ELIZABETH RATA: Neotribal Capitalism and Co-Governance

Capitalism creates prosperity. But its relentless drive to accumulate must be controlled by democratic politics. Neotribal economic corporations (the ‘neo’ means they are different from the pre-modern tribal re-distributive economy) are like socialist ones. They merge the economy with politics. Dangerously, they institutionalise the merger in legislation, policy and practice. Because those combined interests are invisible, they are unchallengeable.

Democracy first required the separation of politics and religion. It also requires the separation of politics and the economy. Co-governance is the antithesis of this separation. The only political philosophy able to effect the separation is liberalism. This is because liberalism has the individual citizen, not the tribe or class, as the political category. It is citizens, operating through parliamentary accountability, who must regulate capitalism. This requires all political actions to be visible so that all are challengeable. 

Introduction

In the 1990s, I developed the theory of neotribal capitalism to explain a phenomenon occurring in New Zealand’s version of identity politics. The phenomenon was the rapid emergence of the neotribal corporation. These economic entities gained their initial capital in the 1980s by claiming Treaty of Waitangi Settlements on behalf of all Māori. They have since become the political and ideological vehicle for co-governance demands. This poses a serious threat to nearly two centuries of democratic nation-building by both Māori and colonists. 

Accumulation 

Those in charge of the neotribal corporations have grandiose ambitions. Not content with righting historical wrongs, their ambitions extend to acquiring both vast amounts of capital and the political power needed to secure ever-increasing amounts. This is to be expected. It is the way all elites behave. Relentless accumulation is what makes capitalism such a successful economic system. Its capacity to add value and hence accumulate from itself makes it superior to economic systems such as the redistributive system of pre-colonial New Zealand.  

But – and there is a big but . . . 

Regulation 

Relentless accumulation requires political regulation if capitalism is to do what it does best – create fair opportunities so that all may contribute and benefit. Regulation supports capitalism through the rule of law. In turn, capitalists must be accountable to the political system for the use of the resources they develop – the land, water, fisheries, forests, foreshore and seabed, minerals, flora, fauna, and knowledge – all the means of production held by the people in common. Regulation in the public interest keeps unbridled capitalism in check while encouraging its entrepreneurial spirit. At a deeper level, democratic regulation ensures that liberalism’ commitment to individual freedom – the Enlightenment wellspring of modernity – operates in the separate economic and political spheres. 

Ideology 

The creative tension of the capitalism-democracy combination fails when capitalists use ideologies to claim resources and power to which they are not entitled. This is what happened in New Zealand. More resources were sought, no longer justified as historical reparations but as a political right. The neotribal corporations sought political power through ‘co-governance’.  

The blindness of the Left to this soft revolution by the neotribal elite is remarkable. Captured by successful ideological strategies, especially targeted at the education system, the Left is complicit in the subversion of democratic governance. In 2003 I published a paper with the question ‘a new Middle Age?’ in the title foreshadowing this process. 

Ideological Strategies: 

The ‘disappearance’ of secularism 

Secularism is foundational to liberalism’s main tenets of freedom, tolerance, and the public. The very word itself has disappeared from public use as has its practice in public institutions. Instead there are beliefs supporting retribalism which lay the foundation for tribal governance. 

The invention of history 

An invented history has been taught to at least two generations of schoolchildren. It includes the reinterpreted Treaty of Waitangi as a ‘partnership’ and a sacred covenant (hence the need to remove secularism).  Accurate, verifiable accounts of the past are replaced by tales of oppressor and oppressed. The history of 19th century Māori education is just one example of this distortion. Most Maori were as committed to building a new nation as were the colonists, clearly shown in the Research Report ‘A History of New Zealand Education’ available on this website. 

Collaboration with the New Left 

The New Left, those privileged ‘revolutionaries at play’ believe that an economic corporation with a racialised ideology and self-interested political ambitions shares their commitment to a socialist utopia. This is misguided at best; self-destructive at worst. 

Racialisation 

Tribal and democratic systems are completely different. The former has the racial member as the political category; the latter has the individual citizen. Tribal governance cannot, by definition, be democratic. It lacks that essential element – the universal human being operating in the secular public sphere and serving democracy as an active citizen. 

Rent-seekers 

Elite emergence within capitalism is essential – these are the entrepreneurial individuals who emerge in each generation. They are the risk-takers – risking their own money, ideas and energy. They benefit personally but so does society. Liberalism gives individuals freedom for this relentless creativity. Democracy provides the controls. Secularism creates public spaces for building trust and collaboration. Being a creative productive capitalist doesn’t depend on race but on drive, effort and public trust. Many Māori are among these non-tribal creative capitalists. They have been since the early 19th century.  

