Living through a national emergency: a view of the Intervention from Ground Zero

Abstract

This seminar will provide a perspective on the Intervention from one of the largest Indigenous townships in the NT through the eyes of two doctoral research scholars who were researching in the community as the Intervention broke. The paper analyses the initial reactions of both the people of the region and their local organisations, as well as detailing their interactions with the Northern Territory Emergency Response Taskforce and other government agencies during the first month of the Intervention. In so doing, we posit the local experience of the Intervention as a transformative and traumatic moment in the township's relationship with state and explore a deeper question around the nature of the intervention and its bearing upon the concept of state and local engagement in the post-Intervention period. Show more