State Crime, the Colonial Question and Indigenous Peoples

SUPERNATIONAL CRIMINOLOGY: TOWARDS A CRIMINOLOGY OF INTERNATIONAL CRIMES, pp. 159-180, A. Smuelers, R. Haveman, eds., Intersentia Press, 2008

UNSW Law Research Paper No. 2011-2

19 Pages Posted: 14 Jan 2011

See all articles by Chris Cunneen

Chris Cunneen

Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research,University of Technology Sydney; James Cook University - Cairns Campus

Date Written: January 6, 2011

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to consider how our understanding of state crime needs to be mediated through an appreciation of colonial processes. The chapter explores a number of inter-related issues around the question of colonialism, state crime and Indigenous peoples. The historical relationship between Indigenous people and the development of modern nation states raises the problem of the extent to which contemporary liberal democracies like Australia, Canada or the US were founded on processes we would now regard as state crime, and indeed engaged in activities which at the time could have been regarded as unlawful. Further, while there has been considerable literature on transitional justice and processes for reparations in post-conflict societies, this body of scholarship has tended to ignore the extent to which liberal democracies themselves might be considered in need of ‘post-conflict’ reconciliation and restorative justice. This chapter explores these questions through a discussion of Australia, Canada and the US, although the primary focus is on Australia and its relationship with the continent’s Indigenous peoples.

Keywords: State Crime, Indigenous People

Suggested Citation

Cunneen, Chris, State Crime, the Colonial Question and Indigenous Peoples (January 6, 2011). SUPERNATIONAL CRIMINOLOGY: TOWARDS A CRIMINOLOGY OF INTERNATIONAL CRIMES, pp. 159-180, A. Smuelers, R. Haveman, eds., Intersentia Press, 2008, UNSW Law Research Paper No. 2011-2, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1739348

Chris Cunneen (Contact Author)

Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research,University of Technology Sydney ( email )

15 Broadway, Ultimo
PO Box 123
Sydney, NSW 2007
Australia

James Cook University - Cairns Campus ( email )

PO Box 6811
Cairns, Queensland 4870
Australia

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