But neotribal capitalists are different. They are rent-seekers living off the profits of others’ investment and labour. Acquiring capital as a tribal entitlement by falsely claiming to be the inheritors of history, this group rents the means of production to real innovators and producers. Their main ambition is to acquire political power. They distain trust. 

The impossibility of co-governance 

The co-governance of New Zealand’s institutions, including parliament itself, by both a tribal entity and a democratic one is impossible.  There is no ‘co’ in democratic governance. Have we reached the tipping point in the neotribal elite’s march through the nation’s institutions? Can we re-claim the pre-1970s’ commitment to democracy which enabled both Māori and colonists to build New Zealand as a prosperous modern nation with a well-educated population? 

I explained the theory of neotribal capitalism in my 2000 book A Political Economy of Neotribal Capitalism and in these articles below. If I had my time again, I would replace the theory’s Marxist framing for one which recognises the value of capitalism and liberalism to society. However, my main argument concerning the emergence of the neotribal capitalist elite still stands. It is well supported by evidence of this group’s aggressive march through public institutions to co-governance in the 25 years since the book’s publication.  

Neotribal Capitalism Articles (for related articles see the other Research Areas) 

Rata, E. (2011). Encircling the Commons: Neotribal Capitalism in New Zealand Since 2000, Anthropological Theory. 11(3), 327- 353.  https://elizabethrata.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Encircling-the-Commons.pdf

Rata, E. (2011) Discursive Strategies of the Maori Tribal Elite, Critique of Anthropology, 31(4). 359–380. https://elizabethrata.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Discursive-Strategies-of-the-Tribal-Elite.pdf

Rata, E. (2005). Rethinking Biculturalism. Anthropological Theory, 5(3): 267 – 284. https://elizabethrata.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Rethinking-Biculturalism.pdf

Rata, E. (2004). Neotribal Capitalism and Public Policy, Political Science, 56(1), 55 – 64. https://elizabethrata.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Political-Science-Neotribal-Capitalism-and-Public-Policy-2004.pdf

Rata, E. (2005). Marching through the Institutions, The Neotribal Elite and the Treaty of Waitangi, Sites New Series, 1 (2) 56 – 81. https://elizabethrata.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Rata-Marching-through-the-Institutions-Sites-New-Series-2004.pdf

Rata, E. (2004). The Capitulation of the Left, Red and Green, December, 13 – 32. 

Rata, E. (2004). Trading on the Treaty, New Zealand Political Review, 53, 28 – 43. 

Rata, E. (2003). Leadership Ideology in Neotribal Capitalism, Political Power and Social Theory. 16, 45 – 73. https://elizabethrata.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Leadership-Ideology-Neotribal-Capitalism.pdf

Rata, E. (2003). An Overview of Neotribal Capitalism, Ethnologies Compareés. Oceanie, debut de siecle. 6.https://elizabethrata.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Overview-Neotribal-Capitalism.pdf

Rata, E. (2003). Late Capitalism and Ethnic Revivalism, ‘A New Middle Age?’ Anthropological Theory, 3 (1), 46–64. https://elizabethrata.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/A-New-Middle-Age.pdf

Rata, E. (2003). The Treaty and Neotribal Capitalism, Public Sector, 26 (3) 2 – 6. https://elizabethrata.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/TreatyNeotribal-CapitalismPublic-sector-2003.pdf

Rata, E. (2002). The Transformation of Indigeneity’, Review, A Journal of the Fernand Braudel Center for the Study of Economies, Historical Systems and Civilisations, State University of New York. XXV (2), 173–195. https://elizabethrata.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/RataReviewTransIndig2002.pdf

Rata, E. (2001). Conflict and Contradiction in Maori-Pakeha Relations. A Critique of Neotribal ideology in Maori Education’, UTS Review, 7 (1), 135 – 152. 

Rata, E. (1999). A Theory of Neotribal Capitalism, Review, A Journal of the Fernand Braudel Center for the Study of Economies, Historical Systems and Civilisations, State University of New York. XXII (3), 231–290, 1999.

This article was first published HERE. It was sourced from NZCPR.

Professor Elizabeth Rata of the School of Critical Studies in Education at Auckland University is a sociologist of education with a focus on bringing back academic knowledge into education. A former Fulbright Senior Scholar to Georgetown University, Washington DC, her research specialty was in the effects of ethnic politics on educational change.