Keynote: Andrew Schaap (University of Exeter)

The Constituent Power of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, Canberra, 1972-

As a re-occupation of land immediately in front of Parliament House for six months in 1972, the Aboriginal Embassy was an inspiring demonstration of Aboriginal self-determination and land rights in Australia. Since 1972, demonstrators have maintained an Embassy on the site as part of the continuing Aboriginal struggle. Significantly, on its twentieth anniversary in 1992, Embassy protestors declared Aboriginal sovereignty just as the state-initiated formal reconciliation process was getting underway. Within mainstream public discourse in Australia, reconciliation is understood as aligned with a progressive politics. This paper examines the reactionary politics of reconciliation vis-à-vis the struggle for land rights and sovereignty that the Embassy embodies. Following Antonio Negri, the Embassy can be understood as one manifestation of the constituent power of Aboriginal people (and their non-Aboriginal supporters) that the Australian state appropriates to shore up its own defective claim to sovereignty.

Professor Schapp will be giving his keynote talk on Friday April 6th at The New School (3 PM in room 510, 66 W. 12th St.).

For more background on these issue take a look at the links below.

Gary Foley's Koori History Website

Tent Embassy (documentary directed by Frances Peters-Little, 1992)

National Museum of Australian, Collaborating for Indigenous Rights