Generative Tensions: Meaning making in a social movement

TL;DRAbstract

During the 1980s — responding to indigenous Māori demands for self determination and redress for 150 years of violent colonisation — a dominant group (Pākehā) anti-racism movement adopted the Treaty of Waitangi as a framework to address issues of dominant cultural hegemony in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Consulting with Māori groups, this social movement (described as the Pākehā Treaty movement) developed a methodology of “co-intentional” relationships. This practice saw Māori and Pākehā groups working with their own people separately to progress a decolonisation agenda. \nDuring the early 2000s, a “third generation” of activists with a commitment to decolonisation sought a place in this Pākehā Treaty movement. This third generation brought with them questions of identity and practice as they worked to negotiate their own cross-cultural relationships in a Pākeha space.\nFrom a position as “insider” in this social movement, I draw upon the social constructionist influence on social movement st

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