Paper short abstract:

This paper considers Indigenous Australian debates concerning ‘middle classness’ within broader discussions concerning Aboriginal culture and identity and social mobility.

Paper long abstract:

This paper considers emerging ideas of a new Aboriginal 'middle class' in Australia. Engaging recent anthropological debates about 'middle classness' (Heiman et al 2012) and Aboriginal discussion of the term 'middle class', the paper reflects on diverging expressions of middle classness as a mode of self-description and/or ascription, and its implications within narratives of Aboriginal culture and identity. Attention to these debates and discussions is relevant to understanding experiences of social mobility and alternate futures as envisioned by Aboriginal people, encouraging a more complete picture of contemporary Indigenous life-worlds in Australia.