Each month we feature one of our NPM lead researchers. This month our kōrero is with Prof. Carla Houkamau who is a Matakitenga lead researcher. Carla works in the Department of Management and International Business at the University of Auckland.
Ko wai tō ingoa, nō whea koe?
Ko Carla Houkamau tōku ingoa. Nō Te Whānau-ā-Tūwhakairiora – Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kere – Ngāti Kahungunu, Kāti Hāteatea ki Moeraki – Kāi Tahu ahau. He Pākehā tōku māmā, ā, he mea nui ki ahau te manaaki me te whakarangatira i ngā taha katoa o tōku whakapapa.
What are your areas of research?
My key research interests are identity and how it is shaped by history and politics. I work in a Business School, where so much of my recent mahi has focused on business and economics, including Māori commercial fisheries. I am currently also working on a book on Māori and forestry with Dr Robert Pouwhare, Prof. Jason Mika, and Michelle Cherrington. More broadly, though, identity is relevant across many areas. I have researched educational experiences for tamariki Māori, financial literacy, body image and culture, relationships between voting behaviour and identity, and attitudes towards te taiao and the choices people make at different ages. My main focus is Māori, but I am also interested in other cultural groups and their experiences.
What excites you about your work?
What excites me most is gaining a deeper understanding of how identity works in people’s everyday lives — how it shapes their experiences of the world, their perceptions, and how it is formed, shaped, and transformed over time. As a social psychologist, I am especially interested in the ways identity can be ascribed, chosen, and actively crafted by individuals and collectives.
Our NPM vision is flourishing Māori futures. What does that mean for you?
For me, flourishing Māori futures means feeling positive and confident in being Māori, whatever that may mean for each person. It also means recognising something truly distinctive in Māori ways of being and imagining futures in which that strength can flourish.
Lastly, can you tell us something surprising about you?
My whānau and friends already know this about me, but it might still be a slightly unexpected one: I love art and painting, and I also collect stamps. I think of them as small artistic snapshots of moments in history, and some of them are remarkably beautiful when you take the time to look closely. For me, that connects with my wider interest in identity and how stories about people and place are expressed and preserved. I have stamps from all over the world, but I am especially interested in those from Aotearoa.