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Dr. James H. Liu Centre for Applied Cross Cultural Research Victoria University of Wellington

Beyond discourses of equality versus culture: a relational approach to biculturalism and multicultural recognition. Dr. James H. Liu Centre for Applied Cross Cultural Research Victoria University of Wellington. OVERVIEW. Interconnectedness as a basic philosophy and alternative epistemology

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Dr. James H. Liu Centre for Applied Cross Cultural Research Victoria University of Wellington

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  1. Beyond discourses of equality versus culture: a relational approach to biculturalism and multicultural recognition Dr. James H. Liu Centre for Applied Cross Cultural Research Victoria University of Wellington

  2. OVERVIEW • Interconnectedness as a basic philosophy and alternative epistemology • Beyond the equality/ bicultural divide • The need to delineate between multiculturalism and biculturalism • Towards a more relational politics • Recognizing diversity

  3. Centre for Applied Cross Cultural Research • An applied research centre linking NZ researchers, policy-makers, businesses, and community groups in a participatory action framework. MOEs with NZ Federation of Ethnic Councils and Office of Ethnic Affairs • International links to the Asian Association of Social Psychology and the Center for Cross Cultural Research at Western Washington U • Built around a philosophy of interconnectedness

  4. Interconnectedness • In Eastern traditions of scholarship, what is valued most is not truth: the pursuit of objective knowledge is subordinate to the quest for spiritual interconnectedness • a scholar versed in interconnectedness should have the ability to manage contradictions, tolerate deeper elements of paradox, and see & synthesize the beauty of complex patterns. He or she should draw insight from complexities, act on them in a way that cultivates society in self & self in society. • Chu Hsi: “The same moon shines on different rivers”

  5. New Zealand Identities: Departures and Destinations • One of the first major intellectual products of the Centre is a multi-disciplinary book, from which we draw some of the materials for the current discussion. • Book that emerged out of discussion, and is a synthetic tapestry depicting and theorizing ethnic and other forms of diversity in NZ • The dialogue has widened to other fora, like the NZ Diversity Action Plan sponsored by the Human Rights Commission

  6. Dimensions of Interconnectedness • Time – from past to present to future (“ancestry is all about relationships”) • Place – from here to there, migration and immigration, rural to city, etc. (“nothing is more relational than a map”) • People – social identities as relational, not essentialised constructs (“identities are imagined communities, and there are identities within identities at every level of inclusiveness”)

  7. Maori (N=37) Pakeha (N=94) 1. Treaty of Waitangi 54% 1. Treaty of Waitangi 69% 2. The Land Wars 35% 2. World Wars 66% 3= Maori/Polynesian Arrival 30% 3. Maori/Polynesian Arrival 41% 3= European Arrival 30% 4. European Arrival 40% 3= World Wars 30% 5. The Land Wars 35% 6 Women’s Suffrage 19% 6. Women’s Suffrage 29% 7. Colonisation 16% 7. Arrival of James Cook 28% 8= Education Act passed pro- 14% 8. Colonisation 16% Viding free education. 9= The Depression 14% 8= NZ becomed independent state. 14% 9= 1981 Springbok Tour 14% 8= Musket Wars between Tribes 14% 8= NZ Government formed 14% 8= 1981 Springbok Tour 14% 10 MOST IMPORTANT EVENTS IN NEW ZEALAND HISTORY ACCORDING TO GENERAL SAMPLE OF MAORI AND PAKEHA/EUROPEANS

  8. How well have Maori and Pakeha/Europeans honoured the Treaty of Waitangi? General Sample Student Sample

  9. Representational Resources for Biculturalism • Widespread support for bicultural symbols of New Zealand identity (e.g., the haka, the All-Blacks, Maori protocols of greeting, the Treaty, the national anthem, waiata, implicit associations) • Fairness – there is widespread acknowledgement of the history of colonization, but fierce debate about its implications for present day politics. What is fair depends on time span considered and whether group based or individual outcomes count

  10. Fairness as a core value for both biculturalism and multiculturalism? • Bicultural issues grounded in historical relationship between Maori and Pakeha and the legacy of both colonization and shared practices • Multicultural issues are a more recent product of change in immigration policies in 1987. Asian people are not imbedded within the collective consciousness of NZ, so they tend to couch their needs in terms of discourses of inclusion rather than a discourses of entitlement

  11. Multicultural recognition • Tolerance as a civic virtue • Removing barriers to participation • Inclusion of minority voices within national debates that impact on their interests • Celebration of diversity in areas that do not conflict with the community well-being • Avoid being criticized for being part of a “culture of complaint”

  12. Conclusion • Biculturalism combines symbolic elements of the sacred with contested elements of resource distribution grounded in history • Multiculturalism is a more recent innovation that carefully negotiates being the same and being different at the same time. Involves elements of tolerance and recognition that can be accommodated under either bicultural or purely liberal democratic ideology

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