Peter Sutton
Encyclopedia
Peter Sutton FASSA
(born 1946) is an Australian social anthropologist
and linguist
who has, over a period of almost 40 years (since 1969), significantly contributed to: recording Australian Aboriginal languages; promoting Australian Aboriginal art; mapping Australian Aboriginal
cultural landscapes; and increasing societies' general understanding of contemporary Australian Aboriginal social structure
s and systems of land tenure
.
Most recently, Peter Sutton has shifted his anthropological focus away from Aboriginal Australian
subjects themselves, and more towards the nature and effect of the public policy
that has governed those Aboriginal Australian's over the 40 years he has been conducting anthropological research:
In 2004-2008 Sutton held an Australian Research Council
(ARC) Professorial Fellowship at the University of Adelaide
's School of Earth & Environmental Sciences and within the South Australian Museum
's Division of Anthropology. His project title was "Cape Keerweer 1606-2006: an ethnographic history of the Wik region, Queensland". He was also, recently, an Honorary Research Fellow at the Institute of Archaeology
, University College London
.
in 1946, Peter Sutton's earliest years were spent growing up in a Port Melbourne
working class
environment His paternal grandfather was a driver at the local fish markets (and prone to violent, alcoholic outbursts). His paternal grandmother worked in the Swallow and Ariel Biscuits Factory. His maternal grandfather was a pastry cook, and his father was a factory worker (and later a salesman).
His father attended, and was profoundly affected by a Lord Somers Camp
held to 'dissolve' class barriers between waterfront children and the sons and daughters of Melbourne's doctors and lawyers, and, early on he and his wife pushed to break out of the working class mould:
Fassa
Fassa is a minor Christian-democratic political party in the province of Trentino, Italy, which seeks to represent the Ladin minority in the Province and especially that living in Fascia Valley...
(born 1946) is an Australian social anthropologist
Social anthropology
Social Anthropology is one of the four or five branches of anthropology that studies how contemporary human beings behave in social groups. Practitioners of social anthropology investigate, often through long-term, intensive field studies , the social organization of a particular person: customs,...
and linguist
Descriptive linguistics
In the study of language, description, or descriptive linguistics, is the work of objectively analyzing and describing how language is spoken by a group of people in a speech community...
who has, over a period of almost 40 years (since 1969), significantly contributed to: recording Australian Aboriginal languages; promoting Australian Aboriginal art; mapping Australian Aboriginal
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
cultural landscapes; and increasing societies' general understanding of contemporary Australian Aboriginal social structure
Social structure
Social structure is a term used in the social sciences to refer to patterned social arrangements in society that are both emergent from and determinant of the actions of the individuals. The usage of the term "social structure" has changed over time and may reflect the various levels of analysis...
s and systems of land tenure
Native title
Native title is the Australian version of the common law doctrine of aboriginal title.Native title is "the recognition by Australian law that some Indigenous people have rights and interests to their land that come from their traditional laws and customs"...
.
Most recently, Peter Sutton has shifted his anthropological focus away from Aboriginal Australian
Australian Aborigines
Australian Aborigines , also called Aboriginal Australians, from the latin ab originem , are people who are indigenous to most of the Australian continentthat is, to mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania...
subjects themselves, and more towards the nature and effect of the public policy
Public policy
Public policy as government action is generally the principled guide to action taken by the administrative or executive branches of the state with regard to a class of issues in a manner consistent with law and institutional customs. In general, the foundation is the pertinent national and...
that has governed those Aboriginal Australian's over the 40 years he has been conducting anthropological research:
"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"
In 2004-2008 Sutton held an Australian Research Council
Australian Research Council
The Australian Research Council is the Australian Government’s main agency for allocating research funding to academics and researchers in Australian universities. Its mission is to advance Australia’s capacity to undertake research that brings economic, social and cultural benefit to the...
(ARC) Professorial Fellowship at the University of Adelaide
University of Adelaide
The University of Adelaide is a public university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third oldest university in Australia...
