“This is us”: Free speech embedded in whiteness, racism and coloniality in Aotearoa, New Zealand

Elers, Christine; Jayan, Pooja

doi:10.1080/21689725.2020.1837654

Cited by 5 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…In contrast, the English version of The Treaty claims that Māori have ceded governance over our land and waters, however this was never agreed to by our rangatira/chiefs (Orange, 1987;Walker, 2004). This view is still the mainstream Pākehā perspective and it is upheld by many mainly Pākehā centrist and right-leaning politicians, as well as colonial and racist groups such as Hobsons Choice (Elers and Jayan, 2020). Only very recently, from the last 30 years onward, has the Crown begun to take notice of aspects of the Māori text of Te Tiriti through the Waitangi Tribunal, opting to still defer to the English version to justify land and water confiscations off Māori (Orange, 1987;Walker, 2004).…”

Section: Whenua Te Tiriti and Mana Motuhakementioning

confidence: 99%

Public Rāhui and Road Blocks in Aotearoa: Navigating Iwi/Hapū Perspectives and Mana Motuhake

Harvey

2022

JPP

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During the COVID-19 pandemic there have been wide-spread public debates over public access for walkers, cyclists and vehicles in relation to the land rights and the safety of iwi/hapu (Māori tribes and sub-tribes) in Aotearoa/New Zealand. This includes checkpoints or road blocks set up by iwi/hapu in rural areas to stop the spread of the pandemic (Harris and Williams, 2020; Ngata, 2020), and the ongoing rāhui or temporary ban on all forms of public access in regional conservation forests by Te Kawerau ā Maki iwi of Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland to stop the growth of the ecological pest kauri dieback by visitors. This article reflects on the complexities of these bans by considering public responses to them, including settler politics, discourses of rights and freedoms, and white supermacy. Consideration is given to the perspectives of iwi/hapu themselves and contingent histories (for instance Te Kawerau a Maki, 2020). This is reflected on through mana motuhake (authority, self-determination and agency), alongside Te Tiriti o Waitangi (Māori perspectives of the Treaty of Waitangi; Orange, 1987; Walker, 2004) and mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge).

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Section: Whenua Te Tiriti and Mana Motuhakementioning

confidence: 99%

Public Rāhui and Road Blocks in Aotearoa: Navigating Iwi/Hapū Perspectives and Mana Motuhake

Harvey

2022

JPP

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“…Instead, the country rushed to distance itself from white supremacy associations, most notably from the viral soundbite taken from the PM's speech. The hashtag's They Are Us overnight viral success served as an acknowledgement of New Zealanders' solidarity with Muslim citizens (Elers & Jayan, 2020). However, as Elers and Jayan (2020) argue, the hashtag represented an ideological tactic of whiteness, the default norm built into the infrastructures of New Zealand's polity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The hashtag's They Are Us overnight viral success served as an acknowledgement of New Zealanders' solidarity with Muslim citizens (Elers & Jayan, 2020). However, as Elers and Jayan (2020) argue, the hashtag represented an ideological tactic of whiteness, the default norm built into the infrastructures of New Zealand's polity. The authors argue that the hashtag was a symbol of complacency and mere performativity that does nothing to highlight the racism and the daily experiences of dehumanisation that Indigenous and other marginalised groups in New Zealand often express.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, the oppositional binary that the chant carries shows a continual performance of colour blindness, which, in turn, reproduces norms that keep intact white power and privilege. At the same time, the lived experiences of anti-Māori and anti-Pasifika attitudes observed through examples of media representations and political framing as the 'inferior other', the 'criminal other', the 'deviant other' and the 'radical other' are silenced (Elers & Jayan, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Donna Awatere on Whiteness in New Zealand: Theoretical Contributions and Contemporary Relevance

