2. Recognition

In Australia, the idea that Indigenous peoples should be formally recognised in the Constitution has been long argued. However, agreement on whether this recognition ought to be a symbolic acknowledgement of prior occupancy, or the acceptance of a distinctive, politically meaningful and enduring Indigenous presence in public life is contested. The recognition theory that this chapter may contribute to the second possibility. Recognition involves state and Indigenous parties formally acknowledging the other’s political standing. It is preliminary to respectful engagement. On the one hand, it admits that independent Indigenous nationhood is legitimate and not extinguished by the fact of British colonisation. On the other, it accepts that everybody has the right to participate in the public life of the state, with the same capacities to influence the values and processes through which it operates. However, for some Indigenous scholars these aspirations are unrealistic and recognition is not, therefore, consistent with the Indigenous right to self-determination. This chapter considers these arguments but, ultimately, concludes that while recognition cannot guarantee justice, it does require states to think differently about sovereignty and citizenship. It is thus a useful and potentially transformative site of political inquiry.