The main fracture between the two main capitalist parties in Aotearoa/New Zealand, Labour and National, is over the role of Maaori in Government. The liberal Labour Party sees the need to honor the Treaty by giving Maaori more of a share in the power to governance and distribution of economic resources. Policies that flow from this are derived from the concept of ‘co-governance’ between Maaori and Pakeha consistent with Treaty obligations.
Chris Trotter says this liberal position has thrown up an extremist Maaori Nationalism that creates a race-based power grab exceeding the right of “one person, one vote”, in effect an ‘Ethno State’. That generates its opposite political reaction in the National Party, even more so in ACT, as the rejection of co-governance as ‘separatism’, as a threat to democracy regardless of race, gender, religion, etc., in all, a betrayal of the dominant pakeha white nation.
In Trotter’s view both ‘extremes’ can be moderated by a political movement of the center, such as a ‘grand coalition’ between the major parties, based on an equal citizen vote, and capable of a united, peaceful and democratic resolution. I will argue that such an outcome was never possible under capitalism, and now facing its imminent demise as a system, a dangerous utopia that diverts our attention and squanders our efforts, from what is necessary to arrive at the possibility of a peaceful, egalitarian and democratic resolution.
First, there is no comparison between radical white supremacy and radical Maaori nationalism. The former represents the past and present evils of class society and settler colonisation, while the latter represents the ending of class society and the transition to a future egalitarian society. Let’s set the historical context of the struggle over the past and present that shapes the future of democracy.
First, we need to see that democracy is not some universal, timeless concept of one person, one vote. It is a reflection of the social relations that prevail at any given time. Democracy today is historically specific to the French Revolution and the victory of the bourgeoisie over the feudal aristocracy, which is why it is called bourgeois democracy, corresponding to capitalist social relations.
Yet there is a history of democracy reaching much further back to the ancient commune in the time hunters and gatherers before the rise of class society around 10,000 years ago. The democracy of the ancient commune is that of the egalitarian social relations that characterised society before the rise of class society. Today that class society with its bourgeois form of democracy is doomed to destroy humanity unless we overthrow it and build a future society that reaches beyond the limits of bourgeois democracy towards the democracy of a new commune.
How does this relation to Maaori self-determination. Since British colonisation, the struggle for self-determination is to win a bourgeois right – national freedom. This would allow Maaori to join the world of bourgeoise democracy 200 years too late, when it is clearly impossible. Already by 1848 bourgeois democracy was denied to those who did not qualify as ‘citizens’ since they were not owners of private property. Those who later qualified for citizenship had to win property rights first.
Not until the late 19th century were propertyless workers admitted to bourgeois democracy as citizens when the right of wage workers to sell their labour-power became defined as a property right. Women had to wait much longer to win that citizenship by becoming economically independent of their spouses. Maaori, whose land was stolen and/or privatised during colonisation, have had to wait even longer, since as members of the reserve army of labour, their belated citizenship was conditional on regular wage-labour after World War 2.
So bourgeois democracy, naturalised and venerated as ‘one person, one vote’, has always excluded those who did not own private property, or formally sell their labour power as commodities on the market. Of course, for Marxists it is clear that the formal equality of bourgeois democracy was always a façade hiding the fundamental class inequality between those who owned the land as a means of production, and those who were landless and had to sell their labour power to subsist. This formal democracy masked the actual material inequality until it could no longer hide that fact.
Therefore, the struggle for democracy today between those who are its victims and those who are its beneficiaries is futile unless the social relations underlying that democracy are transformed by socialist revolution. Short of that Maaori nationalists fight for the realisation of bourgeois democracy which can be no more than token. And even those token ‘settlements’ are read by white supremacists as a mortal threat to their material advantages in private property. Since nothing short of a social revolution will resolve the right to self-determination, it follows that bourgeois democracy must be overthrown in order for workers’ democracy to live. So how will such a revolutionary transition be possible?
Maaori nationalism is essentially about ‘Tino rangatiratanga’ or self-determination. That is, their political autonomy as indigenous people fighting for the return of land stolen by the white settlers. Can this be won as a peaceful, united resolution conceived by He Puapua as co-governance which does not challenge the class relations of the state? Not until Maaori themselves realise that the fundamental democratic right of all peoples to autonomy on the basis of their land, language and culture poses the question of which class has the power, capitalists or workers, can we talk about realising self-determination and whether or not it leads to secession.
