Economics and the Dreamtime A Hypothetical History [Paperback]

Examines the processes which allowed economic control of Australia to pass from Aboriginal to European hands within 60 years of settlement.This imaginative study depicts the millennia old pre-European Aboriginal economy and then analyzes the processes which allowed economic control of a country to pass, after more than 60,000 years, into European hands within 60 years of settlement.This imaginative study depicts the millennia old pre-European Aboriginal economy and then analyzes the processes which allowed economic control of a country to pass, after more than 60,000 years, into European hands within 60 years of settlement.The economic significance of Aboriginal culture for the British colonizers of Australia is rarely addressed and, until now, has not been closely studied by an economic historian. This imaginative book presents a concept of a pre-European Aboriginal economy. It shows how an Aboriginal presence over millennia shaped the local environment and responded to it, so that the Aboriginal economy developed into an ordered system of decision-making able to satisfy the wants of the people. The book analyzes the processes which allowed economic control of a country to pass, after more than 60,000 years in Aboriginal hands, into European hands within 60 years of settlement. Professor Butlin's presentation of the contrast between one of the world's most ancient economies and one of its youngest is both illuminating and exciting.Introduction; Part I. The Palaeconomic History of Aboriginal Migration: 1. Introduction; 2. Conventional views and alternative approaches; 3. Non-Malthusian issues: pathways and innovations; 4. Malthusian potential in Aboriginal migration; 5. Some possible migration scenarios; 6. Conclusion; Part II. Development, Structure and Function of Aboriginal Economy: 1. Introduction; 2. The process of early settlement; 3. Variety in pre-contact Aboriginal economy; 4. The nature and function of Aboriginal economy; 5. Dynamic elements in Aboriginal ls‹