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Is There a Good Case for New Zealand Exceptionalism?

University of Canterbury, and Honorary Research Associate in the School of History, Philosophy, Political Science and International Relations at Victoria University of Wellington. m.fairburn @ext.canterbury.ac.nz

The upsurge in cultural nationalism in New Zealand has failed to produce a good case that New Zealand is an exceptional society. The reason for this is that New Zealand has not had a chance to develop a culture that is autochthonous in significant respects. New Zealand's domination by the cultures of Britain, Australia and America in the 19th and 20th centuries prevented its history from taking a significantly different path. The lack of autochthony is attributed to the structural effects of physical isolation. Remoteness made its human history unusually short, led it to be exceptionally exposed to the global revolution in transport and communication from the mid-19th century, and severely constrained its population size.

Key Words: autochthony • culture • exceptionalism • isolation • New Zealand

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