E tipu e rea mo ngā rā o tō ao

3/8/2017

I am often asked why I study public management. Most of the questions come from pakeha officials who don’t think public administration can be understood as an unreformed colonial construct, but also by global north academics who believe in the objective and agnostic role of the state.

To them, I say: “Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles, you will never be in peril. When you are ignorant of the enemy but know yourself, your chances of winning or losing are equal. If ignorant of your enemy and of yourself, you are certain in every battle to be in peril.”

I also remind them of Dr. Kehinde Andrews’s opening paragraph: “We urgently need to destroy the myth that the West was founded on the three great revolutions of science, industry and politics. Instead, we need to trace how genocide, slavery and colonialism are the key foundation stones upon which the West was built. The legacies of each of these remain present today, shaping both wealth and inequality in the hierarchy of White supremacy.”

In short, colonialism endures. And it is essential – at least to me –to observe and describe it.

From time to time whānau ask me why I study and comment on kāwanantanga raua poneketanga. To them I say this:

E tipu e rea mo ngā rā o tō ao
Ko tō ringa ki ngā rākau ā te Pakeha Hei ara mō tō tinana
Ko tō ngākau ki ngā tāonga a ō tīpuna Māori
Hei tikitiki mō tō māhuna
Ko tō wairua ki tō Atua,
Nānā nei ngā mea katoa.

In short, it’s essential to understand the settler state’s tools if we are to adapt and evolve them for local conditions and ensure they reflect the gifts of our tipuna.