Systematic Colonization: The Coproduction of Electrification and Colonialism in New Zealand

Abstract

The central of argument of Systematic Colonization is that in New Zealand’s transition to electric power is inseparable from its colonization. This dissertation integrates energy history, the history of technology, and New Zealand history to provide new perspectives on how colonial authorities, British settlers, and Māori used electric power infrastructures to colonize and decolonize New Zealand. I investigate four electrification projects in New Zealand between the 1880s and 2000s, showing how each shaped and was shaped by colonialism.

In the first two chapters, I argue that the rhetoric around and development of electric lighting and power systems in Reefton and the Phoenix Mine played a critical role in how colonial authorities and British settlers came to envision New Zealand as the ideal colonial. In each of these case studies, boosters argued that electric power systems made New Zealand more technologically modern, self-sufficient, and less of a financial burden on Great Britain. Next, I examine the role of electrification in New Zealand’s transition to Dominion and argue that the new government continued to employ colonial rhetoric in its plans to create a national grid. As New Zealand expanded it electrical infrastructure in the twentieth century, regulating bodies continued to insist that electric power production should be centrally governed and directed toward making the country self-sufficient. In the final chapter, I look at the ways in which Māori decolonized the grid by building geothermal power stations to service their communities and reclaim their physical and cultural resources.