INDIGENOUS STUDIES SEMINAR SERIES –
WĀNANGA O WAIPAPA
Speaker:
Te Kawehau Hoskins (Ngāti Hau, Ngāpuhi) Head of School, Te Puna
Wānanga & Te Tumu, Faculty of Education and Social Work
When:
Wednesday May 17th, @ 4pm
Where:
Meeting House - Tāne-nui-ā-rangi
Title:
A provocation for indigenous-Māori theorisation.
This seminar aims to provoke reflection on dominant (indigenous-Māori) forms of political thought
and critique. I suggest much contemporary political analysis implicitly relies on critical theory
concepts and assumptions - often with limiting effects. Critical theory tends to privilege binary
oppositions like coloniser-colonised, oppression-liberation, which unhelpfully fix social identities and
simplify relations to power. All Māori are cast as victims, and all state policies are designed to
maintain our oppression. In the context of ongoing marginality these ideas remain useful tools of
analysis. Yet they have become so embedded as to also limit critical self-reflectivity and
discourage risky and creative alternative theorisation. I argue for theoretical approaches that
privilege Māori agency and the rich forms of political practice that have the potential to disrupt
and initiate innovative thought and action.