Jon Altman
Biographic Data
| ID | 3637536 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Jon Altman |
| GIVEN NAMES | Jon |
| FAMILY NAME | Altman |
| SIGNATURE | ALTMAN J |
| AFFILIATIONS | Australian National University |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 41 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 411 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 39 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 3 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1979 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2022 |
| H-INDEX | 8 |
Lurching Between Consensus and Chaos
Roadmap to recovery
In April 2020 a Group of Eight Taskforce was convened, consisting of over 100 researchers, to provide independent, research‐based recommendations to the Commonwealth Government on a “Roadmap to Recovery” from COVID‐19. The report covered issues ranging from pandemic control and relaxation of social distancing measures, to well‐being and special considerations for vulnerable populations. Our work focused on the critical needs of Aboriginal and Tor…
No ordinary company
Arnhem Land Fire Abatement (Northern Territory) Limited (ALFA) is a non-profit company established to make a financial return from savanna fire management. It operates as a charitable entity to ensure that its earnings benefit the Aboriginal landowners of Arnhem Land, many living in deep poverty. ALFA is unusual because it must operate at the intersection of Western and customary domains. It catalyses and supports the carbon emission avoidance ac…
Labour Lines and Colonial Power
"Today, increases of so-called ?low-skilled? and temporary labour migrations of Pacific Islanders to Australia occur alongside calls for Indigenous people to ?orbit? from remote communities in search of employment opportunities. These trends reflect the persistent neoliberalism within contemporary Australia, as well as the effects of structural dynamics within the global agriculture and resource extractive industries. They also unfold within the …
Lurching Between Consensus and Chaos
Labour Lines and Colonial Power
The Government's policy of buying stations and building large settlements-at considerable cost to the taxpayers-and then encouraging large numbers of natives to congregate on these places enjoying Government sustenance with a minimum of work has not helped the employment problem It would be easier, in our opinion, to 'blackbird' a boat load of Kanakas, than to pry loose a couple of native stockmen from some of these
Raphael Lemkin in Remote Australia
In the 1970s, Aboriginal people in remote Australia took decisive steps to decentralize from government settlements and missions to live and make a living on their ancestral lands at places that have become known as homelands. Over time, this migration garnered some state support and saw the emergence of new facilitating institutions. But in the last decade homeland living has been discursively demeaned by politicians, and policies have been put …
Health-Promoting Food Pricing Policies and Decision-Making in Very Remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Stores in Australia
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in remote communities in Australia experience a disproportionate burden of diet-related chronic disease. This occurs in an environment where the cost of store-purchased food is high and cash incomes are low, factors that affect both food insecurity and health outcomes. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander storeowners and the retailers who work with them implement local policies with the aim of …
The Quest for the Good Life in Precarious Times
The study of the quest for the good life and the morality and value it presupposes is not new. To the contrary, this is an ancient issue; its intellectual history can be traced back to Aristotle. In anthropology, the study of morality and value has always been a central concern, despite the claim of some scholars that the recent upsurge of interest in these issues is new. What
Blind‐sided by Basics
Income management was introduced into the Northern Territory in 2007. Despite much rhetoric around evidence based policy making and constant reviewing of income management, there has been little grounded research about Aboriginal responses at the community level to this new institution. In this article I report on the operations of income management from a longer term perspective, working with Kuninjku people and retail outlets in the Maningrida …
Australian Public Policy
At a time when neoliberal and conservative politics are again in the ascendency and social democracy is waning, Australian public policy re-engages with the values and goals of progressive public policy in Australia and the difficulties faced in re-affirming them. It brings together leading authors to explore economic, environmental, social, cultural, political and indigenous issues. It examines trends and current policy directions and outlines p…
Australian Public Policy
The Cambridge Economic History of Australia
