Emeritus Professor Erik Olssen

ONZM, PhD (Duke), FRSNZ & FNZAH

Research Interests

My main interest is the relationships between politics, society, ideas, culture, and economics. The ways in which they produce the lives of individuals and their societies has been a particular interest. Most of my research has been on New Zealand history and to a lesser extent the history of the United States, although comparative analyses within specific fields have often waylaid me. Since the late 1970s labour history and social history more generally have been my major research areas.

The 'Caversham Project' has taken up much of my time since 1995. This project, which brings together labour and social history perspectives, has had two distinct phases. The first phase focussed on 'Urban Society and the Opportunity Structure', identifying the structures of social and geographical mobility and their inter-relationship with residential differentiation. The second phase, which focused on gender rather than class but continued to investigate structures and the ways in which they have changed, resulted in Sites of Gender, edited by Barbara Brookes, Annabel Cooper and Robin Law (Auckland University Press, 2003). The third phase focuses on marital, inter-generational and worklife mobility in An Accidental Utopia? Social Mobility and the Foundations of an Egalitarian Society. When that is finished I hope to return to my history of New Zealand.

Publications

Olssen, E. (2024). [Review of the book Blood & dirt: Prison labour and the making of New Zealand]. New Zealand Journal of History, 58(1), 139-141. Retrieved from https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/426/article/926836/summary Journal - Research Other

Reilly, M., & Olssen, E. (2018). Te Tūtakitanga o ngā Tāngata: The meeting of peoples. In M. Reilly, S. Duncan, G. Leoni, L. Paterson, L. Carter, M. Rātima & P. Rewi (Eds.), Te Kōparapara: An introduction to the Māori world. (pp. 158-179). Auckland, New Zealand: Auckland University Press. Chapter in Book - Research

Olssen, E. (2017). [Review of the book The big smoke: New Zealand cities 1840-1920]. New Zealand Journal of History, 51(1), 222-223. [Book Review]. Journal - Research Other

Olssen, E. (2015, July). The significance of human differences: Race and culture as concepts for understanding the diverse peoples of the Pacific, 1750-1914. Keynote presentation at the 21st Annual Conference of the New Zealand Studies Association: Empires and Cultures of the Pacific, Vienna, Austria. Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

Olssen, E. (2011). Towards a reassessment of W.F. Massey: One of New Zealand's greatest prime ministers (arguably). In J. Watson & L. Paterson (Eds.), A great New Zealand prime minister? Reappraising William Ferguson Massey. (pp. 15-30). Dunedin, New Zealand: Otago University Press. Chapter in Book - Research

2024

Journal - Research Other

2018

Chapter in Book - Research

2017

Journal - Research Other

Olssen, E. (2017). [Review of the book The big smoke: New Zealand cities 1840-1920]. New Zealand Journal of History, 51(1), 222-223. [Book Review].

2015

Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

2011

Authored Book - Research

Olssen, E., Griffen, C., & Jones, F. (2011). An accidental utopia? Social mobility and the foundations of an egalitarian society, 1880-1940. Dunedin, New Zealand: Otago University Press, 334p.

Chapter in Book - Research

Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

Olssen, E. (2011, February). Reflecting on a history of Otago. Verbal presentation at the Otago: The Making of a Colonial Culture Symposium, Dunedin, New Zealand.

2008

Journal - Research Article

Olssen, E., & Scates, B. (2008). Class formation and political change: A trans-tasman dialogue. Labour History, 95, 3-24.

Journal - Research Other

Olssen, E. (2008). [Review of the book The New Zealand family from 1840: A demographic history. New Zealand Journal of History, 42(1), 101-102.

2006

Chapter in Book - Research

Olssen, E. (2006). What if the strikers at Waihi had triumphed? In S. Levine (Ed.), New Zealand as it might have been. (pp. 93-108). Wellington, New Zealand: Victoria University Press.

Olssen, E. (2006). Dunedin: No mean city. In K. Gentry & G. McLean (Eds.), Heartlands: New Zealand historians write about places where history happened. (pp. 145-164). Auckland, New Zealand: Penguin Books.

2005

Authored Book - Research

Olssen, E., & Hickey, M. (2005). Class and occupation: The New Zealand reality. Dunedin, New Zealand: University of Otago Press, 313p.

Edited Book - Research

Fairburn, M., & Olssen, E. (Eds.). (2005). Class, gender and the vote: Historical perspectives from New Zealand. Dunedin, New Zealand: University of Otago Press.

