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- Convenors:
-
Sarah Holcombe
(University of Queensland)
Suzi Hutchings (RMIT University)
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- Discussant:
-
Hans Baer
(University of Melbourne)
- Formats:
- Panels
- Location:
- Eucalyptus (S205), R.N Robertson Building
- Sessions:
- Wednesday 4 December, -, -
Time zone: Australia/Sydney
Short Abstract:
Activist alliances between anthropologists and Indigenous peoples: methodologies, counter narratives and epistemic decolonisation in the global south.
Long Abstract:
This panel is inspired by a recent edited volume on "activist alliances between anthropologists and Indigenous peoples" in Canada, Mexico and Australia, that the two convenors have contributed to. The volume sought to critically engage with not only how anthropology is produced, but how the geopolitics of knowledge shape knowledge hierarchies and knowledge production, whereby the global south continues to be the space for fieldwork and the global north the place for its systematization and theorization. Though Australia is geographically part of the global south, the dominant anthropological knowledge traditions have been transplanted here (US, British, and French traditions).
We are keen to continue, and further develop, this conversation from within the global south, not only as the place we write from, but because the specificity of the Australian colonial project, and those of our neighbours, require their own forms of epistemic decolonisation. These dialogues, often from the margins, and the co-production of knowledge that they entail, may also involve making our knowledge intelligible to our Indigenous collaborators and friends, and in turn make it more responsive to the Indigenous knowledges engaged with. Though it is sometimes pejoratively termed 'public anthropology' or 'engaged anthropology', how does a contemporary anthropological ethic, balance scholarly rigour when mobilised into social justice interventions? Papers can consider particular methodologies that have established generative alliances, insurrectionary knowledge and forms of reciprocal ethnography with Indigenous peoples.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Tuesday 3 December, 2019, -Paper short abstract:
This introductory paper will begin to set the theoretical and experential scene for engaging in activist anthropology in the global south.
Paper long abstract:
This paper will introduce the session and begin to set the theoretical and experential scene for engaging in activist anthropology in the global south. It will discuss the work of some of the key anthropologists working in this space, such as Stuart Kirsch, and the fields of enquiry that tend to be the focus of these unsettling methods. The practical relevance of the now widely referenced 'decolonising method' will also be explored.
Paper short abstract:
Abolition of the Kamaiya bondage labor system from Nepali agriculture increased sharecropping and selling of land. The Kamaiya were empowered to negotiate their pay and work-hour. It has contributed to the farm mechanization.
Paper long abstract:
The Tharu, indigenous nationalities of Nepal, who cleared and settled the marshy lowland of Nepal, subsequently become landless and trapped into the kamaiya bondage labour system. My parents were one of them who migrated from the Dang-Deokhuri to Bardiya in search of freedom and a livelihood. The plights of my parents, family, villagers, and the Tharu drew my attention to engage with the community. From 2003, I have been engaged with the Tharu and the Jamindar (landlords). It was relatively easy for me to establish relationships with them since I am also from the Tharu community of the region. I visited many times in the study villages to establish rapport and introduce myself as a researcher. I had a particular challenge approaching Pahadi Jamindar (hill originated landlords) because of their patron-client mindset and security concern. Many Jamindar were threatened, displaced, and even killed from the armed conflict of the Maoist in the country during 1996-2006. I interviewed the Pahadi Jamindar through formal and informal networks, using mixed methods, household surveys, observation and interviews. I tried to maintain the highest levels of research ethics for an independent researcher. This research has policy implication for increasing land productivity in the agrarian economy of Nepal.
Paper short abstract:
This paper discusses several anthropological conundrums related to the role of the researcher in community development, the responsibilities of the scholar to the discipline, and the tension between activism and academic vocation.
