Unsettled Bliss

A powerful new book confronts whiteness in Aotearoa – its history, its consequences, and the responsibilities it demands. If you do not know the history of Aotearoa after the 1835 Declaration of Independence and Te Tiriti o Waitangi 1840, Unsettled Bliss offers a clear explanation of settler occupation, its impact on indigenous land in Aotearoa, and the lasting consequences.

However, it goes beyond that. This book enables you to understand what drove people to act as they did – and what continues to shape our society today. Unsettled Bliss challenges you to reflect on your place in the society of Aotearoa. It pulls no punches. For many, it will be an awakening – an unflinching look at how racism operates in our everyday lives, within our whanau, workplaces, and institutions.

If you seek to deepen your understanding of social issues, wealth disparity, and political structures, this book is essential reading. No other book to date has so comprehensively examined the system and ideology of whiteness in Aotearoa. Bold, enlightening, and necessary – Unsettled Bliss belongs in every serious collection on the history and future of this land.