scholarly journals “He reached across the river and healed the generations of hara”: Structural violence, historical trauma, and healing among contemporary Whanganui Māori

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Tarapuhi Vaeau

<p>This thesis provides insights into the unique forms of oppression that Māori face today. It explores how Māori experience, understand, and heal from historical trauma in contemporary Aotearoa/New Zealand. It does this by arguing that space, state bureaucracies, and public discourse can be violent, and considering sites of (re)traumatisation for my participants, specifically by examining the internalisation of responsibilisation and colonial discourse disseminated through the media and government processes, underlining the implications for health care. I show the ways that space constructs and reproduces relations of power and surveillance. As well I explore spaces that act as living symbols of inequality. This thesis uses structural violence and historical trauma to frame this analysis and thus highlights the lived experience where neoliberalism and colonialism intersect. The understandings that are presented here are informed by seven months of fieldwork which was guided by a kaupapa Māori framework and used participant observation and interviews with Māori who have iwi affiliations to the Whanganui River. Using stories from eleven participants, as well as autoethnography, this thesis demonstrates the importance of whakapapa, whanaungatanga, and wairuatanga in healing for Māori.</p>

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Tarapuhi Vaeau

<p>This thesis provides insights into the unique forms of oppression that Māori face today. It explores how Māori experience, understand, and heal from historical trauma in contemporary Aotearoa/New Zealand. It does this by arguing that space, state bureaucracies, and public discourse can be violent, and considering sites of (re)traumatisation for my participants, specifically by examining the internalisation of responsibilisation and colonial discourse disseminated through the media and government processes, underlining the implications for health care. I show the ways that space constructs and reproduces relations of power and surveillance. As well I explore spaces that act as living symbols of inequality. This thesis uses structural violence and historical trauma to frame this analysis and thus highlights the lived experience where neoliberalism and colonialism intersect. The understandings that are presented here are informed by seven months of fieldwork which was guided by a kaupapa Māori framework and used participant observation and interviews with Māori who have iwi affiliations to the Whanganui River. Using stories from eleven participants, as well as autoethnography, this thesis demonstrates the importance of whakapapa, whanaungatanga, and wairuatanga in healing for Māori.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Rachael Fabish

<p>This thesis examines the impacts of colonialism on the interpersonal experiences of Māori (indigenes) and Pākehā (settlers) involved in anarchist organising in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand. This research contributes to literature on urban Māori identity, processes of Pākehā change, and ‘biculturalism as lived’. It also contributes to international literature on indigene-settler relations, whiteness studies, activist studies and anti-oppressive praxis. The central research question is: how do Māori and Pākehā work together across difference? This question was also considered when developing a collaborative methodology, in response to Kaupapa Māori (indigenous) critiques of ‘traditional’ research. This involved establishing and working closely with Black Rainbow, a collective of five Māori and two Pākehā activists (including myself). We met over twelve months and recorded our discussions, as ‘interactive interviews’. These discussions have been transformed into ‘stories’ showing the rich shared meaning-making that occurred while we told tales of our experiences in the anarchist ‘scene’. The Black Rainbow discussions show the difficulties of working across difference in Pākehā dominated communities, where Pākehā often undermine or tokenise Māori identity, respond insensitively to Māori members’ concerns and fail to share power.  Throughout this thesis I build on Uma Narayan’s work, arguing that ‘insiders’ epistemic privilege’ is based on lived experience and tied to identity, yet ‘repressive authenticity’ is often used to dismiss urban Māori identity and therefore, their epistemic privilege. Further, insiders’ epistemic privilege is experienced through emotional reactions, yet Māori ways of expressing emotion are often invalidated. Black Rainbow allowed Māori members to validate each other’s epistemic privilege, especially through humour. It also allowed a place for careful listening for Pākehā members. I argue that this listening is not passive, but also involved ‘learning to be affected’ by the ‘epistemological discomfort’ at the heart of ‘processes of Pākehā change’. I see this as the emotional cost of truly accepting insiders’ epistemic privilege, and I propose that sitting with this discomfort, shifts some of the emotional burden onto Pākehā, as well as the threat to identity that Māori may experience when working across difference.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Rachael Fabish

