ATS2938 · Australian Indigenous Politics

Overview

In this unit, you will examine the history, development, and contemporary dynamics of Australian Indigenous politics. You will explore the impact of colonisation, dispossession, frontier violence and genocide with attention to the Australian state. You will analyse Indigenous activism, the evolution of Aboriginal political thought, and the emergence of diverse ideological perspectives within Indigenous polity. The unit situates Australian debates within broader global Indigenous rights movements, including frameworks such as the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. You will critically assess reconciliation policy, the enduring socio-economic gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, and contemporary debates concerning structural reform, including Voice, treaty, and truth processes.

Areas of study: Politics International Relations

Offerings

Assessment

The Handbook does not list a final examination among the assessment items. That is not a guarantee there is none.

Within semester assessment: 100%

Assessment details may change. Please refer to the assessment information in Moodle closer to the start of the teaching period.

Requisites

The Handbook lists no prerequisite, corequisite or prohibition for this unit.

Learning outcomes

1. identify and critically analyse the historic political determinants of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) Australians, and how these determinants continue to impact on their current political outcomes;
2. confidently demonstrate a deeper understanding of the extent of control and interferences in First Nations Australians lives, and the critical demand for structural, constitutional, and legal forms of self-determination, including power-sharing;
3. apply postcolonial analyses to the historic political determinants and current political outcomes of First Nations Australians;
4. communicate applied postcolonial analyses of the historic determinants and current political outcomes of First Nations Australians confidently, effectively, and across a range of formats and contexts.

Workload

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

Student experience, not official rules. Nothing here changes what the Handbook says.