Australian Aborigines, the developmental story, and powers of freedom

Late-18th century conventions of conquest and rule were in evidence when the singular, awesome power of ‘The Crown’ was wielded over colonial subjects of the British Empire, including settlers occupying new lands and also those populations whose territories were invaded and occupied on behalf of the Crown. Well after white settlement, forms of governance of the kind implemented in the colonising period may still be deciphered. The Northern Territory Emergency Response in 2007, for example, shows evidence of similar kinds of power implemented soon after European settlement, such as establishing controls over occupation of territory, basic life conditions and sustenance, and disciplinary forms of power over Indigenous communities, including children. This paper focuses on one aspect of the sociology and politics of liberal modes of governing: the function of specialist knowledges underpinning shifting modes of governing Aboriginal peoples.