ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the emergence of relational perspectives on identity formation and use that discussion to account for how interactions with and learning from relatives, the politics of place, and the centrality of land claims shaped the author academic identity. It reviews the emerging debates about the public intellectual, perhaps as an excuse for being 'forever opposed' and presumptuous about the inevitability of conflict between Mori academics and pakeha, both within and outside the academy. Theories on relationality and its relevance to identity formation remind us that personal traits and inclinations are not isolated from the influence of others, the contexts in which we grow or the primal causes that drive lasting passions. Rather than diminishing the notion of cultural difference, they assist with explaining that difference and with contextualizing our being and becoming as individuals or academics, even hori academics.
