title: Insecure, unpredictable, hoping to survive: Four cases of Māori people living precariously in Hamilton, Aotearoa New Zealand

authors: Uerata, Lynley Moana

subjects: Māori

abstract: A conceptualisation of precarity is introduced and adopted. A critique of contemporary conceptualisations of precarity is presented, drawing especially on Stuart Hall’s interpretation of articulation and Marx’s concept of relative surplus population. Much of the literature on precarity focusses on the neoliberal mode of contemporary capitalism originating in the late 1970s. However, there is limited literature which explores precarity as a way of life. A precarious way of life is characterised by interacting forms of precarity which embed insecurity, instability, and unpredictability in the everyday lives of real people. An account of the Māori experience of precarity since the pre-colonial era to the present-day is presented. Māori are the indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand who were colonised by the British Empire in the 1800s. 
The main research questions addressed in my thesis are: What forms of precarity are present in the everyday context? How do forms of precarity relate to each other? How do forms of precarity relate to being Māori? What kinds of support do those living with precarity gain from social structures, institutions, and social actors? What is the role of culture in the way Māori experience and mediate precarity? An analysis of semi-structured in-depth engagements with Māori people living precariously in Hamilton, Aotearoa New Zealand in 2016, based on four case studies, shows the character and significance of forms, sources, and effects of precarity in everyday life. As historical processes continue to overdetermine experiences of social structures and institutions in the present, in a contemporary capitalist context precarity arises from a wide range of interacting sources, forms, and effects of precarity. Among the different kinds of actors and organisations which comprise the support systems constructed to mediate precarity in the everyday context, cultural practices and resources can play a significant role for people who are culturally connected. When people are integrated into their local and cultural communities, they can cope better with a precarious way of life.

text: Insecure, unpredictable, hoping to survive: Four cases of Māori people living precariously in Hamilton, Aotearoa New Zealand A conceptualisation of precarity is introduced and adopted. A critique of contemporary conceptualisations of precarity is presented, drawing especially on Stuart Hall’s interpretation of articulation and Marx’s concept of relative surplus population. Much of the literature on precarity focusses on the neoliberal mode of contemporary capitalism originating in the late 1970s. However, there is limited literature which explores precarity as a way of life. A precarious way of life is characterised by interacting forms of precarity which embed insecurity, instability, and unpredictability in the everyday lives of real people. An account of the Māori experience of precarity since the pre-colonial era to the present-day is presented. Māori are the indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand who were colonised by the British Empire in the 1800s. 
The main research questions addressed in my thesis are: What forms of precarity are present in the everyday context? How do forms of precarity relate to each other? How do forms of precarity relate to being Māori? What kinds of support do those living with precarity gain from social structures, institutions, and social actors? What is the role of culture in the way Māori experience and mediate precarity? An analysis of semi-structured in-depth engagements with Māori people living precariously in Hamilton, Aotearoa New Zealand in 2016, based on four case studies, shows the character and significance of forms, sources, and effects of precarity in everyday life. As historical processes continue to overdetermine experiences of social structures and institutions in the present, in a contemporary capitalist context precarity arises from a wide range of interacting sources, forms, and effects of precarity. Among the different kinds of actors and organisations which comprise the support systems constructed to mediate precarity in the everyday context, cultural practices and resources can play a significant role for people who are culturally connected. When people are integrated into their local and cultural communities, they can cope better with a precarious way of life.

year: 2021

title: Nā Wai Koe? Our tūpuna call us home: Maremare whānau thinking about connections to whenua tupuna

authors: Sampson, Jasmine

subjects: Whenua Tūpuna

abstract: This research focuses on the Maremare whānau from Tiniwaitara Marae, Turakina, in order to explore the importance of our relationship with our whenua tupuna and the related concept of returning home. 

