred around the activities that we as a group might engage in, rather than the theoretical questions of my PhD research. When it became evident that there was interest in forming an advocacy group, we set ground rules and began discussing how we m ight go about the advocacy research project. During this time, I also took any opportunity I could to go to community meetings and have contact with the women outside of the group.

Group numbers fluctuated throughout the entire advocacy research process. The length of this fieldwork component (sixteen months) and the demands it made of the participants were difficult to reconcile with the everyday demands and changing circumstances of their lives. Particularly within the first few weeks of the project, membership (research participants) and numbers changed as people self selected themselves in or out of the group. While participants were initially easy to recruit through the community worker from project 'B', they were harder to maintain. Research participants themselves did most of the participant recruitment. They also maintained group numbers at times when other participants questioned the value of the project and what it was that we were doing - which they did especially when progress was slow.

Levels of inquiry

The research conducted with WAG consisted of two levels of inquiry that drew on participatory and action-reflection methodologies. The first level was initiated and largely carried out by myself in consultation with group members. It related to the research questions posited in chapter one and contributed towards the theoretical story of agency argued throughout the thesis. In addition to recording stories of agency as they occurred within the l ives of tht' research participants, it employed a staged approach to evaluating the community development or methods of agency developed by WAG and myself. These evaluations occurred at the conclusion of each action phase.

The second level of inquiry consisted of the community issue (or problem) that group members identified they wanted to change or improve. The group identified child health and safety in relation to the conditions of the state-owned houses in which they were tenants. Research on this issue conducted by the women, formed the basis of the group's advocacy activities. The focus of this second line of inquiry strengthened as the life of the group progressed and members thought about what they would like to change. This level of investigation emphasised participatory methods. Co-participants became researchers themselves, identifying the issue to be investigated, types of research questions and data collection methods. They participated in

the analysis and interpretation of the research and presented the results to their communities. Due to time constraints on group members' participation that had to be balanced with the need to act strategically and decisively within the policy debate environment, rigorous action research principles were less adhered to at this level of the inquiry. Group evaluations of our actions and planning took p lace on an ad hoc basis as people were able to participate. This is consistent with literature (Pederson, Edwards, Marshall, Allison, & Kelner, 1 988) regarding public participation in policy development that highlights the tensions between participation of economically marginalised communities, and the strategic approach required to influence policy in an environment of competing interest groups. It is also consistent with PAR literature (Magu ire , 1 993 ; Martin, 1 996) that highlights the difficulties encountered by communities at the economic and cultural margins (particularly women), in participating in evaluation and planning activities due to lack of resources and role expectations. At this level of inquiry, my role with the group was more as resource person in supporting members to identify and research the issues they wished to take action on. This also meant teaching the other research participants to conduct their own research on housing.

Supporting structures and their role in the evolution of the overall investigation

Over this formative period of the research, a number of structures were established for the purpose of supporting and guiding the research. A community advisory group was formed made up of representatives from WAG, community workers in community ' A ' and members of 'Y"s working party. The purpose of this group was to assist in guiding the overall development of the research, to advise on local cultural and development issues and to ensure accountability to the relevant groups and organisations in community ' A' . A small planning group made up of two WAG members, ' B ' and myself was also formed for the purpose of planning WAG's activities. I also established a supervisory relationship with a TonganlFijian woman for the purpose of giving me cultural advice. My experiences with WAG, my meetings with the community advisory and planning groups and my cultural supervisor were influential in shaping the direction of the overall investigation.

Discussions with the community advisory group led me to attempt a planned comparative piece of research44 with another group of immigrant women from the Pacific Islands living in a housing shelter in another Auckland suburb. This housing shelter was also affiliated with project 'V' and its employees were already engaged in advocacy and policy debate on the

related issues of poverty and housing. 'Y"s working party members expressed some ettthusiasm regarding the potential of a second group of people directly affected by issues of poverty becoming involved in advocacy and policy debate. However despite several attempts, this second advocacy research project never got underway. The possibility of starting up another women' s advocacy group in community 'A' was also discussed with the members of the planning group for WAG. However, they felt that if a second group began, it would end up competing with WAG, particularly if members were also from Pacific Island countries.

The dual roles of community researcher and developer, which I now fi lled with WAG, were proving very demanding. It began to look likely that WAG would be engaging in policy debate and community action around housing issues in the future. These two factors led to my decision to look for another advocacy group (research participants), but one engaged in housing, already established and with which I could work alongside in a more traditional researcher's role, just collecting data.