A Political Economy of Neotribal Capitalism

An examination of the last three decades of the 20th century in New Zealand and the shifts in the relationship between the indigenous Maori people and the dominant Pakeha (white) society. It seeks to illustrate the fundamental changes to national political, social and economic structures.

Among the unintended and largely unforeseen consequences of globalization are the fundamental transformations of local relationships, both economic and cultural, that occur within communities drawn into the predominantly capitalist world economy. Democracy, once considered the essential political mode of regulation for successful capitalist economies, is being replaced by nondemocratic modes of social organization as localized responses to global forces, such as Maori tribalization in New Zealand, are subverted and transformed. A Political Economy of Neotribal Capitalism looks at the past three decades in New Zealand and the shifts in the relationship between the indigenous Maori people and the dominant Pakeha (white) society to illustrate these fundamental changes to national political, social, and economic structures. The book includes a case study of a Maori family, a theoretical exploration of the concept of "neotribal capitalism," and discussions of themes such as changing socioeconomic relations; new social movements; the indigenization of ethnicity; dominant group-ethnic group realignment; and the antidemocratic ideologies of late capitalism—themes of interest to students of world political economics, international relations, and anthropology.