Trapped in the Gap: Doing Good in Indigenous Australia

by Emma Kowal

In Australia, a ‘tribe’ of white, middle-class, progressive professionals is actively working to improve the lives of Indigenous people. This book explores what happens when well-meaning people, supported by the state, attempt to help without harming. ‘White anti-racists’ find themselves trapped by endless ambiguities, contradictions, and double binds ― a microcosm of the broader dilemmas of postcolonial societies. These dilemmas are fueled by tension between the twin desires of equality and to make Indigenous people statistically the same as non-Indigenous people (to 'close the gap') while simultaneously maintaining their ‘cultural’ distinctiveness. This tension lies at the heart of failed development efforts in Indigenous communities, ethnic minority populations and the global South. This book explains why doing good is so hard, and how it could be done differently. 

Genres: Nonfiction

214 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2015

About the author

Emma Kowal is Professor of Anthropology at Deakin University, Melbourne.

Reviews

[Madeline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read Trapped In the Gap for my Master’s coursework. I do feel like I learned quite a bit about systemic discrimination issues and relations of white, metropolitan Australia with its indigenous population.

However, I wish that this had been more centered in Kowal’s fieldwork itself (it was very present but the focus was, as intended, on the non-indigenous anti-racists in development work). Therefore, I’ll likely end up down a rabbit hole to read about the indigenous experience in Australia (and looking forward to it!). I appreciated the variety of settings which Kowal dissected—group settings, both openly very public and others less so. It was enlightening to say the least.

All that being said, I think it’s important to note that my own academic interests lie elsewhere (hence my rating). If anyone is looking into studying non-indigenous anti-racists in an indigenous development setting, I think this could be quite useful for them.