Renegotiating Citizenship: Indigeneity and Superdiversity in Contemporary Aotearoa/New Zealand

Abstract

New Zealand is a classic settler society that has experienced distinct phases of citizenship development in its modern history. Colonisation saw the erasure of the preceding sovereignty of the Indigenous Māori. However, by the 1970 s, the country began to debate nationality and citizenship in ways that differed (in part) from other modern liberal (including settler) societies. It is this history and those departures which are the focus here. It has two key elements: a pre-eminent focus on a biculturalism which recognises the Indigeneity of the original settlers, Māori; and the shift in the ethnic diversity that resulted from changes to immigration policy in the 1980s so that a significantly enhanced diversity has altered debates about identity, nationalism, and citizenship.