Aileen Moreton-Robinson is an

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

academic, Indigenous feminist, author and activist for Indigenous rights. She is a Goenpul woman of the

Quandamooka people The Quandamooka people are Aboriginal Australians who live around Moreton Bay in Southeastern Queensland. They are composed of three distinct tribes, the Nunukul, the Goenpul and the Ngugi, and they live primarily on Moreton and North Stra ...

from Minjerribah (North

Stradbroke Island Stradbroke Island, also known as Minjerribah, was a large sand island that formed much of the eastern side of Moreton Bay near Brisbane, Queensland until the late 19th century. Today the island is split into two islands: North Stradbroke Is ...

) in Queensland. She completed a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

Griffith University Griffith University is a public university, public research university in South East Queensland on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of Australia. The university was founded in 1971, but was not officially opened until 1975. Griffith ...

in 1998, her

thesis A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...

titled ''Talkin' up to the white woman: Indigenous women and feminism in Australia''. The

was published as a book in 1999 and short-listed for the

New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards The New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, also known as the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, were first awarded in 1979. They are among the richest literary awards in Australia. Notable prizes include the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, th ...

and the Stanner Award. A 20th Anniversary Edition was released in 2020 by

University of Queensland Press University of Queensland Press (UQP) is an Australian publishing house based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in 1948 as a traditional university press, UQP now publishes books for general readers across fiction, non-fiction, poetry, children's ...

. Her 2015

monograph A monograph is generally a long-form work on one (usually scholarly) subject, or one aspect of a subject, typically created by a single author or artist (or, sometimes, by two or more authors). Traditionally it is in written form and published a ...

''The White Possessive: Property, Power, and Indigenous Sovereignty'' was awarded the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association's (NAISA) prize in 2016. Moreton-Robinson was the first Aboriginal person to be appointed to a mainstream lecturing position in

women's studies Women's studies is an academic field that draws on Feminism, feminist and interdisciplinary methods to place women's lives and experiences at the center of study, while examining Social constructionism, social and cultural constructs of gender; ...

in Australia, was Australia's first Indigenous Distinguished Professor, and the first Indigenous scholar from outside the US to be elected as an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She has held positions in women's studies at

Flinders University Flinders University, established as The Flinders University of South Australia is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia, with a footprint extending across a number of locations in South Australia and ...

, Indigenous studies at

Queensland University of Technology The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public university, public research university located in the city of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. It has two major campuses, a modern city campus in Gardens Point, Brisbane, Gardens Point ...

, and

RMIT The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (abbreviated as RMIT University) is a public research university located in the city of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia., section 4(b) Established in 1887 by Francis Ormond, it is the seventh-o ...

. She was formerly the Director of the National Indigenous Research and Knowledges Network and President of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Higher Education Consortium (NATSIHEC). She is currently Professor Indigenous Research at the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous Futures, Australia's first Indigenous led Centre of Excellence.

Early life

Moreton-Robinson is of the Goenpul (Koenpul) people, who are part of the Quandamooka nation on Stradbroke Island in Queensland, Australia. Moreton-Robinson showed promise as a student in high school, where she received an offer of a scholarship to a Catholic boarding school, which she declined. Her experience of

racism and discrimination Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race or ethnicity over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination ...

in high school led to her failing to graduate and becoming politically involved in movements for Aboriginal land rights and human rights for Aboriginal people. Moreton-Robinson was later accepted to the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

as a mature student, and at the time she was the only Aboriginal student at the university. She completed a 1st class honours degree in sociology from the Australian National University and her doctorate from Griffith University. Aileen's doctoral thesis was titled ''Talkin' up to the white woman : Indigenous women and feminism in Australia''. Her thesis was subsequently published as a book in 1999 which was short-listed for the

and the Stanner Award for Indigenous writing.

Career

Moreton-Robinson taught Indigenous studies at Griffith University in Brisbane and Women's Studies at Flinders University in Adelaide. She was an Australian Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow at the Australian Studies Centre, University of Queensland. She worked at Queensland University of Technology from 2006 until 2019, becoming Professor of Indigenous Studies and Dean of Indigenous Research and Engagement. On 17 June 2016 she was the first Aboriginal Professor to be conferred the title of Distinguished Professor there. She has served as Professor of Indigenous Research at RMIT in Melbourne, and an Indigenous Elder Scholar in Residence. Moreton-Robinson is the Director of the ''National Indigenous Research Knowledges Network'', a former Council Member of the ''Native American Indigenous Studies Association'', Executive member of National, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Higher Education, President of Australian Critical whiteness studies Association, Member of

Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), established as the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies (AIAS) in 1964, is an independent Australian Government statutory authority. It is a collecting, ...

, and has held positions on a number of boards, advisory committees and associations. Moreton-Robinson established and is an editor for the ''International eJournal of Critical Indigenous Studies''. She has been invited to and presented at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

University of California Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the Cal ...

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public university, public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by French theologian John Calvin as a Theology, theological seminary. It rema ...

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

, Dartmouth,

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...

University of Hawaii A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

and the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

. Distinguished Professor Moreton-Robinson developed a masterclass for Indigenous postgraduate students. The program is designed to build research skills and to improve the completion rates of Indigenous researchers. The Indigenous Research Methodologies Masterclass is the only Indigenous-designed and evidence-based model contributing to closing the education gap in Australia.

