Other
State violence against children in British Empire and former settler colonies
Manfred Liebel ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-sonnet-5-5This book chapter looks at how states have harmed children instead of protecting them. It reviews historical examples in which poor and indigenous children were affected by violent, exclusionary and discriminatory policies with racist connotations. The cases come from the British Empire and from the settler-colonial states of the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The chapter states that the consequences of these policies can still be felt today.
Key points
- States are generally seen as guarantors of protection, but history has many examples of states actively endangering at-risk people.
- Policies aimed at people considered 'foreign' or of questioned benefit to society are especially affected.
- Poor and indigenous children were affected by violent, exclusionary and discriminatory policies with racist connotations.
- The chapter reconstructs cases from the British Empire, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
- The consequences of these policies can still be felt today.
Limitations
Only the title and a short abstract are available, so the specific cases, time periods, and evidence used are not known. It is a historical review and does not evaluate an intervention.
Abstract
Generally, a national State is considered the guarantor of protection and safety of the people living within its borders or who are subjected to its sovereignty. Yet history is full of examples in which State authorities not only neglect their responsibility toward at-risk people, but also actively contribute to threatening and endangering the lives of the latter. This is especially manifest within State policies referring to people considered ‘foreign’, or whose benefit towards society is questioned. This chapter reviews some historical examples, in which poor and indigenous children have been affected by such violent, exclusionary and discriminatory policies with racist connotations, of which consequences can still be felt today. Particularly, it reconstructs cases from the British Empire and from States emerging from settler colonies, namely United States of America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.