Revisiting Neoliberalism: Aboriginal Self-Determination, Education and Cultural Sustainability in Australia

Authors

  • Sue Stanton Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education
  • Chie Adachi Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education
  • Henk Huijser Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11157/sites-vol12iss1id259

Keywords:

Aboriginal self-determination, neoliberalism, cultural sustainability, Aboriginal language development, Aboriginal education

Abstract

In this paper we discuss the ways in which successive governments have addressed Indigenous affairs, and we argue that the Australian approach is still firmly rooted in colonial attitudes and discourses. Although self-determination is a core concept of neoliberalism, the dominant political ideology for both Labor and Liberal parties in Australia since the 1980s, it does not extend to Indigenous affairs, which is firmly couched in colonial frameworks. In this paper specific examples of education and cultural sustainability (including language development and sustainability) are used as case studies to explore what genuine self-determination would mean in an Australian context. Overall, it is argued that an honest and real neoliberal approach takes political courage and vision, but would place the power to control Indigenous affairs in the hands of the people whose affairs we’re actually talking about

Author Biographies

  • Sue Stanton, Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education
    Dr Sue Stanton is a Fulbright Scholar. She holds a PhD in History (CDU) and a Masters in American Indian Studies: International Law and Indigenous Peoples Rights (University of Arizona). Currently Sue is a Senior Lecturer in the Division of Higher Education and Research at Batchelor Institute Indigenous Tertiary Education where she teaches into the Bachelor of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advocacy. Sue's interests include race, racism and education within settler colonial contexts.
  • Chie Adachi, Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education
    Dr Chie Adachi is a lecturer in the learning and teaching at Deakin University. She has extensive teaching and research experience at a tertiary level across international universities (Japan, UK and Australia). She holds a PhD in Linguistics (University of Edinburgh, UK) and a Master in Education (Kumamoto University, Japan).
  • Henk Huijser, Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education
    Dr Henk Huijser is a Senior Lecturer Flexible Learning and Innovation, and Higher Degrees by Research Coordinator at Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education. His background is in Media and Cultural Studies, and he has worked in Learning and Teaching since 2005. He has published widely in both areas (for more, see http://henkhuijser.webs.com/).

Downloads

Published

15-12-2015

Issue

Vol. 12 No. 1 (2015)

Section

Articles

License

Copyright © in this published form is held by Sites: New Series, Association of Social Anthropologists of Aotearoa New Zealand, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Individual readers and non-profit libraries acting for them, are permitted to print or download a single copy of an article without charge for use in research or teaching. Permitted use includes providing a link to an article, or hosting a PDF article in online Learning Management Systems or E-Reserve Systems for authorised users. A single article may be used in print or online Course Packs. Interlibrary loan is permitted. New Zealand Copyright Law and Copyright Licensing New Zealand Education Licence provisions apply. This consent does not extend to other kinds of copying, such as copying for general distribution, for advertising or promotional purposes, for creating new collective works or for resale. For such uses, written permission is required. Write to the Editor: sites@otago.ac.nz

How to Cite

Revisiting Neoliberalism: Aboriginal Self-Determination, Education and Cultural Sustainability in Australia. (2015). Sites: A Journal of Social Anthropology and Cultural Studies, 12(1), 107-129. https://doi.org/10.11157/sites-vol12iss1id259