Culture, Economy and Governance in Aboriginal Australia

This timely collection of articles explores some of the most pressing issues confronting both Australia's Indigenous peoples and Australia as a nation. In the current period of economic strength, Indigenous peoples have found themselves increasingly struggling to develop economic opportunities and to ensure the viability of their social and cultural lives.

This volume brings together Indigenous and non-Indigenous contributors from a range of disciplines and experiences. Focusing primarily on remote Australia, they bring together a whole range of issues and concerns that need to be addressed.

The articles are from the proceedings of a workshop of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia held at the University of Sydney, 30 November to 1 December 2004.

Diane Austin-Broos is professor emerita of anthropology at the University of Sydney.

Gaynor Macdonald is a senior lecturer in anthropology at the University of Sydney.

Introduction: culture, economy and governance
Diane Austin-Broos

Part 1: history of the initiatives
1. What can the pre-colonial and frontier economies tell us about engagement with the real economy? Indigenous life projects and the conditions of development
Nicolas Peterson
2. Indigenous art as economy
Howard Morphy
3. Land rights and local economies: the Gagudju Association and the mirage of collective self-determination
Robert Levitus
4. Mining projects in remote Aboriginal Australia: sites for the articulation and contesting of economic and cultural futures
David Trigger

Part 2: Indigenous disadvantage
5. Indigenous educational disadvantage
Janet Mooney
6. The role of discrimination and the exclusion of Indigenous people from the labour market
Boyd Hunter
7. Contested debates about citizenship rights to welfare: Indigenous people and welfare in Australia
Bettina Cass

Part 3: economic futures
8. Indigenous labour supply and regional industry
John Taylor
9. Economic futures on Aboriginal land in remote and very remote Australia: hybrid economies and joint ventures
Jon Altman
10. Between a rock and a hard place: economic policy and the employment outlook for Indigenous Australians
Bob Gregory

Part 4: education and community governance
11. Learning lessons: a retrospective
Tess Lea
12. Education and community
Jerry Schwab
13. Indigenous families, households and governance
Diane Smith
14. Governance, cultural appropriateness and accountability
David Martin

Part 5: institutions and economy
15. CDEP and ATSIC as bold experiments in governing differently: but where to now?
Will Sanders
16. The Indigenous sector
Tim Rowse
17. False dichotomies and other barriers to policy-making for Aboriginal communities
Larissa Behrendt

'The essays present contradictory and provocative positions, and therein lies the book's strength: by incorporating the polarity of views and perspectives, it gives an all‐encompassing account of the current debate. I thoroughly enjoyed this insightful collection of essays, and recommend it as a useful tool to anyone wishing to engage with the discussion on Aboriginal culture and economy.'
Alison Reif   Anthropological Forum