Paradox Lost? Four Theoretical Perspectives on Whānau Ora

Abstract

New Zealand’s bicultural project, as initiated by the 1984 Labour government, is marked by paradox and contestation. The paradox shows Māori to be both enfranchised by the inclusion of references to the Treaty of Waitangi and Māori specific clauses in legislation, and disenfranchised economically by successive governmental adherence to neoliberal economic policies. The contestation is shown by the majority Pākehā public’s resistance to the practices of Wright’s idealisation of hard biculturalism as found in the creation of separate institutional structures for Māori. This thesis uses four theorists examining if the policy recommendations of the Whānau Ora Report represent a mitigation of the difficulties found in the bicultural paradox and the Pākehā contestation. As measured, the Whānau Ora Report is remarkably similar to 1984. Overall, Parekh, Barry and Young provide explanations of the limits of Whānau Ora; Kymlicka unpacks the origins of the Whānau Ora Report as being informed by a historical-colonial view; Parekh shows the difficulties of embarking on bicultural practices in a multicultural national setting; Barry’s analysis suggests Whānau Ora is not based on a class-based analysis; and Young’s ideas emphasise that it is only democratic when it is funding neutral. In sum, the current environment neither represents a challenge to the detrimental effects of neoliberal governance, nor does there appear in this policy framework a means to gain the social solidarity necessary to encourage more equal socioeconomic outcomes for Māori.