Directions and Intersections: Proceedings of the 2011 Australian Critical Race and Whiteness Studies Association and Indigenous Studies Research Network Joint Conference Edited by Damien W. Riggs and Clemence Due ISBN: 978-0-646-56682-5 Published by the Australian Critical Race and Whiteness Studies Association, December 2011. Copyright remains with the original authors. All chapters included in this publication were refereed in full by appropriately independent, qualified experts prior to the conference according to the DIISR requirements for an E1 fully written refereed conference publication. Contents Editorial: Directions and Intersections Damien W. Riggs and Clemence Due……………………………….5 Where do I belong and what map do I use to get there? The dilemma of a critical, activist ally. Roslyn (Rose) Carnes………………………………………………………14 Aboriginal performance and the economy of authenticity Maryrose Casey……………………………………………………………….36 The racialisation of feeling in the Northern Territory’s Aboriginal Australia: Anger and Aboriginal Contact with the Law Sarah Cefai………………………………………………………………………54 Indigenous Peoples and the Australian Constitution Andrew Gunstone…………………………………………………………...69 Land grab or simply Disempowerment? A New Policy for Housing Remote Indigenous Communities. Lesleigh Hayes…………………………………………………………………80 A space for ‘race’, or a ‘race for space’? TB contagion, border screening and immigrant bodies in the age of the ‘New Normal’: An Australian perspective Jed Horner……………………………………………………………………….94 Beyond ‘insiders on the outside’: Towards a conception of identity and experience for the ‘second generation’ Ranmalie Jayasinha………………………………………………………108 In Relationship with Indigenous Sovereignty Catherine Koerner and Jane Haggis…………………………….122 Towards Reflexive Antiracism Emma Kowal, Hayley Franklin and Yin Paradies………….133 Racial/ised Visibility and Problematised Difference in Australian Workplaces: The case of skilled black African migrant nurses Virginia Mapedzahama, Trudy Rudge, Sandra West and Amelie Perron………………………………………………………………..153 ‘A Political Monopoly held by one Race’: The Politicisation of Ethnicity in Colonial Rwanda Deborah Mayersen…………………………………………………………167 Numeracy practices on the Marae Panetuku Rae…………………………………………………………………181 Child protection Consultation in the Solomon Islands, Capacity Building or Welfare Colonialism Lester Thompson, Catherine Koerner and Aaron Olofia…………………………………………………………………195 Editorial: Directions and Intersections Damien Riggs Flinders University Clemence Due The University of Adelaide The publication of this edited conference proceedings marks a new foray into the publishing realm for the Australian Critical Race and Whiteness Studies Association (ACRAWSA). The Association has, of course, published its own journal (formerly Australian Critical Race and Whiteness Studies ejournal, now Critical Race and Whiteness Studies) since 2005. To date, however, the Association has not been involved in the publication of monographs or edited collections (though edited collections have come out of papers presented at ACRAWSA conferences, albeit not under the ACRAWSA banner). It is thus our pleasure to present here the first ACRAWSA published e-book. The chapters collected in this book represent a relatively small but nonetheless diverse sample of the papers presented at the 2011 Australian Critical Race and Whiteness Studies Association and Indigenous Studies Research Network joint conference. The title of the conference (and thus the title of this edited collection) was ‘Directions and Intersections’, which aimed to encourage reflection upon both where the field of critical race and whiteness studies is heading, and to acknowledge the many intersecting interests that shape the field. Riggs and Due: Editorial As researchers working within the field of critical race and whiteness studies, and in representing the conference organisers and attendees, we are particularly interested in being part of a field that takes as one of its founding premises the need to constantly interrogate the very need for the field itself, a concern expressed repeatedly by a diverse range of scholars. In other words, it would be all too easy for ‘whiteness studies’ to become just another field on par with any other ‘speciality study’; an outcome that would fundamentally fail to recognise the fact that whiteness must be studied precisely because it is the typically unspoken norm within most fields. Ensuring that we do not fall into a pattern of simply stating whiteness without critically interrogating it is thus a cornerstone of the field. As for intersections, and as the chapter summaries presented below indicate, there is an ever-growing presence of research in the field that moves beyond simply taking race as a site