<p>This thesis examines the impacts of colonialism on the interpersonal experiences of Māori (indigenes) and Pākehā (settlers) involved in anarchist organising in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand. This research contributes to literature on urban Māori identity, processes of Pākehā change, and ‘biculturalism as lived’. It also contributes to international literature on indigene-settler relations, whiteness studies, activist studies and anti-oppressive praxis. The central research question is: how do Māori and Pākehā work together across difference? This question was also considered when developing a collaborative methodology, in response to Kaupapa Māori (indigenous) critiques of ‘traditional’ research. This involved establishing and working closely with Black Rainbow, a collective of five Māori and two Pākehā activists (including myself). We met over twelve months and recorded our discussions, as ‘interactive interviews’. These discussions have been transformed into ‘stories’ showing the rich shared meaning-making that occurred while we told tales of our experiences in the anarchist ‘scene’. The Black Rainbow discussions show the difficulties of working across difference in Pākehā dominated communities, where Pākehā often undermine or tokenise Māori identity, respond insensitively to Māori members’ concerns and fail to share power.  Throughout this thesis I build on Uma Narayan’s work, arguing that ‘insiders’ epistemic privilege’ is based on lived experience and tied to identity, yet ‘repressive authenticity’ is often used to dismiss urban Māori identity and therefore, their epistemic privilege. Further, insiders’ epistemic privilege is experienced through emotional reactions, yet Māori ways of expressing emotion are often invalidated. Black Rainbow allowed Māori members to validate each other’s epistemic privilege, especially through humour. It also allowed a place for careful listening for Pākehā members. I argue that this listening is not passive, but also involved ‘learning to be affected’ by the ‘epistemological discomfort’ at the heart of ‘processes of Pākehā change’. I see this as the emotional cost of truly accepting insiders’ epistemic privilege, and I propose that sitting with this discomfort, shifts some of the emotional burden onto Pākehā, as well as the threat to identity that Māori may experience when working across difference.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-64
Author(s):  
Tayla Darrah ◽  
Andrew Waa ◽  
Amanda Jones ◽  
Anja Mizdrak

ABSTRACTAimMāori suffer disproportionately from alcohol-related harm in Aotearoa New Zealand. With the view toward informing potential alcohol interventions for Māori, this study synthesises studies on alcohol and alcohol-related harm. MethodsUsing a Māori-centered approach, a narrative review of qualitative studies of Māori perspectives on alcohol was conducted. Journal databases, repositories, and websites were searched for relevant studies published since 2000. A thematic analysis was conducted and emergent themes were synthesised. ResultsEight studies were identified for inclusion. Whanaungatanga was identified as a contributor to alcohol use in included studies. Other motivations were ‘fitting in’, escape from stress, achieving ‘the buzz’, and coping with historical trauma. Among included literature, a strong cultural identity was a deterrent to alcohol overuse. Māori voiced a desire to be involved with local alcohol policy decisions. ConclusionAlthough Māori are a high-priority group, there remains a substantial gap in research on Māori perspectives toward alcohol interventions which is reflective of an underinvestment in Kaupapa Māori research. Future interventions for Māori may be more effective if these interventions focus on enhancing whanaungatanga without the presence of alcohol, consider the variable motivations for drinking, and utilise culturally appropriate methods to encourage reduced harm from alcohol use.


Te Kaharoa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Georgina Stewart ◽  
Valance Smith ◽  
Piki Diamond ◽  
Nova Paul ◽  
Robert Hogg

This research is offered as a koha (contribution) to the ongoing debates within the university where all co-authors work as academic staff, Auckland University of Technology (AUT) in Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand. We set out to critically investigate three key Māori words, tika, pono, aroha, and the results of their adoption as ‘university values’ by AUT. In the sections below, we synopsise and synthesise scholarly literature from a critical Māori perspective, informed by collective lived experience, including our experiences of being Māori academics, working at AUT. This research offers an internal critique of our employer university and is therefore an exercise in academic freedom and a form of activist research, as is consistent with the political nature of Kaupapa Māori approaches. While this article restricts itself to one university, the conundrum of using Māori knowledge in educational and other contemporary social institutions is topical across the nation. The key question we investigate is: Are these three words, tika, pono, aroha, being used by AUT in ways consistent with their Māori meanings?


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 239-250
Author(s):  
Bella Palomo ◽  
Jon Sedano

Social networks have surpassed their intermediary role and become gatekeepers of online content and traffic. This transformation has favored the spread of information disorders. The situation is especially alarming in Spain, where 57% of Spaniards have at some moment believed false news. Since 2016, First Draft has promoted several collaborative verification projects that brought together newsrooms to fact-check false, misleading and confusing claims circulating online during presidential elections in several countries. The main objective of this article is to study the collaboration forged between newsrooms in Spain in order to debunk disinformation contents in 2019 under the name of Comprobado (Verified) and the impact of this initiative. Applying a methodological approach based on non-participant observation, interviews, content analysis of reports, scientific articles, books and media archives, we examine the internal uses of this platform, how journalists verified public discourse, the strategies and internal agreements implemented, and the degree of participation of the 16 media involved. Results show that only half of the initiatives begun were transformed into published reports, and the media impact achieved was limited. Finally, we note that the principal reasons for the frustration of the project were its improvised implementation, due to the date of the election being brought forward, and the scant culture of collaboration in the sector. In Spain at least, cross-media alliances are still an exception.