Contributions to theory

Moreton-Robinson's research and writing has focused on the experience of

Aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia (co ...

since colonial settlement and issues of race and

Whiteness studies Whiteness studies is the study of the structures that produce white privilege, the examination of what whiteness is when analyzed as a race, a culture, and a source of systemic racism, and the exploration of other social phenomena generated by ...

post-colonialism Postcolonialism (also post-colonial theory) is the critical academic study of the cultural, political and economic consequences of colonialism and imperialism, focusing on the impact of human control and exploitation of colonized people and thei ...

, women's studies and

indigenous feminism Indigenous feminism is an intersectional theory and practice of feminism that focuses on decolonization, Indigenous sovereignty, and human rights for Indigenous women and their families. The focus is to empower Indigenous women in the context ...

, indigenous studies, native title law and Aboriginal land rights. Moreton-Robinson, through her series of journal articles which were compiled to create the book ''The White Possessive'', is considered to have made a significant contribution to the field of

Indigenous Studies There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

. Maori academic, Hemopereki Simon, refers to this collection of articles and the theory derived from them as "The White Possessive Doctrine" in his application of Moreton-Robinson's theory to Aotearoa/New Zealand.

Recognition and awards

* 2024 Fellow,

Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (ASSA) is an independent, non-governmental organisation devoted to the advancement of knowledge and research in the social sciences. It has its origins in the Social Science Research Council of Aus ...

* 2020 Fellow,

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

. The first Indigenous scholar from outside of the US to be chosen. * 2010 Australian Learning and Teaching Council Award for Excellence in Indigenous Education for the development of The Indigenous Research Methodologies Masterclass

Works

Books

* Aileen Moreton-Robinson (ed.). 2016.
Critical Indigenous Studies: Engagements in First World Locations
'. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. . * Aileen Moreton-Robinson. 2015.
The White Possessive: Property, Power, and Indigenous Sovereignty
'. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. . * Aileen Moreton-Robinson, Maryrose Casey, Fiona Nicoll (eds.).2008.
Transnational Whiteness Matters
'. Lexington Books. . * Aileen Moreton-Robinson (ed.). 2007.
Sovereign Subjects: Indigenous Sovereignty Matters
'. Allen & Unwin. . * Aileen Moreton-Robinson (ed.). 2004.
Whitening Race: Essays In Social And Cultural Criticism
'.

Aboriginal Studies Press The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), established as the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies (AIAS) in 1964, is an independent Australian Government statutory authority. It is a collecting ...

, . * Moreton-Robinson, A., 1999.
Talkin' up to the White Woman: Aboriginal Women and Feminism
'. St Lucia: University of Queensland Press.

Other

* 2004. Aileen Moreton-Robinson, "Whiteness, epistemology, and indigenous representation", in
Whitening Race: Essays In Social And Cultural Criticism
', ed. Aileen Moreton-Robinson,

, . * Moreton-Robinson, A., 2004.
Treaty Talk: Past, Present and Future
'. Ngunnawal Centre, University of Canberra, pp. 18 * Moreton-Robinson, A. 2003. I Still Call Australia Home: Indigenous Belonging and Place in a White Postcolonizing Society in Ahmed, S., Castaneda, C., Fortier, A and Sheller, M., (Eds)
Uprootings/Regroundings: Questions of Home and Migration
'. Berg: Oxford. pp. 23–40 (QUT). . * Moreton-Robinson, A., 2003a, 'Resistance, Recovery and Revitalisation', in M Grossman (ed.), Blacklines: Contemporary Critical Writing by Indigenous Australians, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne * Moreton-Robinson, A., 2000. "Troubling Business: Difference and Whiteness within Feminism". '' Australian Feminist Studies'' * Moreton-Robinson, A., 2001. "A Possessive Investment in Patriarchal Whiteness: nullifying native title?", in P Nursey-Bray and CL Bacchi (eds), ''Left Directions: Is There a Third Way?'', UWA Press, Crawley * Moreton-Robinson, A., 1999. "Unmasking Whiteness: A Goori Jondal's look at Some Duggai Business", '' Queensland Review'' * Moreton-Robinson, A., 1999, 'Wrestling Whiteness, on the Journey to Truth, Justice and Reconciliation', Graduate * Moreton-Robinson, A., 1998. Witnessing Whiteness in the Wake of Wik. Social AlternativesWomen * Moreton-Robinson, A., 1998, 'When the Object Speaks, A Postcolonial Encounter: anthropological representations and Aboriginal women's self-presentations, ''Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education'', vol. 19, no. 3, pp. 275–289, doi=10.1080/0159630980190302.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Moreton-Robinson, Aileen Indigenous Australian writers Indigenous Australian feminists Australian feminists Academic staff of Flinders University Indigenous Australian academics Australian women academics Australian feminist writers Australian women sociologists Australian Indigenous rights activists Australian women human rights activists Living people People from Redland City Indigenous Australian women academics Academic staff of Griffith University Academic staff of Queensland University of Technology Academic staff of RMIT University 1956 births Griffith University alumni Australian National University alumni Fellows of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia