Abstract:
In the neoliberal and capitalist society that we live in, there are frequent calls to fight social inequalities and inequities, and to raise awareness and action against environmental issues. This thesis proposes that positive social change can come from constructing an alternative social narrative through values-based practice. Values-based practice refers to the act of putting values that allow for human and environmental flourishing in action.
The aim of this thesis is to gain an understanding of values-based practice by asking; how do people in New Zealand understand it? It was further proposed that these understandings would reveal whether values-based practice can act as a pre-figurative tool to give life to an alternative social narrative. To examine this, 25 people attended a Rōpū Whai Whakaaro/Action and Reflection Network. This was a 5-week course which opened a space for people to talk about their values-based practice. The course drew from Participatory Action Research and Ethnographic methodology. Face-to-face interviews took place after the course, these interviews were the data set used for analysis here. The method of analysis drew from Grounded Theory principles. Results showed how participants understood values-based practice across three levels of the social structure. They also illustrated that values-based practice indeed gives life to an alternative social narrative by acting as a pre-figurative tool.