Arguments about Aborigines: Australia and the Evolution of Social Anthropology

by L.R. Hiatt

In the nineteenth century, Australian Aborigines were used by European scholars as an exemplar of early human forms, and have consequently featured as the crucial case study for generations of social theorists and anthropologists. Arguments about Aborigines examines controversial subjects such as family life, religion and ritual, and land rights through the prism of Aboriginal studies. Professor Hiatt's book will provide a valuable introduction to Aboriginal ethnography, and is a shrewd and stimulating history of the central questions in Aboriginal studies.

Genres: Anthropology

240 pages, Paperback

First published June 27, 1996

Reviews

[Giovanni · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book finally made me understand what the dialectical method is. The history of anthropology sections are almost as interesting as the aboriginal societies the anthropologists were attempting to understand.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book should be read by anyone who has an interest in anthropology, in intellectual history, or in Australia - or any of the other settler colonies. Not the final word, but an excellent starting point.