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The value of work and ‘common discourse’ in the joint management of Kakadu National Park
Author(s) -
Haynes Chris
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
the australian journal of anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.245
H-Index - 25
eISSN - 1757-6547
pISSN - 1035-8811
DOI - 10.1111/taja.12169
Subject(s) - white (mutation) , national park , work (physics) , value (mathematics) , sociology , field (mathematics) , joint (building) , political science , state (computer science) , geography , archaeology , engineering , civil engineering , mechanical engineering , biochemistry , chemistry , mathematics , algorithm , machine learning , computer science , pure mathematics , gene
Joint management at Kakadu National Park has been marked by conflict and discontent among the major actors, its Traditional Aboriginal Owners and the White rangers (and other staff) of the state. Despite such conflict, and structured differences between these groups of actors, the park continues to function. In this article I argue that the structures and actions perpetuating difference and conflict are usually more or less balanced by opposing structures and actions that draw the two groups of actors together. I further argue that the most important of such cohering structures and actions, what I call ‘common discourse’, derives from the work that both Aboriginal and White rangers perform in the field. This form of under‐recognised discourse acts against the corrosive discourses of the separate groups that tend to perpetuate separateness.