Crosscurrents: Law and Society in a Native Title Claim to Land and Sea

by Katie Glaskin

It is one thing to know what the law says: it is another to try to understand what it means and how it is applied. In native title, when Indigenous relationships with country are viewed through the lens of a Western property rights regime, this complexity is seriously magnified.

Crosscurrents traces the path of a native title claim in the Kimberley region of Western Australia – Sampi v State of Western Australia - from its inception to resolution, contextualising the claim in the web of historical events that shaped the claim’s beginnings, its intersection with evolving case law, and the labyrinth of legal process, evidence and argument that ultimately shaped its end.

Praise for Crosscurrents:

This is an extraordinarily stimulating book. It presents its key arguments via an engaging narrative of a single native title claim. It raises issues of substantive policy and societal importance. Crosscurrents will attract a readership primarily in anthropological and perhaps legal circles. I would encourage all those involved in public policy relating to Indigenous affairs, and indeed all those engaged citizens who merely wish to gain a better understanding of the Indigenous policymaking maze, to consider reading the book as it provides important insights into how mainstream society’s institutions interact with Indigenous Australians. MICHAEL DILLON, POLICY ANALYST AND FORMER CEO OF THE INDIGENOUS LAND CORPORATION  

Glaskin’s book offers a subtle account of the great complexities of Indigenous culture and history, and the tensions, ironies, miscommunications, and contradictions – or ‘crosscurrents’ – that native title creates. RICHARD J MARTIN, AUSTRALIAN BOOK REVIEW  

This book makes an important contribution to the developing literature on native title in Australia, indigenous struggles for land globally and the practice of anthropology. Moving beyond simple critique, it integrates ethnographic research and anthropological analysis to reveal the transformative effects of the native title process on Indigenous peoples. As such, it will appeal not only to anthropologists, claimants and others involved in native title but to a wider general audience. PETRONELLA VAARZON-MOREL, ANTHROPOLOGICAL FORUM

Book details

PUBLICATION DATE: July 2017
FORMAT: Paperback
EXTENT: 270 pages
SIZE: 234 (H) x 153 (W) mm
ISBN: 9781742589442
RIGHTS: World Right
CATEGORY: Australian Studies, General Non-fiction, UWAP Scholarly,