{"id":7079,"date":"2025-03-03T09:24:33","date_gmt":"2025-03-02T20:24:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/perc.ac.nz\/wordpress\/?p=7079"},"modified":"2025-03-03T09:24:37","modified_gmt":"2025-03-02T20:24:37","slug":"recrafting-the-narrative-of-mining-in-new-zealand-is-shane-jones-a-closet-post-structuralist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/perc.ac.nz\/wordpress\/recrafting-the-narrative-of-mining-in-new-zealand-is-shane-jones-a-closet-post-structuralist\/","title":{"rendered":"Recrafting the narrative of mining in New Zealand: Is Shane Jones a closet post-structuralist?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This is an opinion piece written by PERC member Professor Glenn Banks. It was originally published on the Massey University website<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n


Okay, hands up if you\u2019re a post-structuralist?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not sure what one of them looks like?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Essentially post-structuralists argue that the way we see and know the world is socially created \u2013 and it is socially created through words, narratives and the meanings that sit behind them. We each make the world through the way we talk about it…and hence each of us, and each of the societies and the cultures we are part of, will see the world differently through the different ways we express ourselves and the knowledges we have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hmmm…you might well ask, don\u2019t I make the world through the way I farm my property, repair that pothole, shop at the supermarket and put real things \u2013 food and drink – in my fridge?! Sure, but, this objective \u2018reality\u2019 that you operate in and interact with is mediated by the meanings that all these things – from paddocks to potholes to frozen chickens \u2013 hold for you…and for others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hence one woman\u2019s paddock is another man\u2019s potential forestry block…or a developer\u2019s suburb…or a conservationists reserve; and the meanings we attach to things and places can morph over time \u2013 native forests in Aotearoa have gone from being a nuisance that needed clearing in colonial times, to an important resource for biodiversity, and most recently a sink for our CO2 emissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is important for post-structuralists is the way in which some people (those with power) are able to shape these meanings and social \u2018realities\u2019 in ways that suit their values, ethics and interests over those of others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, how does this gel with the blunt, belligerent rhetorical style of Shane Jones?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Words shape and make the world \u2013 quite literally \u2013 and as a consummate politician and orator, Jones know this. Since coming into Government he has been persisting in shaping a new narrative about the nation and the place of mining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guided by a neo-liberal logic (although Jones appears far more pragmatic than his coalition partner ideologues), beliefs, ethics and values, he is creating new meanings and narratives about mining and the future of the country. And through this have flowed policy change to facilitate access to the country\u2019s mineral resources for \u2013 mostly \u2013 foreign investors. He is not talking about an objective \u2018truth\u2019, but rather how he wants the world to be. And he knows what he is doing \u2013 as he admitted in an interview he has a \u2018track record of deploying rhetoric\u2019<\/a>: taking aim at \u2018blind frogs<\/a>\u2019 and \u2018woke collar spongers<\/a>\u2019 (?!) he tells New Zealanders that they need to \u2018get over themselves<\/a>\u2019. He clearly sees a world where the \u2018transformative\u2019 potential of New Zealand\u2019s natural resources is \u2018unleashed\u2019<\/a>, and has \u2018a vision for the future \u2013 a vision that would see our wealth base grow by utilising our mineral reserves to benefit all New Zealanders, increasing our domestic resilience by reducing reliance on imported minerals\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His ambition is most clearly articulated in relation to accessing conservation land, and especially the 9% of the country listed as stewardship land, for mineral development. This stewardship land forms part of the DOC estate \u2013 and is essentially seen as a \u2018wasted resource\u2019 by Jones that \u2018isn\u2019t considered to have special conservation or scenic values, but we do know that there are areas there likely to contain mineral deposits\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like the mining industry, Jones is also doing a strong line in conjuring up mineral resources, bringing them into being with his words. Anna Tsing \u2013 an anthropologist from the USA \u2013 once wrote a wonderful piece<\/a> that tracked the rapid conjuring up of the world\u2019s largest gold deposit \u2013 Busang in Indonesia \u2013 by a Canadian mining company, Bre-X. The reports of the rapidly increasing gold reserves held in the deposit brought literally billions into the Canadian stock markets, and garnered the attention and