This is Not Us/This is Us: Dissensus Politics in the Wake of the Christchurch Terror Attacks

On March 15th, 2019, a terrorist targeted two mosques in Christchurch, resulting in 51 deaths and many more injured. In the wake of these events, the Aotearoa New Zealand community struggled to make sense of what they meant for who “we” are. This article traces developments and tensions within the discourse that emerged in the two weeks following the attacks, identifying three significant framings: discourses of unity, innocence, and responsibility. Analyzing these discourses via Jacques Rancière’s theory of politics, we explore whether this marked a truly political moment wherein “the part that has no part”—the Muslim community of Aotearoa New Zealand—was actually heard.