POLITICAL PARADOXES AND TIMELESS TRADITIONS: IDEOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENT AMONG THE TAINUI MAORI, NEW ZEALAND

Discussion and synopsis of Ph.D.Thesis
(Department of Prehistory and Anthropology, The Faculties, The Australian National University)

By Toon van Meijl

This study is based on 25 months of fieldwork among the Tainui Maori on the North Island of New Zealand in 1982 and 1983, as part of a Master's course at the University of Nijmegen, and again in 1987 and 1988 as part of a PhD course at the Australian National University. The thesis examines the implications of the paradoxes evoked by the coexistence of a discourse of development and a discourse of tradition among the Tainui Maori. In the early 1980s the Tainui people launched a comprehensive development programme aiming chiefly at regaining the political, economic and cultural autonomy which they lost in the course of colonial history. As a result of Maori encapsulation within the New Zealand liberal-democratic welfare state the Tainui people are compelled to justify their aspiration to self-determination in a culturally specific manner. Since the sharing of a common colonial past plays an important role in uniting Tainui and other Maori people vis-à-vis their European counterparts, the desire to manage and control tribal development autonomously is validated by means of a discourse of tradition. Thus tradition is not only reified, but, paradoxically, its objectification and reinterpretation takes place principally in opposition to a stereotypical representation of European values, largely because a major goal of the discourse of tradition is to counter European domination. A second paradox of the counter-hegemonic reification of tradition is that it serves as a symbol of Maori survival and continuity in order to discontinue and transform their contemporary predicament. The representation of Maori traditions as timeless treasures thus defies the historical changes in Maori society and culture in order to bring about change.

The analysis of the mediation between the discourse of development and the discourse of tradition is focussed on the discrepancy between positive affirmations of tradition in inter-ethnic discourse and the internal contestation and negation of Maori tradition by factions who can no longer identify in terms of the tradition oriented model for a Maori identity. The ideological motivation of the discourse of tradition is further examined by situating the aims and objectives of the discourse of development in a historical perspective. The history of Maori dispossession and confiscations of vast areas of land from the Tainui people in particular explains the present political aim of recovery of the lost ground, literally and metaphorically.

On the basis of the analysis of the political paradoxes of timeless traditions it is argued that the notion of tradition must no longer be viewed in a dichotomy with modernity, as something which can only be lost and not retained in a modified form. The understanding that traditions can be highly dynamic leads to a dialectical perspective on social change in colonial histories. The historical transformation of Maori society is not simply the result of the imposition of external forces, but also consequent upon indigenous interaction, initiatives and interpretations, even though ultimately constrained by colonial predominance. This analysis, in turn, has caused a review of the concept of ideology which is redefined in a broad manner, both to reject functionalist notions of ideology and to enhance its analytical value, as well as to deepen the understanding of the role of ideology in emic and etic accounts of social change.

In chapter 1 the emergence of the discourse of development in the course of the 1980s is documented in detail. The following three chapters centre on the core concepts of the discourse of tradition and the political use of tradition in a number of development projects. In chapter 2 the dimension of social organisation in terms of kinship is analysed, with a particular focus on the ways in which the distinctive features of Maori 'relatedness' are expressed through the correlating concepts of 'love' and 'caring and sharing'. In chapter 3 the dimension of political organisation and the mechanisms which sustain unity in the diversity of confederated tribes is discussed. Both chapters begin with an investigation of the traditional meanings of the concepts, after which their historical transformation is explored as well as the ways in which they are positively upheld in inter-ethnic discourse while at the same time internally contested.

In chapter 4 five case studies are presented of what is colloquially referred to as 'the Maori perspective' on the implementation of small-scale development programmes. Here again, the focus is on the discrepancy between the affirmation of traditional aspects of the projects in relation to government authorities, and the negation of their traditional orientation from within the community. This chapter begins with an analysis of various views regarding the teaching of Maori language at both primary and secondary schools, as well as at a community training centre which offers second-chance education to Maori school dropouts. The fourth case study discusses the Maori perspective on health, while the fifth concerns Maori objections on spiritual grounds to the renewal of a coal corporation's rights to water. In the final section of the chapter, the concluding section of the discussion of the discourse of tradition, the analysis highlights the paradox of timeless traditions which serve both as symbols of continuity of Maori culture and thereby also as political weapons in the struggle for a discontinuation of the contemporary situation.

In Chapters 5 and 6 the history of the Tainui people is examined in a dialectial perspective. Chapter 5 focuses on the initial stage of contact until the New Zealand Wars of the 1860s, which resulted in the confiscation of vast areas of land. Chapter 6 evaluates the consistent attempts of the Tainui people to seek redress for the confiscations. This discussion also reveals the historical emergence of the reification of Maori tradition around the turn of the century, and explains why Maori people at present reconstitute, recreate and reinterpret tradition for political purposes. It also brings to light the elite aspects of the reification of tradition, which does not necessarily offer a solution to the problems of all sections of the Maori population.

The final chapter examines Maori reinterpretations of tradition in opposition to European ideology yet with the goal of achieving statistical equality with Europeans, albeit on Maori terms. The theoretical implications of this paradox are explored for notions of ethnicity and ideology. Ideology is redefined by using structural-semiological concepts in order to enhance the analytical value of ideology for the study of social change. For that reason, too, ideology is discussed in the light of insights derived from Bourdieu's and Sahlins' theory of praxis, although it is argued that, ultimately, both retain the antinomy between structure and change. After this theoretical discussion it is proceeded with a synthesis of the analysis of the coexistence of the discourse of tradition and the discourse in terms of a review of ideology.

The thesis is concluded with a short epilogue in which the analytical distinction between the ideology of politics and the politics of ideology is emphasized in order to situate in a broader perspective, not only the analysis of the ideology of Maori development politics, but also the political aspects of the analysis as conducted in this dissertation.

The PhD dissertation of Toon van Meijl was submitted on 20 December 1990 and the degree was officially awarded on 4 October 1991.

The dissertation has been reproduced by the Centre for Pacific Studies and may be ordered from:

Dictatencentrale Directoraat A-faculteiten
Thomas van Aquinostraat 2
6500 HK Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Code: 4.20.05.