Cultural Criminology and the Engagement with Race, Gender and Post-Colonial Identities

Abstract:     
This chapter explores the potential of cultural criminology as a theoretical and methodological paradigm with reference to some earlier research in which we examined the high victimisation rates of Filipino women in cases of spousal homicides compared to other Australian women. Our research considers the interplay of gender, ethnicity and first world/third world relations, both materially and symbolically, in seeking to understand the women's experiences as immigrants, their postcolonial identities and their victimisation. The gendered and racialised nature of the movement of women across national boundaries, and their subsequent exposure to more extreme levels of violence, gives the research a broader focus than simply the experiences of Filipino women in Australia. While cultural criminology provides useful insights into the construction of this symbolic world surrounding violence against women, we argue that it cannot ignore the broader global political economies of labour, capital and communications which are closely connected to the construction of apparently `localised' cultural expressions. We also demonstrate the importance of specificity in explaining how post-colonial identities and representations are constructed, and in understanding practices such as violence against immigrant women.

Keywords: Cultural criminology, gender, ethnicity, violence against women, homicide, migration, post-colonialism, internet

JEL Classifications: K10, K14, K42

Accepted Paper Series