Despite full citizenship, the expenditure of much money and effort and twenty-five years of benign government policies, the material circumstances of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have remained poor by all the standard social indicators. Their life circumstances are often a shock to those who have not seen them before and for those familiar with them the problems can seem intractable. In this course we will explore why it is so difficult to improve these circumstances by examining a range of theoretical and social issues relevant to a sociological analysis of the diversity and complexity of the surviving indigenous social orders and their location within the state.

By participating fully in this course you should expect the following out comes:

• An understanding of the public debates and reporting of issues in Indigenous affairs in Australia and an ability to deconstruct them

• An understanding of the nature of the diverse Indigenous social orders in Australia

• An understanding of the anthropological debates around the concepts of culture and tradition and how these relate to Indigenous affairs

• An understanding of the complexities of policy making in this area and why achieving positive outcomes is often difficult

• An understanding of the nature of the Australian state and its significance for understanding Indigenous affairs

of the Australian state and its significance for understanding Indigenous affairs