Incredible years for whom? Governing early years parenting as a site of colonisation in Aotearoa New Zealand

Abstract

This article conducts a critical analysis of the Incredible Years parenting programme through the lens of post-colonial and post-structural theories. Drawing from Foucault’s concept of ‘governmentality’ and ‘discursive normalisation’, the author questions the norms and definitions constructed by the implementation of Incredible Years in New Zealand, and attempts to disrupt taken-for-granted values and assumptions in modern parenting. The analysis of this study shows that the discourses in Incredible Years (re)produce colonising values and assumptions, reinforcing the privileged knowledge of the West in parenting. The author points out how this approach to parenting constructs those who do not fit into the norm as ‘the Other’ and normalises/reinforces conformity to the dominant culture in this context.