Australia's economic history is the story of the transformation of an indigenous economy and a small convict settlement into a nation of nearly 23 million people with advanced economic, social and political structures. It is a history of vast lands with rich, exploitable resources, of adversity in war, and of prosperity and nation building. It is also a history of human behaviour and the institutions created to harness and govern human endeavour.…
From Kunnanj, Fish Creek, to Mumeka, Mann River
Indigenous Livelihoods and Art Income
Participation in the Indigenous visual arts sector provides one of few market opportunities for Indigenous Australians resident on remote Aboriginal lands. In this article we examine the economic factors that influence this market engagement as they relate to woodcarving in the Maningrida region of Arnhem Land. In particular, we look at the factors that affect participation, production and monetary returns using scan and focal sampling, resource …
Artists as Harvesters
Culture Crisis
n\t\t\t\t\tIn 2007 the Australian Government recognised that the health, safety and education of the nation’s remote Aboriginal citizens were in a state of crisis. Its response was what became known as the Northern Territory Intervention, which sparked a heated national debate about Indigenous disadvantage and autonomy. Moreover, it caused Australian anthropologists to question the contribution of their own discipline. Anthropology has always inf…
Hunter Gatherer Subsistence Production in Arnhem Land
Prospects for ‘Closing the Gap’ in Socioeconomic Outcomes for Indigenous Australians
Practical reconciliation’ and more recently ‘closing the gap’ have been put forward as frameworks on which to base and evaluate policies to address Indigenous disadvantage. This paper analyses national‐level census‐based data to examine trends in Indigenous wellbeing since 1971. There has been steady improvement in most socioeconomic outcomes in the last 35 years; a finding at odds with the current discourse of failure. Evidence of convergence be…
The hybrid economy and anthropological engagements with policy discourse
This article advocates a crucial role for economic anthropology in the twenty‐first century. The use of anthropological techniques for primary data collection is essential for understanding the complexity of diverse local economies. This is demonstrated with reference to a remote Aboriginal economy in Arnhem Land, Northern Australia, using a ‘hybrid economy’ model that includes the customary sector as well as market and state sectors. This empiri…
Power, Culture, Economy
Research over the past decade in health, employment, life expectancy, child mortality, and household income has confirmed that Indigenous Australians are still Australia's most disadvantaged group. Those residing in communities in regional and remote Australia are further disadvantaged because of the limited formal economic opportunities there. In these areas mining
Mobility and Modernity in Arnhem Land
This article explores the central role played by vehicles in a contradictory set of social processes that have unfolded in western Arnhem Land, north Australia, over the last five decades. Motor vehicles have mediated much of humanity's experience of the world over the past century. Kuninjku people's interaction with motor vehicles, we argue, provides one revealing lens through which to explore a distinctive and ambiguous experience of modernity.…
A Historical Perspective on Indigenous Socioeconomic Outcomes in Australia, 1971-2001
Current debate in Indigenous affairs in Australia often involves the assertion that the last 30 years has been a period of policy failure. This article examines trends across a number of socioeconomic outcomes for Indigenous Australians from the 1967 referendum to the present, using census data. Overall, there has been steady, although not spectacular improvement in outcomes over time. These improvements are especially marked for education, which…
The Economic and Social Impacts of the CDEP Scheme in Remote Australia
The Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) scheme is an unusual labour market and social development program for Indigenous people. Currently the CDEP scheme employs around 36,000 Indigenous Australians and accounts for over one‐quarter of total Indigenous employment. Despite the significance of the CDEP scheme, in recent times, relatively little attention has been given to the potential for the scheme to be used as an instrument for ec…
Aborigines and mining royalties in the Northern Territory.
Why Hunter-Gatherers Work
"Beyond "The Original Affluent Society
Culture Crisis
n\t\t\t\t\tIn 2007 the Australian Government recognised that the health, safety and education of the nation’s remote Aboriginal citizens were in a state of crisis. Its response was what became known as the Northern Territory Intervention, which sparked a heated national debate about Indigenous disadvantage and autonomy. Moreover, it caused Australian anthropologists to question the contribution of their own discipline. Anthropology has always inf…
Hunter-Gatherers Today
Power, Culture, Economy
Research over the past decade in health, employment, life expectancy, child mortality, and household income has confirmed that Indigenous Australians are still Australia's most disadvantaged group. Those residing in communities in regional and remote Australia are further disadvantaged because of the limited formal economic opportunities there. In these areas mining
