Decolonising Environmental Justice: A historical geography of the Huntly Power Station and (re)production of Indigenous environmental injustices in the 1970s-1980s

Abstract

This thesis employs a case study approach to examine the intricate social, cultural, political, economic, and environmental implications of situating a coal-fired power station in the township of Huntly (Aotearoa New Zealand) within the rohe (traditional lands and waters) of the Māori tribe (iwi) Waikato-Tainui. This thesis aims to bridge the scholarly divide between ideas of environmental justice and decolonisation and examine how one Māori iwi sought to retain and assert their knowledge, values, and ways of life at a local level, and in doing so, articulated their rangatiratanga (authority and sovereignty) over their land and waters. The critical premise that provides the theoretical framework of this thesis project: (1) the existing discourse of environmental justice does not account for the complexities of the socio-cultural dimensions of environmental justice; (2) scholars need to utilise and develop theories of environmental justice that extend beyond those of distributive justice and procedural justice to account for the environmental (in)justices faced by Indigenous peoples; (3) the theoretical discussion of environmental justice needs to recognise tribal sovereignties and identities (recognition justice); (4) the theoretical underpinnings of the study of environmental justice can be enhanced by incorporating decolonial theory and Indigenous philosophies. This thesis adopts a case study approach using historical geography methods and analytical techniques to examine environmental justice concerning the Huntly Power Station and local Māori to its location and operations. I use archival research as the method for this study. In conclusion, the contestation of the Huntly Power Station in the 1970s and 1980s by iwi Waikato-Tainui highlighted the assertions of tribal sovereignty and cultural continuance of Māori despite their ongoing experiences of settler colonialism (invasion, dispossession, socio-economic and political marginalisation, attempts at cultural assimilation). The existing scholarship on Indigenous environmental justice indicates that the complex practices of historical colonialism and political economy are evident in Indigenous communities’ struggles over their self-determination. In this thesis, I argue it is not just a struggle over self-determination and the political economy but also a conflict between contrasting worldviews (or ways of thinking about the world - ontologies) and practices (ways of acting in the world - epistemologies) between Western liberal worldview (Pākehā/White New Zealand) and Māori worldview, which were reflected in how each group conceptualised the nature of the problem, potential solutions, and on-the-ground actions.