The Gap on the Block: Aboriginality, Subjectivity, and Agency in Contemporary Urban Australia
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W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 2018 The Gap on the Block: Aboriginality, Subjectivity, and Agency in Contemporary Urban Australia Jennifer Michelle Ellis College of William and Mary - Arts & Sciences, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Ellis, Jennifer Michelle, "The Gap on the Block: Aboriginality, Subjectivity, and Agency in Contemporary Urban Australia" (2018). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1550153901. http://dx.doi.org/10.21220/s2-g4xr-7717 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Gap on the Block: Aboriginality, Subjectivity, and Agency in Contemporary Urban Australia Jennifer Michelle Ellis Camdenton, Missouri Bachelors of Arts, Vanderbilt University, 2015 A Thesis presented to the Graduate Faculty of The College of William & Mary in Candidacy for the Degree of Master of Arts Department of Anthropology College of William & Mary August 2018 © Copyright by Jennifer M. Ellis 2018 ABSTRACT This thesis utilizes a theoretical and methodological approach that explores subjectivity as the relational, complex, fluid, multidimensional, recursive and intersectional modes in which social subjects are animated (Ortner 2005, 31). I discuss these different aspects of subjectivity construction through a contemporary example from urban Australia and by employing frameworks that underscore the agency of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Aboriginal or Aboriginal Australians) in constructing and maintaining their own subjectivities through discourses that challenge settler colonialism. I work to intertwine related theoretical approaches such as practice theory as defined by Sherry Ortner, and Pierre Bourdieu’s discussion of the distinction of taste and its ties to unequal power relations in contemporary societies (Ortner 1984, 146; Bourdieu 1984, 57). Specifically, my study questions and problematizes the processes that constitute, perpetuate, and hinder the subjectivity formation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People (Aboriginal Australians) in an inner city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales called Redfern. My case study examines the intersection of Aboriginality (as both an ethnicity and as a facet of subjectivity), agency in contemporary urban Australia, and to a lesser extent the role of bureaucracy. I analyze these concepts in terms of their historical and cultural contexts, which complicate and inform contemporary lived experiences of members of Aboriginal communities in Redfern. Specifically, I argue that initiatives aimed at lowering inequality between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians as well as attempts at incorporating Aboriginal Sydneysiders into an Anglo-Australian society ultimately perpetuate longstanding tensions involving Aboriginality, agency, and subjectivity. This paper also argues that the adoption, contestation, maintenance, rejection, and construction of Aboriginality are inextricably tied with bureaucratic processes and the agency of Aboriginal Australians in Sydney, which can be seen through examples of initiatives such as this housing development that are aimed at combatting inequality between Aboriginal Australians and Anglo-Australians. TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements ii Dedication iv List of Tables v Introduction 1 Historical Background and Site Context 4 Theoretical Frameworks, Methodology, and Methods 13 Interpretation of Data 23 Conclusion 36 Appendix 38 References 44 Notes 49 I ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Firstly, I wish to express my gratitude to my advisor, Dr. Michelle Lelièvre. Without her guidance, understanding, and thoughtfulness, I would be lost. I am also indebted to the rest of my committee, Dr. Audrey Horning, Dr. Jennifer Kahn, and Dr. Andrea Wright for their valued time spent discussing, reading, and commenting on my thesis. Without these women, my thesis would be lacking in myriad aspects. I look up to all of you and hope to someday carry myself with such poise. My research has been funded by the College of William & Mary, through the gracious Department of Anthropology’s Morton funds, the Office of Graduate Studies & Research, and the Reves Center. Without this funding, my research and preliminary fieldwork would be inexistent. I cannot express enough gratitude for the opportunity to travel to Australia in the summer of 2017, which was funded entirely through these funding sources. Moreover, I would like to thank and acknowledge the people of Australia for teaching me numerous lessons about others and myself. I would also like to thank the personnel at the National Archives in Canberra for helping me explore the different facets of my research interests. Additionally, the staff at Swem Library at William & Mary and the Interlibrary Loan office kept my bookshelf more than full of necessary source materials. I would like to thank the individuals I have met in graduate school who have made me into a better person, simply by being in my life. Thank you to Nick Belluzzo and Erin Schwartz (tRc) for being my first friends at William & Mary. Thank you for always listening to me and for helping me to develop my research into something that I am proud of. I would also like to thank Alexis Ohman for holding me accountable, both physically and mentally. I am also fortunate to count Maddy Gunter Bassett, Chardé Reid, Chandler Fitzsimons, and Kelly Hoag as powerful women who have made my graduate school experience exponentially better. My family has grown exponentially in the past two years because of all of you. I would also like to thank my cohort. Lastly, I would like to ii thank Mike Makin for being not only a resource but also my crutch, confidante, and close friend over the past two years. You’ve impacted my life and I’m grateful we got to earn our Master’s degrees together. Finally, I would like to thank my parents, Todd and Angie Ellis, and Wendy and Matt Schulte. Your support over the years has meant everything. I also would like to thank my brother, Brennan Ellis, for sticking with me since you were born. I would not be anyone close to who I am today without Amanda Davis. I love you, sister. Thank you (and Devon Davis) for bringing Ari-James into the world to make me the happiest auntie on the planet. Thank you to Chris Reeves and Jody Welsh for being incredible mentors very early on in my education. Also, thank you to Kara O’Connor, Mary Luber, Leigh Frederick, Rhonda Lee, Blair Amorello, Lauren Harrison, Izzy Ahrens, Arianna Yarritu, Sarah Chivi, Sofia Lizza, Alice Sholto-Douglas, Joie and Elia Belluzzo, Amir (for showing me what confidence looks like), my grandpa Bob, my late Papa and Grandma and last but not least, my Granny Milba. I am incomplete without all of you. iii This M.A. thesis is dedicated to all of the people who help complete me… iv LIST OF TABLES 1. Table 1 of Source Assessments 38 2. Table 2 of Raw Source Data 44 v Introduction The processes involved in the construction of subjectivity are significant in cultural anthropology. We have long grappled with how to conceptualize subjectivity; such a task is daunting, as it is difficult to accurately understand every aspect of consciousness that leads to the creation of social subjects. Nevertheless, through the development of different theoretical approaches anthropologists have strived to understand how humans perceive themselves within their respective contexts and in relation to other subjects. It is first important to define how I conceptualize subjectivity. I utilize a theoretical and methodological approach that explores subjectivity as the relational, complex, fluid, multidimensional, recursive and intersectional modes in which social subjects are animated (Ortner 2005, 31). I discuss these different aspects of subjectivity construction through a contemporary example from urban Australia and by employing frameworks that underscore the agency of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Aboriginal or Aboriginal Australians) in constructing and maintaining their own subjectivities through discourses that challenge settler colonialism. 1 I work to intertwine related theoretical approaches such as practice theory as defined by Sherry Ortner, and Pierre Bourdieu’s discussion of the distinction of taste and its ties to unequal power relations in contemporary societies (Ortner 1984, 146; Bourdieu 1984, 57). Specifically, my study questions and problematizes the processes that constitute, perpetuate, and hinder the subjectivity formation of Aboriginal and 1 Torres Strait Islander People (Aboriginal Australians) in an inner city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales called Redfern. My case study examines the intersection of Aboriginality (as both an ethnicity and as a facet of subjectivity), agency in contemporary urban Australia, and to a lesser extent the role of bureaucracy.2 I analyze these concepts in terms of their historical and cultural contexts, which complicate and inform contemporary lived experiences of members of Aboriginal communities in Redfern. Specifically, I argue that initiatives aimed at lowering inequality between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians as well as attempts at incorporating Aboriginal