Description

---

There is powerful evidence that the colonization of Indigenous people was and is a crime, and that that crime is on-going. Achieving historical colonial goals often meant committing acts that were criminal even at the time. The consequences of this oppression and criminal victimization is perhaps the critical factor explaining why Indigenous people today are overrepresented as victims and offenders in the settler colonist criminal justice systems. This book presents an analysis of the relationship between these colonial crimes and their continuing criminal and social consequences that exist today. The authors focus primarily on countries colonized by Britain, especially the United States. Social harm theory, human rights covenants, and law are used to explain the criminal aspects of the historical laws and their continued effects. The final chapter looks at the responsibilities of settler-colonists in ameliorating these harms and the actions currently being taken by Indigenous people themselves.

About the Author

---

MARIANNE O. NIELSEN is a professor of criminology at Northern Arizona University. She is the co-editor of Crime and Social Justice in Indian Country (University of Arizona Press, 2018).
 
LINDA M. ROBYN is a professor of criminology at Northern Arizona University and the author of numerous book chapters and journal articles on environmental crime, violence against women, and other topics.
 

Praise For…

---

“The authors of Colonialism is Crime did an exceptional job of analyzing criminal acts within the context of contemporary standards of international law and human rights violations. I was immensely impressed with this book, and am confident that it will fill a major void in the criminological literature.”

 
— Gary W. Potter

"This book adds a significant voice to the argument regarding colonization as crime and colonization as the root of injustice for Indigenous peoples. Importantly, it furthers the assertion that colonization is ongoing."
— Cheryl Bennett