Aboriginal leadership – Resilience as a key ingredient to social mobility for minority groups in colonial Australia.

Abstract

This paper provides an Aboriginal perspective of the multi-­‐dimensional nature of resilience as derived within the complex inter-­‐cultural space of between Aboriginal and non-­‐Aboriginal Australians. We derive twenty-­‐nine dimensions which range from racial resilience to trailblazer resilience, all of which Aboriginal leaders need in order to overcome the structural barriers preventing Aboriginal people from achieving equity in Australia. Our perspective adds to the resilience literature by shifting the discourse away from an individualist perspective to one which privileges the cultural, social and emotional structures that underpin Aboriginal values and philosophies.