Politics/Aboriginal Affairs
Book Details

The Politics of Suffering

Indigenous Australia and the end of the liberal consensus

Peter Sutton

The Politics of Suffering cuts through the cant and offers fresh insight and hope for a new era in Indigenous politics.

Opinion

'In the often-tortuous terrain of indigenous politics, Peter Sutton is a myth-buster. Through personal observation, forensic rigour and an anthropologist's eye, he questions the foundations on which 40 years of public policy, often imposed with bipartisan goodwill, has been constructed.'

-- Russell Skelton, The Age, 11 July 2009

'The Politics of Suffering is not, as its name makes clear, comfortable reading. But Sutton is a fine writer and one who wears his considerable learning lightly. I expect that this book will become the yardstick by which most recent critiques of indigenous affairs policy and what comes out on the subject over the next decade will be judged.'

-- Christopher Pearson, The Weekend Australian, 18 July 2009

About this Title

"Incandescent, emotional, tragic and challenging' - Marcia Langton

Peter Sutton is a fearless and authoritative voice in Aboriginal politics.

In this groundbreaking book, he asks why, after three decades of liberal thinking, has the suffering and grief in so many Aboriginal communities become worse?

The picture Sutton presents is tragic. He marshals shocking evidence against the failures of the past, and argues provocatively that three decades of liberal consensus on Aboriginal issues has collapsed.

Sutton is a leading Australian anthropologist who has lived and worked closely with Aboriginal communities. He combines clear-eyed, original observation with deep emotional engagement. The Politics of Suffering cuts through the cant and offers fresh insight and hope for a new era in Indigenous politics.

Peter Sutton is an anthropologist and linguist who has worked with Aboriginal people since 1969. He speaks three Cape York languages and as an expert on Aboriginal land ownership he has assisted with fifty land rights cases. He has authored or edited twelve books, including Native Title in Australia: an Ethnographic Perspective, regarded as the most authoritative work in its field. He is a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, a Fellow of the Australian Anthropological Society, and Honorary Research Fellow, Institute of Archaeology, University College London.

About the Author

Peter Sutton is an anthropologist and linguist who has worked with Aboriginal people since 1969. He speaks three Cape York languages and as an expert on Aboriginal land ownership has assisted with fifty land rights cases. He has authored or edited twelve books, including Native Title in Australia: an Ethnographic Perspective, regarded as the most authoritative work in its field. He is an Australian Research Council Professorial Fellow at the University of Adelaide and the South Australian Museum, and a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.

978-0-522-85636-1