Author(s): Bronwyn Carlson

Indigenous

Award-winning Bronwyn Carlson explores the complexities surrounding Aboriginal identity today. This work is focused in a suburban area of New South Wales, Australia, but many of the findings are relevant to communities around the country. Hers is a valuable overview (and historical context) to the policy and radical thinking that should inform current discussions on the topic. Carlson draws from a range of historical and research literature, interviews and surveys and her analysis of social network sites provide a contemporary overview of what it means to identify as an Aboriginal person, offering a distinctive and fresh line of analysis. The book presents exciting new research and interpretations of what are complex debates around Aboriginality and identity. It tackles both internal/community and external confusions around appropriate measures of identity and the pressures and effects of identification. Carlsons first book is a brave and personal contribution to the often vexed subject of Aboriginal identity. In doing so she provides new foundations for re-engaging the intellectual scholarship on the politics of Aboriginal identity.