Andrew Grainger

Rugby, Pacific Peoples, and the Cultural Politics of National Identity in New Zealand

In the wake of his retirement from international rugby in 2006, Tana Umaga was feted as having ‘helped to change the face of New Zealand rugby and even New Zealand society’. Regardless of the veracity of such statements, as a one-time All Black captain Umaga is undoubtedly a persuasive political symbol in a country where rugby has near-religious import. He embodies New Zealands journey from erstwhile British colony to pluralistic Pacific nation, and offers proof positive that equal opportunity is alive and at work. The question is, however, to what extent can Umaga really be taken as a bellwether of shifting racial and cultural politics in New Zealand? Certainly, while Pacific peoples have traditionally been regarded as misbegotten Kiwis, Umaga shows that they are ‘now part of mainstream New Zealand’. But, as a cultural construct, Umagas identity is an unstable one. While he may have challenged the standard (mis)conceptions of race, ethnicity and national belonging in New Zealand, it would be erroneous to believe that he has escaped the labels and stereotypes endemic to popular racial discourse. Through Umaga I ask in this paper questions of exclusion and belonging, particularly as they relate to Pacific peoples in New Zealand. I argue that though rugby may offer a context where New Zealanders can engage on mutual terms, it gives lie to the fact that the acceptance of Pacific peoples as fully-fledged Kiwis is far from unanimous.

Fear and (Self-)Loathing in Academia

In this article I discuss a troubled conscience brought on by trying to be a critical scholar of physical culture while, at the same time, being a sports fan. I recount, in particular, the efforts, of myself and others, to try and reconcile what I see as an incongruence between an emotional passion for sport and the demands of academic politics. I try to lay bare my own hypocrisies and uncertainties in the hope of provoking a broader discussion about what academics are supposed to be and what they actually do.

Sports Marketing and the Challenges of Globalization: A Case Study of Cultural Resistance in New Zealand

The message to international marketers has long been “think global, act local”, but the complexity of the issue has rarely been explored empirically. This analysis examines the notion of disjuncture herein defined as points of ambiguity, incongruity and conf lict that emerge when global sport-advertising campaigns are released within local cultural settings. The purpose of the paper is to move beyond the “think global, act local” adage by examining the politics and contradictions associated with local regulatory control of global sport advertisements in a specific national context, namely New Zealand.

Bound to the nation: Pacific Islands rugby and the IRB's new 'one-country-for-life' eligibility rules.

The rulings made by international sports governing bodies are not merely technocratic actions, but are political decisions that have extensive impacts on lived experience. Indeed the impact of Regulation 8.2, instituted by the International Rugby Board, has had effects that have weighed heavily on the smaller nations of the rugby-playing world. The regulation, that is known as a ‘one-country-for-life’ eligibility rule, functions to limit the potential of pacific island nations and their players that rely on the economic resources of international rugby. Whilst at the same time this regulation has also supported established rugby playing nations in utilizing the human resources of these pacific island nations. In this article we will explore the specific ways in which this regulation has shaped rugby and the flows of rugby related peoples and capital within the pacific region. Regulation 8.2 exists as a particularly vexed issue for Pacific countries because of the inherently ‘mobile’ nature of Pacific societies and the existence of a ‘special relationship’ between pacific island nations and New Zealand in particular. As such we have provided a specific critical discussion of the effects this ruling has had within the region, attempting to explore powerful relations exercised through international rugby and moments of marginalization.

Resisting the swoosh in the land of the long white cloud

In a recent speech from his Reith lecture series on globalization, Director of the London School of Economics Anthony Giddens recounts the tale of a friends first encounter with the residents of a tiny, isolated village in central Africa. As the story goes, upon arrival, the anthropologist in question was invited to spend her first night at the home of one of the local villagers. Excited at the prospect of being able to personally experience their cultural mores and traditional ways of life, she attended with great anticipation. However, she was shocked to discover that the evenings entertainment consisted of watching the controversial movie Basic Instinct on video. What was even more astonishing was the fact that the movie was not even screening in parts of the “developed” world.

The ‘Packer Affair’ and the Early Marriage of Television and Sport

The Centenary test match between Australia and England was played at the storied Melbourne Cricket Ground in March 1977, to mark the 100th anniversary of the first test match (played in 1877 in Melbourne, between Australia and England). As in the first test played between these fiercest of sporting rivals, so in the Centenary Test, Australia proved victorious. However, the 1977 rendering of this classic contest proved to be – in the truest sense of the cliche – a fantastic advert for test match cricket. Dominated by the penetrative and intimidatory bowling of the Australian Dennis Lillee, and the cavalier batting of Englishman Derek Randall, the fortunes of the sides ebbed and flowed throughout the game. Finally, on day five of the test – and having set England an improbable 463 runs for victory – Australia prevailed, winning by 45 runs having extinguished England’s ultimately futile, but nonetheless stirring, run chase. As is so infrequent within the unpredictable sporting domain, here was a contest whose epic, and at times exhilarating, performance provided an appropriate spectacle for the celebratory context in which it was played. In the prevailing congratulatory aftermath of the Centenary Test, the majority of those interested and invested in the celebrated Ashes rivalry saw the future set fair for another 100 years; presumably marked by long periods of Australian dominance, punctuated by the occasional flicker of English resistance. Such prognostications of cricketing continuity proved dramatically short lived.