Chapter in Book - Research

Olssen, E. (2005). 'For better or worse': Marriage patterns in Dunedin's southern subur. In Class, gender and the vote: Historical perspectives from New Zealand. (pp. 75-100). Dunedin, New Zealand: University of Otago Press.

Fairburn, M., & Olssen, E. (2005). Introduction. In Class, gender and the vote: Historical perspectives from New Zealand. (pp. 7-14). Dunedin, New Zealand: University of Otago Press.

2004

Chapter in Book - Research

Olssen, E., & Reilly, M. P. J. (2004). Te tūtakitanga o ngā ao e rua: Early contacts between two worlds. In T. M. Ka'ai, J. C. Moorfield, M. P. J. Reilly & S. Mosley (Eds.), Ki te Whaiao: An introduction to Māori culture and society. (pp. 140-150). Auckland, New Zealand: Pearson Longman.

2003

Chapter in Book - Research

Cooper, A., Olssen, E., Thomlinson, K., & Law, R. (2003). The landscape of gender politics: Place, people and two mobilisations. In B. Brookes, A. Cooper & R. Law (Eds.), Sites of gender: Women, men and modernity in Southern Dunedin, 1890-1939. (pp. 15-49). Auckland University Press.

Brookes, B. L., Olssen, E., & Beer, E. (2003). Spare time? Leisure, gender and modernity. In B. Brookes, A. Cooper & R. Law (Eds.), Sites of gender: Women, men and modernity in Southern Dunedin, 1890-1939. (pp. 151-189). Auckland University Press.

Olssen, E. (2003). Working gender, gendering work: Occupational change and continuity in Southern Dunedin. In B. Brookes, A. Cooper & R. Law (Eds.), Sites of gender: Women, men and modernity in Southern Dunedin, 1890-1939. (pp. 50-90). Auckland University Press.

2002

Chapter in Book - Research

Olssen, E. (2002). New Zealand in the American Century. In R. Rabel (Ed.), The American Century? In Retrospect and Prospect. (pp. 175-192). Westfield, CT: Praeger Publishers.

Olssen, E. (2002). ANZUS: the New Zealand Perspective, 1951-2001. In P. Bastian & R. Bell (Eds.), Through Depression and War: Australia and the United States. (pp. 143-155). Sydney: Australian-American Fulbright Commission.

2000

Chapter in Book - Research

Isaac, P., & Olssen, E. (2000). The justification for Labour's housing scheme: The discourse of "the slum". In B. Brookes (Ed.), At Home in New Zealand: History, Houses, People. (pp. 107-124). Wellington: Bridget Williams Books.

1999

Chapter in Book - Research

Olssen, E. N. (1999). Politics during the provincial period in Otago & Southland, 1853-76. In P. Sorrell (Ed.), The Cyclopeaedia of Otago and Southland. (pp. 81-84). Dunedin: Dundein City Council / Longacre Press.

Olssen, E. N. (1999). Families and the gendering of European New Zealand in the colonial period, 1840-80. In C. Daley & D. Montgomerie (Eds.), The Gendered Kiwi. (pp. 37-62). Auckland: Auckland University Press.

Journal - Research Article

Olssen, E. N., Brooking, T., Heenan, L. D., James, H. B., McLennan, B. R., & Griffen, C. C. (1999). Urban society and the opportunity structure in New Zealand, 1902-22: The Caversham project. Social History, 24(1), 39-54.

Olssen, E. N., & James, H. B. (1999). Social Mobility and Class Formation: the worklife social mobility of men in a New Zealand suburb, 1902-1928. International Review of Social History, 44(4), 419-448.

1998

Chapter in Book - Research

Olssen, E. N., & Ryan, S. (1998). Jones, Frederick, 1884-1966. In Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, Vol 4, 1921-1940. (pp. 255-256). Auckland/Wellington: Auckland University Press/Dept of Internal Affairs.

Olssen, E. N. (1998). Fraser and Lee. In M. Clark (Ed.), Peter Fraser: Prime Minister. (pp. 27-44). Palmerston North: The Dunmore Press.

Olssen, E. N. (1998). Babies for the Empire. In M. Crocket & T. Snow (Eds.), The Listener Bedside Book No. 2. (pp. 84-90). Auckland: W & H Publications.

Olssen, E. N. (1998). New Zealand-Australia Relations. In G. Davison, J. Hirst & S. MacIntyre (Eds.), Oxford Companion to Australian History. (pp. 466-467). Oxford and Melbourne: Oxford University Press.

