The Ann Curthoys Prize rewards the best unpublished anonymised article submission by an early career researcher in any field related to the work of Ann Curthoys (feminist, Indigenous, colonial, Australian or theoretical history). The 2021 Prize was announced at the AHA AGM on the 1st of July. Thank you to all entrants and congratulations to the winner.
Awardee: Amy Way (Macquarie University), “Displacing history, shifting paradigms: erasing Aboriginal antiquity from Australian anthropology”
Citation: This outstanding submission traces the elimination of the concept of Aboriginal antiquity from the Australian discipline of anthropology. While Aboriginal ‘timelessness’ is often recognised as a key feature of early-twentieth-century Australian scholarship, Amy Way’s compelling article provides a trenchant and original intellectual history of how, why and where it emerged. It traces Australian anthropology’s rise from British schools of thought to a uniquely settler variant, which had lasting effects on the representation of the Aboriginal past. Cogently written and grounded in a sophisticated understanding of the relevant historiography, the work promises to make a significant contribution to the histories of science, Indigeneity, and Australian foundation.