Culture Crisis : Anthropology and Politics in Aboriginal Australia

In 2007 the Australian government declared that remote Aboriginal communities were in crisis and launched the Northern Territory Intervention. This dramatic move occurred against a backdrop of vigorous debate among policy makers, academics, commentators and Aboriginal people about the apparent failure of self-determination. In Culture Crisis, leading anthropologists put these 'culture wars' under the microscope. They consider anthropology's legacy in informing and provoking policy change and public understanding of cultural difference. Contributors bring diverse perspectives to bear on the interpretations of current circumstances and policy prescriptions for the future. Front Cover......Page 1 Copyright......Page 5 Contents......Page 6 Contributors......Page 8 A short note on terms used......Page 12 Preface......Page 14 Introduction: Anthropology and the culture wars--Melinda Hinkson......Page 18 PART I • The problem of recognition......Page 32 1 Indigenous politics in late liberalism-- Elizabeth A. Povinelli......Page 34 2 National anthropologies and their problems--Jeremy Beckett......Page 49 3 Helping anthropologists, still --Gillian Cowlishaw......Page 62 4 The politics of suffering and the politics of anthropology--Andrew Lattas and Barry Morris......Page 78 PART II • THE PROBLEM OF VIOLENCE......Page 106 5 The shock of the new: A postcolonial dilemma for Australianist anthropology-- Marcia Langton......Page 108 6 Child sexual abuse: The Intervention trigger-- Francesca Merlan......Page 133 7 Quarantining violence: How anthropology does it --Diane Austin-Broos......Page 153 PART III • counting culture......Page 168 8 Re-figuring ‘Indigenous culture’ --Tim Rowse......Page 170 9 Is culture the problem or the solution? Outstation health and the politics of remoteness-- Emma Kowal......Page 196 10 Indigenous education and training: What are we here for?--Tess Lea......Page 212 11 ‘Only whitefella take that road’: Culture seen through the intervention at Yuendumu--Yasmine Musharbash......Page 229 PART IV • Imagining futures......Page 244 12 Media images and the politics of hope--Melinda Hinkson......Page 246 13 Other people’s lives: Secular assimilation, culture and ungovernability--Nicolas Peterson......Page 265 14 What future for remote Indigenous Australia? Economic hybridity and the neoliberal turn--Jon Altman......Page 276 Index......Page 298 Back Cover......Page 306 Written by Australia's leading anthropologists, this valuable examination explores the Australian government's intervention in terms of health, safety, and education of the nation's remote Aboriginal citizens via the Northern Territory National Emergency Response. Dissecting the notion of difference and probing the idea of indigenous disadvantage and autonomy, this record questions the role of anthropology in provoking policy change and unflinchingly confronts the policies that have failed these communities. An urgently needed dialogue, this account argues that anthropology can still provide hope. In 2007 the Australian government recognised that the health, safety and education of the nation's remote Aboriginal citizens were in a state of crisis. Its response was what became known as the Northern Territory Intervention, which sparked a heated national debate about Indigenous disadvantage and autonomy. Moreover, it caused Australian anthropologists to question the contribution of their own discipline. Anthropology has always informed and provoked policy change, and has a tradition of confirming difference. So why did the government assume that Aboriginal culture must be interrupted, res In 2007 th eAustralian government declared that remote Aboriginal communities were in crisis and launched the Northern Territory Intervention. This dramatic move occurred against a backdrip of vigorous debate among policy makers, academics, commentators and Aboriginal people about the apparent failure of self-determination. -- back cover