How far Maaori nationalism will go towards secession will depend on mass support of their right to tests the limits of bourgeois democracy. With majority support from pakeha they have the possibility of joining forces to end capitalism in which case the right to self-determination including succession remains active in the construction of a post-capitalist society. So, what are the conditions arising from the past and present that can facilitate the end of capitalism and the creation of a united, peaceful and democratic future?
The most pressing condition is that global capitalism is in a terminal crisis, and out of that crisis comes the promise of revolution. Economic slump, pandemic and climate catastrophe are destroying the material basis for human survival. There is no way that the capitalist ruling class fighting for its existence can make workers and poor farmers pay for their rotting system by conceding democratic rights to equality.
The class struggle between the two main classes will force those on both sides of the divide to unite and fight. This will see the big majority of workers and oppressed unite against the minority of land owners and their middle-class allies against the working class, who will turn to fascism to defend their class interests from the threat of a workers’ revolution.
The bloc of Maaori plus pakeha supporters will be the big majority since it will be capable of reviving new forms of social relations of the original commune as the only way out of capitalism’s terminal crisis. In doing so, it can activate the substance of the Treaty in de-colonising capitalism which today is globally ramping up the oppression of the poor and non-white globally, measured in collapsing living standards, mass victims of pandemics and authoritarian rule.
The argument is often raised that the class differences among Maaori disqualify self-determination since the ‘capitalist’ leaders dictate the will of the people. Fear is promoted of an ‘ethno’ state where the Maaori minority oppresses the pakeha majority. This claim is based on a racist neo-colonial mentality which condemns the majority of Maaori as dupes of their ‘leaders’. Moreover, it accepts that leaders have sold out to the colonial practice of forcing iwi to ‘corporatise’ and turned their back on the Tino rangatiratanga of the Treaty.
Tino rangatiratanga in pre-conquest Maaori society was exercised in the interests of the collective and not a separate ruling class. Today this social relation is still alive and can be defended within the surviving institutions where leaders are elected and mandated by the people to work for their collective interests. Such a democracy that reflects the original historic commune can become the model for a new form of democracy that can unite all races and classes in the future.
That leaves the minority white supremacist-led fascists made up of middle class, small businesses, ‘kith and kin’, plus lumpen workers who will become the shock troops of a violent fascist movement to defend their class interests from the perceived threat of Maaori nationalism.
The state forces, particularly the police and military, will probably split over de-colonisation. So, it is important that the progressive majority organise self-defence against the state and paramilitary forces, appealing to the interests of sympathetic personnel to join the fight for self-determination based on class unity, racial equality and the democracy of the future commune.
When co-determination is already being practiced routinely over rivers, over settlements like Te Urewera, and local government, in many ways foreshadowing the emergence of a new workers’ democracy, it is not too hard to envisage a relatively peaceful, united and a socially democratic outcome, other than a dying capitalism which prevails today, from emerging out of the struggle for Maaori self-determination.
Dave Brownz is TDBs Guest Marxist, because every left wing blog should have a guest Marxist.
The only free man in NZ at this point is Peter Thiel, and he isn’t even a New Zealander. This can’t be worse
Must be ok here MK it’s where I presume Dave Brownz lives.
Siri: how can we turn NZ into Zimbabwe?
Siri: how do i print a trillion dollar note?
Siri are we nearly there under the Ardern Labour Government?
Believe the waffle written by Dave Brownz and we have arrived.
Childish tripe.
While I admire your confidence that humans can find a way out of the mess we are in any real knowledge of human nature (mainly the ability of people to have access to the same information but making different conclusions) would suggest things will only get worse. It is possible that whoever is in power will use that power to enforce obedience but that is no guarantee that they are correct.
This article makes my skin crawl. A question for the author: Have they read Elizabeth Rata’s article about how we got here and how it is likely to play out? And would they like to comment? Oh wait, we now live in times where it is ok to just believe things with no critical evaluation so the comment may not be enlightening.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/06/opinion-ethno-nationalism-or-democratic-nationalism-which-way-ahead-for-new-zealand.html
Elizabeth Rata: The Decolonization of Education in New Zealand’ Elizabeth Rata has her critics as a radical academic who has been described as the female Don Brash.
Elizabeth Rata on the politics of knowledge in education, represents a widespread, though covert, influence within the global academy of an imperialist form of philosophical universalism which has particular significance for Aotearoa New Zealand due to her vocal opposition to Kaupapa Māori education and Māori politics more generally. Critical analysis shows that Rata’s scholarship is based on misconceptions of several key terms and concepts, which inexorably lead to inadequate arguments and invalid conclusions, and undermine the cogency of her claims about the ‘dangers’ of Kaupapa Māori education.
