Tūrangawaewae

A book for thinkers and participants in New Zealand and global society.

How to use this book
This book has to do with identity, belonging and citizenship in Aotearoa New Zealand. At the individual level, it explores some of the threads that comprise our personal identities and the relationships we have with others which help shape a sense of self, while at the broader societal level, it critically examines some of those things said to define New Zealand's national identity. It was once suggested that the English spend little time reflecting on what it means to be English ‘because it is so simply and obviously a fact’ (Barker, 1948, p. 195, as cited by Aughey, 2016, p. 349). The same can be said of us here in Aotearoa New Zealand. Except that it isn't that simple, of course: what it means to be a New Zealander or to be in this place (and these are not necessarily the same things) may be quite different for different people. Understanding this, the complexity of the social world and our place in it, requires reflection, a capacity to ask questions of things that are often taken for granted, and a willingness to be open to alternative ways of seeing things. These are what this book is intended to do: to probe, prompt and encourage you to reflect on aspects of your own sense of self, and of the ways in which we collectively make sense of who we are, that might otherwise continue to enjoy the status of received wisdom.

How to use this website
Each link at the top of this page corresponds with one of the book’s chapters and will take you to a separate page where you can watch an interview with a topic expert and browse a range of other online resources. The videos were created for students enrolled in Massey University's course 230.110: Tūrangawaewae: Identity and Belonging in Aotearoa New Zealand, which explains the occasional reference to lecture schedules, weeks of study and so forth. Their content, however, will be of interest to all readers of this book.