knowledge

INCLUSIVE BICULTURALISM

Useful Terms

A full account of inclusive and exclusive biculturalism in relation to the nation and to iwi is available in the paper on my website titled ‘Inclusive Biculturalism, Exclusive Biculturalism and the Nation’.

Inclusive biculturalism

This term includes, but is not limited to:

Māori culture (including language) is valued by all because it is unique to this land.

Settler-descendant culture is valued by all because it is unique to this land.

All cultural practices, both Māori and non-Māori, are accommodated in the public sphere if consistent with the principles of liberal democracy. Eg. tolerance, secularism, gender equality.

‘Race’ and ‘culture’ are separated. This requires differentiating between ethnicity/race/generic heritage/whakapapa on the one hand and cultural identity on the other. The distinction allows individuals to identity with a culture even if they don’t have ethnic/race descent from the group which practised the culture. (In exclusive biculturalism, ‘race’ and ‘culture’ are not separated.)

Bicultural society

This term refers to the recognition of Māori and non-Māori culture in civil society. It doesn’t refer to the actual ethnicity/race of people but to historical beliefs and practices which are valued today. The reason for their combined value is that represent a unified New Zealand. For example, the Maori strand would include the Maori language, traditional rituals such as tangi, and so on. The non-Māori strand would include the egalitarian ideals of colonial society, non-familial friendship, love of the outdoor leisure pursuits and so on. Many practices are valued in both cultures, e.g. family-centric, elder respect.

The non-politicised symbols of New Zealand’s biculturalism society would be the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi and the 1852 Constitution Act. Both would be celebrated as founding historical documents whose purpose is to unite all New Zealanders by evoking a history that can be shared.

Pluralist population

This term refers to the fact that the population consists of individuals from plural ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Some choose to maintain their heritage culture while others don’t.

Liberal-democratic state/government

This term refers to New Zealand’s Westminster style of democratic government. It is based on the principle of the free universal human being.

Elizabeth Rata

8th July 2021

Authors:

Michael Corballis – School of Psychology, University of Auckland | Robert Nola – Department of Philosophy, University of Auckland | Elizabeth Rata – Faculty of Education and Social Work, University of Auckland

Abstract
What is the relationship between Mātauranga Māori and science? We discuss how the former has grown with support through Government policies and university research funding sometimes in a way that makes it an alternative to science. In section 2 we examine a number of different conceptions of Mātauranga Māori, including moderate and more radical forms. Its advocates propose no agreed definition but offer a wide range of different characteristics which we attempt to evaluate. Section 3 investigates six different uses of the word ‘know’ which characterise both Mātauranga Māori and science and which highlight important differences between them. Section 4 investigates some of the claims made in four scientific papers which incorporate Mātauranga Māori elements. However the testing of hypotheses remains a central aspect of the methods of science with which Mātauranga Māori is not involved. Section 5 considers the legal rather than scientific claims that are often made concerning intellectual property rights. The final section considers the ways in which science has developed a reliable set of methods of investigation which are universally applicable to any hypothesis proposed by anyone and which has as an aim (amongst others) the discovery of truth. Mātauranga Māori may help itself to some of these attributes of science, but it cannot replace science as a way of testing hypotheses and pursing truth.

Click the link to access the full article: Science-and-Matauranga-Maori-1 Download

Inclusive Biculturalism Terms

SCIENCE AND MĀTAURANGA MĀORI