Cultures of Governance and the Governance of Culture : Indigenous Australians and the State

Abstract

This PhD Thesis By Publication poses two concepts – ‘cultures of governance’ and the ‘governance of culture’ – as tropes by which to analyse the contemporary condition of Indigenous governance. The thesis publications enable a theoretical understanding of Indigenous governance as being culturally self-referential field of meshed nodal networks, and as also influentially shaped by its intercultural articulation with the governmentality of the Australian state. In doing so, concepts of governance, governmentality, field, power, agency, legitimacy, network, culture and intercultural are investigated and theoretically refined. Eight published papers are presented which have valuable synergies between them. They are laid out under five Parts which focus on particular aspects of governance and governmentality. The publications provide extensive ethnographic evidence and analyses derived from long-term fieldwork undertaken over a period of 37 years in rural, urban and remote Indigenous locations across Australia, as well as with governments and their departments. These provide the bases upon which a cohesive theoretical framework is newly developed by way of the thesis conclusion. On a more pragmatic level, the Conclusion also highlights he significance of that framework for the ongoing relationship between Indigenous Australians and the state, and their practices of governance and governmentality. Show more