Law and Identity in Spatial Contests

Mohr, Richard

doi:10.1080/14608940307122

Cited by 17 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…It came into existence in the same time frame and geographical conditions that were the basis of modern capitalism, modern science and philosophy (Gruhn 2002). Two aspects of this historical account are relevant here, that is that development of the concept of jurisdiction and the notion that subjects who occupied the property were the bearer of legal rights within a uniform spatial jurisdiction (Mohr 2003: 61).…”

Section: The Development Of the State ‘Without A Head’?5mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This allocation of family space provided the physical basis for family commitment and containment and sufficient neighbourliness to help keep a watchful eye on neighbours. This declaration of a territorial homogenous jurisdiction was associated with liberal notions of individual equality as the individual came to be the bearer of rights associated with a person's attachment to territory (Mohr 2003: 54).…”

Section: Conclusion: the Govermentalisation Of The Statementioning

confidence: 99%

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Property, the Formation of the Pioneer State and the Working of Power in Rural Australia

Voyce

2008

J Historical Sociology

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This paper is concerned with the role of property ownership and the importance of male patriarchy on family farms. I critique here the role of property and family and its role in State formation. I am interested in local and regional sites where I argue that identity and conduct was determined. This approach indicates how the cultural values of farming were reflected in the culture of the State through its administrative apparatuses of power. Through an explanation of the role of 'family' and 'property', I show how different discourse and techniques involved with rural life received endorsement and support, within legal and non-legal forms of power. I outline the direction my argument will take. Firstly, I show the importance of the family in State policy and how the family was imbedded in ideas of property. Secondly, I show the role of economics as a form of governance. Economics, I argue formed a discipline of productivity through which the family governed the individual and the State governed the family. Thirdly, I show how property, the family and economics were linked within other administrative agencies involved in the 'governmentalisation of society'.

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Section: The Development Of the State ‘Without A Head’?5mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Conclusion: the Govermentalisation Of The Statementioning

confidence: 99%

Property, the Formation of the Pioneer State and the Working of Power in Rural Australia

Voyce

2008

J Historical Sociology

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“…The links between land, law, and identity were (and are) critical to colonial appropriations. 'Western law', Richard Mohr (2003) points out, 'may define land as "cultivated land", "terra nullius" or "occupied territory" based on alternative legal interpretations of the space in question.' He elaborates that, '[e]ach of those descriptions of geographical area implies a different view of the identity of the people in it: industrious, negated, or subdued' (p. 55).…”

Section: Creating Racial Subjects In Vancouver's Stanley Parkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genealogies of the Land: Aboriginality, Law, and Territory in Vancouver’s Stanley Park

Mawani

2005

Social & Legal Studies

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Between 1998 and 2003, Canadian courts were confronted with two cases that have held significant legal and political consequences for Aboriginal peoples. The cases, R v Gladue (1999) and R v Powley (2003) raised pressing questions about Aboriginal identities and the rights and material resources that follow from legal recognition. In one form or another, these cases have generated important legal, political, and theoretical questions that require some exploration: How has ‘Aboriginality’ been legally constituted within Canadian jurisprudence? In what ways have these racial-legal definitions changed temporally and geographically? And finally, and most importantly, who can legitimately make claims to Aboriginal identities and to the legal rights and material resources that accompany the law’s recognition of difference? In this article, I historically contextualize these contemporary debates around the juridical construction of Aboriginal identities in Canadian jurisprudence. My substantive focus is two trials that took place between 1923 and 1925 and which centered on competing territorial claims to Stanley Park, an urban park in Vancouver, British Columbia. The cases involved eight mixed-race families of Aboriginal and European ancestry who had lived on the land in question for three generations, and whose ancestors had been there since time immemorial. A central question that emerged throughout the juridical and extra-juridical discourse is if these people were ‘Indians’ (or ‘squatters’) and whether they could make territorial claims through Native title. Through these cases I suggest that the current controversies over Aboriginality evident in Gladue and Powley are deeply rooted in colonial legal processes and practices that require some historical analysis. Ultimately, historically grounded questions about the law’s constitution of Indigenous identities may provide us with important insights into the many facets of colonialism and its residual legacies.

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“…The word itself does not resonate strongly in Australian political discourse (by comparison with France, for instance), but the concept can be seen to pervade concerns over the living conditions of Aboriginal communities and to have impelled the moral panic 2 The prior existence and persistence of Aboriginal law in Australia has been recognised in legal cases from Milirrpum v Nabalco (1971) 17 FLR 141 through Mabo v Queensland (No2) (1992 175 CLR 1 to Commonwealth v Yarmirr (1999) ) and Yorta Yorta v Victoria (2001) 110 FCR 244 (Black CJ paras [35-70]). Its defeats and accommodations in the face of the common law have been discussed by Motha (1998), McNamara and Grattan (1999), Mohr (2002Mohr ( , 2003 and Atkinson (2001). over child abuse, and subsequent concerns over the safety and well-being of women and children in Northern Territory communities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Responsibility and the Representation of Suffering: Australian Law in Black and White

Mohr

2010

eces

Self Cite

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This article critically analyses the concept of suffering, with particular emphasis on responsibility for and representations of suffering. Suffering is seen as a social relationship, with objective characteristics, classified by Renault as domination, deprivation and the weakening of intersubjective supports (désaffiliation). Veitch and Wolcher have inquired into legal responsibility for suffering. The author adds that suffering is also constructed subjectively, through aesthetic, political and legal representations. This theoretical model of suffering is applied to recent political and legal issues in Australia dealing with an apology for earlier policies of removing Indigenous children from their families, and a more recent aggressive "emergency response" to concerns over child abuse in Aboriginal communities. Indigenous Australians have clearly suffered from colonisation and subsequent policies, while representations of their suffering can be seen to have exacerbated their disempowerment and thus increased suffering. The article proposes recognising responsibility while avoiding the disempowerment of "victims". It concludes by proposing new approaches to domination, deprivation and disempowerment that may open the way to new constructions of political subjectivity, fostering the redevelopment of intersubjective supports, while increasing awareness of the past causes of suffering.

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Law and Identity in Spatial Contests

Cited by 17 publications

References 10 publications

Property, the Formation of the Pioneer State and the Working of Power in Rural Australia

Property, the Formation of the Pioneer State and the Working of Power in Rural Australia

Genealogies of the Land: Aboriginality, Law, and Territory in Vancouver’s Stanley Park

Responsibility and the Representation of Suffering: Australian Law in Black and White

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