Professor Jane Kelsey
Pākehā
Jane Kelsey is an activist and critical academic on colonisation, neoliberalism and globalisation. As a recently-retired professor of Law, Jane has written extensively in all these areas. She has also worked to campaigns in Aotearoa and internationally against neoliberalism, agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), provided expert evidence in Waitangi Tribunal claims and the Urewera raids, run training workshops for activists and NGOs, advised governments from the Global South, and spent too much time on aeroplanes. Now she is pleased to be staying home.
From neoliberal globalisation to tino rangatiratanga – what Tiriti-based globalisation should look like
"Colonisation was always about expanding imperial authority over resources that belonged to other peoples. Te Tiriti o Waitangi affirmed the power of rangatira to exercise absolutely authority, including the power to make treaties. The two were bound to conflict. This conflict took different forms during various era of colonisation and resistance in Aotearoa. Most recently a virulent form of neoliberal globalisation has boosted the power and profits of corporations, from mining to entertainment to finance to big tech, and heightened the inequalities of wealth and power built on that historical base.
The reassertion of tino rangatiratanga had fought back against those developments. One such example, the campaign against the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement and pressure on the government to empower Māori to control their own resources and decide their own futures, is the focus of this presentation."
