![Associate Professor Sally Babidge](/sites/default/files/profiles/1621.jpeg)
Overview
Background
I am a sociocultural anthropologist in the School of Social Science at the University of Queensland and current (2021-present) Director of the Master of Development Practice program. My research is focussed on the social and cultural dimensions of ecological and economic change, especially that driven by the extractives industry and experienced by Indigenous Peoples. Current research is engaged in the epistemological, political and practical problems of 'seeing' harms from large scale mining projects, especially lithium in the 'critical minerals' extraction boom (see a recent FILM made with research collaborators), and in relation to groundwater and associated community futures. Ethnographic methodologies and theory that rely on sustained, engaged, and ethical relationships characterise my practice in Australia and Chile and resulting publications.
I design courses for and teach in the undergraduate major in anthropology, as well as for multidisciplinary areas of teaching in theory and methodology for Humanities and Social Science Faculty Honours students and in program design for the Development Practice students. HDR students from anthropology and other social science backgrounds undertake research under my supervision on questions associated with ecological futures, especially water, but also territorial relations, and in areas of political anthropology, and decolonial and feminist theory and method.
Availability
- Associate Professor Sally Babidge is:
- Available for supervision
- Media expert
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Postgraduate Diploma in Education, James Cook University
- Doctor of Philosophy, James Cook University
Research interests
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Engaged ethnographic methodologies
‘Engaged’ anthropology is an explicit rejection of empiricist social science. As an approach it articulates with a politics of knowledge production that counters the colonial narratives of conquest and intersects with critical decolonising projects. As a White anthropologist with settler colonial heritage who works with Indigenous communities in Australia and Chile, I am interested in research partnerships and seek to design research in response to the articulated interests of those with whom I work.
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Water and its cultural politics (environmental anthropology)
My work has contributed to literature in environmental anthropology and political ecology in relation to water as sociotechnical expertise, as a resource, right and relation, and the governance of water use and protection. My research on the cultural politics of water, informed by ethnography with Atacameño-Likanantay peoples in northern Chile is internationally known for its contributions to knowledge on the cultural politics of water. I supervise HDR projects in a variety of contexts where students are asking comparable questions about water governance, industrial extraction and pollution and water justice, especially for First Nations/Indigenous Peoples and their inclusion in water futures.
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Extractive capitalism (extractivism) and its social effects
The political economic analysis of the social effects of extractive (mining) capitalism cannot be adequately understood without a consideration of the agency of Indigenous Peoples. My research opens up critical questions about 'development' and ‘entrepreneurship’ as moral projects, and the ethical conditions of late capitalism as these arise in the context of negotiations between companies and communities. I undertake engaged and applied research on these questions in northern Chile and Australia, largely at the request of Community partners, and supervise HDR students on relevant topics.
Works
Search Professor Sally Babidge’s works on UQ eSpace
Featured
2023
Journal Article
Fellowship of the Spring: an initiative to document and protect the world's oases
Fensham, Roderick J., Adinehvand, Rouhollah, Babidge, Sally, Cantonati, Marco, Currell, Matthew, Daniele, Linda, Elci, Alper, Galassi, Diana M. P., de la Hera Portillo, África, Hamad, Salah, Han, Dongmei, Jawadi, Hussain Ali, Jotheri, Jaafar, Laffineur, Boris, Mohammad, Alsharifa Hind, Naqinezhad, Alireza, Navidtalab, Amin, Nicoll, Kathleen, Odeh, Taleb, Re, Viviana, Sanjuan, Bernard, Souza, Valeria, Stevens, Lawrence E., Tekere, Memory, Tshibalo, Ernest, Silcock, Jennifer, Webb, John, van Wyk, Braam, Zamanpoore, Mehrdad and Villholth, Karen G. (2023). Fellowship of the Spring: an initiative to document and protect the world's oases. Science of The Total Environment, 887 163936, 163936. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163936
Featured
2023
Journal Article
Negotiated agreements, Indigenous peoples and extractive industry in the Salar de Atacama, Chile: when is an agreement more than a contract?
