Abstract Aotearoa New Zealand provides an important example of successful citizen activism in the form of anti-nuclear peace advocacy. The collective efforts by peace actors over several decades resulted in the successful demand for a nuclear-free nation. This paper highlights the widespread participation and political support that facilitated the process and assesses its achievements.
Introduction
New Zealand, a small and isolated country, is a rare example of a nation achieving nuclear-free status. The peace-seeking nation unified around an anti- war narrative, and moved from activism based on public awareness and engagement to the passage of laws that eliminated nuclear weapons through a number of stages: from the first generation of movements against the atomic bomb after 1945 to the response to French nuclear testing in the late 60`s to US and UK nuclear warship visits in the 70`s and the early 80`s. As part of this shift, the US-led military alliance with Australia and New Zealand (ANZUS) was redefined by New Zealanders from a guarantee of security to a threat that posed a security dilemma. As this essay shows, social consciousness and activism was ultimately successful in bringing fundamental change. The Labor Party, in particular, played a critical role in translating strong public participation on the part of a broad section of the population into a significant policy outcome: `the creation of a peaceful and nuclear-free nation`.
This mobilization involved persistent and substantial public pressure over decades. Public pressure to change the nation’s foreign policy also included opposition to involvement in the United States-led coalition in the Korean and Vietnam wars. As these wars came to an end, the matter of nuclear testing became a hot-button election issue forcing each political party to adopt a policy on nuclear weapons. The anti-nuclear argument was placed within a broader moral vision. New Zealand peace advocates problematized the threatening conditions and demanded a solution under the narratives of a `democratic, egalitarian, decolonized, independent, non-violent, non-militarist nation which is intrinsically based on `a peaceful nation`. A peaceful nation for them required a nuclear-free approach in its domestic and foreign policies. To achieve this, they organized actively, coordinated professionally, sustained effective campaigns, and engaged in the policy-formation and shaping process.
Since the end of the 60s, successful protest movements have established new modes of political participation in advanced democracies.1 In some democratic societies including New Zealand, social movements have benefitted from tolerant political structures. Their success depends further on specific configurations of resources, trustworthy institutional arrangements, and historical precedents for social mobilization that facilitate the development of protest movements.2
Strong democracies are conducive to positive engagements and interactions between citizen and the state. The strengthening of practices of participation, responsiveness to a majority, and the development of inclusive and cohesive societies are powerful components of the democratic decision-making process. Therefore, citizen participation in governance with a responsive, open, and tolerant state can produce positive effects based on popular consensus.
Peace Activism and Citizen Participation in New Zealand: Emergence, Development, and Outcomes
New Zealand civil society has been deeply concerned with peace issues in response to controversies over the country’s involvement in major wars including the two world wars, the Korean War, Vietnam War, and various conflicts associated with the Cold War. The initial mobilization of anti- nuclear forces followed the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. This encouraged the formation of small local groups. By the 1950s, these were transforming into a broader vocal and well-organized anti-militarist struggle. This went beyond the moral obligation to protect human lives or emotional issues such as sympathy toward Hiroshima and Nagasaki survivors and concern about radiation in the environment. The spread of nuclear weapons came to be understood by many as a nationwide threat. In the 1960s, anti-war slogans and messages spread over the major cities through rallies, marches, demonstrations, and sometimes riots. The Vietnam War gave rise to new levels of coordination of protests and demonstrations. Opposition to the war was rooted in criticism of New Zealand’s participation between 1965 and 1972 as a member of the ANZUS alliance binding Australia, New Zealand, and the US. This resonated as a political crisis with widespread condemnation of government war policies. Individual actors of civil society unified to protest the war and call for New Zealand soldiers to return home. Protesters criticized the government for succumbing to US pressure and participating in the war. The anger generated toward the US continued after the war with a government decision to allow US warships to port in New Zealand.
During the 60`s, the conservative pro-American National Party held power in NZ. When the anti-Vietnam War movement together with anti-nuclear dissidents gained momentum across the country, the Labor Party called for the withdrawal of New Zealand troops from Vietnam.3 The Labor Party won the 1972 election and ended NZ’s participation in the Vietnam War. Attention then shifted to French nuclear testing in the Pacific atolls. The anti-nuclear movement was fueled by the fact that New Zealand (as well as Australia) was affected by nuclear fall-out, sparking public concern about its effect on both personal health and the environment.4 The Pacific People’s Anti-Nuclear Coalition was formed to confront nuclear testing. Greenpeace vessels were also sent to the test site causing delay in testing. And in 1973, the Labor government under anti-nuclear leader Norman Kirk challenged the legality of nuclear testing in the Pacific and filed suit in the International Court of Justice.
The 70`s also witnessed new forms of peace activism (sometimes in radical ways). New groups formed a national coalition including (but not limited to) the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament New Zealand (CNDNZ), Women`s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), Peace Squadron, Greenpeace, The Peace Media, The Peacemaking Association, The Society of Friends (Quakers), United Nations Association of New Zealand (UNANZ), Progressive Youth Movement, The Christian Pacifist Society (CPS), The Foundation for Peace Studies, Friends of the Earth (FoE), Environmental Defense Society (EDS) and Ecology Action.7 In other words, New Zealand peace activism was integrated into world peace and anti-nuclear movements......
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Poster Comment:
I guess a lot of the protagonists are wacko peecee 'liberals' -- but their peace work sure sounds good compared to ameriKa's bomb mania, war mania, nuke mania.
When I lived in the Jackie-O horse country of jew jersey, there was an organization called Somerset Hills Peace. I went to a meeting in a posh church hall and it was just concentrated political correctness. They bashed and bashed Reagan.
After the mtg I found myself chatting over refreshments with a sweet-looking old couple I tho't might be less crazy. "I don't think Reagan's that bad," I opined, "in fact I've been thinking of writing to tell him so" -- whereupon the plump, white-haired wife went berserk: "What are you talking about! He's just a TERRIBLE president, an absolute DISGRACE" blah blah :-3
Another elderly lady, filthy rich no doubt, in a neck brace, was frequently seen around town giving out "peace literature", meaning gliberal propaganda leaflets. I saw her in a store and greeted her. "Hi -- I'm here giving out some peace literature", she righteously declared, handing me some -- she'd been working the cashier over.