Olssen, E. N. (1998). Robert Slater. In Southern People: A Dictionary of Otago Southland Biography. (pp. 460-461). Dunedin: Longacre Press and Dunedin City Council.

Olssen, E. N. (1998). Mark Silverstone. In Southern People: A Dictionary of Otago Southland Biography. (pp. 455-456). Dunedin: Longacre Press and Dunedin City Council.

Olssen, E. N. (1998). Fred Rayner. In Southern People: A Dictionary of Otago Southland Biography. (pp. 410). Dunedin: Longacre Press and Dunedin City Council.

Olssen, E. N. (1998). James Munro and Peter Neilson. In Southern People: A Dictionary of Otago Southland Biography. (pp. 357). Dunedin: Longacre Press and Dunedin City Council.

Olssen, E. N. (1998). A H McLintock. In Southern People: A Dictionary of Otago Southland Biography. (pp. 317). Dunedin: Longacre Press and Dunedin City Council.

Olssen, E. N., & Cooper, A. (1998). John A Lee. In Southern People: A Dictionary of Otago Southland Biography. (pp. 279-280). Dunedin: Longacre Press and Dunedin City Council.

Olssen, E. N. (1998). Edgar Hunter. In Southern People: A Dictionary of Otago Southland Biography. (pp. 241). Dunedin: Longacre Press and Dunedin City Council.

Olssen, E. N. (1998). James Fletcher. In Southern People: A Dictionary of Otago Southland Biography. (pp. 165). Dunedin: Longacre Press and Dunedin City Council.

Olssen, E. N. (1998). William Earnshaw. In Southern People: A Dictionary of Otago Southland Biography. (pp. 144). Dunedin: Longacre Press and Dunedin City Council.

Olssen, E. N. (1998). John Child. In Southern People: A Dictionary of Otago Southland Biography. (pp. 93). Dunedin: Longacre Press and Dunedin City Council.

Olssen, E. N. (1998). Steve Boreham. In Southern People: A Dictionary of Otago Southland Biography. (pp. 53). Dunedin: Longacre Press and the Dunedin City Council.

Olssen, E. N. (1998). Lee, John Alfred Alexander, 1891-1982. In Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, vol 4, 1921-1940. (pp. 284-286). Auckland/Wellington: Auckland University Press/Dept of Internal Affairs.

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Full paper

Olssen, E. N. (1998). The Reconstruction of a Community: The Caversham Project. In N. J. Bethune (Ed.), Work 'n' Pastimes: 150 years of pain and pleasure, labour and leisure, proceedings of the 1998 conference of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists held at the University of Otago, Dunedin 10th-13th April 1998. (pp. 461-474). Dunedin: New Zealand Society of Genealogists. [Full Paper]

1997

Authored Book - Other

Stenson, M., & Olssen, E. (1997). A Century of Change: New Zealand 1800-1900, 2nd edition. Auckland: Longman, 366p.

Journal - Research Article

Olssen, E. N. (1997). Mr Wakefield and New Zealand as an experiment in post-Enlightenment experimental practice. New Zealand Journal of History, 31(2), 197-218.

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Full paper

Olssen, E. N. (1997). Wakefield and the Scottish Enlightenment, with particular reference to Adam Smith and his Wealth of Nations. Edward Gibbon Wakefield and the Colonial Dream: a Reconsideration. (pp. 47-66). Wellington: GP Publications. [Full Paper]

1996

Chapter in Book - Research

Olssen, E. N. (1996). Friendly Societies in New Zealand, 1840-1990. In M. van der Linden (Ed.), Social Security Mutualism: The Comparative History of Mutual Benefit Societies. (pp. 177-208). Bern: Peter Lang.

Olssen, E. N. (1996). Dunedin. In International Dictionary of Historic Places: Vol.5, Asia and Oceania. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers.

1995

Chapter in Book - Research

Olssen, E. N. (1995). Nouvelle-ZTlande. In M. Dreyfus & B. Gibaud (Eds.), MutualitT de Tous Pays 'Un PassT' Riche d'Avenour. (pp. 321-334). Paris: MutualitT Frantaise.

1988

Journal - Research Article

Boyd, J., & Olssen, E. N. (1988). The Skilled Workers: Journeymen and Masters in Caversham, 1880-1914. New Zealand Journal of History, 22 (Oct. 1, 118-135.