Elizabeth Rata is also a contributor to the NZCPR site a far-right-think tank that is obsessed with anything to enhance Maori. Elizabeth Rata is intellectually dishonest when formulating her thesis she misrepresents the nature of tikanga and rangatiratanga and displays an impressive ability to think in binary. Elizabeth Rata declines to discuss her ethnicity and seems unaware of the confusion her Māori surname causes for those who do not know her personal history.
she is reported as saying her background has no relevance to her scholarship, but many Maori would respond by saying this attitude demonstrates her ignorance or refusal of Māori perspectives on and in her work, despite her life amongst Māori people, in the city with the world’s largest Māori and Pacific population. This refusal of Māori perspectives pervades Rata’ thinking and is at odds with any claim to speak with authority on Māori education or politics. Elizabeth Rata routinely misrepresents the work of others, who is wrongly cited by Rata as advocating for ‘Māori science’
Elizabeth Rata is a charlatan!!
Yes your right Stephen her so called area of expertise is education pedagogy but she goes beyond that. She is not Maori she married Matt Rata and one has to wonder why she holds these points of view. And calling her a charlatan is mild I would call her something else that starts with c and ends in t.
Why on earth would you want to call her a carrot CoP
Stephen – what exactly are these “misconceptions of several key terms and concepts, which inexorably lead to inadequate arguments and invalid conclusions”. The way I see it Dr Rata’s ethnicity should have no bearing on her intellectual veracity, and heaven forbid that Dr Rata, publishes her opinions on various blog sites. What a terrible crime indeed! I have listened to her speak and read a good number of her articles – and have found her anything but a ‘charlatan’ – ‘authentic’ and ‘courageous’ would be better descriptors.
Elizabeth Rata: The Decolonization of Education in New Zealand’ Elizabeth Rata has her critics as a radical academic who has been described as the female Don Brash.
Elizabeth Rata on the politics of knowledge in education, represents a widespread, though covert, influence within the global academy of an imperialist form of philosophical universalism which has particular significance for Aotearoa New Zealand due to her vocal opposition to Kaupapa Māori education and Māori politics more generally. Critical analysis shows that Rata’s scholarship is based on misconceptions of several key terms and concepts, which inexorably lead to inadequate arguments and invalid conclusions, and undermine the cogency of her claims about the ‘dangers’ of Kaupapa Māori education.
Elizabeth Rata is also a contributor to the NZCPR site a far-right-think tank that is obsessed with anything to enhance Maori. Elizabeth Rata is intellectually dishonest when formulating her thesis she misrepresents the nature of tikanga and rangatiratanga and displays an impressive ability to think in binary. Elizabeth Rata declines to discuss her ethnicity and seems unaware of the confusion her Māori surname causes for those who do not know her personal history.
she is reported as saying her background has no relevance to her scholarship, but many Maori would respond by saying this attitude demonstrates her ignorance or refusal of Māori perspectives on and in her work, despite her life amongst Māori people, in the city with the world’s largest Māori and Pacific population. This refusal of Māori perspectives pervades Rata’ thinking and is at odds with any claim to speak with authority on Māori education or politics. Elizabeth Rata routinely misrepresents the work of others, who is wrongly cited by Rata as advocating for ‘Māori science’
Stephen, rather than confront and debate the substance of the Rata essay, you choose to attack her. Worse, unable to do that you choose to paste up a weak and dishonest critique of her from a couple of lightweight academics (Georgina Tuari Stewart and Nesta Devine) with an agenda.
Do better. And, BTW, if your going to copy and paste at least try and find the honesty to disclose it. Shame on you.
Got proof?
Agree . I vote democratic nationalism .
What Maori self determination?
The treaty was signed for precisely the opposite reason, for equal rights for all citizens under the British crown, and says as much.
Inventing the opposite because you want stuff later is mad and dangerous.
Shows just how much you Pakeha’s know about our country history!!
The British Monarch was infamous for breaching treaties where ever it deem necessary for it’s own good and that before the signing of TOW. Maori were an oral culture written language was foreign, can you see what wrong here?? There no parity when discussing equal rights, equity, fairness and justice for Maori none.
http://www.enzb.auckland.ac.nz/
Except Andrew – when the TOW was signed there were 80,000 Maori and only 2000 Europeans in this country – so there goes your ‘no parity’ argument up in smoke. Seriously, if you are going to lambast Pakehas for not knowing our history, perhaps you can add a little historical context to your own comments. What happened in the previous 3 decades to the TOW Stephen? Oh that’s right it was the bloodiest period civil war in this country’s history. Perhaps this might explain why a large number of Chiefs thought the TOW was a good idea? Oh, no it was just those nasty old colonialists again who hoodwinked everyone.
