The Post-Politics of the 2014 New Zealand General Election: A Symptomatic Discourse Analysis

Abstract

In this thesis, I submit the 2014 election campaign in Aotearoa to a logics-based discourse analysis in a post-positivist manner tracing the post-political elements of contemporary politics in Aotearoa New Zealand. For this analysis, I draw on the theoretical vernaculars of discourse theory, and capitalist realism, in addition to the usual concerns given to neoliberalisation in the study of New Zealand politics. Consequently, I argue for post-politics as a useful theoretical approach to the contemporary parliamentary politics in Aotearoa. Finally, I widen the scope of the discussion by utilising relatively recent work on bio-financialisation and on hauntology which suggest a possible opening for novel forms of politics.