Although many academics have carefully attended to the concept of ‘disconnection’ from whenua tupuna in order to describe the effects of Māori mobility, this term unfortunately reinforces the colonial attempt to detach our people from the things that provide us with our sense of belonging. I argue that thinking about relationship with whenua tupuna through terms like ‘disconnection’ and ‘reconnection’ are unhelpful and problematic; instead, when we understand this relationship in Māori terms, our connection to our whenua tupuna is an everlasting relationship that is woven into the fabric of our whakapapa.

The research combines interviews with three generations of the Maremare whānau, including people with diverse experiences of relationships with Turakina, with critical reflection on relevant concepts from Te Ao Māori. Specifically, mobilising a Kaupapa Māori Theory approach, the thesis draws on an oriori, ‘He Oriori mō Wharaurangi’ as the methodology and foundation of this thesis. In this way, the thesis both argues and demonstrates the value of researchers, and in particular kairangahau Māori, look to mātauranga Māori to guide us in our research about Māori topics. This oriori is iwi specific, it holds kōrero tuku iho that pertains to my whakapapa as an uri of Ngā Wairiki Ngāti Apa and it is very relevant to both my kaupapa and the people participating in the rangahau.

Ultimately, whakapapa rests at the core of connection to whenua tupuna. It is the foundation in which we stand and it connects us as a people to the land that birthed us. This thesis looks at the different ways that our tūpuna call us home, the different ‘returning home’ experiences within the Maremare whānau and how people within the whānau view their connection with our whenua tupuna in Turakina. Nā wai koe? Our tūpuna call us home.

text: Nā Wai Koe? Our tūpuna call us home: Maremare whānau thinking about connections to whenua tupuna This research focuses on the Maremare whānau from Tiniwaitara Marae, Turakina, in order to explore the importance of our relationship with our whenua tupuna and the related concept of returning home. 

Although many academics have carefully attended to the concept of ‘disconnection’ from whenua tupuna in order to describe the effects of Māori mobility, this term unfortunately reinforces the colonial attempt to detach our people from the things that provide us with our sense of belonging. I argue that thinking about relationship with whenua tupuna through terms like ‘disconnection’ and ‘reconnection’ are unhelpful and problematic; instead, when we understand this relationship in Māori terms, our connection to our whenua tupuna is an everlasting relationship that is woven into the fabric of our whakapapa.

The research combines interviews with three generations of the Maremare whānau, including people with diverse experiences of relationships with Turakina, with critical reflection on relevant concepts from Te Ao Māori. Specifically, mobilising a Kaupapa Māori Theory approach, the thesis draws on an oriori, ‘He Oriori mō Wharaurangi’ as the methodology and foundation of this thesis. In this way, the thesis both argues and demonstrates the value of researchers, and in particular kairangahau Māori, look to mātauranga Māori to guide us in our research about Māori topics. This oriori is iwi specific, it holds kōrero tuku iho that pertains to my whakapapa as an uri of Ngā Wairiki Ngāti Apa and it is very relevant to both my kaupapa and the people participating in the rangahau.

Ultimately, whakapapa rests at the core of connection to whenua tupuna. It is the foundation in which we stand and it connects us as a people to the land that birthed us. This thesis looks at the different ways that our tūpuna call us home, the different ‘returning home’ experiences within the Maremare whānau and how people within the whānau view their connection with our whenua tupuna in Turakina. Nā wai koe? Our tūpuna call us home.

year: 2021

title: The DiY ['Do it yourself'] Ethos: A participatory culture of material engagement

