Māori economies and wellbeing economy strategies: A cognitive convergence?

Abstract

This paper outlines an apparent ‘cognitive convergence’ occurring between the economic kaupapa (principles) of Māori (the Indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand) and wellbeing economy strategies (WES). Based on a broader project aimed at helping Māori develop economies of wellbeing, it details te ao Māori (the Māori worldview) and the economic kaupapa that emerge from this, and compares them to neoclassical capitalist principles. It then uses these kaupapa to examine the ontological alignment between the kaupapa and six WES: community wealth building, regenerative, common good, solidarity, doughnut, and wellbeing economics. There is significant alignment detected. The reason for this, the paper argues, is that these WES are tapping into a primordial view of the world, one that predates the current Western orientation: the relational worldview. This worldview is common across most Indigenous peoples including Māori and, it is proposed, also common for many who live and operate in the capitalist system. The paper concludes by noting that identifying the reason for this cognitive convergence might provide a coherence and unity to the various WES seeking to depose or alter the current capitalist system.