AN INTERGENERATIONAL AND PERPETUAL IMPERIUM OF DOMINATION AND SUBJUGATION OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES: THE DOCTRINE OF CHRISTIAN DISCOVERY AND ROYAL SUPREMACY.
This paper traces the historical and legal evolution of sovereignty in relation to Indigenous land rights, exploring how colonial legal systems have sustained race-based power structures through legal fictions such as terra nullius and res nullius. It argues that the colonial legal system has consis...
| Publicado en: | Journal for Cultural & Religious Theory Vol. 25; no. 1; pp. 76 - 91 |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
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Whitestone Foundation
Spring2026
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=193453981&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 193453981 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 15305228 1CSJ jtl: Journal for Cultural & Religious Theory issn: 15305228 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Spring2026 vid: 25 iid: 1 pid: 24534 pub: Whitestone Foundation artinfo: ui: 193453981 ppf: 76 ppct: 15 formats: fmt: @attributes: type: P size: 1.7MB tig: atl: AN INTERGENERATIONAL AND PERPETUAL IMPERIUM OF DOMINATION AND SUBJUGATION OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES: THE DOCTRINE OF CHRISTIAN DISCOVERY AND ROYAL SUPREMACY. aug: au: RODGERS-FALK, PHILLIP affil: Macquarie University su: Legal doctrines Indigenous rights Imperialism Occupancy (Law) Colonial administration Landowners Presumptions (Law) United States. Supreme Court Australia sug: subj: Australia Legal doctrines Indigenous rights Imperialism Occupancy (Law) Colonial administration Landowners Presumptions (Law) United States. Supreme Court ab: This paper traces the historical and legal evolution of sovereignty in relation to Indigenous land rights, exploring how colonial legal systems have sustained race-based power structures through legal fictions such as terra nullius and res nullius. It argues that the colonial legal system has consistently framed Indigenous peoples as usufructuaries, entitled to the "use" of land but not ownership, while maintaining the ultimate sovereignty of the colonial state. The paper examines the conceptual parallels between Blackstone's doctrine of occupancy, the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Johnson v. McIntosh (1823), and the modern recognition of native title, particularly in Australia's landmark Mabo v. Queensland (1992) decision.Occupancy and native title, like Blackstone's "user" rights, reflects a colonial framework that subordinates Indigenous land rights to the Crown's absolute sovereignty, a sovereignty founded on the principles of the Doctrine of Discovery and the Act of Supremacy (1534). Through the lens of the authors two-chamber model of sovereignty, absolute sovereignty/imperium (Chamber 1) and proprietary rights/dominion (Chamber 2), the paper highlights how these legal fictions perpetuate a racialised hierarchy where Indigenous peoples are positioned as neither fully sovereign nor fully enslaved. The concept of native title is critiqued as a modern rebranding of Blackstone's 'user rights,' which continue to deny Indigenous peoples full ownership and control over their lands, positioning them within a colonial legal system that traps them in a perpetual state of legal subordination. In tracing the historical lineage of terra nullius and its evolution into native title, the paper reveals how colonial legal systems used race-based distinctions to justify the dispossession and marginalisation of Indigenous peoples. Despite its suggested advancement, the recognition of native title does not represent equality or true land restitution but rather reflects a continued denial of Indigenous sovereignty. The paper concludes with a call for a fundamental reassessment of the colonial legal structures that uphold absolute sovereigntyand their inherent ties to the racialised dispossession of Indigenous lands. The continued legitimacy of these doctrines, embodied in both legal and political systems, ensures that Indigenous peoples remain trapped within a system designed to perpetuate domination rather than justice. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Journal for Cultural & Religious Theory is the property of Whitestone Foundation and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Journal for Cultural & Religious Theory holder: Whitestone Foundation dt: @attributes: year: 2026 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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