Remote Possibilities: The Aboriginal Domain and the Administrative Imagination

Abstract

Aboriginal self-determination is a praiseworthy objective of government policy, but do we know how to implement this? Remote possibilities discusses this question by bringing together two traditions of work relevant to political development in northern and central Australia: anthropological studies of Aborigines’ ‘political’ culture and behaviour and recent public policy debates about the enhancement of local government and essential services for Aboriginal people in the north and centre. Dr. Rowse suggests that there persists an ‘Aboriginal domain’ which fits awkwardly into the recently elaborated policies and administrative structures of ‘welfare colonialism’. He warns that those concerned to ‘rationalise’ the administration of remote Aboriginal Australia need to develop their sensitivity to this domain and its effects lest they undermine the cultural basis of self-determination.