Power, Culture, Economy (CAEPR 30) : Indigenous Australians and Mining

Altman, Jon; Martín, David

doi:10.26530/oapen_459470

Cited by 36 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…This gave Aboriginal landowners who were Native Title claimants or holders the 'Right to Negotiate' the development of future exploration grants or mining interests (O'Faircheallaigh, 2008). However, the 1998 Native Title Amendment Act weakened the position of Native Title claimants and holders reflecting a political climate focusing on economic imperatives that marginalised Aboriginal people (Altman, 2009;Howlett, 2010). Even after substantial economic development in the Pilbara over the last 40 years, many Aboriginal communities have little to show from the benefits of the mining boom.…”

Section: It Was Not Until the 1976 Aboriginal Land Rightsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Current development discourse is set within a neoliberalist agenda where the values of wealthy states and multinational corporations dominate, supported by a compliant media (Altman, 2009). Unfettered economic development has also seen the state promote the interests of capital and subordinate Aboriginal interests (Howlett, 2010) Mining companies historically aligned with the state (Commonwealth, State/Territory) and marginalised Aboriginal perspectives on resource development on their ancestral lands (Altman, 2009).…”

Section: It Was Not Until the 1976 Aboriginal Land Rightsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Unfettered economic development has also seen the state promote the interests of capital and subordinate Aboriginal interests (Howlett, 2010) Mining companies historically aligned with the state (Commonwealth, State/Territory) and marginalised Aboriginal perspectives on resource development on their ancestral lands (Altman, 2009). Queensland and Western Australia, both states with the largest mining interests, rejected any notion of Aboriginal control over mineral development, despite Aboriginal land rights, which led to Aboriginal Australians being increasingly excluded from both decision making and from benefits derived from resource development on their traditional lands (Howlett, 2010).…”

Section: It Was Not Until the 1976 Aboriginal Land Rightsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

The Mining Boom and Western Australia's Changing Landscape: Towards Sustainability or Business as Usual?

Brueckner¹,

Durey²,

Mayes³

et al. 2012

Rural Society

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Section: It Was Not Until the 1976 Aboriginal Land Rightsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: It Was Not Until the 1976 Aboriginal Land Rightsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: It Was Not Until the 1976 Aboriginal Land Rightsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The Mining Boom and Western Australia's Changing Landscape: Towards Sustainability or Business as Usual?

Brueckner¹,

Durey²,

Mayes³

et al. 2012

Rural Society

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“…In Altman's words, Indigenous affairs 'looks for mainstream solutions to deeply entrenched nonmainstream problems'. 6 In so doing, there is an assumption that what constitutes Indigenous wellbeing, or what makes for a good life, is roundly shared with mainstreamAustralia.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Calling our Spirits Home’: Indigenous Cultural Festivals and the Making of a Good Life

Slater

2010

CSR

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In a discussion about the problems affecting young people of Cape York, a local community health worker told me: ‘their spirits have wandered too far. We need to call them back to them’. In the last five years mainstream notions of wellbeing have changed dramatically, but still there is little room for spirits and ancestors. It is now considered that the critical goods of health and wellbeing are leading a life with purpose, having quality connections with others, possessing self-regard and experiencing feelings of efficacy and control. For decades now Australia has demonstrated difficulty, if not failure, to construct appropriate responses to entrenched social problems within Indigenous communities. In this article I examine two Cape York festivals aimed at improving the wellbeing of Indigenous youth – Croc Fest and Laura Dance Festival. The former is driven by government agendas of enhancing education and health outcomes for Indigenous youth, while the latter’s purpose is to maintain and develop strong culture for the Cape and surrounding communities and respect the country’s spirits and ancestors.Why do mainstream and Indigenous responses to social problems continue to diverge so greatly, and what does each achieve and have to offer the other? In examining these festivals what can be seen is mainstream Australia’s failure to understand culture as a material expression of a vital life force, thus integral to wellbeing. I argue that a fundamental failure in mainstream responses to the ‘crisis’ in Indigenous Australia is to enable a life force derived from another sovereignty. In examining these festivals, mainstream and Indigenous, the disjuncture becomes clear. I propose that it is not only Indigenous youth whose spirits have wandered too far from them, but secular, neo-liberal Australia is lost in a world void of spirits, the ephemeral, and the power of country, forsaken for progress, individuality and the drive for statistical equality. How can we call our spirits home whilst respecting different sovereignties? What might Indigenous cultural festivals have to teach us about the making of a ‘good life’?

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“…However, like globalisation, markets are institutional constructs managed by powerful players 22 Neoliberalism is a contested concept in the social sciences. In an indigenous context, Altman (2009) describes neoliberalism as "based on universalism, a focus on the individual, a growing intolerance of cultural difference, and limited view of development that is committed to market-based solutions" (p.…”

Section: A Sociological Perspective On Extractivist Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social impact assessment, social justice and scales of knowledge: exploring the emerging mining industry in Solomon Islands

Ash¹

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This thesis examines power relations in the context of social impact assessment (SIA) as it is applied in the emerging mining industry in Solomon Islands. While the social impacts of large-scale mining in the Global South are well documented, little is known about how and why adverse social impacts continue to occur in the presence of numerous 'best practice' policy and planning tools, including SIA. This raises questions on the efficacy of SIA in identifying, contextualising and mitigating potential social impacts on communities affected by mining activity, particularly on traditional lands inhabited by indigenous peoples.This thesis presents a critical analysis of SIA to provide insight on this disparity in policy and practice, and to enhance sociological understanding on the interplay of globally-driven mining projects, the identification of social impacts, and the role of policy and institutions in cross-cultural contexts. The proposed extraction of nickel in Isabel Province, Solomon Islands, serves as the case study for this analysis. Employing the conceptual frameworks of social justice and political ecology, and drawing on six months' fieldwork in Solomon Islands, qualitative data from individual and group interviews (n=33) and document analysis (n=11) was collected across geopolitical scales -international, national, provincial and local -to compare and analyse perspectives of documents, institutions and people towards SIA and socially just development in the context of potential mining activity. Analysis of these perspectives exposed the extent to which SIA produces, reinforces and/or exacerbates, social injustices.Research findings identified the limits of SIA in: 1) recognising and accounting for indigenous identities and gender roles; 2) the unequal distribution of economic and other resources associated with the development of mining, including the privatisation of land and employment; and 3) representation of project-affected communities through consultation activities associated with SIA, including Free, Prior and Informed Consent. With political ecology as the foundation of this thesis, this thesis argues that these social injustices materialise as a result of a disparity, or mismatch, between knowledge frames across scales.While SIA is bounded to the rhetoric of social justice, consent and participation, this thesis demonstrates that Western expert knowledge and norms are interwoven into the SIA regime, rendering local experiential knowledge marginal. Reflecting this, a multiscale SIA approach is proposed to include consideration of different scales of knowledge systems, iii with outcomes that might assist to mitigate social injustices, such as those identified in this

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Power, Culture, Economy (CAEPR 30) : Indigenous Australians and Mining

Cited by 36 publications

References 35 publications

The Mining Boom and Western Australia's Changing Landscape: Towards Sustainability or Business as Usual?

The Mining Boom and Western Australia's Changing Landscape: Towards Sustainability or Business as Usual?

‘Calling our Spirits Home’: Indigenous Cultural Festivals and the Making of a Good Life

Social impact assessment, social justice and scales of knowledge: exploring the emerging mining industry in Solomon Islands

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