Racism and Resentment in Indigenous-Settler Relations: Lessons from the Voice

This book looks at deep-seated elements of racism in Indigenous-settler relations through detailed analyses of the October 2023 Voice to Parliament referendum in Australia and its outcome---and discusses what might come next. The Voice to Parliament referendum proposed a constitutional amendment to create an Indigenous advisory body in the Australian Parliament. The referendum met with a resounding defeat. Against this background, the book analyses survey results during the referendum that asked direct questions about attitudes towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, as well as about policies and issues important to many Indigenous peoples. It situates Australia’s experience in this election with other research on attitudes towards Indigenous peoples, rights, and policy issues. The book also interrogates another major survey in the lead-up to the referendum, questioning those findings in relation to racism. It looks at possible learnings for the social sciences about Indigenous politics and examines the ways in which Australian settler nationalism created obstacles to the referendum’s success and considers the limits of deliberation for Indigenous political claims.

Carew Boulding is Professor of Political Science at the University of Colorado Boulder, where she has taught and done research since 2007. Her work focuses on understanding protest, voting, attitudes about democracy, Bolivian politics, and Indigenous politics, including attitudes about Native Americans in the United States and Australia, and Indigenous political participation and behavior in Latin America.

Raymond Foxworth (Navajo Nation) holds a PhD in political science from the University of Colorado at Boulder and has an extensive research background focused on Indigenous politics, democracy and social development in the U.S. and Latin America. He is currently research affiliate at the Institute of Behavioral Science at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Sarah Maddison is Professor of Politics at the School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Melbourne. She has published widely in the fields of reconciliation and intercultural relations, settler colonialism, Indigenous politics, and democracy. Recent books include the Handbook of Indigenous Public Policy (2024, with Sheryl Lightfoot), Public Policy and Indigenous Futures (2023, with Nikki Moodie), and Questioning Indigenous Settler Relations (2020, with Sana Nakata).