NCJ Number
179683
Journal
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology Volume: 32 Issue: 2 Dated: August 1999 Pages: 124-138
Date Published
1999
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This article argues that understanding the nature of genocide in its various manifestations goes to the core of developing a "postcolonial" criminology in Australia.
Abstract
Ultimately, the fact of genocide involves a re-theorizing of the "colonial question" in criminology. It involves a shift in the focus from indigenous people as the object of inquiry, usually as offenders, to the survivors of systematic crimes against humanity. Certainly in the Australian context, the greatest crime that has been committed on the continent since European conquest was genocide. Genocide also demands a rethinking of the criminalization process, particularly in relation to "crimes of the state." This involves a determination of how the state can be held responsible, the form responsibility can take, and the type of reparations commensurate with the nature of the offense. Genocide against indigenous people also leads to the issue of preventing human rights abuses and respecting the existing and emerging rights of indigenous people. The cultural and physical survival of indigenous people ultimately depends on self-determination. Again, this poses specific questions for criminological theory and practice. Among them is how to theorize the interrelationships between indigenous modes of governance and law, with imposed extraneous models, and the policy implications of these interrelationships. The questions that are raised imply a different approach than that which views indigenous people as a function of offending, imprisonment, and deviant behavior. 4 notes and 15 references