Alcohol, Violence, Frontier Masculinities and the Australian Mining Boom
Internet Journal of Criminology© 2016 ISSN 2045 6743 (Online) Alcohol, Violence, Frontier Masculinities and the Australian Mining Boom Kerry Carrington, Queensland University of Technology Russell Hogg, Queensland University of Technology John Scott, Queensland University of Technology Abstract While the economic impacts of mining in Australia have been widely discussed, the social impacts of mining are subject to much speculation. In the social sciences, the impacts of mining have largely been understood with through a social disorganization lens, with population instability being linked to social disorder. Recently, critical criminology has also linked violence and fear of crime in mining regions with work patterns associated with supercapitalism and an overreliance on non-resident workforces. This paper draws on data from in-depth interviews and focus groups from three mining regions in Australia. We argue that the criminogenic impacts of mining must be understood in relation to both the ecological aspects of rural and/or isolated communities and the power relations that exist in these communities. In particular, we contextualize the criminogenic impacts of mining with reference to gender relations in mining communities and what we refer to as monologic expressions of masculinity. The paper contributes to the burgeoning literature on violent crime in diverse rural settings. Key words: Boomtowns, power relationships, alcohol abuse, masculinity, Introduction Regarded by many critics as the best Australian film ever made, Wake in Fright [aka Outback] (1971) sits firmly within the genre of what has been referred to as Australian Gothic or, more broadly, rural horror (Bell, 1997). The film is a Faustian tale of a city teacher, John Grant, who is posted to the small and isolated outback town of Tiboonda.
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