Indigeneity and the refusal of whiteness

Drawing on international literature examining mismatch between racial appearance and racial identity, this paper analyses the subgroup of Indigenous Australians who have been identified, and self-identify, as ‘light-’, ‘fair-’, ‘pale-’ or ‘white-skinned’. We utilise the term ‘race discordance’ to describe the experience of regularly being attributed an identity that is different from how one personally identifies. In contrast to existing terms such as elective race, ethnic fraud and transracialism, race discordance does not seek to explain or judge the validity of identity claims that do not match perceived appearance. When unnoticed or unchallenged, ‘race discordance’ corresponds to ‘passing’. We propose the term ‘race refusal’ to describe instances when a person rejects the race they are ascribed to. In the case of white-skinned Indigenous Australians who are frequently assumed to identify as white, race refusal entails the refusal of whiteness. When light-skinned Indigenous people refuse whiteness, what are they refusing? In conversation with Audra Simpson’s notion of refusal of state recognition as an assertion of continued Indigenous sovereignty, we find that these particular micro-politics of race refusal demand rather than negate state recognition. We argue that identity refusal by pale-skinned Aboriginal people acts to disrupt histories of assimilation, white sociality and everyday racialisation while simultaneously reinforcing Australian recognition regimes.     

Are universities ready for interculturality? The case of the Intercultural University ‘Amawtay Wasi’ (Ecuador)

This article focuses on the creation of the Intercultural University ‘Amawtay Wasi’ in 2003, and its evolution up until its final suspension from the university system in Ecuador. I reflect on the difficulty of implementing educational approaches based on locally situated cultural identities that involve epistemologies different from those which are hegemonic in academic spheres on the global level. From the point of view of the indigenous movement, the current situation is solely the result of the ignorance and arrogance of the state, which ‘has led to a backlash against the gains made by indigenous people that has even led to a decline in terms of indigenous rights’, calling the current government a government of ‘a new colonization’ (Salvador). However, interviews conducted in the years after the closure of Amawtay Wasi bring to light certain discourses and opposition that go beyond the obvious intellectual and political reluctance of the current government to maintain the Amawtay Wasi Intercultural University.     

Preliminary U-series and Thermoluminescence dating of excavated deposits in Liang Bua sub-chamber,Flores, Indonesia

We report the results of a test excavation of deposits in a limestone cave sub-chamber located beneath the main chamber of Liang Bua, Flores, Indonesia; the discovery site of the small hominin species, Homo floresiensis. Well-preserved remains of extinct Pleistocene fauna and stone artefacts have previously been identified on the surface of a sediment cone within the sub-chamber. Our excavation of the deposits, at the base of the sediment cone in the sub-chamber (to 130 cm depth) yielded only a few fragmentary bones of extant fauna. Uranium/Thorium (U-series or U/Th) dating of soda straw stalactites excavated from 20 to 130 cm in depth demonstrates that the excavated sediments were deposited during the Holocene. Red Thermoluminescence (TL) dating of the sediments at the base of the excavation (130 cm depth) indicates these sediments were last exposed to sunlight at 84 ± 15 ka (thousand years), similar to red TL ages of cave sediments from the main chamber. Together, these results indicate that the surface faunal remains, which are morphologically analogous to Pleistocene finds from the main chamber excavations, were transported to the sub-chamber relatively recently from the main chamber of Liang Bua and probably originated from conglomerate deposits at the rear of the cave and from deposits around the front entrance. There is no evidence for hominin occupation of the sub-chamber, instead it seems to have acted as a sink for cultural materials and fossil remains transported from the surface via sinkholes. Despite the small number of finds from the test excavation, it is possible that more extensive excavations may yield additional transported cultural and faunal evidence at greater depths.     

Furry families: making a human–dog family through home

The last fifty years have seen dogs increasingly drawn into the home as family members. While the health and social implications of these relatings have been the focus of much research, the everyday practices by which more-than-human families are constituted have received little attention. The paper draws on interviews with, and diaries recorded by, new dog owners in 2006–2007. It highlights three ways that dogs became family in and through the home. First, describing dogs as ‘furry children’, participants emphasised the time spent caring for dogs. Second, engaging with dogs as ‘pack animals’, participants discussed an inherent ‘otherness’ that shaped family relations, and reconceptualised the human-family as a pack relation. Third, the individual agency of dogs was recognised as shaping family and home. However, these familial relatings were often tenuous as humans were faced with the particular character and ‘otherness’ of dogs. While the majority experienced a strengthening of family ties following the introduction of a dog, a number of individuals discussed the divisive impact of this experience. The paper extends debates about family and home, broadening family beyond biological relations to include more-than-human relationships forged through cohabitation and interaction.     