Jason- I gather that you can read?? The link above is a comprehensive overview of our country’s history. Also I’m not your history teacher that your personal responsibility to find the truth? And what you’ve written neglects other aspects of our history, for instance the importance of the 1835 ‘Declaration of Independence’ and why that was so important to Maaori whom where the economic drivers of this country before the 1860s. Did you know that Maaori brought ships of the Europeans?? Did you know that these ships traded globally and needed access to British ports? Try looking down that avenue of other reasons Maaori advocated for a contract with the Crown instead of repeated commentary that isn’t even close to the truth.
http://www.enzb.auckland.ac.nz/
There is no reference to a partnership or co-governance in the Treaty and even a basic understanding of the historical context of the Treaty tells us that it would have been considered a ludicrous notion at the time, by all parties.
There is ample evidence in the letters of various chiefs to each other and in the records of the 1860 conference of Kohimarama to show that the chiefs both understood the intent of the Treaty and liked the outcome.
> It ended the grossly brutal musket wars
> It helped free about 10,000 Maori slaves
> It gave even the lowliest Maori equal access to common law
A Pakeha persons insistence on focusing on the lurid and exaggerating the extreme is not uncommon in their vernacular when characterizing Maaori!! It’s ubiquitous among the (Pakeha) garden variety of bigotry and sadly some TDB commentators are perpetrators of this vile ideology.
Yes to now reinvent democracy is silly and unless one person one vote prevails we have racial discrimination which will deliver no good.
Taking the contrary view which many commentators do is to look different for difference sake.
Bob+the+first – ‘we have racial discrimination’ Who, where, when, how????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????.
If as proposed voting power is determined by ethnicity.
The new democracy.
Seriously?
My concerns are twofold
– To run a modern successful nation requires money, skills, strong connections between nations, and support from the people
– Not all Tribes like each other, hell, conflict within Tribe’s is rough, could Maori come together as one?
Could the modern Maori leadership resolve this, and bridge those gaps?
Looked up co-governance on govt web site and found it to be filled with bureaucratic wiffle waffle which seems to be premised on the exercise of good intentions . And we all know where that road leads .
Yes a road to nowhere.
all NZ reggae is cultural appropriation and by extension deeply offensive to our jamaican bredrin.
…get yer head round that one snowflakes.
YES Gag!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’ll go with that gagarin.
An “ethno state” That the characterization when Maori want to participate in their country of origin meaningfully without tokenism or this unhealthy patriarchal relationship with the usurpers who are also the perpetrators of Maori inequality across the board.
Liberal democracies are on a decline globally thanks to the warmongers namely from the ‘US’. The social experiment of democracy building in the M.E and across the world has had devastating consequences for the targeted countries, Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Yemen, Venezuela, Somalia…etc. Liberal democracy states spreading ‘liberal democracy’ everywhere is mischievous and downright evil! The evidences is all to apparent in countries that funny enough have a population that are non-European and just happen to live on massive resources, Oil, Gold, Rare minerals etc.. Yes folks this is ‘European exceptionalism’ and we know all to well the outcome of this exceptionalism ideology.
The picture Dave Brow(nz) paints of our so-called democracy is right on the money. As many historians have recorded, pre-European Maori society was essentially Communist and, as such, was always going to be “deconstructed”, once it had helped the colonists get on their feet. With that point reached, and with Maori having made the Waikato into the bread basket of Auckland, in the first of two catastrophic seizures of publicly-owned assets that were to devastate a New Zealand people, Maori society was destroyed.
The second instance happened in the 1980s when the forces of Imperial Capitalism attacked Aotearoa New Zealand and, in the name of Neo-Liberalism, stripped it of the last vestiges of all communally owned state assets, so that it too was “deconstructed” in the interests of private Capital, and again a New Zealand society was destroyed.
And if you don’t know that, you haven’t been paying attention.
Lol Maori society was communist? Is that why they had constant warfare and slavery? And an aristocratic chief class? What naivety!
They were tribal and as such fought one another like all tribes do.Nothing exclusive about that it’s still going on but at an international level.Currently Russian/Ukrainian conflict.
But to say Maori where communist I don’t think so.
