Recent historical studies of migration have demonstrated an encouraging willingness to engage with theoretical perspectives derived from other disciplines. Tanja Bueltmann's thorough and nuanced understanding of theory means that this book has implications not only for historians of the Scottish diaspora or New Zealand but also for scholars of migration in general. Recognizing the importance of comparative methodologies championed by Angela McCarthy and others, Bueltmann focuses on the structure, content, and function of Scottish ethnic associational culture in New Zealand and demonstrates how tangible diasporic connections emerged between a Scottish homeland and migrant communities of settlement. Moreover, Bueltmann makes an important argument about the relationship between ethnic associationalism and the “host” society; the various Scottish associations she analyzes, rather than hardening boundaries between migrants and their new communities, in fact, drew them closer together, integrating Scots into New Zealand society.

The book begins with an overview of Scottish migration and diasporic identity before shifting its attention to the diverse range of associational culture devised by Scots in New Zealand, focusing especially on settlement in Oamaru, Wairarapa, Dunedin, and Wellington. Each chapter is both framed by and infused with theoretical perspectives. In the book's introduction, Bueltmann roots her research in discussions of ethnicity and identity, building in particular on T. C. Smout's model of Scottish identity in creating her own “circles of belonging” model (10), designed to capture the range of identities of those who consciously identified as ethnic Scots in New Zealand. Chapter 1 establishes the context of Scottish emigration to New Zealand, drawing on the important research of Rebecca Lenihan in identifying five immigrant phases during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and demonstrating the size and scope of the Scottish migrant tradition. Engaging in an impressive analysis of 784 migrant letters, the book's second chapter examines the “most immediate circle of belonging” (42), the experiences and identities of individual migrants. Bueltmann explores how personal correspondence can function as a locus of identity and memory, creating informal networks and connecting migrants back to their old homeland.

The next four chapters broaden the book's focus, engaging with the book's principal purpose of examining Scottish associational culture in New Zealand. In chapter 3, Bueltmann does this through a case study of Caledonian societies in the colony, tracing their emergence in the 1860s, the peak of their success in the late 1870s and 1880s, and their eventual decline in the 1890s. Caledonian societies in New Zealand differed from similar Scottish associations in other parts of the diaspora in their emphasis on sports, rather than philanthropy, as their main activity. Bueltmann argues that these Caledonian societies were open and inclusive in terms of their membership, whereas later Scottish associations held a far narrower, more culturally defined notion of Scottish identity. Chapter 4 is, arguably, the most original and important chapter in this book, providing a genuinely innovative account of how associations underpinned broader networks that, in turn, gave Scots the social capital to engage with “wider civic life” (120) in New Zealand. Bueltmann assesses the composition and function of Scottish associations, providing a detailed analysis of the social background of members of clubs and societies and establishing the diverse nature of the Scottish ethnic community in New Zealand. Certain geographical areas and particular associations drew their membership more heavily from Highland backgrounds than others. For example, in Dunedin, Bueltmann discovers that the membership of the city's Gaelic Society was far more Highland than their counterparts in Dunedin's Burns Club. The core of this chapter focuses on a fascinating discussion of how Scots made use of ethnic associations to forge networks and foster social capital. Figures such as Henry Aitken, the first president of the Caledonian Society in Oamaru, developed relationships through his Scottish associationalism, which mixed “civic and political connections with commercial and business links” (117). Illustrated with excellent diagrams, Bueltmann lays out, with impressive detail and clarity, how belonging to associations gave Scots in New Zealand substantial social capital, which was essential in creating a new life for migrants beyond the confines of the ethnic community.

Chapters 5 and 6 shift this book's focus from the agency of migrants and the structure of their associations to Scots' activities in Caledonian and other societies. Focusing on the development of Caledonian games, chapter 5 provides further evidence to substantiate Bueltmann's contention that Scottish ethnic associations provided migrants with a “way in” to civic life in New Zealand. Caledonian games became popular from the 1860s onward, attracting spectators and competitors from outside the ethnic community. Commemorations and organizations associated with the poet Robert Burns are examined in chapter 6. Bueltmann makes use of various aspects of memory theory to explore the material, social, and mental aspects of memory associated with Burns Night suppers and Burns statues. The emergence of Burns clubs heralded a new, more cultural associationalism in New Zealand, which reemphasized both an exclusive Scottish identity and “an integrative Britishness” (177). The book's final chapter explores the active, dynamic relationship between Scotland and the migrant community in New Zealand. Bueltmann exhibits a convincing engagement with recent theory, meeting recent calls to establish the precise meaning of the term diaspora. Particularly impressive is her ability to demonstrate that transnational communications did enable the forging of tangible political and cultural connections between the homeland and the diaspora, successfully placing New Zealand in the context of a “wider Scottish world” (183). Through philanthropic schemes to raise money for relief efforts “back home,” engagement with crofters' politics from the 1880s onward, and emigration schemes, New Zealand Scots felt a palpable sense of connection back to “auld Scotia.”

Bueltmann's book, then, is ultimately successful in demonstrating that Scots in New Zealand were far from being the “invisible ethnics” of popular and scholarly perception. While a more thorough discussion of how these associations were gendered would have been welcome, this is an important book, rooted in impressive research, and it demonstrates how a study of associational culture has much to offer scholars of migration and diaspora.