From Australia to Austria: Law as an Instrument of Power

Maria Giannacopoulos’ concept of nomopoly presents law (nomos) in Australia not as a universal system, but as a mechanism of settler colonial rule (monopoly). Law as nomopoly is inseparably linked to power structures that create and maintain it. In Australia, this means a continuation of colonial violence that displaces and erases Indigenous laws, peoples, and lands.  This perspective matches Ümmü-Selime Türe’s analysis of how counter-terrorism laws, citizenship revocations, and migration policies contribute to the shrinking of civic space by targeting racialized communities, such as the "Muslim threat." The panel highlights how these legal structures operate as tools of power, restricting political participation and silencing dissent on a global scale.  

Moderation:

Asma Aiad, PhD in Philosophy Candidate, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna

Marina Gržinić, Professor, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna

Maria Giannacopoulos is an Associate Professor and Director of the Centre for Criminology Law and Justice, School of Law, Society and Criminology, University UNSW, Sydney, Australia. She holds a BA (Hons), LLB (Hons), and a PhD in Cultural Studies. Born and raised on Gadigal land, Maria is a Greek-Australian scholar internationally recognized for her pioneering theoretical approaches to understanding the relationship between law, colonial power, and carceral systems.

Ümmü Selime Türe, Researcher, Dokumentations- und Beratungsstelle Islamfeindlichkeit und antimuslimischer Rassismus (Dokustelle) Vienna, Austria. She is a culture and social anthropologist with expertise in psychosocial counseling and teaches in academic and social contexts about Self- and Collective Care, Intersectionality, and Transformative and Healing Justice. Ümmü is the co-founder of Documentation and Counselling Center Islamophobia (2014) and Anti-Muslim Racism Austria, a community-based counseling and research center that collects and generates data for the annual report.