The Social Life of Justice in Colonial Systems of Violence

Information panel on the terms Truth/Reconciliation/Healing in the lobby of the South Australian Museum.

Information panel on the Wangayarta Memorial Park in the South Australian Museum. Photo: Sabine Mannitz

Sabine Mannitz Organizes Panel at Conference of the Australian Anthropological Society

Sabine Mannitz contri­buted to this year’s conference of the Australian Anthro­pological Society, held June 10–12 2026 in Mparntwe/­Alice Springs, by conve­ning the panel “The Social Life of Justice in Colo­nial Systems of Violence.” As part of the panel, she pre­sented a paper entitled “After­lives of Truth and Recon­ciliation Commis­sions in (Post)Colonial Settings,” focusing on the example of Canada. Further contri­butions addressed the problem of non-­reparations for the slave trade, colonial legal inheri­tance and verna­cular cultures of mourning for missing persons in Kashmir and Punjab, India.

Mannitz, who heads Research Depar­tment Local Peace Orders at PRIF, combined her stay in Austra­lia with further research and back­ground discussions in Adelaide, South Australia, on how museums and public educational insti­tutions address colonial violence against Indigenous peoples.

The Australian Anthropological Society (AAS) Annual Conference brings together anthro­pologists from around the world each year. This year’s theme, “Lines, Planes, Depth,” pays homage to Mparntwe/­Alice Springs in the heart of the Austra­lian outback, where the con­ference was held for the first time this year.