Defining 'Indigenous': Between Culture and Biology

Stephen Pritchard

doi:10.5130/csr.v10i2.3471

PDF

Published: Aug 12, 2013

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5130/csr.v10i2.3471

Keywords:

Australia, law, legislation, Aboriginal people, culture, identity, biology,

Stephen Pritchard

Monash University

Abstract

This essay considers a range of discourses on identity and the definition of culture. I have little doubt that, generally speaking, Indigenous people are quite capable of defining the meaning of ‘Indigenous person’ or ‘culture’ in a way that satisfies their specific immediate needs and interests. My concern here is with the definition of ‘Aboriginal or Indigenous person’ in Australian law and legislation and with the critical response, by members of the scientific community as well as cultural theorists, to references to a biological basis of identity.

Issue

Vol 10 No 2 (2004): Haunted

Section

Articles (Peer Reviewed)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Copyright Notice

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

a) Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed undera Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share and adapt the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.

b) Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.

c) Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Open Access Citation Advantage Service). Where authors include such a work in an institutional repository or on their website (ie. a copy of a work which has been published in a UTS ePRESS journal, or a pre-print or post-print version of that work), we request that they include a statement that acknowledges the UTS ePRESS publication including the name of the journal, the volume number and a web-link to the journal item.

d) Authors should be aware that the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) License permits readers to share (copy and redistribute the work in any medium or format) and adapt (remix, transform, and build upon the work) for any purpose, even commercially, provided they also give appropriate credit to the work, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. They may do these things in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests you or your publisher endorses their use.

Author Biography

Stephen Pritchard, Monash University

STEPHEN PRITCHARD is a lecturer in the Centre for Australian Indigenous Studies at Monash University. He has published articles in journals including Theory, Culture and Society, International Journal of Cultural Studies, Social Semiotics, Communal/Plural, Law & Critique, Balayi and Jouvert, and his book An Introduction to Multiculturalism is forthcoming with Sage.

Article Sidebar

Main Article Content

Abstract

Article Details

Stephen Pritchard, Monash University