Elizabeth Povinelli

Elizabeth Povinelli is an American anthropologist whose work focuses on late liberalism, settler colonialism, and indigenous communities in Australia. She extensively examines how power, governance, and the environment intersect within modern liberal states.

For over three decades, she has worked intimately with the Karrabing people, an indigenous group in the Northern Territory of Australia. Her research highlights their struggles against state land regimes and resource extraction.

In her book Geontologies, Povinelli argues that late liberal governance differentiates between Life and Nonlife (such as deserts and minerals) to justify capitalist expansion and colonial domination. This framework challenges traditional biopolitics by focusing on the earth itself.

Yes, beyond academic texts, she heavily utilizes film and multimedia, co-directing films with the Karrabing Film Collective. This visual anthropology allows her subjects to actively narrate their own realities and critique settler oppression on screen.