Australian Anthropologists and Political Action 1925-19601 ('A Cautious Silence: The Politics of Australian Anthropology') (Book Review‪)‬

Gray, Geoffrey 2007. A Cautious Silence: the politics of Australian anthropology. Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press. Pp: ix + 293. AUD $39.95 paper. Geoffrey Gray's most recent book, A Cautious Silence, follows relationships between Australian-based anthropologists, and between themselves and colonial and Indigenous administrations, mainly through the years 1925-1960. The title refers to Gray's argument that, with exceptions, Australian anthropologists of this era were very backward in coming forward in political defence of the Indigenous people with whom they worked. In this paper I assess this claim and offer complementary evidence that casts a differing light on the subject.