Pipes, poos & politics: Moa Point & the Wellington sewerage system: a New Zealand study in environmental sociology

Abstract

This thesis develops a sociological perspective of environmental concerns in New Zealand through a case study of the Wellington/Moa Point sewerage system. It uses historical material, e.g newspapers, local government documents, periodical journals and secondary data, to produce its findings. The thesis argues that problems with the environment are first and foremost social problems, and what people understand as the environment is a product of inter group relationships and an outcome of social, economic and political debate. It concludes that concerns about the environment have led to the creation of a new social movement and greater participation by women in the political process. Added to this, the thesis affirms that new ideas for the construction of a socially acceptable sewerage system develop with time, are collectively created, and emerge as the final result of a social process. Social problems such as sewage disposal require social solutions because scientific or technical solutions only enlarge these problems. With the complex interplay between medicine, science and environmental groups, the environment has been medicalised but this does not prevent interest groups in society from inducing social change regardless of their economic class or status.