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Black Rainbow Stories of Māori and Pākehā Working Across Difference

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Black Rainbow Stories of Māori and Pākehā Working Across Difference Black Rainbow stories of Māori and Pākehā working across difference Rachael Fabish A thesis submitted to Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Social Anthropology Victoria University of Wellington 2014 ii Abstract 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 iii 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. iv This thesis is dedicated to the members of Black Rainbow. v vi Acknowledgements I would like to thank the following people and organisations: my supervisors, Brigitte Bönisch-Brednich and Maria Bargh, for your sharp minds, kind support and great senses of humour; the staff and students of the School of Social and Cultural Studies and Te Kawa a Māui/School of Māori Studies, Victoria University of Wellington, particularly Bronwyn McGovern, Riki Mihaere, Tanja Schubert- Mcarthur, Catherine Trundle, Arama Rata, Erina Okeroa, Awanui Te Huia, Krissi Jerram, Miki Seifert and Ocean Mercier; The Victoria Doctoral Assistanceship and The Research Trust of Victoria University for their financial support; the members of the anarchist community for inspiring and challenging me; my mother, Maree Lovergrove, for your love, help and taking me on all those walks and, finally, A.J. ‘Sonny’ Vollweiler for being the medicine to all my worries, for your sparkly eyes and all your endless correcting of my grammar and spelling. vii viii Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................ iii Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................... vii Contents ....................................................................................................................................... ix Glossary of Māori words and phrases ......................................................................................... xi Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 1 ‘Mess-finding’ in the Wellington anarchist scene ............................................................ 2 Questions arising from my experience of disjuncture ..................................................... 6 Fitting Black Rainbow into wider debates about Māori-Pākehā relations ...................... 9 Relating across difference in the anarchist circles ......................................................... 13 Chapter overview ........................................................................................................... 17 Chapter 1 Methodology: ‘Learning to be affected’ by Kaupapa Māori ............................................... 23 Kaupapa Māori research: a response to Māori concerns.............................................. 25 Pākehā ‘paralysis’ ........................................................................................................... 28 Kaupapa Māori as a ‘generative creative force’ ............................................................ 34 ‘Working at the interface’ between anthropology and Māori studies .......................... 37 Anti-oppressive praxis as a place to stand at the interface with Kaupapa Māori ......... 40 Collaborative research methods .................................................................................... 47 Reflections on positioning in collaborative research ..................................................... 56 Chapter 2 A Black Rainbow Story: How I have written this thesis ....................................................... 61 Why write stories? ......................................................................................................... 62 How I wrote the stories.................................................................................................. 65 Writing about myself: autoethnography ....................................................................... 68 How I related the literature to these stories ................................................................. 70 Clarifying the meaning I have made .............................................................................. 75 How I would like the thesis to be read .......................................................................... 78 Chapter 3 Black Rainbow (August to October) Identity ...................................................................... 81 Insider’s Epistemic Privilege ........................................................................................... 82 ‘Where we come from’ .................................................................................................. 85 Humour and insider’s epistemic privilege ................................................................... 102 ‘To be Māori is to be colonised’ ................................................................................... 104 ix ‘Cool, a “real” Māori told you’ ..................................................................................... 115 Chapter 4 Black Rainbow (November to March) Relationships ........................................................ 127 Emotional sources of epistemic privilege .................................................................... 129 Threatened relationships: Microaggressions and failure to relate .............................. 131 Talking relationships: Identity, emotions, power ........................................................ 142 Chapter 5 Black Rainbow (April to June) Power-sharing .................................................................. 173 Telling stories, sharing jokes, making meaning ........................................................... 179 Stories from the anarchist scene: tino rangatiratanga, power and responsibility ..... 182 A Black Rainbow Story ................................................................................................. 216 Processes of Pākehā Change ‘Learning to be affected’ while working across difference ................................................ 217 Processes of Pākehā change ........................................................................................ 219 Responding to and extending Huygens’ theorising ..................................................... 223 Critiques of whiteness studies and white decolonisation workshops ......................... 226 Learning through listening ........................................................................................... 230 Sitting with discomfort ................................................................................................. 236 ‘Learning to be affected’ unmakes Pākehā identity and opens opportunities for belonging...................................................................................................................... 241 Accepting criticism, gaining trust ................................................................................. 244 Reflections on these lessons for methodology ............................................................ 251 Appendix .................................................................................................................................
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