WINNER 2013 STANNER AWARD
In this award-winning work Carlson explores the complexities surrounding Aboriginal identity today. Drawing on a range of historical and research literature, interviews and surveys, The politics of identity explores Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal understandings of Aboriginality and the way these are produced and reproduced across a range of sites and contexts.
Emphasising Indigenous debates and claims about Aboriginality, The politics of identity explores both the community and external tensions around appropriate measures of identity and the pressures and effects of identification. An analysis of online Indigenous communities on social media that have emerged as sites of contestation adds to the growing knowledge in this area, both nationally and globally.
This is a brave and personal contribution to the often vexed subject of Aboriginal identity and offers a distinctive and fresh line of analysis.
‘This book is a critical, insightful contribution to the complex and fraught terrain that is Aboriginal identity.’ — Professor Maggie Walter, University of Tasmania
‘…it will be a valuable work in the field, contributing careful and measured analysis of identity politics, which steps beyond the predictable positions frequently adopted by critics…a complex and courageous piece of research.’ — Dr Allison Cadzow, the Australian National University
‘This is a conversation that Australia needs to have, and demonstrates that Aboriginality is not as black and white as you may think. The book is captivating and illuminates the complexity of Aboriginal identity that has existed since colonization.’ — Professor Peter Radoll, University of Canberra.