Institutional Racism and (In)Justice: Australia in the 21st Century

Decolonization of Criminology and Justice, 1(1), 29-51

Posted: 4 Nov 2019 Last revised: 11 Oct 2021

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: October 22, 2019

Abstract

This article focuses on systemic and institutionalised racism against Indigenous people as a contemporary feature of the Australian social and penal landscape and its implications for justice. There has been ongoing concern with institutional racism within the criminal justice system, however, this article concentrates on the intersection between institutional racism in non-criminal justice settings and their compounding effect on criminalization. Despite legal prohibitions on racial discrimination, various forms of institutional racism continue unabated. Indeed, part of the argument is that broader political changes particularly associated with the influence of neoliberalism on social policy have exacerbated the problem of institutional racism and redefined and reinforced the link between welfare and criminalization. Indeed, social welfare has come to be informed by the same values and philosophies as criminal justice: deterrence, surveillance, stigma and graduated sanctions or punishments. How might we understand these broader shifts in the public policy environment, to what extent do they reflect and reproduce institutional racism, and how do they bleed into increased criminalization? I endeavour to answer this question through the consideration of two specific sites of social welfare policy – child protection and social housing – and to consider how systemic and institutional forms of racism play out in daily life for Indigenous people and how they interact with criminal justice.

Keywords: Institutional Racism, criminalization, Indigenous peoples

Suggested Citation

Cunneen, Chris, Institutional Racism and (In)Justice: Australia in the 21st Century (October 22, 2019). Decolonization of Criminology and Justice, 1(1), 29-51, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3474702

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

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Abstract Views
806
PlumX Metrics