Organise Aotearoa (founded 2018) is a

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

organisation who describes itself as a movement "for decolonial communism". The organisation has an extra-parliamentary focus, and a membership composed of various prison-abolitionist,

anti-imperialist Anti-imperialism in political science and international relations is opposition to imperialism or neocolonialism. Anti-imperialist sentiment typically manifests as a political principle in independence struggles against intervention or influenc ...

and

anti-poverty Poverty reduction, poverty relief, or poverty alleviation is a set of measures, both economic and humanitarian, that are intended to permanently lift people out of poverty. Measures, like those promoted by Henry George in his economics classic ...

activists. Shortly after its launch, the organisation engaged in a series of

direct action Direct action is a term for economic and political behavior in which participants use agency—for example economic or physical power—to achieve their goals. The aim of direct action is to either obstruct a certain practice (such as a governm ...

campaigns, including joining the blockade of New Zealand Defence Industry Association forums, occupying the

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

ian embassy after the inauguration of

Jair Bolsonaro Jair Messias Bolsonaro (; born 21 March 1955) is a Brazilian politician and former military officer who served as the 38th president of Brazil from 2019 to 2023. He previously served as a member of Brazil's Chamber of Deputies (Brazil), Chamb ...

, occupying the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

consulate in Auckland during the 2019 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt, and joining the occupation of

Ihumātao Ihumātao is an archaeological site of historic importance in the suburb of Māngere, Auckland. Once a pā site, it stands on the Ihumātao Peninsula, at the base of Ōtuataua, part of the Auckland volcanic field. Its scoria cone reaches above ...

. The group has also organised broader mobilisations such as the 2018 protests agitating for abortion reform.

Principles and policies

Organise Aotearoa describes itself as "a new movement for liberation and socialism". In a statement of principles released on 1 October 2018, the organisation's policies were stated to be: * Constitutional transformation, including

decolonisation Decolonization is the undoing of colonialism, the latter being the process whereby Imperialism, imperial nations establish and dominate foreign territories, often overseas. The meanings and applications of the term are disputed. Some scholar ...

through the concepts of

Tino Rangatiratanga ' is a Māori language term that translates literally to 'highest chieftainship' or 'unqualified chieftainship', but is also translated as "absolute sovereignty" or "self-determination". It is central to Māori political aspirations. Many Mā ...

, Tikanga and

Mana motuhake Mana Māori Motuhake was a Māori political party in New Zealand from 1980 to 2005. The name is difficult to translate accurately, but essentially refers to Māori self-rule and self-determination — , in this context, can be understood as ...

; *

Socialist revolution Revolutionary socialism is a political philosophy, doctrine, and tradition within socialism that stresses the idea that a social revolution is necessary to bring about structural changes in society. More specifically, it is the view that revolu ...

in order to abolish

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

and establish

workplace democracy Workplace democracy is the application of democracy in various forms to the workplace, such as voting systems, consensus, debates, democratic structuring, due process, adversarial process, and systems of appeal. It can be implemented in a ...

; *

Environmentalism Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of green ideology and politics, ecolog ...

through the abolition of corporate agency; * Implementation of

policies and ending

bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and Aristocracy (class), aristocracy. They are tradition ...

control of the State; * Ending

violence against women Violence against women (VAW), also known as gender-based violence (GBV) or sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), violent, violence primarily committed by Man, men or boys against woman, women or girls. Such violence is often considered hat ...

transphobia Transphobia consists of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender or transsexual people, or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger towards people who do not conform to socia ...

, racialisation in New Zealand prisons and

ableism Ableism (; also known as ablism, disablism (British English), anapirophobia, anapirism, and disability discrimination) is discrimination and social prejudice against physically or mentally disabled people. Ableism characterizes people as they a ...

; *

Direct democracy Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the Election#Electorate, electorate directly decides on policy initiatives, without legislator, elected representatives as proxies, as opposed to the representative democracy m ...

; *

Anti-imperialism Anti-imperialism in political science and international relations is opposition to imperialism or neocolonialism. Anti-imperialist sentiment typically manifests as a political principle in independence struggles against intervention or influen ...

; * Implementation of policy through

History

Formation

Organise Aotearoa was first formed around

Sue Bradford Sue Bradford (born 1 July 1952 in Auckland) is a New Zealand activist, academic, and former New Zealand politician who served as a list Member of Parliament representing the Green Party from 1999 to 2009. Bradford is an eco-socialist. In 2019, s ...

's ''Economic and Social Research Aotearoa (ESRA)'' think tank in 2016 and later expanded to include activists from ''People Against Prisons Aotearoa (PAPA)'', the Peace Action Movement and ''Auckland Action Against Poverty''. The organisation also included Marxist-Leninists at the time of its public announcement. As of October 2019, the organisation claimed to have over 140 active members with branches in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

and

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

Direct action protests

Organise Aotearoa has received media coverage in

and

for their

interventions on several issues. Most notable among these was the occupation of the Brazilian embassy in

to protest the inauguration of the

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

president

. Occupiers displayed the slogan "No relations with fascist nations," and news of the occupation was widely shared by both left-wing and right-wing Brazilian media, including

Carlos Bolsonaro Carlos Nantes Bolsonaro (born 7 December 1982), is a Brazilian politician, the second son of the 38th President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro. Background He graduated in Aeronautical Science from Estácio de Sá University and has been a member ...

, eventually going viral across the country. The subsequent backlash from the Brazilian right resulted in "thousands of homophobic insults, death threats, and rape threats

hat were A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mechan ...

sent to OA's supporters and members." The group blockaded the New Zealand Defence Industry Association forum, or "Weapons Expo", in conjunction with the Peace Action Movement and

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; , colloquially known as Palmerston or Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatū Plains, the city is near the north bank of the Manaw ...

locals. The 2018 blockade was considered successful by organisers, and resulted in arms industry delegates failing to attend the forum, as well as several arrests. In February 2019, the organisation occupied the US Auckland consulate, and as of June 2019, has members involved in the indigenous land occupation at

Notes

References

{{reflist

External links

Official website
Socialism in New Zealand Political organizations established in 2018 Political organisations based in New Zealand 2018 establishments in New Zealand Māori politics