Addressing the Problem of Indigenous Disadvantage in Remote Areas of Developed Nations: A Plea for More Comparative Research

Abstract

It has been well documented that Indigenous populations in developed 'post-colonial' nations (such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States) experience disadvantage in a number of areas when compared with their non-Indigenous counterparts. Despite (or perhaps because of) a range of policy initiatives and political approaches to addressing disadvantage, there continues to be poor understandings of what 'works' and under what conditions. There is a body of literature which compares conditions, political ideas and policy initiatives across the jurisdictions, but the bases for comparison are poorly described, there is insufficient linking of research into 'ideas' with research into initiatives and their outcomes, and there is insufficient engagement of Indigenous people in the research. This paper proposes a more rigorous approach to comparative research which is based on principals of partnership with and participation of Indigenous people. We conclude that well designed participatory comparative research can not only provide new insights to old problems, but can improve Indigenous people's access to global knowledge systems.