"Integration" is a highly emotive term in New Zealand primarily because it is associated with a government policy that is clearly anything but "true" integration. The big problem seems to be the rather slipshod way the concept is employed. Sometimes one is speaking of cultural integration, again of socioeconomic integration, more likely biological or racial assimilation. These separate dimensions are, then, not considered. One process (e.g. miscegenation) does not, ipso facto, lead to another (e.g. deculturation). Without qualification, the term "integration" is meaningless in explaining anything about culture contact and the complex processes of change and adaptation. Maoris in New Zealand show some tendency toward achieving a kind of cultural integration at the national level; and New Zealand is remarkably successful in giving the Maori room for such cultural expression. However, at the micro-cultural (subcultural) level, Maoris seem to prefer a kind of democratic pluralism. Integration at this level is seen as a threat to their cultural integrity and hence, an undermining of their ethnic identification. [This document is reproduced from the best copy available; parts may not be clearly legible in both hard copy and microfiche.] (Author/JM)