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The Ground Shifting Beneath Us: Collective Memory of New Zealand’S Neoliberal Revolution

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The Ground Shifting Beneath Us: Collective Memory of New Zealand’S Neoliberal Revolution THE GROUND SHIFTING BENEATH US: COLLECTIVE MEMORY OF NEW ZEALAND’S NEOLIBERAL REVOLUTION BY BRENT JOHN NEILSON A thesis Submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Victoria University of Wellington 2016 The ground was shifting on you, without you even really understanding or knowing it. The kind of way society was structured was shifting, without you really understanding that that was what was happening. (‘James’, community and voluntary representative). Abstract This paper explores the collective memory of the neoliberalisation of New Zealand and drastic structural adjustments beginning in 1984 with the election of New Zealand’s Fourth Labour government. Through a cultural sociological analysis of narrative, collected through interviews with both community and voluntary and trade union representatives, use of a cultural sociological understanding of thick description and maximal interpretation reveals how seemingly personal accounts and evaluations take on collective significance. In tracing a path from a collective need for change in New Zealand, to a realisation of the impact of structural adjustment and the collapse of New Zealand’s Labour tradition, this research concludes that the collective memory of this time in New Zealand’s recent history is an ongoing and culturally complex negotiation of collective meaning-making and interpretation. Through an understanding of the collective memory of those who were, and continue to be deeply affected by this period in history, we can begin to understand both the collective impact of neoliberalisation, and the ongoing repair-work needed in New Zealand’s Labour Party, and the Left more broadly. Acknowledgements I would like to thank all participants who took part in this research for their openness in speaking with me, and willingness to take time out of their personal and professional lives in providing a voice for my work. This research would not have been possible without your support. What struck me through-out our conversations was the participants’ absolute dedication to striving for a fair and socially-just society in advocating for workers, families and communities across New Zealand. Through my research, I hope I am able to, in some way, return the favour, by expressing some of the deeply engrained memories, emotions and ongoing concerns related to this period in New Zealand’s history. To my supervisors, Chamsy-el Ojeili and Ben Snyder, thank you for your guidance and support over the course of this study. Life is good under the supervision of two walking sociological encyclopaedias. To Jean Sergent, Hun Lee, Blake Cambourn, Deborah Laurs, Sandra Grey, Charles Sedgwick the ninth floor and all my beautiful friends and family, thank you. Contents Introduction 1 1 Literature Review 5 Collective memory .............................................................................................................................. 5 Cultural Sociology ............................................................................................................................... 8 Neoliberalism ...................................................................................................................................... 9 2 Theoretical orientation and methodology considerations 12 Collective memory ............................................................................................................................ 12 Flashbulb memory ............................................................................................................................ 15 Cultural sociology .............................................................................................................................. 15 Maximal interpretation ..................................................................................................................... 17 Methodological considerations ........................................................................................................ 19 3 Exposition 22 Exposition part I: A brief history of neoliberalisation in New Zealand ............................................. 22 Exposition part II: The organisational and ideological framing of memory ...................................... 24 The social framing of memory .......................................................................................................... 25 Mnemonic communities and the mnemonic framing of memory .................................................... 27 Mnemonic framing and community ................................................................................................. 28 Mnemonic framing and (un)employment ........................................................................................ 29 The shared mnemonic framing of community ................................................................................. 31 Mnemonic framing and the negotiation of time .............................................................................. 32 4 Rising action: Historical Density and Social Change in New Zealand 35 Setting the scene ............................................................................................................................... 35 Historical density in New Zealand ..................................................................................................... 36 The 1981 Springbok tour of New Zealand and a new political consciousness ................................. 39 The 1981 Springbok tour as cultural disorientation ......................................................................... 43 5 Rising action/Climax: Establishment-New Zealand and the rise of the Fourth Labour Government 45 The New Zealand-Establishment ...................................................................................................... 46 The sacred and profane in New Zealand’s social and political discourse ......................................... 49 Cultural codes and a grand-narrative under siege ............................................................................ 51 The sacred rise of David Lange and the Labour Party ....................................................................... 54 Flashbulb memories and the process of meaning-making ............................................................... 57 6 Climax/falling action: The Realisation of Rogernmomics 61 The changing winds ........................................................................................................................... 61 Early signs of a culture-shift .............................................................................................................. 64 Realisation as falling action .............................................................................................................. 65 A party divided .................................................................................................................................. 70 Social drama and the collective arc in narrative ............................................................................... 73 7 Resolution/denouement: Social schism and partial reintegration of breach in New Zealand’s Labour tradition 75 The silence of change ........................................................................................................................ 76 Social schism meets instrumental reintegration ............................................................................... 78 The partial reintegration of the Labour Party ................................................................................... 80 1984 as an unassimilable breach ...................................................................................................... 82 8 Concluding comments 85 Bibliography 88 Introduction Since the 1980s there has been a significant and widespread trend towards neoliberalism globally. Beginning in 1984 with structural adjustments at first implemented by New Zealand’s Fourth Labour government, the neoliberalisation of New Zealand remains a hotly contested area of inquiry. Over thirty years have passed since the application of pure neoliberal economic theory in New Zealand, and what would later be coined ‘Rogernomics’. The past three decades have seen a number of social, political, economic and cultural developments within New Zealand directly related to this ongoing process of neoliberalisation. Critiques of this economic theory abound in academia, and increasingly in the public arena. Thirty years on, and with a growing understanding of the impact of structural reform on a number of levels, the following research traces a narrative of collective understanding of this period in New Zealand’s history through a cultural sociological analysis of the collective memory of two groups integral to civil society in New Zealand: trade union and community and voluntary organisations. The Labour Government of 1984-1990 was responsible for the creation and application of a dramatic shift in the shape and form of New Zealand society. Viewed as a departure from both a long history of socially progressive policies in New Zealand, and a retreat from the Labour Party’s traditional stance on social and economic matters, this shift saw the country transition from the Keynesian, social democratic economy of the three decades following the Second World War, to the neoliberal economy it is today. There are many changes associated with this shift. The Keynesian Welfare
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