Lecture 21- Māori and Indigenous Knowledge in Development Contexts Flashcards
What is development?
-Many meanings but could mean Growth, progression, evolution, maturing
-Essential to being human
-Word embodies was society wants for itself
-Often associated with economic growth, driven through political power (i.e. how a society makes decision determines economics)
Power/ knowledge balance
Those who hold power control the economy and how we should understand it
Understanding the economy based on a particular knowledge framework (e.g. in this paper maori world view + our own unique one).
Knowledge and it’s control play a significant part in colonisation of indigenous people i.e. devalue one knowledge world view
Values-based economics
- Greater inclusion of social, environmental and cultural concerns: Re-introduces values into the economy
- Quadruple bottom line (economic, social, environmental, cultural): A measure of how well an economy is structured and progressing -> holistic approach can be used to determine how well an economy is progressing. This approach has always been at the forefront of indigenous approaches to colonisation.
- Weber linked rise in capitalism to the demise of values-based economies
Māori Society & Capitalism
- Capitalism, global imperialism and colonialism are linked
- Expansion of the British Empire through capitalist drive for resource-rich countries
Economic imperative – profit over social/cultural/environmental good= Indigenous knowledge-based systems replaced by a politico-economic ethic -> shift to capitalist economy as opposed to values-based
- Māori became the ‘cogs’ of a capitalist ‘wheel’
Gibson-Graham’s economic iceberg
-Above surface = wage labour, production for markets in capitalistic firms
-Hidden economy (not seen from a capitalistic framework) = the indigenous economy e.g. community and whanau based based. The hidden economy allows for the effective engagement with capitalism.
Knowledge
- A strategic resource
- Dominant knowledge systems drive economies
-> Usually non-indigenous driven by economic concerns i.e. that of the colonising group
-> Ignores the quadruple bottom line - The growth of the Māori economy has seen the growth in use of Māori knowledge
-> Mātauranga Māori
Indigenous Knowledge
Comes from observing and interacting with the environment
- Often orally transmitted
- Traditions-based
-> “[W]alking backwards into the future” (past experience guides the future)
-> Adding ‘layers’ of experience develops indigenous knowledge
-> Pūrākau / Traditional narratives
How we define indigenous knowledge changes depending on the context
Mātauranga Māori
- Māori knowledge and philosophies
- Reflective of a Māori worldview
- Connects people with the environment
- “He anga onamata, he aronga anamata” – “Ancestrally driven, future focused”
- Mātauranga-ā-iwi
-> Region-specific knowledge
-> Recognises differences in how iwi have interacted with their environment
Which knowledge? Whose knowledge?
- Validating knowledge is a political project. Driven by power and dominance in society. And to seek answers.
- Tensions between knowledge systems (maori fearful of academic contexts undermining their views)
-BUT there is no knowledge that is superior over the other it serves the local context -> conflicts with western scientific method of finding one answer or truth.
Indigenous Development
- Creating benefits and positive outcomes for indigenous communities; and
- Recognising the unique character of indigenous communities
- Through –
-> Recognition of indigenous knowledge in governance, management, practice…;
e.g.
-> Research, climate change, language revitalisation, legal personhood for nature, etc.
Māori Development Ethical principal
Whakapapa (genealogy, layers of relationships)
- Kaitiakitanga (guardianship, responsibility of care)
- Whanaungatanga (managing relationships -> setting out rules of engagement in order to do the right things)
- Rangatiratanga (self-determination, governance)
- Wairua (spiritual contexts)
