Judicial violence and the ‘civilizing process’: Race and the transition from public to private executions in Colonial Australia∗

I would like to thank Bryan Jamison, Mark Finnane, Martin Stuart‐Fox, Raymond Evans and two anonymous referees. I have chosen to spell the word ‘civilizing’ with a ‘z’ when referring to the concept of the ‘civilizing process’. This appears to be the most common practice among scholars dealing with Elias's work. See. for example, Robert van Krieken, ‘Violence, Self‐discipline and Modernity: Beyond the “Civilizing Process” ‘, Sociological Review, vol. 37, no. 2, 1989, pp. 193–218.

Abstract

This article examines the impact racial tensions exerted upon the transition from public to private executions in colonial Australia. Beginning with an analysis of the abolition of public executions in the Australian colonies, it then focuses upon the execution of Aboribines in Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia during the mid‐century transition from public to private punishment. Finally, an analysis of the operation of semipublic executions in Queensland during the 1860s and 1870shighlights the influence of racial tensions upon the mode of implementing capital punishment in the colony.

Notes

I would like to thank Bryan Jamison, Mark Finnane, Martin Stuart‐Fox, Raymond Evans and two anonymous referees. I have chosen to spell the word ‘civilizing’ with a ‘z’ when referring to the concept of the ‘civilizing process’. This appears to be the most common practice among scholars dealing with Elias's work. See. for example, Robert van Krieken, ‘Violence, Self‐discipline and Modernity: Beyond the “Civilizing Process” ‘, Sociological Review, vol. 37, no. 2, 1989, pp. 193–218.