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"Disrobing the Aboriginal Industry does an excellent job of pointing out logical inconsistencies in the Aboriginal political movement - a matter of great practical as well as academic importance." Tom Flanagan, author of First Nations? Second Thoughts "Insightful, carefully argued and meticulously documented." John Richards, Simon Fraser University
Product Description
Despite the billions of dollars devoted to aboriginal causes, Native people in Canada continue to suffer all the symptoms of a marginalized existence - high rates of substance abuse, violence, poverty. "Disrobing the Aboriginal Industry" argues that the policies proposed to address these problems - land claims and self government - are in fact contributing to their entrenchment. By examining the root causes of aboriginal problems, Frances Widdowson and Albert Howard expose the industry that has grown up around land claim settlements, showing that aboriginal policy development over the past thirty years has been manipulated by non-aboriginal lawyers and consultants.They analyse all the major aboriginal policies, examine issues that have received little critical attention - child care, health care, education, traditional knowledge - and propose the comprehensive government provision of health, education, and housing rather than deficient delivery through Native self-government. "Disrobing the Aboriginal Industry" presents a convincing argument that the 'Aboriginal Industry' has failed to address the fundamental economic and cultural basis of native problems, leading instead to policies that offer a financial benefit to the leadership while entrenching the misery of most aboriginal people.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Aboriginology,
By Volpone (Toronto, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Disrobing the Aboriginal Industry: The Deception Behind Indigenous Cultural Preservation (Paperback)
Excellent book and analysis. The statement at the beginning about the marxist lens is proforma; the authors are disrobing a myth created by many in the "industry" and supported, unfortunately, by a new form of anthropology that chooses political correctness over scientific study; that is, a spade should be called a spade. The last page contains a weak and disconnected avowal of marxist viewpoint.A perusal of the Table of Contents is enough to give you an good idea of what the authors intend to prove. Their premises is well established and, ironically, reinforced by the negative reviews, especially the reactionary charges of racism and colonialism, the usual from politically correct supporters of the myth and the "industry". Three topics cannot be discussed openly in Canada without reactionary opposition: Aboriginals, Muslims and Health Care. Only in Canada, pity.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Sometimes right, but always the wrong argument.,
By
This review is from: Disrobing the Aboriginal Industry: The Deception Behind Indigenous Cultural Preservation (Paperback)
When the authors said they were going to abandon old politically charged understandings of aboriginal policy in Canada for an honest look at the facts, I was excited. When the authors announced in the introduction that they were going to be using the lens of a marxist theory of development, my heart sank. In short, the authors do a good job of knocking down a few sacred cows of contemporary aboriginal policy in Canada. "Traditional knowledge" and "oral histories" are given far too much credit in policy making and the courts. Policies that identify self government as a panacea without taking a good look at the often corrupt inner workings of aboriginal communities, are doomed to failure. Some misstatements and exaggerations included, this book provides a good overview of everything that has gone wrong. The problem comes when the authors try to explain why things are in a dismal state. They have essentially knocked down one false intellectual idol, only to put another in its place. The theory of "development" the authors espouse has been relegated to the dustbin of academia for decades. The very title of the book is a slap in the face to critical thinkers everywhere as the existence of an "aboriginal industry" is assumed with no evidence being presented. No where to be found is a moderate discussion over the place of traditional knowledge and oral histories. While not up to the standards of the scientific method and written history, they are not devoid of value. I don't think I am alone in having exited my formal education with a feeling that too many academics waste much of their (supposed) talents and intellect on tearing down. "The Aboriginal Industry", has done nothing to improve the situation.
13 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Weak, Unhelpful, and Unfortunate Anaylsis of a Real Problem,
By W North (Iqaluit, Nunavut) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Disrobing the Aboriginal Industry: The Deception Behind Indigenous Cultural Preservation (Paperback)
The tragedy with this poorly written AM radio rant of a book is that it fails to bring either the level of analysis or the quality of research and insight that would shed light on what is a legitimate problem - namely that consultants (like the authors), governments, and certain aboriginal elites are recreating the conditions that require their services to the detriment of the poor.
The author's argument that aboriginals need to get white to get rich has no grounding in any successful theory of development and is a throwback to the worst aspects of 19th century thinking. The author's unadulterated denigration of traditional knowledge is unfortunate given the history of arrogance and destruction on the part of outsiders who show up with their ears closed and their mouths open. The authors would have us believe that traditional knowledge is the result of so many vision quests while scientific knowledge is an arrow to the heart of truth. More often the scientific method spits back our own ignorance of the North, and leaves us to go and talk to the people who have been living here for hundreds of years. At the end of the day, and after all of the philosophical debates, the scientific method is a biologist flying in a plane looking out the window, and traditional knowledge is a hunter following habitat trails and visiting traditional hunting grounds frequented by his forebears. Both perspectives are valid and important and everyone other than the authors of this book know it. This book is yet another unfortunate symptom of the North's problems not a cure.
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