Diane Bell (anthropologist)

Diane Bell
Born1943 (age 80–81)
Melbourne, Australia
Education
Notable workNgarrindjeri Wurruwarrin (1998)

Diane Robin Bell OAM (born 1943) is an Australian anthropologist, author, and social justice advocate. Her work focuses on the Aboriginal people of Australia, Indigenous land rights, human rights, Indigenous religions, violence against women, and on environmental issues.

Bell has undertaken fieldwork in central and southeastern Australia and in North America; and held senior positions in higher education in Australia and the USA. In 2005, after 17 years in the United States, she returned to Australia, and worked on a number of projects in South Australia. As of 2023 she is Professor Emerita of Anthropology at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C., U.S., and Distinguished Honorary Professor of Anthropology at the Australian National University, Canberra.

Her books include Daughters of the Dreaming (1983/1993/2002); Generations: Grandmothers, mothers, and daughters (1987); Law: The old and the new (1980/1984); and Ngarrindjeri Wurruwarrin: A world that is, was, and will be (1998/2014). Evil: A novel (2005) was adapted to a play.