Monday, March 20, 2017

Jones on New Zealand & Māori Law

Carwyn Jones, Victoria University of Wellington has published New Treaty, New Tradition: Reconciling New Zealand and Māori Law with UBC Press. From the publisher:
While Indigenous peoples face the challenges of self-determination in a postcolonial world, New Treaty, New Tradition provides a timely look at how the resolution of land claims in New Zealand continues to shape Indigenous and non-Indigenous cultures alike. As Canada moves towards reconciliation with its own First Peoples, we can learn much from the Waitangi Treaty example.
 Legal cultures change in response to social and economic environments. Inevitably, the settlement of historical land claims has affected issues of identity, rights, and resource management. Interweaving thoughtful analysis with Māori storytelling on legal themes, Carwyn Jones shows how the New Zealand treaty settlement process limits Indigenous authority. At the same time, the author reveals the enduring vitality of Māori legal traditions, making the case that genuine reconciliation can occur only when we recognize the importance of Indigenous traditions in the settlement process. 
Drawing on examples from Canada and New Zealand, Jones illustrates how Western legal thought has shaped the claims process, deepening our understanding of treaty work in the former British colonies and providing context for similar work in Canada. As Indigenous self-determination plays out on the world stage, this nuanced reflection brings into focus prospects for the long-term success of reconciliation projects around the globe.
Praise for the book:

"This book breaks important new ground in Māori studies. Even more impressive is Jones's masterful use of a variety of critical methodologies and scholarship that can be applied to the contemporary human rights situation of Indigenous peoples around the world. In an analysis thoroughly grounded in Māori language and storytelling traditions, Jones reveals a powerful new way of using Indigenous knowledge to critique, reform, and undermine the grounding assumptions of the West's racist, colonial legal regimes and systems of non-Indigenous governmentality and law imposed on Indigenous peoples."  -Robert A. Williams Jr.

"New Treaty, New Tradition is a tour de force. Intricately argued and beautifully sculpted, this book is useful to both scholars and Indigenous peoples around the world engaged in treaty and resource recovery negotiations." -Margaret Mutu

"Carwyn Jones has written a book that will enrich the popular discourse of Indigenous politics, governance, decolonization, and resurgence." -Val Napoleon

Full information is available here.