Abstract
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples of Australia are culturally diverse, with varied experiences of colonisation. However, policy and planning processes often treat Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples as a homogenised bloc, erasing differences of opinion, values, politics, and experiences and avoiding analysis of internal power dynamics. There is also a tendency for non-Indigenous policymakers to conflate ‘Indigenous’ with ‘environmental’ interests and values. Thus, despite often good intentions, consultation and engagement processes with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples generally fail to adopt an intersectional approach and in turn not only often fail in their stated goal of inclusivity but may exacerbate existing conflicts within a particular group and unintentionally reproduce inequities. In this chapter, the authors outline an understanding of intersectionality as informed by Aboriginal women and bring together insights from two Australian case studies to explore some of the problems that emerge from a failure to adopt an intersectional lens when engaging with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. They consider multiple and co-constituting axes of power with a focus on the relationships between colonisation, kyriarchy, and the lived experiences of Indigenous Peoples and outline considerations for operationalising intersectionality, particularly in the context of Native Title.
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Notes
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We do not seek to promote the deficit discourse ‘that consistently frames Aboriginal identity in a narrative of deficiency’ (see Fforde et al. 2013, p. 162), rather we seek to highlight what is inequitable and unjust and to highlight the ongoing impacts of colonisation on the material conditions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.
- 3.
Kath Walker/Oodgeroo Noonuccal was a political activist, poet, and campaigner for Aboriginal rights. She was one of the most nationally prominent members of the Quandamooka People and a key figure in the campaign for the reform of the Australian Constitution to allow Aboriginal People full citizenship.
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‘Makarrata’ is a Yolngu word ‘describing a process of conflict resolution, peacemaking and justice’ (Pearson 2017). The term is offered as an alternative to ‘treaty’, though Pearson notes the terms are not precisely equivalent, and the translation flattens out some of the complexity in the Yolngu term.
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Osborne, N., Howlett, C., Grant-Smith, D. (2019). Intersectionality and Indigenous Peoples in Australia: Experiences with Engagement in Native Title and Mining. In: Hankivsky, O., Jordan-Zachery, J.S. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Intersectionality in Public Policy. The Politics of Intersectionality. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98473-5_17
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