Remembering the Springbok Tour Conflict: 40 Years On

Forty years ago, Aotearoa New Zealand was wracked by the largest civil conflict seen since the Land Wars of the 19th century. The question of racism within rugby - our national sport - tore apart families, communities, and the political order. In this session, we will explore the shock and wonder of that amazing month in our nation’s story. Four decades later we have the benefit of hindsight. Why was it an overseas issue -- South African apartheid -- that finally brought questions of settler colonialism and racism to the fore in our national conversation here in Aotearoa? How did the other dramatic social changes occurring at that time coalesce within this conflict?

In this session, we will consider the context created by the Māori Renaissance; the shift from rural to urban ways of life; new gender relations and new ways of being ‘masculine’; neoliberal economics; the growing use of international sport as a tool of diplomacy; and the arrival of an independent foreign policy via the nuclear-free movement. Anne will suggest that the Springboks Tour of 1981 brought to the surface the question of who we are as a nation, at a pivotal point in Aotearoa’s history.

Registration required. Koha.