What question did this study set out to answer?

This research aims to explore how place-naming reflects and reinforces social identities and power dynamics in Aotearoa/New Zealand.

Naming as Norming: ‘Race’, Gender, and the Identity Politics of Naming Places in Aotearoa/New Zealand

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Discursive analysis reveals tensions around place-naming and identity in Aotearoa, reflecting gender and racial dynamics.

This research aims to explore how place-naming reflects and reinforces social identities and power dynamics in Aotearoa/New Zealand.
Conducted discursive analysis of submissions to the New Zealand Geographic Board from 1989–90.
Examined objections to the proposed reinstatement of Maori names in Otago/Murihiku.
Analyzed how 'commonsense' notions of gender, race, and culture influenced these objections.
Identified that objections to renaming were rooted in maintaining hegemonic Pakeha masculinism.
Showed that naming practices are intertwined with broader social and cultural power structures.
Revealed how renaming initiatives sparked contestation over identity and belonging.

Berg et al. (1996) studied this question.

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