Mitzi Nairn

Elizabeth Frances (Mitzi) Nairn (1942–2023) was a feminist and an anti-racist activist in New Zealand. She was a founding member of Auckland Committee on Racism and Discrimination (ACORD) and Tāmaki Treaty Workers, and part of setting up Project Waitangi/Network Waitangi.

Early life Nairn was born in London in 1942 and came to New Zealand when she was four years old. Her mother was an English migrant to New Zealand with unorthodox views about New Zealand's past which influenced Nairn. She went to school in a rural area in New Zealand.

Community contributions She started being active in anti-racism activism in New Zealand in the 1960s. Nairn was part of the Student Christian Movement in New Zealand which according to Nairn involved discussions about social change and revolution including South American liberation struggles. She was a Christian feminist, and she and others started a magazine in 1978 called Vashti's Voice that supported a 'national feminist spirituality network'. Nairn became the Director of Programme on Racism of the Conference of Churches in Aotearoa NZ, (formerly the National Council of Churches).

Nairn was a founding member of the Auckland Committee on Racism and Discrimination (ACORD), a non-Māori group working with Māori which started in the early 1970s. She was a founding member of Tāmaki Tiriti Workers.

In 2010 Nairn recorded a series of interviews with Jen Margaret about social justice and liberation.

Nairn has taught many Treaty of Waitangi workshops across New Zealand. In the early 1990s Nairn outlined thinking and methodology of Paulo Freire as a strong influence amongst herself and other activists.

Death Nairn died on Sunday, 17 December 2023.

Selected publications

Nairn, M. (1989). Changing my mind - transitions in Pakeha thinking. In H. Yensen, et al. (Eds.), Honouring the Treaty: An introduction for Pakeha to the Treaty of Waitangi. Auckland: Penguin Books. Nairn, M. (1990). Some liberation theory. In J. Margaret (Ed.), Pakeha Treaty work: Unpublished material (2002) (pp. 201–202). Manukau, New Zealand: Manukau Institute of Technology Treaty Unit. Nairn, M. (1990). Understanding colonisation. Auckland: Workshop material distributed by CCANZ Programme on Racism. Nairn, R., & McCreanor, T. (1990). Insensitivity and hypersensitivity: an imbalance in Pakeha accounts of racial conflict. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 9(4), 293–308. 311 Nairn, R., & McCreanor, T. (1991). Race talk and commonsense: patterns in Pakeha discourse on Maori/Pakeha relation in New Zealand. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 10(4), 245–262. Nairn, M. (1992). Changing and adapting. In M. Nairn (Ed.), Programme on Racism collected newsletters 1985-2002 (Vol 27, pp. 1–2). Auckland: Treaty Conference Publications Group. Nairn, R., & The National Standing Committee on Bicultural Issues (NSCBI). (1997). Cultural justice and ethics in psychological practice. In H. Love & W. Whittaker (Eds.), Practice issues for clinical and applied psychologists in New Zealand (pp. 127–135). Wellington: The New Zealand Psychological Society. Nairn, M. (2000). The future of the Treaty of Waitangi. In I. Huygens et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of Treaty Conference 2000 (pp. 9–13). Auckland: Treaty Publications Group. Nairn, M. (2001). Decolonisation for Pakeha. In J. Margaret (Ed.), Pakeha Treaty work: Unpublished material (2002) (pp. 203–208). Manukau, New Zealand: Manukau Institute of Technology Treaty Unit. Nairn, M. (Ed.). (2002). Programme on Racism collected newsletters 1985 -2002. Auckland: Treaty Conference Publications Group, Private Bag 47904, Ponsonby, Auckland. Nairn, R. (2007). Ethical principles and cultural justice in psychological practice. In I. Evan, J. Rucklidge & M. O'Driscoll (Eds.), Professional practice of psychology in Aotearoa New Zealand. Wellington: New Zealand Psychological Society.