Theory, Race and Colonialism Essay (TRACE)

to honour the memory and continue the work of Tracey Banivanua-Mar

For the best article published in law&history that engages theoretically with the themes of race and colonialism over the previous two calendar years (max 4 issues of the journal)

Judges:

Professor Catharine Coleborne (University of Newcastle, Australia) and Professor Angela Wanhalla (University of Otago, Aotearoa New Zealand)

Congratulations to Sharleigh Crittenden for her article ‘Race, justice and democracy: how the historical and contemporary representativeness of the criminal jury sheds light on the citizenship status of Indigenous Australians’, which is forthcoming in law&history 2022 (2)

In this timely and insightful article, Sharleigh Crittenden offers a sophisticated analysis of how ‘race’ and racism has produced franchise inequality and unrepresentative juries in Australia. Drawing on examples from Aotearoa New Zealand and Canada, Crittenden illuminates how the principle of random selection often overrides representativeness on juries, thereby further marginalising Indigenous participation in the legal system and generating further injustice. The most significant barrier to Indigenous participation in juries, though, is enrolment to vote, which only became compulsory for Indigenous Australian in 1984. Crittenden’s article is an extremely worthy winner of this award as it exemplifies the TRACE model by examining the historical significance and meanings of racism as it is both embedded and continues to live on through institutions shaped by colonialism and its aftermath.

The judges agreed that a second article should be Highly Commended:

Jennifer Jones, ‘Acknowledging Sovereignty: Settlers, Right Behaviour and the Taungurung Clans of the Kulin Nation’, law&history, 2021 (2)

Jennifer Jones has written a highly engaging article that examines the concept and practice of ‘right behaviour’ to re-examine relationships between the Taungurung clans of the Kulin nation and white settlers in the colony of Victoria. By using oral accounts and also re-reading settler memories it evokes the lived experiences of racism and oppression, forms of Indigenous recognition, and creates an action template for researchers. This is an original and extremely well-crafted piece of writing that is deeply rooted in evidence and in the material effects of colonialism.