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When the Subject Is Difference: Conditions of Voice in Policy-Oriented Qualitative Research

UNITEC Institute of Technology

This article reflects on Me Mahi Tahi Tatou, a government-sponsored study of race relationsin New Zealand schools. It focuses on ways in which the New Zealand biculturalframework shaped conditions of communication and voice among those involved in conductingthe study. In Me Mahi Tahi Tatou, well-intentioned attempts to support thevoice of a historically marginalized group were undermined by a reductive identity politics.Political and institutional pressures and a positivist-empiricist research culturefurther supported a mechanistic approach to social inclusion. The article argues that ameaningful approach to difference and voice in inclusive research requires critical attentionto the conditions of communication and the micro-politics of the day-to-day interactionsthat shape the meaning of social categories in practice.

Key Words: research methods • social categories • difference • identity • race • voice • New Zealand • education • policy

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