3 Framing ideas There are four key research ideas that inform this literature review. The first is that institutional racism exists, the second is that the Pacific Pay Gap contributes to social inequity, the third is the importance of an intersectional lens and the fourth is that the Pacific Pay Gap contravenes international human rights obligations. These framing ideas give an indication of the significant contributors to the Pacific Pay Gap and also the very real ramifications of the Pacific Pay Gap on Pacific peoples’ ability to experience an adequate standard of living and wellbeing at the very least. 3.1 Institutional racism Understanding the role that institutional racism plays in the creation and maintenance of the Pacific Pay Gap is vital to finding effective solutions.60 Pacific peoples report experiencing institutional racism that has a negative impact on their community.61 Research with Pacific peoples in Aotearoa New Zealand has found that perceived discrimination and structural racism are associated with poorer health and wellbeing, which ultimately impacts Pacific peoples’ ability to live well.62 Institutional racism is synonymous with structural racism, and the terms are used interchangeably throughout this literature review dependent on the term used in the source literature. Institutional racism is the notion that racism does not work solely on an individualto-individual level but instead is an overarching operation, a set of collective and systematic attitudes and policies that actively seek the oppression of racialised bodies63 through different social institutions.64 Understanding institutional racism brings awareness to the broader structures at play that ensure power imbalances. Institutional racism can occur in all spheres – for example, in politics, education and the criminal justice system and within the workforce. As a result, institutions such as schools, Police, businesses and healthcare facilities actively marginalise racialised bodies through their regulations, policies and overall culture, which is often connected to institutional habit.65 Institutional habit, or how a company or institution does things based on their foundational value systems, can contribute to or enforce institutional racism if the habits reward and/or encourage ‘white’ value systems.66 60 Ministry for Pacific Peoples. Pacific Employment Action Plan – Prosperous Pacific Communities. Wellington: Ministry for Pacific Peoples, 2020. https://www.mpp.govt.nz/assets/Ministers-and-Cabinet/Pacific-Employment-Action-Plan-Prosperous-PacificCommunities.pdf. 61 New Zealand Human Rights Commission. Talanoa: Human Rights Issues for Pacific Peoples in Aotearoa New Zealand. Wellington: New Zealand Human Rights Commission, 2020, 14. 62 Kapeli, Sarah, Sam Manuela, and Chris G. Sibley. “Perceived Discrimination is Associated with Poorer Health and Well-being Outcomes among Pacific peoples in New Zealand.” Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology 30, no. 2 (2020): 140. 63 Racialised bodies as a term provides a way to recognise how different skin tones come to be embedded with different characteristics and that this process changes how people and structures interact with an individual based on these meanings: Ahmed, Sara. “Racialised Bodies.” In Real Bodies, edited by Mary Evans and Ellie Lee. London: Palgrave, 2002, 46. 64 To clarify, institutional racism is distinct from other forms of racism such as interpersonal racism and internalised racism. See: Reid, Papaarangi, and Bridget Robson. “Understanding Health Inequities.” In Hauora: Māori Standards of Health IV: A Study of the Years 2000-2005, edited by Bridget Robson and Ricci Harris, 6. Wellington: Te Rōpū Rangahau Hauora a Eru Pōmare, 2007. 65 Ahmed, Sarah. On Being Included. Durham: Duke University Press, 2012, 39-42. 66 Ahmed, On Being Included, 26-37. Pacific Pay Gap Inquiry Literature Review 13