Collectivising for a cause
Nā Awhina McGlinchey
Awhina McGlinchey (Kāti Hateatea) is raising her two tamariki in Ōtautahi while maintaining a strong connection to their pā at Moeraki. She is the Managing Director of Tokona Te Raki where she is co lead of Mō Kā Uri – Ngāi Tahu 2050, a project designing the collective iwi vision for the next 25 years informed by our whānau voice.
Growing up, the walls of my childhood wharepaku were covered with leaflets, two of which I have always remembered. “If it is safe, dump it in Tokyo, test it in Paris, and store it in Washington, but keep our Pacific nuclear-free” and the other, in bold letters, Honour the Treaty.
Looking at these it’s easy to see the difference in the two movements. The first shows the pride of a small nation that made a stand against large powerful nations. The second has been a long game where about 33 years later Honour the Treaty has been replaced with Toitu te Tiriti, and can be heard across the motu as we are becoming consumed with the effects of a political snapback.
People are collectivising in response to a common enemy and activating. I note with a sense of pride that the call for justice is now in te reo and is understood not just by Māori but by Tangata Tiriti. This has been achieved through marches, petitions, establishment of kōhanga, kura and wānanga, te reo Māori claim brought before the Waitangi Tribunal, iwi radio stations and Māori TV, whānau reclaiming and using their reo. The list goes on.
Actions and actors united with the common goal of protecting and championing our reo to enable this change. Social movements are often perceived as only protests. If that were true for te reo, I imagine we would still need to whakapākehā the call to action.
Social justice movements do not spring from nowhere. They are founded in a desire for fair distribution of wealth, opportunities and privileges among people within a society – a mechanism for driving change where inequity and unfairness exist.
Social movements have been behind some of the most powerful changes around the world from voting rights to political upheavals and the fight for racial equality. When done well they offer a powerful perspective that can change mindsets, enact laws and shift policies. A compelling movement offers individuals multiple ways of contributing, whether it be through sharing the narratives that change social norms, signing petitions, participating in marches, or organisations advocating for shifts in policies and legislation.
The visibility of many social movements is cyclical: there are those times when they need to be heard loud and proud in the public arena to keep messages front and centre. There are other times, in some cases intergenerational, where successful movements continue to work quietly to change the dominant mindsets and systems by holding space, advancing when the winds of change are in their favour, and being ready to hold the line when what they have achieved is threatened.
An immense sense of pride for me in this current political context is witnessing a cohort of rakatahi who as first language speakers are able to articulate and activate in response to threats to the te reo movement. Youth has always been synonymous with social activism and social movements across generations, and our rakatahi are no different. It excites me to see our young people participating in not just the te reo movement but across the spectrum of social movements.
Much of this current generation is fuelled by frustration. They are not motivated by what they will gain from keeping the status quo, rather by what will be lost in the world they inherit. They feel they have no choice and will be living with the consequence of previous generation inaction. This is most evident in the space of climate change.
But what else is behind this generation’s frustration? Te Tai Waiora 2022, a Treasury report, states that our younger generation is faring worse in three key areas: mental health, educational achievement, and housing quality. This is not a uniquely Aotearoa issue; it’s prevalent across many developed democracies where the economic exclusion of young people and lower odds of owning a house than any generation before is building discontent and a lack of trust in democratic politics.
The world that today’s rakatahi is inhabiting is very different from the one I experienced at a similar age. My tamariki don’t have a leaflet-lined wharepaku to expose them to social movements because access to technology and social media mean they are consuming content on social issues and events almost constantly. I wonder, however, is rakatahi engagement in social media making any meaningful change?
On one hand social media has made us lazy and makes us believe that by clicking “like” and “share” buttons we are making change. On the other hand, social media is a wonderful tool for building awareness of issues and encouraging rakatahi to participate in movements they are passionate about – after all, social media makes participation accessible to the masses.
Global data from public relations and research firm Edalman shows that Gen Z is the generation most likely to boycott a product, company, country, or state because of a political, social, or environmental stance. This also extends to how they pick employers with just one in five indicating they would work for a company that fails to share their values.
Some would say this is a bunch of idealistic youth naïve about the realities of adult life. However, an alternative view which I prefer is that they are a bunch of future change makers committed to making the world a better place and will spend their lives continuing to participate in social justice movements to ensure it.
I guess this once idealistic rakatahi, now slightly older idealistic pakeke, thinks there is a lot to be learned from how social movements have created lasting change in the past to support how we might advance the future we want, including the power of our rakatahi to create change.