Justice and the Māori

"Should the Maori be compensated for past wrongs at the hands of the Pakeha? Should special programmes be set up which treat Maori and Pakeha differently? Or should there be one law, one mode of treatment, and justice for all? This book records New Zealanders' asking some important questions. It surveys the recent history of the debate about what constitutes justice for the Maori people, who, aboriginal in the land, and still deeply affected by colonisation and modernisation, now account for ten percent of the population. "Justice and the Maori" is as much a book about justice as it is about contemporary Maori-Pakeha relations, but the particular conceptions of justice with which it is concerned are those of New Zealanders, and of institutions like the Waitangi Tribunal, Parliament, the Courts, and the New Zealand Maori Council. Yet political and social philosophers do not often consider New Zealand, and New Zealanders do not often consider things in a philosophical way. This book is unusual : it breathes New Zealand concerns and speaks the language of contemporary New Zealanders, Maori and Pakeha, as they decide among themselves what justice is. The author deals with matters that have been of vital concern to New Zealanders for many years, and have taken on a new urgency as we contemplate the events of the last 150 years and the country's future ..." -- Back cover.