Living Legacies of Social Injustice: Power, Time and Social Change

Through a wide range of international and interdisciplinary case studies, this book develops the notion of legacy, and in particular, ‘living legacy’– that is, it explores power relations in the context of time as a means to considering and challenging social injustice.

Legacies of social injustice are very frequently erased, denied or declared redundant. Framed by the concept of ‘legacy’, this book does not conceive legacy as simply referring to relics of the past, or to cultural heritage practices and artifacts. Instead, the book focuses upon ‘living legacies’, understood as ongoing, actively engaged in the re-constitution of power relations, and influential in the development of alternative political imaginaries. Through a variety of studies from many different contexts―including Indigenous trauma in Australia, displacement in Beirut, women travellers in Scotland, and heteronormativity in Hollywood―the book draws not only upon historiographic, sociological, legal, political, cultural and other disciplinary approaches, but also specifically makes use of feminist and postcolonial perspectives. Foregrounding the legacies of inequality and marginalisation, it contributes to a re-thinking of power and social change in ways that together suggest potential means for unsettling and reimagining such legacies.

This book will appeal to an interdisciplinary range of readers with interests and concerns in the broad area of social justice, but especially to those working in sociolegal studies, sociology, gender studies, indigenous studies and politics.

Chris Beasley is Emerita Professor in the Department of Politics and International Relations, School of Social Sciences, at the University of Adelaide, Australia, and Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.

Pam Papadelos is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sociology, Criminology and Gender Studies, School of Social Sciences, at the University of Adelaide, Australia, and Deputy Director of the Fay Gale Centre for Research on Gender.