Tourism dilemmas for aboriginal Australians
Land Use and Resources in Desert Homelands
On 26th January 1984, The Department of Aboriginal Affairs accepted a tender from the North Australia Research Unit (NARU) of the Australian National University to undertake a study of land use practices and related matters in the outstations in Central Australia. The terms of reference required that the Unit report to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs on the following matters, as aids to policy making:- \n1.\tThe locations of outstations and t…
The Quest for the Good Life in Precarious Times
The study of the quest for the good life and the morality and value it presupposes is not new. To the contrary, this is an ancient issue; its intellectual history can be traced back to Aristotle. In anthropology, the study of morality and value has always been a central concern, despite the claim of some scholars that the recent upsurge of interest in these issues is new. What
Mobility and Modernity in Arnhem Land
This article explores the central role played by vehicles in a contradictory set of social processes that have unfolded in western Arnhem Land, north Australia, over the last five decades. Motor vehicles have mediated much of humanity's experience of the world over the past century. Kuninjku people's interaction with motor vehicles, we argue, provides one revealing lens through which to explore a distinctive and ambiguous experience of modernity.…
Roadmap to recovery
In April 2020 a Group of Eight Taskforce was convened, consisting of over 100 researchers, to provide independent, research‐based recommendations to the Commonwealth Government on a “Roadmap to Recovery” from COVID‐19. The report covered issues ranging from pandemic control and relaxation of social distancing measures, to well‐being and special considerations for vulnerable populations. Our work focused on the critical needs of Aboriginal and Tor…
Hunter Gatherer Subsistence Production in Arnhem Land
No ordinary company
Arnhem Land Fire Abatement (Northern Territory) Limited (ALFA) is a non-profit company established to make a financial return from savanna fire management. It operates as a charitable entity to ensure that its earnings benefit the Aboriginal landowners of Arnhem Land, many living in deep poverty. ALFA is unusual because it must operate at the intersection of Western and customary domains. It catalyses and supports the carbon emission avoidance ac…
Blind‐sided by Basics
Income management was introduced into the Northern Territory in 2007. Despite much rhetoric around evidence based policy making and constant reviewing of income management, there has been little grounded research about Aboriginal responses at the community level to this new institution. In this article I report on the operations of income management from a longer term perspective, working with Kuninjku people and retail outlets in the Maningrida …
Artists as Harvesters
The Indigenous Land Corporation
The Indigenous Land Corporation (ILC) is a relatively new Commonwealth statutory authority which commenced its operations on 5 June 1995. It is new not only in the sense of its short existence, but also in the unique framework enshrined in its enabling legislation that aims to provide improved outcomes in Indigenous land acquisition and land management. This article explores this unique policy and operational framework, contrasts it with past Com…
Indigenous Livelihoods and Art Income
Participation in the Indigenous visual arts sector provides one of few market opportunities for Indigenous Australians resident on remote Aboriginal lands. In this article we examine the economic factors that influence this market engagement as they relate to woodcarving in the Maningrida region of Arnhem Land. In particular, we look at the factors that affect participation, production and monetary returns using scan and focal sampling, resource …
The Economic and Social Impacts of the CDEP Scheme in Remote Australia
The Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) scheme is an unusual labour market and social development program for Indigenous people. Currently the CDEP scheme employs around 36,000 Indigenous Australians and accounts for over one‐quarter of total Indigenous employment. Despite the significance of the CDEP scheme, in recent times, relatively little attention has been given to the potential for the scheme to be used as an instrument for ec…
The Cdep Scheme
Alternative Rural Communities
The quest for solutions to urban unemployment prompted the federal government to give serious consideration to providing support and encouragement to alternative rural communities. It hoped that residents in these communities would withdraw from the formal labour market and establish alternatives to conventional employment. A study of 20 rural land sharing communities in New South Wales indicates that at the present time these communities do not …
The question of affluence
The question of affluence
Hunting Buffalo in North‐Central Arnhem Land
Hunting Buffalo in North‐Central Arnhem Land: A Case of Rapid Adaptation among Aborigines.
