Biculturalism online: exploring the web space of Aotearoa/New Zealand
| Pages | 182-191 |
| Published date | 01 May 2009 |
| Date | 01 May 2009 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/14779960910955891 |
| Author | Catharina Muhamad‐Brandner |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management |
Biculturalism online: exploring
the web space
of Aotearoa/New Zealand
Catharina Muhamad-Brandner
Department of Sociology, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Abstract
Purpose –Ma
¯ori culture is a central aspect in Aotearoa/New Zealand’s national identity. Beginning
in the 1970s biculturalism saw the indigenous culture and values acknowledged and incorporated in
wider public discourse and policy. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether New Zealand’s
cyberspace accommodates Ma
¯ori. It explores how the web space is influenced by biculturalism and in
turn what an understanding of this web space can tell us about biculturalism in Aotearoa.
Design/methodology/approach – A brief introduction to biculturalism in New Zealand provides
the background to the investigation of the country’s web space. Recent access statistics enquire
whether Ma
¯ori are actually connected to the internet. The exploration of the structure of the internet is
informed by newspaper articles and online documents relating to the development of two Ma
¯ori
specific second-level domain name spaces. A word-frequency analysis within a sample of 21 websites
provides an overview into the use of the Ma
¯ori language in cyberspace.
Findings – Thepaper shows that although Ma
¯orihave the lowest access rate to theinternet compared to
otherethnic groups in New Zealand,their influence on the country’sweb space is nonethelessfar-reaching.
Developmentsregarding Ma
¯ori languageuses over the last years are generallyprogressive. Ma
¯ori culture
and ongoing socialchanges are increasingly accommodated on the internet – Ma
¯ori have been actively
shapingthe web space. However, theseefforts do require the supportand acceptance of thewider Internet
community. The linguistic and structural developments taking place online since the mid 1990s were
influenced by thebicultural thinking, public discourseand practice of the time.
Originality/value – This paper draws together the Ma
¯ori success-stories in their endeavour to
assert their cultural needs in New Zealand’s cyberspace. It highlights that the understanding of
Aotearoa as being a bicultural country influenced developments taking place online potentially will
lead to a truly bicultural web space in the near future.
Keywords National cultures,New Zealand, Internet, Language,Ethnic groups
Paper type Case study
1. Introduction
In the early years the Internet was likened to McDonald’s and Disneyland, being
another conduit to bring American culture to the world (Flynn, 2000). Indeed, cultural
diversity has not been a central aspect of the Internet, neither in terms of the domain
name system (NRC, 2005) nor when it comes to the languages used to provide
information (Alis Technologies, 1997). This paper undertakes a case study of
New Zealand’s Web space. Aotearoa/New Zealand is a country devoted to
biculturalism. Ma
¯ori culture and language greatly influence the country’s national
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1477-996X.htm
The author would like to acknowledge the support of her Supervisors, Steve Matthewman and
Lane West-Newman. The detailed comments and helpful suggestions by the reviewer were also
highly appreciated.
JICES
7,2/3
182
Received 15 June 2008
Revised 17 November 2008
Accepted 27 November 2008
Journal of Information,
Communication & Ethics in Society
Vol. 7 Nos 2/3, 2009
pp. 182-191
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
1477-996X
DOI 10.1108/14779960910955891
To continue reading
Request your trial