efforts of the world\u2019s largest mining companies\u2026until it simply wasn\u2019t there anymore: it had been talked up and faked \u2013 elaborately \u2013 for three years<\/a>. The collapse had real world effects on thousands of \u2018mum and dad\u2019 investors who had been caught up in excitement of this \u2018economy of appearances\u2019 and collectively lost millions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now no one is claiming another Bre-X is stalking Aotearoa. But a fundamental truth of the mining industry, and especially mineral exploration companies, is that to really succeed they need to conjure up resources to bring in investment and develop a mine. Reports to the stock exchange and the media bring into being resources and untapped wealth based on often partial and sometimes sketchy exploration results. Hence in the last 12 months we have heard that companies\u00a0may have<\/em>\u00a0uncovered 5% of the world\u2019s antimony reserves<\/a>,\u00a0the third largest global deposit of vanadium<\/a>, and\u00a0the biggest gold discovery in decades<\/a>, all within what one industry journal described as \u2018the world\u2019s next modern mining jurisdiction<\/a>\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And Jones is not only repeating this mantra of an industry of the verge of rapid expansion that sees mineral resources everywhere just awaiting digging up, but he is also conjuring up a world in which environmental regulation which has bogged down the sector for decades (it hasn\u2019t \u2013 see for one example Federation mining starting up a gold mine on the West Coast<\/a> under the last government) is removed, so we can mine the \u2018critical minerals\u2019 the world needs for the energy transition (but the sector is not focussed on these, and the revised list of critical minerals<\/a> now includes gold and coal\u2026 critical only in the eyes of the Minister and the sector) and bring employment (not very much \u2013 it is a high-technology sector), regional development (again the evidence isn\u2019t strong) and strong returns to the nation (which it doesn\u2019t, due to the high levels of foreign investment, imports and existing taxation regime<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All this in the context of a modern sector \u2013 so the conjuring goes on – that is environmentally benign, if not generative of environmental benefits (which it might like to be, but isn\u2019t<\/a>), and has a clear social licence to operate (which it doesn\u2019t in most parts of the country<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, by using his power and platform to narrate a new world, Jones is seeking to shift the values with which conservation land, \u2018blind frogs\u2019 and the environment holds in favour of a vision for a country in which there is a vastly expanded mining industry that will \u2018increase national and regional prosperity, strengthen critical supply chains, and leverage our relationships and international partnerships to drive economic benefits for New Zealanders<\/a>\u2019. This is a purposeful meaning-creating<\/em> conjuring act of the highest order from Jones. And he knows what he\u2019s doing. So does Michel Foucault<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Image: Martha Mine in Waihi. Taken by Ulrich Lange, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is an opinion piece written by PERC member Professor Glenn Banks. It was originally published on the Massey University website. Okay, hands up if you\u2019re a post-structuralist? Not sure what one of them looks like? Essentially post-structuralists argue that the way we see and know the world is socially created \u2013 and it is socially created through words, narratives … <\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7080,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":4,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"federate","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[89],"tags":[90,39,46],"class_list":["post-7079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-extraction","tag-extraction","tag-perc-members","tag-publications"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/perc.ac.nz\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Martha-Mine-Waihi.2e16d0ba.fill-1000x666.format-webp.webp?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcQ2HH-1Qb","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/perc.ac.nz\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/perc.ac.nz\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/perc.ac.nz\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perc.ac.nz\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perc.ac.nz\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7079"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/perc.ac.nz\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7079\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7081,"href":"https:\/\/perc.ac.nz\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7079\/revisions\/7081"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perc.ac.nz\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/perc.ac.nz\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perc.ac.nz\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perc.ac.nz\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}