Author(s):  
Siti Aeisha Joharry ◽  
Nor Diyana Saupi

The International Convention for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), which was not ratified in Malaysia, created a heated public discourse in the media. This cross-linguistic comparative study investigates the representation of ICERD in Malaysian news reports of two online sources in Malaysia – the widely read English portal: The Star Online, and its Malay equivalent: Berita Harian. A corpus-assisted discourse analysis was conducted to examine how news on ‘ICERD’ were reported in both English and Malay online newspapers. Initial comparative analysis of both newspapers revealed that the search term co-occurs statistically more frequently with the verb ‘ratify’ and its equivalent: ‘meratifikasi’. Patterns indicate that ‘ICERD’ was mostly referring to the act of sanctioning the agreement –particularly to ‘not ratify’ or ‘tidak akan meratifikasi’, which is concurrent with the timeframe of events. Interestingly, different patterns can be found in Berita Harian (e.g. the expression of ‘thanks’ or gratitude of not ratifying ICERD) that are not as revealing in The Star Online reports. Some inconsistencies were also reported between the two newspapers, e.g. referring to different ministers’ speech about the initial plan to ratify ICERD alongside five (The Star Online) or six (Berita Harian) other treaties in the following year.  


Author(s):  
Muna Ali

This book explores the identities, perspectives, and roles of the second and subsequent generations of Muslim Americans of both immigrant and convert backgrounds. As these younger Muslims come of age, and as distant as they are from historical processes that shaped their parents’ generations, how do they view themselves and each other? What role do they play in the current chapter of Islam in a post-9/11 America? Will they be able to cross intra-community divides and play a pivotal role in shaping their community? Culture figures prominently in the discussions about and among Muslims and is centered on four dominant narratives: 1) culture is thought to be the underlying cause of an alleged “identity crisis,” 2) it presumably contaminates a “pure/true” Islam, 3) it is the cause for all that divides Muslim American immigrants and converts, which could be remedied by creating an American Muslim community and culture, and 4) some Americans fear an “Islamization of America” through a Muslim cultural takeover. In this ethnographic study, Muna Ali explores these questions through these four dominant narratives, which are both part of the public discourse and themes that emerged from interviews, a survey, social and traditional media, and participant observation. Situating these questions and narratives in identity studies in a pluralistic yet racialized society, as well as in the anthropology of Islam and in the process and meaning of cultural citizenship, Ali examines how younger Muslims see themselves and their community, how they negotiate fault lines of ethnicity, race, class, gender, and religious interpretation within their communities, and how their faith informs their daily lives and how they envision a future for themselves in post-911 America.


Author(s):  
Sunil Bhatia

This chapter documents the ethnographic context in which the interviews and participant observation were conducted for the study presented in this book. It also situates the study within the context of narrative inquiry and develops arguments about the role of self-reflexivity in doing ethnography at “home” and producing qualitative forms of knowledge that are based on personal, experiential, and cultural narratives. It is argued that there is significant interest in the adoption of interpretive methods or qualitative research in psychology. The qualitative approaches in psychology present a provocative and complex vision of how the key concepts related to describing and interpreting cultural codes, social practices, and lived experience of others are suffused with both poetical and political elements of culture. The epistemological and ontological assumptions undergirding qualitative research reflect multiple “practices of inquiry” and methodologies that have different orientations, assumptions, values, ideologies, and criterion of excellence.


Author(s):  
Liana MacDonald ◽  
Adreanne Ormond

Racism in the Aotearoa New Zealand media is the subject of scholarly debate that examines how Māori (Indigenous Peoples of New Zealand) are broadcast in a negative and demeaning light. Literature demonstrates evolving understandings of how the industry places Pākehā (New Zealanders primarily of European descent) interests at the heart of broadcasting. We offer new insights by arguing that the media industry propagates a racial discourse of silencing that sustains widespread ignorance of the ways that Pākehā sensibilities mediate society. We draw attention to a silencing discourse through one televised story in 2018. On-screen interactions reproduce and safeguard a harmonious narrative of settler–Indigenous relations that support ignorance and denial of the structuring force of colonisation, and the Television Code of Broadcasting Practice upholds colour-blind perceptions of discrimination and injustice through liberal rhetoric. These processes ensure that the media industry is complicit in racism and the ongoing oppression of Indigenous peoples.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document