The Interethnic Practice of Local Governance in a Remote Aboriginal Settlement in Australia
The Interethnic Practice of Local Governance in a Remote Aboriginal Settlement in Australia Report
DKCRC Working Paper
- Author(s): Moran, M
- Published: 2007
- Publisher: Desert Knowledge CRC
- Volume: 12
Abstract: Drawing on research undertaken at a remote Aboriginal settlement, the paper describes the interethnic practice of local governance as actors implement a policy of self-determination. A typology of seven actors is proposed, largely based on meeting attendances over a ten-year period: the silent majority, spectators, local employees, leaders, permanent resident outside employees (PROE), resident departmental officers (RDO), and external stakeholders. Employment proved to be an important predisposition to leadership. The local polity revealed a political pluralism and innovative confederation of organisations to tackle the complexity of the problems at hand. Significantly, all of the examples of successful innovation observed involved productive social relationships developing locally between leaders and trusted outside employees. The paper draws attention to the paucity of study into the interethnic practice of local governance and argues that this is due to the lack of attention to the critical role of outside employees practising in Aboriginal organisations, and the reticence of researchers to embrace the complexity and indeterminacies of the interethnic field. It concludes with a call for attention to the conditions for successful practice, including the training and professional development of practitioners.
- Urls: http://www.nintione.com.au/resource/DKCRC-WP-12-Interethnic-Practice-of-local-governance.pdf, https://web.archive.org/web/20180405124456/http://www.desertknowledgecrc.com.au/resource/DKCRC-WP-12-Interethnic-Practice-of-local-governance.pdf
- Publisher Location: Alice Springs
- Keywords: leadership