Indigenous Strategy, Social Policy, Decolonisation David Hovell Indigenous Strategy, Social Policy, Decolonisation David Hovell

DECONSTRUCTING BABYLON #008 - DEFEATING THE COLONIAL GAZE - BREAKING THE CHAINS OF STATIC BUREAUCRACY🦎⚛️

Have you ever tried to start a small community project or apply for funding, only to be buried under a mountain of paperwork that feels designed to make you give up? It feels like the system is more interested in the "process" than the actual outcome. That isn’t just bad luck; it is Tool #5: The Static Bureaucracy and the Colonial Gaze.

In Research Report #224, we identify the colonial bureaucracy in Northland as a "Static Society." According to physicist David Deutsch, a Static Society is governed by taboo and the suppression of change, whereas a Dynamic Society is organised around the continuous creation of new knowledge and innovation. 

The bureaucracy maintains control through two hidden mechanisms:

  • Risk Aversion: Innovation is treated as a threat. The "Universal Constructor" capacity of our whānau—our natural ability to solve problems—is dampened by a web of compliance and "past practice."

  • The Colonial Gaze: In quantum terms, the bureaucrat acts as a "Bad Observer." They look at Taitokerau and choose to see only "deprivation," "crime," and "truancy." Funding models are then built on this gaze, forcing iwi and community groups to perform "poverty porn" to qualify for aid. 

Read More