This paper provokes questions of justice for scholars and practitioners working in policy, regulation and law by returning to reparations in anti-colonial thought and practice.
Much of the global reparations debate on colonisation and slavery has focused on important demands confronting the historic damages and ongoing accumulation of disadvantage from colonization in ex-colonies or from plantation slavery. Much less has been said about reparations for settler colonialism which is a specific form of ongoing colonization in the here and now.
Drawing on long-standing work around reparations for colonisation by Indigenous peoples in Australia, and the limited compensatory responses the state and judiciary have offered, this paper considers reparations as the critical domain of transformation that aim less to offset damage and reconcile suffering, but rather to comprehensively transform colonial relations in Australia.
Ultimately, this paper returns to the vast community and activist scholarship on reparations for colonisation, genocide and slavery in Australia and beyond, which offers ways of thinking, being and doing towards justice.
This seminar presentation is a dual-delivery event. Registration is not required for in-person attendance. The event is organised by the ANU School of Regulations and Global Governance.