's School of Earth & Environmental Sciences and within the South Australian Museum
South Australian Museum
The South Australian Museum is a museum in Adelaide, South Australia, founded in 1856. It occupies a complex of buildings on North Terrace in the cultural precinct of the Adelaide Parklands.-History:...
's Division of Anthropology. His project title was "Cape Keerweer 1606-2006: an ethnographic history of the Wik region, Queensland". He was also, recently, an Honorary Research Fellow at the Institute of Archaeology
Institute of Archaeology
The UCL Institute of Archaeology is an academic department of the Social & Historical Sciences Faculty of University College London , England. It is one of the largest departments of archaeology in the world, with over 80 members of academic staff and 500 students...
, University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
.
Biographical material
Born in MelbourneMelbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
in 1946, Peter Sutton's earliest years were spent growing up in a Port Melbourne
Port Melbourne, Victoria
Port Melbourne is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km southwest of Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government areas are the cities of Port Phillip and Melbourne. At the 2006 Census, Port Melbourne had a population of 13,293....
working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
environment His paternal grandfather was a driver at the local fish markets (and prone to violent, alcoholic outbursts). His paternal grandmother worked in the Swallow and Ariel Biscuits Factory. His maternal grandfather was a pastry cook, and his father was a factory worker (and later a salesman).
His father attended, and was profoundly affected by a Lord Somers Camp
Lord Somers Camp
Lord Somers Camp, or "Big Camp" is an annual week-long leadership camp for boys held in Somers, Victoria, Australia.Originally founded in Anglesea, Victoria in 1929 by Lord Somers the camp has been running continuously since 1929, excluding 1943-1945 when the site was occupied by the RAAF.The camp...
held to 'dissolve' class barriers between waterfront children and the sons and daughters of Melbourne's doctors and lawyers, and, early on he and his wife pushed to break out of the working class mould:
"We were not dirt poor, but my mother pushed to get out of Port Melbourne, to get a small business, a block of land and build a house.
Politics of Suffering
After working as an anthropologist and linguist in Aboriginal Australia for more than 40 years, publishing or co-writing more than 15 books on Aboriginal languages, art, culture and land rights, Peter Sutton has written a book entitled The Politics of Suffering: Indigenous Australia and the end of the Liberal consensus (2009) in which he reflects upon on all he has seen and begins questioning Australian public policy across all those years, as follows:
"Sutton argues that self-management in the 1970s, the equal pay decisions and granting of land rights and access to "sit-down money", the homelands movement, bilingual education, and a plethora of other policies concerning health and community development employment projects have not lead to any discernible improvement in living conditions, or in today's political lexicon, a closing of the gap. What is more, he says the "Aboriginal industry" has until only recently stubbornly resisted acknowledging the brutal realities of daily life"
Filmography
- MacDOUGALL, David (1980), Familiar Places, Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies. 53' (filmed in 1977)
External links
- List of Peter Sutton's Publications Accessed 1 January 2008
- Australian Broadcasting Commission's 'Lateline' (25 June 2007) interview with Professor Peter Sutton re: Australian Aboriginal Futures. Accessed 1 January 2008.
- Peter Sutton (2007) "The worst of good intentions?" on ABC's 'Unleashed' 11 December 2007 Accessed 4 October 2009
- Age article about Peter Sutton Accessed 13 July 2009.
- "The Politics of Suffering: Peter Sutton with Marcia Langton" Video on Crickey Accessed 13 August 2009
- Transcript of ABC's Questions and Answers program, 24 September 2009, on which Peter Sutton is a panelist expressing views on race issues, Aboriginal health issues and other associated public policy issues Accessed 4 October 2009
- Anderson, Ian (2009) "Driven into action: Ian Anderson reviews Peter Sutton’s unsettling account of Indigenous policy, The Politics of Suffering" Inside Story webpage Accessed 27 November 2009.