Paper long abstract:
This paper discusses several anthropological conundrums related to the role of the researcher in community development, the responsibilities of the scholar to the discipline, and the tension between activism and academic vocation. I shall explore these issues in the context of my research and involvement in the production of pua kumbu, a traditional Iban textile. Central to the production of the pua kumbu is not just the knowledge of the weaving techniques, the natural dyes, designs and motifs but also the animistic beliefs and rituals, folklore, stories, and taboos associated with this Iban textile. Since 2013, I have studied indigenous and traditional knowledge as a development tool, focusing on the pua kumbu as the "artefact" to naturally facilitate the Iban community into becoming the "social lab" and the "subject matter". I performed a social experiment by engaging a community of weavers, and creating a platform for the women to weave for the commercial market with the emphasis on the conservation of the intangible aspect of the pua kumbu. Several anthropologists have branded my role as "improper", arguing that it compromises my research. How is partnering with the community to uplift their livelihood by progressing their creations and conserving the intangible aspect of the pua kumbu detrimental to my research, when modern perceptions of traditional life is associated with poverty, and rural living and economic practices are considered backward?
Paper short abstract:
In this paper, I discuss how a research project by an Indigenous community constitutes a form of activist scholarship,my reflections on the shaping of an reciprocal ethnography, and dealing with the politics of knowledge hierarchies and knowledge production within the context of India.
Paper long abstract:
In India, the indigenous communities, or Adivasis, are constantly being threatened by the loss of land, legal rights, and cultural heritage. In response, many Adivasi communities are getting involved in the process of knowledge production as a form of protecting their cultural heritage. In the Koya village of Kamaram, the Koya youths have embarked on a research project on Koya culture and indigenous knowledge, with the aim of producing an English book for mass dissemination. In this paper, I discuss the following, how a research project situated in a small village constitutes a form of activist scholarship which leads to epistemic decolonisation and empowerment for Adivasi communities, a reflection on the shaping of an reciprocal ethnography, and the politics of knowledge hierarchies and knowledge production within the context of India.
Paper short abstract:
This paper will begin to explore the question of whether the Indigenous native title claimants have adequate voice in constructing their claims and subsequently in determining their post-native title futures.
Paper long abstract:
Though the native title act has some benefits to Indigenous customary land holders (such as the right to negotiate), getting to that point can be compromising for many of the parties involved. Drawing on my own experiences in a diverse range of jurisdictions, this paper will begin to explore the question of whether the Indigenous native title claimants have adequate voice in constructing their claims and subsequently in determining their post-native title futures.
Paper short abstract:
The past twenty six years since Mabo Decision has seen the land rights project extend to encompass all of the Australian States and territories, in varying grades of success. The activists chant, "What do we want?" "Land Rights!" has been answered in many parts of Australia, with native title claims succeeding to nearly 80% of the land mass. Unfortunately, little has changed in social, cultural and economic indicators for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The Native Title system whilst identifying who the correct people associated with land might be has also made it easier and legal to now dispossess people. It has created major charitable funds, locking money and resources away from the people, who may only access these resources for charitable purposes. There is little done to maintain and preserve the cultural and human rights of Aboriginal people. What does it mean to have the right to speak your language? What does it mean to have the right to educate your children? What does it mean to benefit economically from your land? This paper will reflect on my own contributions to this space as an Aboriginal community leader, activist and someone trained in anthropology to engage effectively with the State.
Paper short abstract:
This is a discussion paper around the central themes raised in the papers from the panel and the implications for relationships between Indigenous peoples and the anthropologists who support them within the political, social and environmental spaces of the global south.
Paper long abstract:
As a discussant the author aims this paper at stimulating further conversation among the panellists, and from the audience. This paper is therefore a discussion piece, which will draw out the main themes, intersections and differences between the papers presented at this panel. The paper will also refer back to the volume, which inspired the development of the panel on "activist alliances between anthropologists and Indigenous peoples" in Canada, Mexico and Australia. In doing this, the paper will take the Panel conversation forward into the global south, to review the impact of the colonial project on Indigenous peoples in Australia and the Pacific. It will tease out the role anthropologists currently play, and could continue to play into the future, in collaborating with Indigenous peoples as allies, friends, activists and for some as being Indigenous anthropologists themselves, to challenge the colonial project to decolonise.