Whose Land Is It Anyway? National Interest, Indigenous Stakeholders, and Colonial Discourses

Abstract

In this article, the author examines the case of the highly controversial Jabiluka uranium mine that was recently given the green signal by the Australian government. The mine, to be constructed in the heart of the Kakadu National Park (home to the Mirrar people and a World Heritage site) has been the topic of public debate and controversy involving Aboriginal communities, political parties, the mining industry, and environmentalists. By examining the colonial and anticolonial discourses that inform the mining project (with a particular focus on the colonialist, capitalist discourse inherent in the construction of Australian nationhood and the management of Aboriginal identity), the author argues that contemporary postcolonial theory can be problematic. It tends not to account for anticolonialist struggles or the struggles of the colonized to negotiate with and survive colonial conditions. The author also examines the differential power dynamics among stakeholders in this process and concludes by discussing implications of this case for stakeholder theory and for critical management studies.