‘Us’ as ‘Us and Them Here and Now’: Language as Sociotechnology in Parliaments

• In Event: Us and Them: Sociotechnologies of Alterity/Otherness

Abstract

There is a knotty problem getting in the way of the smooth workings of the current Northern Territory parliament, ‘The Northern Territory Legislative Assembly’ in Northern Australia. In November 2016 Mr Yiŋiya Mark Guyula gave notice of a motion proposing reform to Standing Order 23A (Speaking of Languages other than English during proceedings of the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory). Mr Guyula is a Yolŋu Aboriginal man and is the parliamentary representative of an electorate in which some form of Yolŋu matha is the first language for most electors. Various forms of Yolnglish along with much ‘code switching’ constitute the lingua franca of every day life in Arnhemland. In order to do his work as a parliamentary representative Mr Guyula is insistent that in addressing the legislative assembly he needs to speak his own Yolŋu language –Djambarrpuyŋu, followed immediately by speech in English. Only in this way can he truly re-present his constituents’ interests to the state. This paper goes back to the early work of Shapin and Schaffer in STS, to re-consider language as a sociotechnology in the workings of parliaments.

Authors

• Michael Christie, Northern Institute, Charles Darwin University

• Helen Verran, Charles Darwin University, Casurina, NT