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The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Imperialism and Anti-Imperialism pp 1–9Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Australia’s Colonisation and Racial Policies

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Synonyms

Aborigines; Australia; Colonialism; Imperialism; Indigenous struggles; Racism

Definition

From the earliest contact, Britain’s view of Australia was underpinned by economic motives: extension of the Empire through possession, possibilities of trade and investment, as well as the protection of property, reduction of overcrowding in jails, and the relief of poverty at home. But more insidious than these explicit economic motivations was the way in which economic progress was understood in relation to different races or human types. The known peoples of the world were ranked within a hierarchy of civilisation, with the British race and its advanced industrial economy at the apex and the Aborigines said to lack precisely those attributes and capacities which explained Britain’s economic success. From this perspective, they were always a problem to be managed in one way or another by government authorities. From an indigenous perspective, Australia remains a colonising power, and...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Economy, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia

    Gillian Hewitson

Authors
  1. Gillian Hewitson
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gillian Hewitson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate Center for Worker Education, Brooklyn College, New York, NY, USA

    Immanuel Ness

  2. Independent Scholar, Belfast, UK

    Zak Cope

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Hewitson, G. (2020). Australia’s Colonisation and Racial Policies. In: Ness, I., Cope, Z. (eds) The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Imperialism and Anti-Imperialism. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91206-6_189-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91206-6_189-1

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-91206-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-91206-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference HistoryReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Humanities

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