Anthropological Theory and Government Policy in Australia's Northern Territory: The Hegemony of the “Mainstream”

Abstract

In this article, we set up a dialogue between two theoretical frameworks for understanding the developing relationships between indigenous Australians and the encapsulating Australian society. We argue that the concept of "the intercultural" de-emphasizes the agency of Aboriginal people and the durability of their social relations and value orientations. We develop the concept of relative autonomy in apposition. Our primary focus is on the Yolngu people of eastern Arnhem Land and on the impact that recent Australian government policy-in particular the Northern Territory "Intervention"-has had on the relatively autonomous trajectory of their society. The view from relative autonomy enables an understanding of the history of Yolngu interaction with outsiders and Yolngu responses to government policy. We argue that unless relative autonomy is understood and taken into account, governments will fail to develop policies that engage Yolngu in the process of regional development. [relative autonomy, the intercultural, Australian Aborigines, Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER), indigenous communities and the state]RESUMEN En este artículo, establecemos un diálogo entre dos marcos teóricos para entender las relaciones que se están desarrollando entre indígenas australianos y la sociedad australiana que los rodea. Argumentamos que el concepto de "lo intercultural" le restaénfasis a la agencia de los aborígenes, la durabilidad de sus relaciones sociales y la orientación de sus valores. Adicionalmente, desarrollamos el concepto de autonomía relativa. Nuestro foco inicial es en los Yolngu de la tierra oriental de Arnhem y el impacto que recientes políticas gubernamentales australianasen particular la intervención en el territorio norte-han tenido en la trayectoria relativamente autónoma de su sociedad. La perspectiva de la autonomía relativa permite entender la historia de la interacción de los Yolngu con personas externas y sus respuestas a las políticas gubernamentales. Proponemos que a menos que el concepto de autonomía relativa sea entendido y tenido en cuenta, los gobiernos no lograrán desarrollar políticas con la participación de los Yolngu en el proceso de desarrollo regional. [autonomía relativa, lo intercultural, Aborígenes Australianos, Respuesta de Emergencia en el Territorio del Norte, comunidades indígenas y el estado] RESUME Dans cet article, nous proposons d'établir un dialogue entre deux cadres théoriques afin de mieux comprendre l'évolution des relations entre les autochtones australiens et la société australienne enfermante. Nous affirmons que le concept de l'interculturalité minimise le pouvoir d'autodétermination du peuple aborigène et la durabilité de leurs relations sociales et leurs valeurs. Nous proposons de juxtaposer le concept d'autonomie relative.Nous explorons l'impact de la politique "d'Intervention" implantée dans le Territoire du Nord sur comment elle a

Place, Indigeneity, and Identity in Australia's Gulf Country

“…Aboriginal people experience Catfish country viscerally, drawing both on longstanding indigenous intellectual traditions and historical experiences in recent generations of engagements with the people and institutions of the wider society. While “critical analysis of the social field” requires us to go beyond emic views expressed about the discreteness of the Aboriginal world of ideas and social relations (Merlan :638), the “relative autonomy” of the meanings of places in Catfish country is also evident (Morphy and Morphy ). A focus on intercultural relations has been productive for much work in this area.…”

Dichotomous identities? Indigenous and non‐Indigenous people and the intercultural in Australia

“…Though the response from anthropologists to the Intervention appeared weighty in one sense: it produced two volumes of edited papers (Altman and Hinkson , ), books (Sutton ; Austin‐Broos ) and journal articles (Kowal ; Cowlishaw ; Lattas and Morris ; Morphy and Morphy ), much of the discussion has involved the progression of editorialised understandings of issues, thereby entrenching politicised positions rather than presenting the kinds of fine‐grained ethnography for which anthropology is best known. If this was anthropologists' attempt to meaningfully engage with the impacts of public policy on Aboriginal people, then it did so largely by reflecting on the political positions of particular personalities within the discipline.…”

“…For example, based on their research with remote living Yolngu Aboriginal people in East Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, Howard and Frances Morphy (: 177) interpret the intercultural as a ‘liminal’, ‘nonagentive space’. Drawing on Turner (), the Morphys utilise ‘liminality’ to invoke two conceptual but alternate archetypal states with the liminal space being only a transitionary phase between the two.…”

“…A fundamental tension here relates to the role of agency in the intercultural. For the Morphy and Morphy (: 177), the intercultural ‘de‐emphasises the agency of Aboriginal people’, being their capacity to continually reproduce their difference over time (cf. Eickelkamp ).…”

“…Eickelkamp ). On this point the Morphy and Morphy (: 177) are unequivocal: ‘rather than becoming “intercultural”’, they say, ‘Yolngu systems and subsystems remain relatively autonomous’. This viewpoint strongly endorses and echoes Yolngu people's frequently stated aspirations to remain politically autonomous, or at least relatively so, and of their desire to be self‐determining .…”