AUSTRALIA JUDICIAL REVOLUTION - ABORIGINAL LAND RIGHTS AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF LIBERALISM

The recognition of Aboriginal land rights in Australia over the last f ew decades marks a political and legal shift from classical to ''expre ssivist'' or ''neo-romantic'' liberalism. Classical liberalism's empha sis on order, economic progress, and security of expectations could no r easily accommodate Aboriginal demands for separate, collectively own ed enclaves within which their cultures could flourish. These demands have rested on the religious connection of Aborigines to their land, a nd the concept of property associated with it, as recorded in stories from the ''Dreamtime.'' Recent High Court decisions have fashioned a d octrine of native title, distinct from common law property rights, tha t defines land ownership partly in light of cultural self-expression, and not merely as a function of labor and exchange.