Book reviews‐Comptes rendus

B. CUNLIFFE, ed., The Oxford Illustrated Prehistory of Europe, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1994, 532 p., 46 colour plates, numerous line drawings and black & white plates, ISBN 0–19–814385–0.

Carlin A. BARTON, The Sorrows of the Ancient Romans: the Gladiator and the Monster, Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ, 1993, 210 p., ISBN 0–691–45696‐X.

Dominique BARTHELEMY, La société dans le comté de Vendôme de l'an mil au XIVe siècle, Fayard, Paris, 1993, 1118 p.

Colloque international, Les métiers au Moyen Age. Aspects économiques et sociaux, Louvain‐La‐Neuve, 7–9 octobre 1993.

Yuri L. BESSMERTNY, Life and death in the Middle Ages. Essays in the demographic history of France (in Russian), Nauka, Moscow, 1991, 240 p., ISBN 5–020–09052–2.

Ulrich IM HOF, Les Lumières en Europe (traduction de Jeanne Etoré et Bernard Lorthol‐ary), Le Seuil (collection “Faire l'Europe"), Paris, 1993, 316 p.

Antoine DE BAECQUE, Le corps de l'histoire. Métaphores et politique (1770–1800), Calmann‐Lévy, Paris, 1993, 435 p.

Christopher R. BROWNING, Ordinary Men—Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland, HarperCollins Publishers, New York, 1992, ISBN 0–060–99506–8.

Traduction française par Elie Barnavi: Des hommes ordinaires. Le 101e bataillon de réserve de la police allemande et la solution finale en Pologne, avec une préface de Pierre Vidal‐Naquet, Les Belles Lettres (Collection “Histoire"), Paris, 1994, ISBN 2–251–38025–6.

Stefan BREUER, Anatomie der konservativen Revolution, Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt, 1993, 232 p., ISBN 3–534–11802–2.

Congrès international, Vers une identité et une conscience européennes au XXe siècle, Paris, 1993.

Frédéric DELOUCHE, ed., Histoire de l'Europe, Hachette, Paris, 1992, 380 p., ISBN 2–010–19254–0.

Michel MOLLAT DU JOURDIN, Europa und das Meer, traduction de Ursula Scholz, C.H. Beck'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung (Collection “Europa bauen"), Munich, 1993, 320 p., ISBN 3–406–36726–7.

Henry KOZICKI, ed., Western and Russian Historiography. Recent Views, Macmillan Press, Houndmills, 1993, 218 p., ISBN 0–333–57829–5.

Josep FONTANA LAZARO, La Historia despues del fin de la Historia. Reflexiones acerca de la situación actual de la ciencia historica, Critica, Serie general, no. 255, Barcelone, 1992, 153 p.     

Implications of climate change for glacier tourism

For more than 100 years, the Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers in Westland Tai Poutini National Park have attracted thousands of tourists annually and have emerged as iconic destinations in New Zealand. However, in recent years, the recession of both glaciers has been increasingly rapid and the impacts on, and implications for, visitor experiences in these settings remain relatively unexplored. A mixed-method approach was adopted to investigate visitor experiences and stakeholder perspectives through an assessment of climate-related changes on tourism at the glaciers in Westland Tai Poutini National Park. The bio-physical conditions at both the Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers were reviewed in order to assess the magnitude and rate of retreat. Perceptions of climate change risk and awareness of impacts in the National Park were assessed through stakeholder interviews (n = 13) and a visitor survey (n = 500) was used to better understand how impacts at these sites have affected and may continue to affect visitor experiences. Research results were reported to local communities via a series of public talks. Results revealed the fundamental importance of viewing the glaciers as a significant travel motive of visitors, suggesting that there is a ‘last chance’ dimension to their experience. Furthermore, the results demonstrate a high adaptive capacity of local tourism operators under rapidly changing environmental conditions. The implications of altered visitor experiences for tourism operators and protected area managers are discussed in light of these findings.