Abstract

This paper explores the social dynamics that impact on organisational partnerships between indigenous peoples’, immigrant peoples’ and mainstream organisations. Specifically this paper will address how such trans-cultural partnerships are formed and maintained. To do this the paper describes and analyses trans-cultural partnerships in practice in New Zealand, using Das and Teng’s (2001) trust, risk and control schema, focusing on what works, why it works and outlines strategies to enable the implementation of such partnerships to other sites. The research will be a resource for those working in community development organisations specifically and social service organisations in general, who intend to enter into trans-cultural partnerships. The contextual background to this study is the recent history of pluralistic development of social services within New Zealand and much of the western world. New Zealand, like the United Kingdom, made a major policy shift (1999 - present) towards a “third way” democratic pluralist approach to social development. Under this approach Maori (indigenous peoples) and other ethnic organisations have developed to meet the social service and health needs of their people as an alternative to state organisations or mainstream NGOs.