Waging Paperfare: Subverting the Damage of Extractive Capitalism in Kakadu

Indigenous-led administrative strategies, such as those employed by the Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation (GAC) in Kakadu National Park, can subvert extractive capitalism's impacts while navigating settler colonial institutions. The study highlights GAC's dual role—holding mining operations accountable while engaging with bureaucratic processes—to manage uranium mining at Ranger and prevent further expansion at Jabiluka. It challenges the binary view of Indigenous resistance versus co-optation, demonstrating instead a complex, adaptive approach to power dynamics. This organizational work exposes the persistence of administrative violence under colonization, complicating narratives of Indigenous alternatives.

Lea, T., Howey, K., & O’Brien, J. (2018). Waging Paperfare: Subverting the Damage of Extractive Capitalism in Kakadu. Oceania, 88(3), 305–319. Portico. https://doi.org/10.1002/ocea.5203