@inbook{c5b252eae1cf4d9b8ec2cc19139ad214,
title = "A Fragile Civilisation: Collective Living on Australian Soil",
abstract = "At the same time as a headline in The Guardian announced: {\textquoteleft}Indigenous Australians most ancient civilisation on Earth, DNA study confirms{\textquoteright},[1] we could also read that $3 billion had been left by healthcare tycoon Paul Ramsay to set up, under the direction of right-wing former prime ministers John Howard and Tony Abbott, a plan to install courses on {\textquoteleft}Western civilisation{\textquoteright} in major Australian universities.[2] This contrast is confusing, but telling. Civilisation has nothing to do with science as such (DNA is indifferent to it), nor is it something a passing political initiative can uphold. But with a long view of Australian history, the concept of civilisation is caught precisely in this politically charged dichotomy: between an Indigenous civilisation and a recently arrived {\textquoteleft}Western{\textquoteright} one. It seems that the upholders of the latter would like the former to remain dubious and {\textquoteleft}ancient{\textquoteright}, of little relevance to the future of the country. This essay is a personal reflection on the possibilities for a more reasonable hybrid definition of {\textquoteleft}civilisation{\textquoteright} based on Australian soil.",
keywords = "civilisation, etymology, Aboriginal Australia, collective living, hybrid definition",
author = "Stephen Muecke",
year = "2018",
language = "English",
isbn = "9781925773408",
volume = "63",
series = "Griffith Review",
pages = "53--60",
booktitle = "Writing the country",
}