of interrogation, and which instead examines the simultaneities of multiple identity categories in the constitution of any person’s experience. Furthermore, and with the specific remit of ACRAWSA to acknowledge and engage with the fact of Indigenous sovereignties, it is heartening to see a growing body of research by non-indigenous researchers that takes up this challenge to consider how issues of whiteness are always already in a relationship to Indigenous sovereignty. In terms of the chapters included in this edited collection, the first chapter examines precisely this issue, through a consideration of how scholars and researchers who wish to engage in activism can best act as activists and allies to Indigenous Australians specifically. In this chapter, Carnes draws upon her own experience working in advocacy roles to examine what it means to work as an 6 Riggs and Due: Editorial “allied activist”. Through her examination, Carnes provides a background to several theories that she considers important to the work of activists, and illustrates how these theories intersect. Carnes’ chapter thus explores an important area for dominant group members wishing to work as activists for marginalized groups, and provides directions for ways in which we can fill that role thoughtfully, reflectively and usefully. The next chapter in the collection turns to a discussion of ways in which Indigenous Australians are represented when the unspoken norm of whiteness goes unexamined. In this chapter, Casey examines an area of historical interest in Australia – namely the commonly named ‘Corroboree’ or Aboriginal performances. To facilitate this examination, Casey considers historical data to discuss how the Corroboree was popularly represented and what that means for common representations of Aboriginal performance specifically, and agency more broadly. Casey argues that many depictions of Corroborees from non-Aboriginal sources de-individualize Aboriginal people, locating them simultaneously as savages and as ‘not here’. Casey links such representations with modern-day claims to knowing the ‘authentic’ Aboriginal person (such as the now infamous column by Andrew Bolt about fair- skinned Indigenous Australians), arguing that these images and depictions represent a pervasive pattern in colonial Australia; namely claiming to know the ‘truth’ about Indigenous Australians. The third chapter in the collection continues in a similar vein, examining the issue of ‘problem drinking’ as a specific instance of an area of law that frequently targets Indigenous Australians. In particular, Cefai argues that laws pertaining to drinking frequently target Indigenous Australians whilst simultaneously overlooking what she labels as the ‘feelings’ that may well lie behind many 7 Riggs and Due: Editorial instances of problem drinking for many Aboriginal people. Cefai discusses the ways in which frequently racialised representations of ‘problems’ work to dehumanize Indigenous Australians whilst simultaneously overlooking instances of feeling that may lie behind the behaviour labelled as a ‘problem’. Cefai extends her discussion to include practical examples of programs that work to examine the role of emotions in the issues at stake, and the ways in which the law could work productively to understand the role of emotion in behaviours that could otherwise be simplistically labelled as ‘problematic’. The fourth chapter turns attention to constitutional change. In this chapter, Gunstone examines previous attempts at constitutional change relating to Indigenous Australians. In particular, he looks at the 1944, 1967 and 1999 Referendums, examining the events leading up to these Referedums and the situations in which they were ultimately held. Gunstone argues that if the incumbent Gillard Labor government seriously wishes to implement Constitutional changes that do more to recognise the place of Indigenous Australians, then there are a number of lessons to be learnt from history – particularly in relation to the involvement of Indigenous Australians in the consultation process. In a time in which Constitutional change is being increasingly discussed, Gunstone provides us with an important discussion of the situational factors necessary to pass a Referendum, as well as a timely examination of previous Governments’ failures in this regard – not only in terms of failed Referendums but also, and crucially, in terms of failure to adequately consult Indigenous Australians and listen to their voices. Continuing with a theme of legal issues, Hayes discusses the critically important area of housing for Indigenous communities. In particular, Hayes examines the 8 Riggs and Due: Editorial associated political implications for governments at both state and federal levels