Abstract
Two salient discourses pattern much of New Zealand political discussion: egalitarianism and its levelling mechanism ‘tall poppy’ (the desire to ‘cut down’ those perceived as boastful). These discourses, however, do not seem to align with social reality (i.e., rising inequality) and this tension affects political identity genesis as it plays out in interaction. This chapter proposes novel conceptual models of Kiwi egalitarianism and tall poppy that can aid in the examination of their instantiation in talk.
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Notes
- 1.
Kim Dotcom, a German entrepreneur and New Zealand permanent resident, was at the time the focus of a police investigation at the behest of United States authorities for his involvement with copyright infringement allegedly carried out through his website, Megaupload. The New Zealand courts had frozen his assets and allowed him access to limited sums for living expenses.
- 2.
It is perhaps no surprise in light of these examples that Prime Minister John Key opted for a barbecue with reporter and broadcaster John Campbell of TV3’s Campbell Live as part of the series At Home with the Leaders (7 April 2014). Barbecues index informality and the quintessentially relaxed Kiwi summer holiday and it is an effective strategy to mitigate his own powerful position as Prime Minister and convey himself as an egalitarian ‘man of the people’.
- 3.
Seeming approachable and down-to-earth is particularly important for populist politicians in New Zealand, who claim to represent ‘the people’ in their struggle against a variously defined ‘other’ (see Woodhams 2019).
- 4.
The controversy was sparked in late January 2015 by Man Booker Prize winning author Eleanor Catton when she stated in an interview, amongst other things, that she was uncomfortable being an ambassador for New Zealand when the Government was not doing what it could for the literary arts (Mint 2015). She later referred to her critics’ attacks as forming part of a ‘jingoistic national tantrum’ (Flood 2015).
- 5.
Cate elsewhere views politics as entertaining, specifically when talking about Winston Peters, leader of the New Zealand First Party. This is indicative of a broader trend towards politics as entertainment which appeals particularly to younger voters (Woodhams 2019).
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Woodhams, J.M. (2019). Egalitarianism and Politics in New Zealand. In: Political Identity in Discourse. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18630-2_3
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