Manuhiri: the politics of place in Aotearoa New Zealand

Lyons, Henry (2024) Manuhiri: the politics of place in Aotearoa New Zealand. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

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Abstract

Manuhiri (guest, visitor) is an autoethnography which interrogates the essence of what is political in the place I call home. The focus of the study is the region of Te Matau-a-Māui (Hawke’s Bay) where I live and work, with particular emphasis on the rural community of Raukawa where I grew up and the experiences of everyday life here. The main questions I seek to address in the thesis are how might Te Tiriti o Waitangi make visible the politics of place in Aotearoa New Zealand, which can in turn facilitate a reinvention of conventional understandings of the political. Drawing on the approach of He Awa Whiria (braided rivers) (MacFarlane, 2009) which uses the metaphor of braided rivers as a means to depicting the levelling and intermingling of different flows of knowledge, the aim of the project is to advance a notion of research as restorative act. Taking a relationship-based approach which is underpinned by Te Tiriti, Manuhiri adopts a conceptual framework for comprehending a politics which is deeply immersed in place. This is significant because as a Pākehā (New Zealand European) living in Aotearoa New Zealand, Te Tiriti is my basis for being here offering me ‘a chance to make a home in this land’ (Jackson, 2022). Within this framework, decolonisation is positioned as integral concept for Pākehā to engage with in addressing the practice of coloniality (Maldonado-Torres, 2007), essential for remembering the past and seeing the extent of the political in turn. Likewise, deimperialisation assists in undoing the overarching idea which guides this practice, through a centring of Kaupapa Māori which is affect-based, and not on co-opting or appropriation. This framework enables an exploration of the politics of place in Aotearoa New Zealand where the political is ontological, and ontology is defined as the ‘philosophy of essence’ (Meyer, 2001). The politics of place is a politics of the essence of being, a politics which is all encompassing, pervasive and powerful in shaping present day society in this country. My existence is folded into this politics and the study is grounded in my lived experiences and connecting them to notions of politics and identity. Manuhiri does not seek to offer succinct or concrete findings or solutions, instead it is a glimpse into the rich experience and dynamics of relational entanglement. My study makes an original contribution in conceptual and methodological senses to studies of the politics of place and the relations between Māori as tangata whenua (Indigenous people of the land) and Pākehā in Aotearoa New Zealand as well as providing insights applicable to many related dynamics elsewhere in the world. It contributes necessary action with respect to the work of decolonising the social sciences, research methodologies, and the study of politics. It offers insights for Tiriti-centred relationships in Aotearoa New Zealand, specifically for Pākehā and tauiwi (non-Māori) who seek to be tangata Tiriti (non-Māori partners to Te Tiriti). This original contribution is relevant to the realisation of the promise of Te Tiriti, to people who call this place home, and for settler-colonial contexts beyond these shores.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Additional Information:	© 2024 Henry Lyons
Library of Congress subject classification:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GN Anthropology H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) H Social Sciences > HM Sociology J Political Science > JV Colonies and colonization. Emigration and immigration. International migration
Sets:	Departments > Media and Communications
Supervisor:	Powell, Alison and Anstead, Nick
URI:	http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/4829

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