Massey Documents by Type

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Political messaging, parliament, and people, or, Why politicians say the things they do the way they do : the Parliamentary Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand in 2013 : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Social Anthropology at Massey University, Palmerston North, Aotearoa New Zealand
(Massey University, 2018) Bignell, Jessica Anne Copplestone
One of the main things a Member of Parliament (MP) does in their everyday work is talk. They are constantly saying things to try to win over the public’s support and make the world they envision real. This thesis is about politicians’ statements: why they say the things they say the way they do. Based on behind-the-scenes ethnographic fieldwork in the parliamentary offices of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand, I explore the difficult strategic work that shapes what opposition MPs say. In order to win over the public support they need to increase their vote, MPs have to communicate effectively in adherence to the rules and codes of political messaging, be good oppositional MPs, and speak and act in ways that fit authentically with their dispositions. I show that, unlike the simple soundbites we see in public from our politicians, the production of statements designed to win support is messy, indeterminate, uncertain, filled with tension and –above all – intensely complex. Drawing on Bourdieu’s theory of practice and analysis of the political field, I argue that managing that complexity to make political statements that aim at winning the political stakes and fit the specific situation, MPs must rely on their practical sense: their feel for the game that allows them to anticipate and shape the future state of play from the current situation. Because the language used to describe the world constitutes the social order that makes it real, this thesis examines how the three drivers of modern political communication, the structure of parliament, and the dispositions of individuals preconstrain what politicians can say and therefore the possibilities of the world MPs can aim at creating.
Living with tension : pursuing ecological practice in an Aotearoa/New Zealand eco-village : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Social Anthropology at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand
(Massey University, 2017) Williams, Fraser
This research explores the experiences of an eco-village in Aotearoa/New Zealand, called Whakatipu, as they pursued ecologically ethical lifestyles. I stayed in Whakatipu and undertook participant observation for a month, working alongside residents, and interviewed eighteen of the thirty-eight people who live there. I use Bourdieu’s theory of practice to analyse how eco-villagers pursued their ideals in practice, with the aim of ascertaining whether elements of their experience could help others, such as myself, pursue ecological living. A key concept from Bourdieu’s framework is habitus, which helps to describe the naturalized, strategic way-of-being in the world that eco-villagers had developed. My findings illustrate that despite having strong motivations for ecological living, and the economic capacity to embark on this project, eco-villagers were unable to achieve many of their ideals. A common statement was ‘sustainability is not possible.’ All eco-villagers faced challenges to their ability to achieve an ecological lifestyle, and had to make compromises. Different people made different compromises, which contributed to conflict. Such challenges existed, in part, because the societal context that Whakatipu was embedded in was characterized by a consumer-capitalist ideology that eco-villagers simultaneously rejected, but remained reliant on. Rather than considering themselves to have failed, eco-villagers developed a habitus that enabled them to move towards their ideal ecological lifestyle, despite their inability to completely achieve this lifestyle. These experiences demonstrate the need for context to be considered in discussing the efforts of individuals to put their values into action. Ecologically ethical living cannot simply be the result of individual action and responsibility. Furthermore, rigid conceptions of ethical ‘success’ or ‘failure’ do not account for the attempts of individuals, with diverse backgrounds and worldviews, to lead better lives in constrained circumstances. Ecologically ethical living at an individual level is not simply a matter of failure or success, but is better understood as efforts that create progress towards an ideal.
Understanding Neoliberalism, Media and the Political: An Interview with Sean Phelan
(2016-07) Dawes, Simon SD
In this interview, Sean Phelan discusses the differences between ‘ideological’ and ‘post-ideological’ or ‘post-political’ neoliberalism, and sets out his own approach to critiquing neoliberalism, which draws on Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory and Bourdieu’s field theory. Arguing for the benefits of a comparative cross-national approach, he illustrates examples of ‘actually existing neoliberalism’ in UK, US, Ireland and New Zealand contexts. Phelan concludes the interview by suggesting potential sites of cultural politics and the possibility of a radically different kind of media and political culture.
Distribution Revolution? The circulation of film and cultural capital
(Department of Theatre Film and Television Studies University of Wales, 2019-05) Huffer I
Online methods of film distribution, both legal and illegal, have been positioned as a disruptive force, altering the dynamics of the film industry and patterns of viewing behaviour. Consideration of the relationship between these new methods and power relations between the socio-demographic groups using them has been somewhat limited though. This article focuses centrally upon these power relations via an examination of the relationship between patterns of film consumption in New Zealand and the circulation of cultural capital. Using quantitative analysis of survey data, the article considers the extent to which Bourdieusian social/cultural hierarchies can be mapped onto the use of particular methods of film consumption and the viewing of particular types of film (by genre and nationality). It also considers what these patterns reveal about the circulation of more pluralised notions of cultural capital, and whether the power of particular groups may reside in their omnivorousness. The article ultimately finds that the potential contribution of online methods of film distribution to the disruption of social/cultural hierarchies is fairly minimal. This is due to the extent to which their use is, in part, structured by these hierarchies and the unequal distribution of economic and cultural capital.

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