Pasifika edgewalkers: complicating the achieved identity status in youth research

This paper is a brief account of my studies in New Zealand/Aotearoa and the USA regarding the achieved identity status of youth of multiple, transient and diasporic cultural backgrounds. Diaspora, in the context of this paper, refers to ‘a mix or fusion of cultures which express new ethnic identities and which cut across … class, region, age, gender and sexuality’ (G Bhattacharyya, J. Gabrïel & S. Small ( 2002 Bhattacharyya G Gabriel J Small S (2002) Race and Power: global racism in the twenty‐first century (London, Routledge) [Google Scholar] ) Race and Power: global racism in the twenty‐first century (London, Routledge), p. 140). The thesis is that an examination of the sociocultural and psychological implications of the achieved identity status for youth of diasporic backgrounds in the USA can assist in recognising and understanding the way youth of the Pacific diaspora in New Zealand/Aotearoa may be reaching their achieved identities, if at all.