Kia ora koutou and welcome everyone to this week’s New Zealand newsletter.

I’ve just returned from a brief break, which makes me appreciate this week’s article about our obsession with performance even more. Ben Walker, at Victoria University of Wellington, and Dan Caprar, at the University of Sydney, explore how much work shapes our sense of self. They argue that it is not only what we do, but how good we are at doing it that increasingly influences how we see ourselves - in some cases so strongly that we come to see our performance as a key part of who we are.

Identity is also the topic of a piece by Anoosh Soltani, at the University of Waikato, and Hannah Thinyane, at the United Nations University, who have interviewed young Muslim women living in New Zealand to find out how they combine faith and modesty with a sense of fashion to break down stereotypes of oppression.

And Dominic O'Sullivan, at Charles Sturt University, looks at a recent Waitangi Tribunal report on New Zealand’s primary health care system, which found that despite clear intentions, the state fails to deliver good outcomes for Māori - because it does not stand aside to allow Māori self-determination.

You’ll find plenty more on the New Zealand page and in the selection of articles from The Conversation’s international editions below. If you know somebody who would enjoy this newsletter, feel free to forward this email. They can subscribe here. Thank you for reading. Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou.