What happens when different knowledges speak to each other?

Northern Australia is one area where different knowledge systems interact on a daily basis: the mainstream individualistic, materialistic, Cartesian and reductionist system interacting with Aboriginal Australian holistic system of collectivism and reciprocity.

Berkes (1998) states that Indigenous knowledge is complementary to Western scientific knowledge, essentially arguing that the two knowledge systems can never be combined (p179). However, Altman (2003a, 2003b, 2004, 2006) has written extensively on blending the two perspectives on economic development into what he describes as a ‘hybrid economy’ where the customary (or Aboriginal), market (or private) and state (or public) sectors all interact.

Altman (2003a) notes that according to orthodox economic theory, the socio-economic status of residents of remote Indigenous communities is the lowest of all Australians because of an absence of significant market or private sector economies and therefore Indigenous residents of such communities should migrate elsewhere to engage with the market economy. Altman’s (2004) argument is that, in the remote northern Australian communities he is analysing, the economies have been in apparent continual crisis, according to official statistics, because the customary economy has been overlooked while the Western market has been relatively absent.

By acknowledging the interactions between all three economies, Altman (2004) is confident that economic development opportunity can be delivered that matches Indigenous aspirations and structural reality in remote Indigenous Australia.

"Participation in the customary sector is not just materially productive; it also speaks to the...ideology of looking after and having a reciprocal relationship with a sentient landscape" (Altman 2003b, p73).

Altman (2006) states that he "discovered" the hybrid economy during research he undertook at a remote Arnhem Land outstation. There, the non-market or subsistence sector based on harvesting of wildlife was the dominant component of the economy. Rather than being a so-called "traditional" or pre-contact economy, Altman (2006) states that the economy is contemporary and distinctly Indigenous: it has market and state sectors and is based on a "series of conjunctions or articulations between all sectors" (p1).

"This proposed approach is about growing activity in all sectors of the economy, the market, the non-market and the state. It is about enhancing livelihood options for Indigenous people, wherever they choose to live, in ways that are socially and culturally compatible with local aspirations. If such a model is pursued, something that has never been tried if even considered, we might just see other unanticipated benefits emerge for Indigenous people, for regions and for the nation" (Altman 2006, p6).

Altman has a selection of case studies in his 2004 paper. Follow the links below to view them:

Altman Case Study 1

Altman Case Study 2

Altman Case Study 3

Altman (2004) is not just proposing economic benefits of recognising and promoting hybrid economies. "In my view," he argues, "the group ownership (common property) and inalienable nature of Indigenous land and native title rights (and customary use rights) provides incentive to ensure that economic activity is ecologically sustainable and that environmental degradation is minimised so that the land and its natural resource base are available intergenerationally" (Altman 2004, p522).

The Desert Knowledge CRC has a wide range of case studies on projects that successfully combine Western scientific and Indigenous knowledges for ecological sustainabiliy and economic gain.

Introduction

What is at stake?

What is the status quo?

What are the alternatives?

What happens when different knowledges speak to each other?

References