Devolution and the decolonisation of local governance: Lessons from the Pākanae water supply

Abstract

This thesis examines the ways that community-based service provision can contribute to the decolonisation of local governance. Community-based service provision provides for Indigenous involvement in environmental decision-making. Proponents of community-based service provision argue that it addresses the failures of top-down decision-making frameworks because the distance between decision maker and recipient is reduced. Empowering discourses associated with community-based service provision have been the subject of criticism in recent neoliberal environmental governance literature. Critics argue that pre-existing inequalities manifest within devolved governance arrangements. In response to these critiques, I draw on postcolonial theory to argue that community-based service provision yields dangers and opportunities for Indigenous communities. Postcolonial theory provides geographers with a conceptual apparatus to deconstruct the layered histories that influence contemporary governance arrangements. I will use a postcolonial critique of community-based service provision to examine the case study of the Pākanae water supply. Interview data obtained from Pākanae Water Board members and 5A Māori Land Block trustees affords insight into the ways that community-based service provision can be used as a mechanism to mediate crosscultural relations. It will be argued that the historically strong relationships between key individuals involved with the Pākanae Water Board and 5A Māori Land Block Trust have enabled the organisations to open an alternative management paradigm. This management paradigm is premised on the recognition and respect of the land block's pre-European territorial rights over the water source for the Pākanae water supply. At a local scale, individuals can form tactical relationships to circumvent inequalities inherent within broader socio-institutional structures. Thus, despite its vulnerabilities, community-based service provision retains progressive qualities. In response to the largely pessimistic orientation of recent contributions to community-based service provision literature, I will argue that if key individuals and organisations form tactical relationships, they can establish networks that can be utilised to progressively decolonise local governance.