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Author Purtill, Tadhgh, author

Title Dystopia in the desert : the silent culture of Australia's remotest Aboriginal communities / Tadhgh Purtill
Published [Place of publication not identified] : AUSTRALIAN SCHOLARLY PUBL, 2016
North Melbourne, Victoria : Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2017
©2017

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Location Call no. Vol. Availability
 MELB  305.89915 Pur/Dit  AVAILABLE
Description xv, 267 pages : illustrations, map, charts ; 23 cm
Contents Part I: Complexity and dysfunction -- Part II: Community governance, management and staff -- Part III: The operational culture and environment -- Part IV: The dystopia in the desert
Summary "The Ngaanyatjarra Lands, deep in Western Australia, are home to the country's most remote Aboriginal communities. Beset by social problems, the communities and their residents are detached from mainstream Australia by factors of distance and culture. But the Ngaanyatjarra region remains obscure for other reasons. Its peculiar operational culture, which arises from the curious relationship between community members and whitefella staff, has become almost impossible for mainstream Australians - including bureaucrats and academics - to understand. This study, written by a former community manager, is the first of its kind. It lays bare the strange ways of the Ngaanyatjarra region. It takes in psychological, economic, political and anthropological aspects of the community system, and reveals a self-sustaining and possibly unreformable situation. The region, the author claims, has surpassed the merely 'dysfunctional': it has become a disturbing independent society, characterised by a negative coherency and a dystopian functionality. This is an in-depth look at the odd and alternative world of Australia's Western Desert." -- Back cover
Analysis Australian
Notes Includes bibliographical references and index
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 253-261) and index
Subject Aboriginal Australians -- Politics and government.
Aboriginal Australians -- Australia -- Warburton (W.A.) -- Social conditions.
Aboriginal Australians -- Australia -- Warburton (W.A.) -- Social life and customs.
Aboriginal Australians -- Australia -- Western Australia.
Aboriginal Australians -- Australia -- Central Australia -- 21st century.
Aboriginal Australians -- Australia -- Western Australia -- Politics and government.
Aboriginal Australians -- Australia -- Western Australia -- Ngaanyatjarra Lands -- Social conditions
Aboriginal Australians -- Australia -- Western Australia -- Warburton -- Social conditions
Aboriginal Australians -- Australia -- Western Australia -- Warburton -- Social life and customs
Aboriginal Australians -- Australia -- Western Australia -- Ngaanyatjarra Lands -- Social life and customs
Communities -- Australia -- Central Australia -- 21st century.
Community life -- Australia -- Central Australia -- 21st century.
Communities -- Australia -- Western Australia.
Deserts -- Australia -- Western Australia.
Communities -- Australia -- Western Australia -- Ngaanyatjarra Lands
Deserts -- Australia -- Western Australia.
Community life -- Australia -- Western Australia.
Ngaanyatjarra (Australian people)
Ngaanyatjarra (Australian people) -- Economic conditions -- 21st century.
Ngaanyatjarra (Australian people) -- Services for -- 21st century.
Community life -- Australia -- Western Australia -- Ngaanyatjarra Lands -- 21st century
Community organization -- Australia -- Western Australia -- Ngaanyatjarra Lands
Ngaanyatjarra (Australian people) -- Social conditions -- 21st century.
Ngaanyatjarra (Australian people) -- Services for.
Ngaanyatjarra (Australian people) -- Social life and customs -- 21st century.
Public administration -- Australia -- Western Australia -- Ngaanyatjarra Lands
Social problems -- Australia -- Western Australia -- Ngaanyatjarra Lands
SUBJECT Warburton (W.A.) http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no2011091969
Western Desert (W.A.) http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh97002949
ISBN 1925333868
9781925333862
Other Titles Silent culture of Australia's remotest Aboriginal communities