Adopting Māori Values Could Go Further

Many organisations are adopting Māori values, but UC research suggests Aotearoa could go further in exploring the benefits of an Indigenous economies approach.

Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury (UC) Senior Lecturer Dr Matthew Scobie (Ngāi Tahu) outlines possibilities for a more socially and environmentally just economy in a book co-authored with UC alumni Dr Anna Sturman, from the University of Sydney. The Economic Possibilities of Decolonisation is published by Bridget Williams Books.

Dr Scobie and Dr Sturman demonstrate the possibilities of integrating Māori values into contemporary economic practices to address pressing issues such as climate change, resource depletion, and inequality. 

“While many corporations are adopting Māori values like kaitiakitanga (guardianship) and manaakitanga (hospitality), there is significant untapped potential in applying a broader Indigenous economies approach towards transforming institutions,” Dr Scobie says.

The book delves into how Māori organised their economies, where some things were broadly similar to today, but many aspects were very different. The exploration includes features such as rights and resource use, obligations, exchange, labour and distribution. 

For example, individual wealth accumulation and compensation through wages didn’t exist as we know them today.

“There were different forms of labour that maintained the dignity of the individual and the dignity of the collective,” Dr Scobie says. “Even leaders who had a lot of power only maintained their status because wealth flowed through their hands to their community, rather than stopping with them. They maintained and increased their own mana by maintaining and increasing the mana of others.”

The book then explores the historical relationship between colonialism and capitalism in Aotearoa New Zealand, and contemporary Māori economic practices within, against and beyond the current dominant model.

“Māori economies can stabilise capitalism by providing care for people and places that capitalism needs but does not value, but this care for people and place can be used to demonstrate the possibility of alternative futures,” Dr Scobie adds.

Dr Scobie grew up in Christchurch and reconnected with his Ngāi Tahu heritage during his time at UC. “My journey began with mentorship from Associate Professor Tyron Love and continued through close work with the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre,” he says. This personal and academic exploration led to his PhD research on accountability within Ngāi Tahu and eventually a lecturing position at the UC Business School where he teaches managing corporate responsibility and topics in Indigenous economics. 

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