Despite their very different histories, Australia and France share the typical postcolonial experience of unresolved conflicts. The persistent residues of colonial violence manifest in contemporary outbreaks of violence in Indigenous Australian communities and in communities in France with a large number of immigrants and their descendants from former colonies. In both countries structural limitations and policy failures of the welfare state have become sources of discontent and suffering, leading to interactions between marginalised groups and the state that are punctuated by instances of violent contestation.

Violence in France and Australia: Disorder in the Postcolonial Welfare State examines the racial and ethnic dimensions of forms of marginality and the relationships between the welfare state and the postcolonial background to contemporary violence. The essays draw upon field research and innovations in the social theory extending the collection's comparative format and providing novel insights into the configurations of the postcolonial and the welfare state.