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White Privilege: Exploring the (In)Visibility of Pakeha Whiteness

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White Privilege: Exploring the (In)Visibility of Pakeha Whiteness White Privilege: Exploring the (in)visibility of Pakeha whiteness A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Masters of Arts in Human Services at the University of Canterbury By Claire Frances Gray Human Services Programme School of Social and Political Sciences University of Canterbury 2012 Contents Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................................................... 1 Abstract ................................................................................................................................................................. 2 Chapter 1 .............................................................................................................................................................. 3 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................ 3 A New Zealand Context ............................................................................................................................. 5 Adoption of a Critical Stance ................................................................................................................... 7 Thesis Overview ........................................................................................................................................... 8 A Note on Writing Style .......................................................................................................................... 10 Chapter 2 ........................................................................................................................................................... 12 Literature Review .......................................................................................................................................... 12 A Pakeha Identity ...................................................................................................................................... 13 A Pakeha identity and whiteness .................................................................................................. 15 Race and Racism in New Zealand ....................................................................................................... 16 White Privilege .......................................................................................................................................... 20 White privilege in New Zealand ..................................................................................................... 20 The origins of white privilege ......................................................................................................... 22 The Invisibility of Whiteness and Privilege ................................................................................... 25 Development of the Research Question .......................................................................................... 28 Chapter 3 ........................................................................................................................................................... 31 Methodology .................................................................................................................................................... 31 Sampling Method ...................................................................................................................................... 32 The participants .................................................................................................................................... 33 Data Gathering ........................................................................................................................................... 34 Face-to-face interviews. .................................................................................................................... 35 Email interview ..................................................................................................................................... 35 Active Interviewing .................................................................................................................................. 36 Insider/Outsider Research ................................................................................................................... 37 Reflexivity .................................................................................................................................................... 40 Data Analysis .............................................................................................................................................. 41 Thematic analysis. ............................................................................................................................... 41 Discourse analysis. .............................................................................................................................. 42 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 43 Chapter 4 ........................................................................................................................................................... 45 A Pakeha Relationship with Maori ......................................................................................................... 45 Connection with Maori ........................................................................................................................... 46 Rejection of Europe. ............................................................................................................................ 46 Creating a relationship with Maori. .............................................................................................. 49 Belonging in New Zealand. ............................................................................................................... 52 The “Empty Alterity” of a Pakeha Identity ..................................................................................... 54 Not Maori. ................................................................................................................................................ 54 Pakeha = white? .................................................................................................................................... 56 The Appropriation of the Term Pakeha ........................................................................................... 57 A Consideration of Power ...................................................................................................................... 59 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 60 Chapter 5 ........................................................................................................................................................... 62 The Reification of Whiteness .................................................................................................................... 62 Interpretations of Whiteness ............................................................................................................... 62 Dislike of the word ‘white’................................................................................................................ 63 Reification of whiteness .................................................................................................................... 64 Resistance to race. ............................................................................................................................... 65 Whiteness in New Zealand .................................................................................................................... 67 White cultural capital ......................................................................................................................... 68 White culture as “no culture”. ......................................................................................................... 70 White culture as “bad culture”........................................................................................................ 71 Justifying a Pakeha Identity .................................................................................................................. 73 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 76 Chapter 6 ........................................................................................................................................................... 77 White Privilege ............................................................................................................................................... 77 Disengagement from Personal Privilege ......................................................................................... 78 The discourse of racism ..................................................................................................................... 78 Disinclination to talk about personal privilege ....................................................................... 80 Separation from other white people ...........................................................................................
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