Norris¹,

Saxe²,

Cooper³

2023

DCJ

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In June 2022, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern designated the US-based neo-fascist groups The Base and the Proud Boys as terrorist organisations. This designation marks one of the few times white supremacy entered the national political discourse in New Zealand. Discourses of whiteness are mostly theorised in the North American context. However, Donna Awatere’s 1984 examination of White Cultural Imperialism (WCI) in her book Māori Sovereignty advanced an analysis of whiteness in New Zealand that has received limited scholarly attention and is essentially unexplored. This paper reintroduces Awatere’s conceptualisation of WCI. It offers core tenets of WCI and theoretical insights into contemporary discussions of white supremacy that move beyond the focus of individuals and groups to a broader national framework of New Zealand. Two interrelated features of WCI, as defined by Awatere, are the minimisation and normalisation of whiteness and white racial hostility – inherent features that maintain, protect, and reproduce the white institutionalised body as the primary beneficiary of Western European domination that will always thwart Indigenous sovereignty and equality. This paper concludes that Awatere’s articulation of WCI links whiteness in the New Zealand context to the broader network of global white supremacy that offers insight into contemporary criminal justice scholarship.

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“…This gendered approach to the management of perceived risk is exacerbated in a settler-colonial context where dehumanisation and racism go hand-in-hand (Elers & Jayan, 2020), Māori women often receive higher risk classifications as they are considered more dangerous and in need of control than their Pākehā peers, despite Pākehā women having a slightly higher conviction rate for dangerous crimes (Deckert, 2020). Subsequently, Māori women, who make up the majority of the female prison population, experience increasingly securitised prison spaces in which their movements and interactions are restricted (Shalev, 2021).…”

Section: A Prison or A Zoomentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender Inequality and Discrimination within Aotearoa New Zealand’s Criminal Justice System: Some Professional Support Workers’ Perspectives

Ward¹

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Sustainable Development Goal number five, ‘Gender Equality’ aims to achieve gender equality for all women and girls by eliminating discrimination (The United Nations, 2015a). Despite this goal, gender equality remains one of the most widespread inequalities internationally and within Aotearoa New Zealand (ANZ). Gender inequality is evident within ANZ’s criminal justice system (CJS), and this contributes to development inequalities within ANZ society. Understanding the cycle of carceral entrapment can inform more sensitive approaches to ending discrimination against women and girls and lead to more gender-equitable outcomes. Although female-focused prison research is increasing, there remains limited literature on women’s experiences within the CJS (Gibson, 2022; Kale, 2020). Furthermore, very few studies focus on the perspectives of professionals working with incarcerated women and/or women who have been released. These workers hold insights from their years of close association with women navigating the carceral continuum. In response to this gap, this thesis draws from the experiences of these professional support workers to answer the overarching research question, “How does Aotearoa New Zealand’s criminal justice system operate to reduce discrimination, in alignment with good development policy and practice?” To answer this question, a feminist geopolitical approach was used. Primary data was generated through storytelling interviews with eleven professional support workers around ANZ. Interviews explored what the professional support workers understood of women’s experiences within the carceral continuum and how they understood these to be related to gendered and racialised inequalities. Findings reveal that discrimination is apparent at every stage of a woman’s journey through the CJS. Dominant narratives, power imbalances and control, are key factors prohibiting ANZ’s CJS from being more gender equal. This study shows that ANZ’s CJS could learn from international development policies and practices to better respond to gendered inequalities and reduce discrimination.

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“This is us”: Free speech embedded in whiteness, racism and coloniality in Aotearoa, New Zealand

Cited by 5 publications

References 30 publications

Public Rāhui and Road Blocks in Aotearoa: Navigating Iwi/Hapū Perspectives and Mana Motuhake

Public Rāhui and Road Blocks in Aotearoa: Navigating Iwi/Hapū Perspectives and Mana Motuhake

Donna Awatere on Whiteness in New Zealand: Theoretical Contributions and Contemporary Relevance

Gender Inequality and Discrimination within Aotearoa New Zealand’s Criminal Justice System: Some Professional Support Workers’ Perspectives

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