Gambling Spaces and the Racial Dialectics of Social Inclusion: A Case Study of a Remote Australian Casino

Abstract

We critically analyse the ways in which a particular gambling space, Lasseters Hotel Casino, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, has incorporated the marginalised Aboriginal population of central Australia into the market economy as consumers, despite the failure of the market and the state to provide meaningful inclusionary alternatives in the realm of production. We explore the ways in which this gambling space has evolved as a synthesis between the imperative of capital accumulation on one hand, and the demands for the reproduction of Aboriginal social life on the other. We examine the dialectical relations between technology and consumption practices, the ideology of chance, and racialised regulation that, in combination, produce a contradictory space of economic exploitation and social inclusion. We argue that the casino has achieved something that the state has failed to do across remote Australia, that is, provide an inclusionary space for Aboriginal people within society, albeit an economically exploitative one.

Towards relational geographies of gambling harm: Orientation, affective atmosphere, and intimacy

“…1 A cultural political economy approach to the role of space in gambling consumption and harm Young et al, 2013 demonstrate a cultural political economy approach to the role of space in gambling consumption and harm, using Lasseters Hotel Casino in Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia, as a case study. They reveal how this casino is a synthesis of the imperative for capital accumulation and desire for Aboriginal community and sociality, resulting in a paradoxical space of economic exploitation and social inclusion for the Arrente people of Mparntwe.…”

‘Cop chasing’ in Alice Springs: Youth experiences of surveillance in a Central Australian Town

“…Youth professionals described what they observed as a growing dislike of security personnel among young people, often contextualised by the ongoing harassment of them and their adult kin. Subject to racial profiling and ‘moving on’, Aboriginal adults are disproportionately the targets of attention by security guards (Lea et al, 2012; Young et al, 2013). Like the young people in Nolan's (2011) study, the youth here act in the company of others, and their behaviour might also be understood as having two outcomes.…”

Gambling as social practice: a complementary approach for reducing harm?

“…Specific research questions that may be considered here include, does the ability to bet virtually anywhere led to increased risk and harms to gamblers, families, and the community (see [20]). Or, research could ask—how does gambling occur in certain spaces and not others, and why (see [80]).…”