authors: Snake-Beings, Emit

subjects: Material agency

abstract: Do it Yourself (DiY) is a participatory culture which exemplifies a particular ethos in its approach to technology and materials. Rather than engage with ‘complete’ technologies, such as a technology supplied as ready-to-go item, the DiY practitioners examined in this thesis engage with the raw materials of garbage and recycling, ‘incomplete’, broken and discarded technologies. In this type of DiY practice the emphasis is towards creating individualised and custom-built forms of technology: often made from components and materials which have been re-functioned from their original intention to produce new and unexpected functionalities; practices which disrupt the dominant discourses of technology. This thesis involves a situated application of theory to DiY practices in the field: focusing on three case studies featuring New Zealand-based DiY sound practitioners and their embracing of functional ‘errors’ as a means of increasing the participatory potential of materials.
My initial argument is, that the social perspectives and ‘human-biased’ view examined in current literature on DiY culture, depicts an attitude towards power and knowledge which obscures the recognition of material agency. In this thesis, ‘power’ is defined within a social constructivist, or as a ‘human-biased’ view, whereas ‘agency’, as the ability to make something happen, is more expansive and incorporates the capacities of materials to become active participants in the production of cultural artefacts. Through engaging with the work of contemporary theorists relevant to material agency (including Karen Barad, Jane Bennett, Levi R. Bryant, Susan Kelly, Lambros Malafouris and Bruno Latour), the limitations of the ‘human-biased’ view of DiY culture are highlighted and the emphasis is shifted from DiY participatory culture as a social phenomenon towards the idea of ‘extended agency’: agency which includes both human and material actants within the entangled assemblages of DiY practices and the material environment.
When extended agency is applied in the three case studies, the initial question asked is: ‘How does the intra-action of human and material environment influence the processes of DiY practices and what specific strategies are used to increase the participatory potential of materials?’. 
In this sense, DiY culture challenges the way we see ‘power’ and ‘structure’ as being exclusively human traits, influencing our way of relating to the material environment and creating consequences and considerations which extend from the localised DiY practices examined in this thesis. The suggestion is that the extended agency of DiY culture represents a timely re-evaluation of the relationship between the human and the material environment, challenging prevalent discourses which place the human at the centre of power and knowledge.

text: The DiY ['Do it yourself'] Ethos: A participatory culture of material engagement Do it Yourself (DiY) is a participatory culture which exemplifies a particular ethos in its approach to technology and materials. Rather than engage with ‘complete’ technologies, such as a technology supplied as ready-to-go item, the DiY practitioners examined in this thesis engage with the raw materials of garbage and recycling, ‘incomplete’, broken and discarded technologies. In this type of DiY practice the emphasis is towards creating individualised and custom-built forms of technology: often made from components and materials which have been re-functioned from their original intention to produce new and unexpected functionalities; practices which disrupt the dominant discourses of technology. This thesis involves a situated application of theory to DiY practices in the field: focusing on three case studies featuring New Zealand-based DiY sound practitioners and their embracing of functional ‘errors’ as a means of increasing the participatory potential of materials.
My initial argument is, that the social perspectives and ‘human-biased’ view examined in current literature on DiY culture, depicts an attitude towards power and knowledge which obscures the recognition of material agency. In this thesis, ‘power’ is defined within a social constructivist, or as a ‘human-biased’ view, whereas ‘agency’, as the ability to make something happen, is more expansive and incorporates the capacities of materials to become active participants in the production of cultural artefacts. Through engaging with the work of contemporary theorists relevant to material agency (including Karen Barad, Jane Bennett, Levi R. Bryant, Susan Kelly, Lambros Malafouris and Bruno Latour), the limitations of the ‘human-biased’ view of DiY culture are highlighted and the emphasis is shifted from DiY participatory culture as a social phenomenon towards the idea of ‘extended agency’: agency which includes both human and material actants within the entangled assemblages of DiY practices and the material environment.
When extended agency is applied in the three case studies, the initial question asked is: ‘How does the intra-action of human and material environment influence the processes of DiY practices and what specific strategies are used to increase the participatory potential of materials?’. 
In this sense, DiY culture challenges the way we see ‘power’ and ‘structure’ as being exclusively human traits, influencing our way of relating to the material environment and creating consequences and considerations which extend from the localised DiY practices examined in this thesis. The suggestion is that the extended agency of DiY culture represents a timely re-evaluation of the relationship between the human and the material environment, challenging prevalent discourses which place the human at the centre of power and knowledge.

year: 2016