Abstract
ABSTRACT Political theorists argue that justice for cultural groups must account for socioeconomic distribution, political representation and cultural recognition. Combining this tripartite justice framework with settler colonial theory, we analyse novel data sets relating to Aboriginal peoples’ water experiences in south-eastern Australia. We construe persistent injustices as ‘water colonialism’, showing that the development of Australia’s water resources has so far delivered little economic benefit to Aboriginal peoples, who remain marginalized from decision-making. We argue that justice theories need to encompass a fourth dimension – the vitally important socio-ecological realm – if they are to serve as conceptual resources for advancing Indigenous peoples’ rights and needs.
Highlights
Indigenous peoples worldwide demand self-determination in their political, economic and socio-cultural affairs.1 While no universal definition exists, the principle of selfdetermination emphasizes the rights of Indigenous peoples to make their own political, socioeconomic and cultural decisions
After contextualizing our south-eastern Australian case study and discussing the methodology, we reveal the multiple dimensions of water injustice experienced by Aboriginal peoples and Country in the New South Wales (NSW) portion of the Murray–Darling Basin (MDB), and as reflected in interview data and statistics on its land and water tenure and economic structure
Barkandji Person B and several others we interviewed regarded financial compensation as a necessary form of reparation for the damage done to the river and to Aboriginal peoples: Well, I think for every Aboriginal person that lives on our waterways where they’ve been destroyed, government owes us each so many gigalitres of water
Summary
Indigenous peoples worldwide demand self-determination in their political, economic and socio-cultural affairs. While no universal definition exists, the principle of selfdetermination emphasizes the rights of Indigenous peoples to make their own political, socioeconomic and cultural decisions. In struggles for self-determination, Indigenous peoples seek to maintain or re-establish the capacity to govern their customary territories, including inherent rights to use and protect their lands and waters (Coombes et al, 2012; Robison et al, 2018). These struggles are complex in settler-colonial contexts where settler-states and their institutions have appropriated natural resources and caused significant widespread environmental degradation (e.g., Austin-Broos, 2013; Berry & Jackson, 2018; Poelina et al, 2019). These mechan isms are generally formulated with little or no Indigenous input and at best usually offer
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