O'Faircheallaigh, Ciaran and Babidge, Sally (2023). Negotiated agreements, Indigenous peoples and extractive industry in the Salar de Atacama, Chile: when is an agreement more than a contract?. Development and Change, 54 (3), 641-670. doi: 10.1111/dech.12767
Featured
2023
Journal Article
Lithium extractivism: perpetuating historical asymmetries in the ‘Green economy’
Mejia-Muñoz, Sara and Babidge, Sally (2023). Lithium extractivism: perpetuating historical asymmetries in the ‘Green economy’. Third World Quarterly, 44 (6), 1119-1136. doi: 10.1080/01436597.2023.2176298
Featured
2021
Book Chapter
Water Ownership and Governance
Babidge, Sally (2021). Water Ownership and Governance. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Anthropology. (pp. 1-1) Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/acrefore/9780190854584.013.471
Featured
2021
Journal Article
Seeing water slow resistance and the material enigma of extractive effects on society and ecology
Babidge, Sally (2021). Seeing water slow resistance and the material enigma of extractive effects on society and ecology. HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory, 11 (2), 395-411. doi: 10.1086/715788
Featured
2019
Journal Article
'That's the problem with that lake; it changes sides': mapping extraction and ecological exhaustion in the Atacama
Babidge, Sally, Kalazich, Fernanda, Prieto, Manuel and Yager, Karina (2019). 'That's the problem with that lake; it changes sides': mapping extraction and ecological exhaustion in the Atacama. Journal of Political Ecology, 26 (1) 3169, 738-760. doi: 10.2458/v26i1.23169
Featured
2019
Journal Article
Sustaining ignorance: the uncertainties of groundwater and its extraction in the Salar de Atacama, northern Chile
Babidge, Sally (2019). Sustaining ignorance: the uncertainties of groundwater and its extraction in the Salar de Atacama, northern Chile. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 25 (1), 83-102. doi: 10.1111/1467-9655.12965
2024
Journal Article
Editorial
Babidge, Sally and Mimica, Jadran (2024). Editorial. Oceania, 94 (1), 2-2. doi: 10.1002/ocea.5394
2023
Journal Article
Water futures in Australia: materialities, temporalities, imaginaries
Babidge, Sally, Eickelkamp, Ute and Connor, Linda (2023). Water futures in Australia: materialities, temporalities, imaginaries. Oceania, 93 (3), 196-215. doi: 10.1002/ocea.5380
2023
Journal Article
Water Lore: Practice, Place, Poetics. By CamilleRoulière & ClaudiaEgerer. London, UK and New York, NY, USA: Earthscan from Routledge. 2022. Pp: xxi + 261. Price: A$75.99
Babidge, Sally (2023). Water Lore: Practice, Place, Poetics. By CamilleRoulière & ClaudiaEgerer. London, UK and New York, NY, USA: Earthscan from Routledge. 2022. Pp: xxi + 261. Price: A$75.99. Oceania, 93 (3), 396-397. doi: 10.1002/ocea.5385
2023
Journal Article
Affective propositions, the plant turn, and critiques of development
Babidge, Sally, Dothling, Nathália, Thomson, Sarah, Riordan, Tyler, Wissing, Kirsty, Sant'Anna Fernandes, Ainá and Mejía Muñoz, Sara (2023). Affective propositions, the plant turn, and critiques of development. The Australian Journal of Anthropology, 34 (1), 30-32. doi: 10.1111/taja.12464
2022
Journal Article
Editorial
Babidge, Sally and Mimica, Jadran (2022). Editorial. Oceania, 92 (3), 244-244. doi: 10.1002/ocea.5355
2022
Journal Article
Review of What Now: Everyday Endurance and Social Intensity in an Australian Aboriginal Community. by Cameo Dalley. New York: Berghahn Books, 2021, 252pp., 25 b&w illustrations, $120 (HB.), ISBN 978‐1‐78920‐885‐6
Babidge, Sally (2022). Review of What Now: Everyday Endurance and Social Intensity in an Australian Aboriginal Community. by Cameo Dalley. New York: Berghahn Books, 2021, 252pp., 25 b&w illustrations, $120 (HB.), ISBN 978‐1‐78920‐885‐6. The Australian Journal of Anthropology, 33 (1), 74-76. doi: 10.1111/taja.12405
2021
Journal Article
Letter to the Editor
Babidge, Sally (2021). Letter to the Editor. Oceania, 91 (3), 380-380. doi: 10.1002/ocea.5321
2020
Journal Article
Consultation's overburden: Indigenous participation in the extractive industry in the Salar de Atacama, Chile
Babidge, Sally (2020) Consultation's overburden: Indigenous participation in the extractive industry in the Salar de Atacama, Chile. Transformations, 33 48-63.
2019
Journal Article
When the Hills Are Gone: Frac Sand Mining and the Struggle for Community by Thomas W. Pearson Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. 2017. 248 pp
Babidge, Sally (2019). When the Hills Are Gone: Frac Sand Mining and the Struggle for Community by Thomas W. Pearson Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. 2017. 248 pp. American Anthropologist, 122 (1) aman.13363, 184-185. doi: 10.1111/aman.13363
2019
Book Chapter
A custodial ethic: Indigenous values towards water in Moreton Bay and catchments
Pinner, Breanna, Ross, Helen, Jones, Natalie, Babidge, Sally, Shaw, Sylvie, Witt, Katherine and Rissik, David (2019). A custodial ethic: Indigenous values towards water in Moreton Bay and catchments. Moreton Bay Quandamooka and catchment: past, present and future. (pp. 29-44) edited by Ian R. Tibbetts, Peter C. Rothlisberg, David T. Neil, Tamara A. Homburg, David T. Brewer and Angela H. Arthington. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: Moreton Bay Foundation.