Eastern Gunwinggu fish trapping at Gunbatgarri
The eastern Gunwinggu of Central Arnhem Land construct a conical fish trap called mandjabu which is used in conjunction with a trapping fence to catch mainly barramundi and catfish.Traditionally fish trapping was an important subsistance activity during the plentiful early dry season.Today, although its economic significance has declined somewhat owing to the adoption of market technology, fish trapping remains symbolically important as it also r…
The payment of mining royalties to aborigines
Alternative Rural Communities
The quest for solutions to urban unemployment prompted the federal government to give serious consideration to providing support and encouragement to alternative rural communities. It hoped that residents in these communities would withdraw from the formal labour market and establish alternatives to conventional employment. A study of 20 rural land sharing communities in New South Wales indicates that at the present time these communities do not …
Land Use and Resources in Desert Homelands
On 26th January 1984, The Department of Aboriginal Affairs accepted a tender from the North Australia Research Unit (NARU) of the Australian National University to undertake a study of land use practices and related matters in the outstations in Central Australia. The terms of reference required that the Unit report to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs on the following matters, as aids to policy making:- \n1.\tThe locations of outstations and t…
Tourism dilemmas for aboriginal Australians
Aborigines, Tourism and Development
The Cdep Scheme
Reply to Parsons
Observing the Economy
1. Introduction 2. The theory/data dialectic 3. Land and Environment 4. Labour and its Organisation 5. Technology 6. Output - Surpluses and deficits 7. Distribution and exchange 8. Consumption 9. Economics, Politics, religion and ideology 10. Interpreting Economic data
Observing the Economy
Hunter-Gatherers Today
"Beyond "The Original Affluent Society
Why Hunter-Gatherers Work
Anthropology and indigenous public policy
The Indigenous Land Corporation
The Indigenous Land Corporation (ILC) is a relatively new Commonwealth statutory authority which commenced its operations on 5 June 1995. It is new not only in the sense of its short existence, but also in the unique framework enshrined in its enabling legislation that aims to provide improved outcomes in Indigenous land acquisition and land management. This article explores this unique policy and operational framework, contrasts it with past Com…
A Historical Perspective on Indigenous Socioeconomic Outcomes in Australia, 1971-2001
Current debate in Indigenous affairs in Australia often involves the assertion that the last 30 years has been a period of policy failure. This article examines trends across a number of socioeconomic outcomes for Indigenous Australians from the 1967 referendum to the present, using census data. Overall, there has been steady, although not spectacular improvement in outcomes over time. These improvements are especially marked for education, which…
The Economic and Social Impacts of the CDEP Scheme in Remote Australia
The Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) scheme is an unusual labour market and social development program for Indigenous people. Currently the CDEP scheme employs around 36,000 Indigenous Australians and accounts for over one‐quarter of total Indigenous employment. Despite the significance of the CDEP scheme, in recent times, relatively little attention has been given to the potential for the scheme to be used as an instrument for ec…
Mobility and Modernity in Arnhem Land
This article explores the central role played by vehicles in a contradictory set of social processes that have unfolded in western Arnhem Land, north Australia, over the last five decades. Motor vehicles have mediated much of humanity's experience of the world over the past century. Kuninjku people's interaction with motor vehicles, we argue, provides one revealing lens through which to explore a distinctive and ambiguous experience of modernity.…
Prospects for ‘Closing the Gap’ in Socioeconomic Outcomes for Indigenous Australians
Practical reconciliation’ and more recently ‘closing the gap’ have been put forward as frameworks on which to base and evaluate policies to address Indigenous disadvantage. This paper analyses national‐level census‐based data to examine trends in Indigenous wellbeing since 1971. There has been steady improvement in most socioeconomic outcomes in the last 35 years; a finding at odds with the current discourse of failure. Evidence of convergence be…
The hybrid economy and anthropological engagements with policy discourse
This article advocates a crucial role for economic anthropology in the twenty‐first century. The use of anthropological techniques for primary data collection is essential for understanding the complexity of diverse local economies. This is demonstrated with reference to a remote Aboriginal economy in Arnhem Land, Northern Australia, using a ‘hybrid economy’ model that includes the customary sector as well as market and state sectors. This empiri…
Power, Culture, Economy
Research over the past decade in health, employment, life expectancy, child mortality, and household income has confirmed that Indigenous Australians are still Australia's most disadvantaged group. Those residing in communities in regional and remote Australia are further disadvantaged because of the limited formal economic opportunities there. In these areas mining
Culture Crisis
n\t\t\t\t\tIn 2007 the Australian Government recognised that the health, safety and education of the nation’s remote Aboriginal citizens were in a state of crisis. Its response was what became known as the Northern Territory Intervention, which sparked a heated national debate about Indigenous disadvantage and autonomy. Moreover, it caused Australian anthropologists to question the contribution of their own discipline. Anthropology has always inf…
Hunter Gatherer Subsistence Production in Arnhem Land
Geography (20 works) · Political science (20 works) · Sociology (18 works) · Economics (16 works) · Law (16 works) · Indigenous (14 works) · Indigenous Health, Education, and Rights (13 works) · Archaeology (10 works) · Indigenous Studies and Ecology (10 works) · Law (9 works)