Open AccessMapping local and regional governance: reimagining the New South Wales Aboriginal sector
Author(s) -
Heidi Norman,
Therese Apolonio,
Maeve Parker
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
cosmopolitan civil societies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.31
H-Index - 5
ISSN - 1837-5391
DOI - 10.5130/ccs.v13.i1.7644
Subject(s) - indigenous , politics , colonialism , corporate governance , identification (biology) , political science , gender studies , geography , sociology , political economy , law , management , ecology , botany , economics , biology
With reference to four case study localities in New South Wales, this paper offers new insights into calls from Indigenous Australians for recognition within the national political discourse. Examining the literature on the history of the Aboriginal sector that emerged following the 1970s self-determination policy era, this paper argues earlier conceptions of the ‘Aboriginal sector’ are insufficient and do not grasp the wider shift that Aboriginal people seek within the political life of the nation. Instead, the four case studies reveal Aboriginal initiative and interest in creating a sense of association and being, drawing on pre-colonial patterns of identification and shaped by new imaginings of ‘nations’ and ‘political communities’.