2018
Journal Article
Neoextractivism and indigenous water ritual in Salar de Atacama, Chile
Babidge, Sally and Bolados, Paola (2018). Neoextractivism and indigenous water ritual in Salar de Atacama, Chile. Latin American Perspectives, 45 (5), 170-185. doi: 10.1177/0094582X18782673
2017
Journal Article
Failing forward: A case study in neoliberalism and abandonment in Calama
Babidge, Sally and Belfrage, Madeleine (2017). Failing forward: A case study in neoliberalism and abandonment in Calama. Cultural Dynamics, 29 (4), 235-254. doi: 10.1177/0921374017743300
2017
Journal Article
Alchemy in the rainforest. Politics, ecology, and resilience in a New Guinea mining area
Babidge, Sally (2017). Alchemy in the rainforest. Politics, ecology, and resilience in a New Guinea mining area. Human Ecology, 45 (1), 135-137. doi: 10.1007/s10745-016-9876-z
Funding
Past funding
Supervision
Availability
- Associate Professor Sally Babidge is:
- Available for supervision
Before you email them, read our advice on how to contact a supervisor.
Supervision history
Current supervision
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Doctor Philosophy
Understanding human-water relationships for sustainable water futures
Principal Advisor
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Doctor Philosophy
Water Justice and Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM): Changing institutional frameworks of water governance in Chile
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Martin Weber
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Doctor Philosophy
The Rise of Brand Name Fruit: Apples and Signification in Australia
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Allison Fish
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Doctor Philosophy
The end of the world(s): the whole environment of the Degredo Quilombola Community living with the Mariana dam crisis in Brazil.
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Gerhard Hoffstaedter
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Doctor Philosophy
Food Sovereignty in Post-Socialist Croatia
Principal Advisor
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Doctor Philosophy
Green extractivism, environmental justice and Indigenous Rights: The case of lithium mining in Chile
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Kristen Lyons
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Doctor Philosophy
Historical-ethnographic approaches to Participatory Design in Australian indigenous architecture
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Ms Carroll Go-Sam, Dr Kelly Greenop
Completed supervision
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2023
Doctor Philosophy
Including the contemporary human footprint in environmentally protected areas in post-apartheid South Africa: Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Richard Martin
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2019
Doctor Philosophy
Beyond the physical: Environmental relationships in Bali, Indonesia
Principal Advisor
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2017
Doctor Philosophy
Becoming-(Breastfeeding-)Woman: Women's Body Practices and Experiences at the Intersection of Breastfeeding, Milk Insufficiency, and Milk Sharing
Principal Advisor
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2015
Doctor Philosophy
An Amazonian shamanic brew in Australia: Ayahuasca healing and individualism
Principal Advisor
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2015
Doctor Philosophy
Remembering the Mother Mission:Exploring Trauma, Cultural Heritage Values and Identity at Mapoon, a Former Mission Village in Western Cape York, Queensland.
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Paul Memmott
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2014
Doctor Philosophy
Community and Company Development Discourses in Mining: The Case of Gender in Mongolia
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Deanna Kemp
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2013
Doctor Philosophy
Belonging and Becoming in Multicultural Australia: Young people from refugee backgrounds negotiating identification
Principal Advisor
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2009
Doctor Philosophy
Making a Mark: negotiations in the commoditisation of authenticity and value at an Aboriginal art dealership
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Emeritus Professor David Trigger
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2024
Doctor Philosophy
The Unsettling of the Huasco Valley: The Complex Case Study of Pascua Lama and "The Diaguita Peoples".
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Deanna Kemp
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2024
Doctor Philosophy
Seascapes of Fear: Blackbirding and Colonial Subjectivity in the Southwest Pacific at the End of the 19th Century
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Jon Prangnell
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2023
Doctor Philosophy
Abortion accompaniment, autonomy, and assemblages of globalising reproductive governance: Experiences of grassroots feminist activists in Mexico
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Lynda Shevellar
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2021
Doctor Philosophy
Out there, back then: chronotopes of presence and absence in Outback Australia
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Richard Martin
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2019
Doctor Philosophy
The concept of Vivir Bien (Living Well) and the constitutional recognition of indigenous epistemologies: Towards a decolonising legal project
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Roberto Esposto, Dr Sol Rojas-Lizana
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2018
Doctor Philosophy
Murri Courts: An ethnography of Indigenous sentencing courts in Southeast Queensland, Australia
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Gerhard Hoffstaedter
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2016
Doctor Philosophy
Archaeology of Colonisation: A Critical Voyage from the Caribbean to Australia
Associate Advisor
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2014
Doctor Philosophy
Mi Llajta (My Place): Identity, Belonging and Contested Space in Cochabamba, Bolivia
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Emeritus Professor David Trigger
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2013
Doctor Philosophy
'It gets under your skin': Place meaning, attachment, identity and sovereignty in the urban Indigenous community of Inala, Queensland.
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Paul Memmott
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2011
Doctor Philosophy
Loving Nature, Killing Nature, and the Crises of Caring: An anthropological investigation of conflicts affecting feral pig management in Queensland, Australia
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Emeritus Professor David Trigger
Media
Enquiries
Contact Associate Professor Sally Babidge directly for media enquiries about:
- Applied anthropology
- critiques of development
- Environmental anthropology
- Ethics and morality
- Ethnography
- Indigenous Peoples (Australia and Chile)
- Resource extraction and mining
- Water
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