Agreed. A very selective view of our past is currently in fashion in the chattering classes.
“every left wing blog should have a guest Marxist.”
So that we can all be reminded of the glaring faults of that failed fantasy?
The litany of ludicrous assertions, untroubled by any recourse to reality, typified by the treaty partnership and co-governance delusion. There is no such thing; outside of the fevered imaginings of the likes Dave Brownz here.
Treat it as light entertainment David – just think of Karl as one of The Marx Brothers.
100% David – Or…is it necessary to have such a ‘pet-Marxist’ so we can all go through the mental gymnastics of trying to pretend that Stalin, Mao, Chavez and 100 million dead never happened?
Yes the default position of the failed.
Absolutely correct DG and Jason.
Most people are over that silliness by age 18.
Loved your bit Pope and I’m a Marx Brother’s fan.
You are aware The Uraweras has fallen badly into disrepair, DoC huts and the such have not been maintained…..ohhh DoC did it’s bit, the other ‘Co-Owners’ didn’t/haven’t. Yet it was agreed upon at the time, wonder why the Maori owners have not held up their part?
Im right, I just came back last week from Tauwhare Manuka and stayed at 3 huts past Tawhanga heading towards Ruatahuna-Waikaremoana (Te Urewera) and the huts are in good shape also the tracks are maintained!! Stop bullshitting man you probably haven’t even been to the aforementioned.
“capitalism … now facing its imminent demise as a system”
Haven’t Marxists been saying that for a hundred years?
With a couple at least to come.
It looks from comments so far Dave, that your piece is classic “pearls cast before swine”.
There is a deep dark reservoir of racism and Māori bashing in this country. Many in the provinces sit on stolen or dubiously acquired land and desperately do not want to know about the class nature of the colonial fallout this country experiences daily.
New gens will now have to be the ones that will attempt to unite all who can be united so Māori, Pākehā and migrant workers can all go forward together. First to smash neo liberalism, then hopefully on to a socialist NZ.
Working class Māori/Pākehā unity is one thing the NZ ruling class has always feared most–for if that happens it is game over for them. Yes there is a small section of Māori capitalists and entrepreneurs, but were they not taught by experts?–British Imperialism in the first instance.
As we do have a democracy currently, if we want to move away from it, it seems to me that we should at least vote on it. If as you say the majority is Maori ‘self determinists’ and their supporters then great, we will travel that way. But its nice to be consulted on things of fundamental importance to the everyday man in the street.
Radicals are much the same thinkers whatever race and background they came from. That is my observation. Merely stating a point in ringing tones, so to speak, and with great conviction doesn’t make it true because the person wants to believe that. Let’s keep human nature in mind. It is remarkably similar over the world, and affected by ingrained prejudices, past history that has remained in memory, and a desire to protect what one has, not to be stripped of the necessitites of life and opportunity to achieve more. And wariness of promises if people have been strugglers for a while.
All things considered this point and finis is one to embrace. It is true that there is already a lot of co-government going on. If the blowhards and hearties and shrill emotional backbiters can be quietened, perhaps throw them some meat, we might be able to get to the last paragraph of Dave’s vision. I don’t know if this contradicts what I have just said but contradictions will arise and there will need to be a protocol to discuss and settle these.
When co-determination is already being practiced routinely over rivers, over settlements like Te Urewera, and local government, in many ways foreshadowing the emergence of a new workers’ democracy, it is not too hard to envisage a relatively peaceful, united and a socially democratic outcome, other than a dying capitalism which prevails today, from emerging out of the struggle for Maaori self-determination.
The quietly joyful realisation will settle on us that we have done it. By God we’ve done it.
Make it so!
Let it be – (very soon.)
And when the brokenhearted people
Living in the world agree
There will be an answer
Let it be
For though they may be parted
There is still a chance that they will see
There will be an answer
Let it be
And when the night is cloudy
There is still a light that shines on me
Shine on ’til tomorrow
Let it be…
Let it be, let it be
Let it be, yeah, let it be
Whisper words of wisdom
Let it be !
Lennon/McCartney
https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/beatles/letitbe.html
“within the surviving institutions where leaders are elected and mandated by the people to work for their collective interests.” I dont believe we still have any of these institutions in this country. For example I have no idea who the current government are working for, it certainly isnt me or anyone else I know. We are deliberately running our largest city at “arms length” from the representitives we supposedly elect to run it. The entire world seems to be spiralling out of control.
The blind stupidity & dangerous naivety of a dogmatist utterly divorced from the real world.
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