Crossroads in Cultural Studies Conference 14-17th December 2016 Program Index

this moment? Given that “gentrification” is often seen as the motor of urban change are there ways
of harnessing its productivity (which is often first witnessed as a rise in artistic activity) in ways that
are socially inclusive and don”t result in exorbitant rent hikes and exclusionary house prices? Are
there energies to be recovered from the rejection of automobiles from mass housing schemes? And
how, today, can we build on the energies of a “collectivity from below”?
Steve Kinnane (University of Notre Dame, Australia), Steve Kinnane has been an active researcher and
writer for more than 25 years in addition to lecturing and working on community cultural heritage and
development projects. Steve is a Marda Marda from Miriwoong country in the East Kimberley. He
Lectured at Murdoch University in Australian Indigenous Studies and Sustainability; completed a Visiting
Research Fellowship at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS),
Canberra, and was Senior Researcher for the Nulungu Research Institute of the University of Notre Dame
Australia, Broome.
Abstract:
“Reconnecting with Country in the Age of the Anthropocene”
Geologists describe the Anthropocene as an emerging geological epoch in which human agency is
inscribing the sediment layers of our planet with human-created geological evidence for eons to
come. From an Indigenous perspective, the Anthropocene is evidence of cultural dislocation of
people from country. In Kimberley lingo, it’s Kartiya – white man’s – way. Kimberley Aboriginal
peoples have only recently emerged from almost a century of overt domination of colonialism, but
not its intergenerational impacts on people and country. Our people did not count. Our country did
not count. To count in the age of the Anthropocene, Kimberley elders and emerging cultural bosses
have been drawing on foundations inherent rights, cultural governance and Indigenous Knowledge
to develop successful ranger programs, protect cultural heritage, conserve biodiversity and attempt
to develop sustainable enterprises. But, does this approach count under state and federal
development policies? Do Indigenous interests and conservationist interests intersect? Can future
generations realistically support their development needs while upholding rights and
responsibilities to country? Drawing on Kimberley Aboriginal experiences the paper seeks to reveal
the transformative possibilities of grappling with the Anthropocene, current tensions of resource
exploitation and our future development needs, and the value of restoring old, or developing new
connections with country.
María Lugones (Escuela Popular Norteña; Binghamton University), María Lugones is a philosopher and
popular educator. She works at the Escuela Popular Norteña in New Mexico, a popular education center
that she cofounded in 1990 and at Binghamton University, where she teaches at the Comparative
Literature Department and directs the Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Philosophy, Interpretation,
and Culture. She is the author of Pilgrimages/Peregrinajes: Theorizing Coalition Again Multiple Oppressions
(2003). She is currently working on Decolonial Feminisms, an elaboration of her article “Heterosexualism
and the Modern, Colonial Gender System” (Hypatia 2003).
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