Dominant Culture Violence

Julie Clark writes a lot about the social violence of the dominant culture in the "Bullying" section of Social Issues Suite 101. Her latest blog Another Columbine really shocked me.

There is a strong stereotype held by the dominant culture, of Aboriginal people being violent and criminal. But when I read things like Julie's articles, in which she explains how violent bullying is reaching epidemic proportions, it's tempting to make assumptions about the dominant culture being inherently violent instead.

At least violence in traditional native cultures is rule-governed and serves the purpose of negotiating social forms and spaces. At least it is linked in some way to cause and effect. The violence of the "civilised" dominant culture seems, in comparison, frighteningly chaotic and out of control.

To find out more about structured, productive violence in Indigenous cultures, read my article Structured Violence.