Elliot Ikilei’s struggle with academic literacy: misunderstanding the politics of whiteness studies

Elliot Ikilei, former New Conservative party leader, targeted the University of Auckland’s course Whiteness in the Settler State.

Ikilei spoke on The Platform and spread critique of the course, revealing a fundamental misunderstanding of the core academic concepts of the politics of whiteness. These are concepts that are critical to understanding Aotearoa New Zealand’s colonial history and its contemporary social structure.

Whiteness in the Settler State isn’t a course aimed at condemning individuals for being white. Rather, it examines the structures of power and privilege that have been normalised through whiteness as a racial and cultural identity. The course explores the politics of whiteness and is grounded in academic theories of race, colonialism, representation. The core concepts that Ikilei appears to dismiss or fail to engage with in any meaningful way.

In Aotearoa New Zealand, the politics of whiteness is not merely an abstract academic exercise; it’s a deeply ingrained part of the nation’s history and present-day social dynamics.

Ikilei’s attempt to frame the course as a radical left-wing agenda is not only misleading but demonstrates a reluctance to engage with critical and nuanced discussions. Whiteness studies examines power dynamics, privilege and how racial hierarchies are formed. It’s a course rooted in inquiry, not activism, challenging students to think critically about colonial history and the ongoing implications of whiteness in society.

Image: 1863 Meeting of settlers and Māori people at Hawke's Bay, Aotearoa New Zealand - Wikimedia

Drawing on the framework from scholar Stuart Hall whiteness is constructed as a normative identity. This framework extends to Aotearoa New Zealand, where whiteness was historically positioned as superior to Māori and other indigenous cultures, reinforcing colonial power structures. It is a social and cultural framework that, through colonialism, positioned european settlers as the “default” and excluded Māori and other non-european groups. Normativity isn’t just social but institutionalised and shapes everything from legal systems to representation.

Ikilei’s critique of this course reveals a lack of understanding of critical academic insights. Blanket accusations spread by Ikilei claiming the course is radical and part of racial separatism betrays and ignores the fact there's the deeper analysis that the politics of whiteness demands. Whiteness studies, as part of a larger global discourse, doesn’t call for division but seeks to interrogate how racialised power structures have been constructed and maintained.

Image: The Artist of the Chief Mourner, “An English Naval Officer bartering with a Māori,” c. 1769. Also known as: A Māori man and Joseph Banks exchanging a crayfish for a piece of cloth - Wikicomms

A key fault in Ikilei’s understanding is his inability to engage with the relationship between globalisation and whiteness. As theory presented by Hall (1991) argue, globalisation is not just about the spread of Western ideals; it’s about the reinforcement of hegemonic power structures that centre whiteness. Hall’s work on power and representations (1997) examines how media, culture, and societal norms are shaped by dominance.

Whiteness, as a social construct, did spread globally through colonial expansion and now operates as a global norm in media, politics, and economics. Globalised whiteness intersects with local colonial history to create a particular power dynamic.

Ikilei's failure to engage with Hall’s argument — that representations shape the understanding of race and power in a society — is glaring.

Hall (1997, p. 225) highlights how representations are not just reflections of the world but actively construct it, often reinforcing the dominant ideology of whiteness.

Image: Auckland University - SUPPLIED

Ikilei dismisses the course as promoting “racial division,” but the course doesn’t simply critique individual attitudes. It examines systemic and structural power that maintains racial hierarchies. Whiteness is a product of power dynamics. To deny this, as Ikilei does, is to ignore both the historical realities of settler colonialism and the ways in which globalisation continues to reinforce these frameworks.

Ikilei presents a lack of engagement with academic research and critical race theory. His reactionary position, based on emotion rather than reasoned analysis, reflects an unwillingness to confront the uncomfortable truths about Aotearoa New Zealand’s colonial past and the continuing legacies of whiteness. His critique suggests he has not engaged with the University of Auckland about the course, which draws from decades of research in cultural studies.

The Whiteness in the Settler State course is a critical tool for anyone seeking to understand how power and colonial histories shape cultures, particularly in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Dismissing the course as “radical,” Ikilei is inadvertently silencing important conversations about race and colonialism that are essential to move forward. The analysis of whiteness is not a call to action for divisive politics; it’s an academic exploration of how historical processes shape contemporary inequalities. The course does not advocate for any particular political stance but instead encourages students to critically think and analyse how race functions in the wider social, political, and economic systems.