Abstract
New Zealand’s indigenous Māori were colonized by British settlers (now called Pākehā). Scant systematic investigation addresses bicultural/biracial identity for Māori who identify with further ethnic groups other than Pākehā. Taking a narrative approach and applying thematic analysis, this paper explores interviews with forty-four Māori-Italians, a cohort seldom sampled, conducted in New Zealand in 2013. We show how Māori-Italians negotiate the challenge of constructing positive ethnic identities in a milieu where historically ethnic hybridity has been defined primarily in relation to the Māori/Pākehā colonial encounter. Focusing on racism and stigma, we demonstrate that Māori-Italians run a gauntlet of identity challenges shaped by socio-political contexts. Conversely, Māori-Italians draw from both Māori and Italian identities to buffer discrimination from Māori, Pākehā, and Italians. Our analysis reveals a multiplicity of interpretations of Māori-Italian identity not widely articulated in social psychology or New Zealand literature, and shows the need to expand paradigms of Māori identity to incorporate ethnic hybridity beyond the Māori/Pākehā binary.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 2 |
Pages (from-to) | 20-43 |
Number of pages | 24 |
Journal | Social Identities |
Volume | 27 |
Issue number | 1 |
Early online date | 21 Sept 2020 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 31 Dec 2020 |
Event | Scontri e incontri: the dynamics of Italian transcultural exchanges: 9th Biennial Conference of the Australasian Centre for Italian Studies (ACIS) - Monash Prato Centre, Prato, Italy Duration: 4 Jul 2017 → 7 Jul 2017 http://monash.it/events/acis2017 ; http://monash.it/events/acis2017/program |
Keywords
- hybridity
- ethnic identity
- racism
- indigenous psychology
- Māori identity
- Māori-Italian identity
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Social Sciences