Whakapapa as a Te Ao Māori-centred Economic Episto-methodology

Abstract

Māori economies have unique foundations, which differ fundamentally from Eurocentric economies, making it difficult to identify appropriate epistemological and methodological approaches to understanding them. Critical Māori economies scholars emphasise the importance of whakapapa-based approaches to understanding Māori economies. In this article, whakapapa is conceptualised as a way of both knowing (epistemology) and coming to know (methodology) Māori economies. It introduces a whakapapa-based episto-methodological framework based on four key tenets—dimensionality, relationality, obligations, and multi-temporality—to understand Māori economies from a te ao Māori perspective. The article then outlines how the use of this whakapapa-based framework can lead to decolonised economic possibilities and add value to Māori livelihoods by enabling inclusive economic decision-making, re-establishing unseen economic dimensions and recognising relations as central to Māori economies.