Carmela Murdocca
Professor
York Research Chair in Reparative and Racial Justice
Office: Vari Hall, 2100
Phone: (416) 736-2100 Ext: 77992
Email: murdocca@yorku.ca
Secondary website: Collaborative for Racial Justice
Dr. Carmela Murdocca is a Full Professor and York Research Chair in Reparative and Racial Justice. She holds graduate appointments in Sociology, Socio-Legal Studies, and Social and Political Thought. She was a Fulbright Scholar at Columbia University Law School’s Center for the Study of Law and Culture and has served as a Visiting Fellow at Columbia University’s Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race. She is a Senior Fellow at Massey College, University of Toronto.
Professor Murdocca’s research examines the relationship between racism and the law with a particular focus on the social and legal politics of repair, redress, and reparations. Her scholarship traces how socio-legal regimes both sanction violence and harm and define the conditions under which violence is recognized, addressed, or left unremedied. Her book, To Right Historical Wrongs: Race, Gender, and Sentencing in Canada, explores how restorative and reconciliatory reforms often reshape, rather than eliminate, ongoing racial and gendered violence within liberal legal systems.
Her research has been recognized with the York University President’s Research Impact Award, a Dean’s Award for Social Justice Research, and a Law Commission of Canada Award for law reform research. Her teaching and mentorship have been recognized with the Geoffrey Marshall Mentoring Award from the Northeastern Association of Graduate Schools and the York University Faculty of Graduate Studies Teaching Award.
Professor Murdocca collaborates with lawyers, legal advocacy organizations, and Indigenous organizations on research and law and policy reform and has appeared as an expert witness in significant legal cases addressing racism and the law. She convenes the Collaborative for Racial Justice, a research forum that supports critical reflection and dialogue on racial justice and the ethical challenges involved in responding to enduring forms of racial violence.
Brock, D., Glasbeek, A., Murdocca, C., eds. Criminalization, Representation, Regulation. University of Toronto Press, 2014.
Murdocca, C. To Right Historical Wrongs: Race, Gender, and Sentencing in Canada. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2013.
Murdocca, C. “Law’s racial memory” A. Crosby and H. Evans (Eds). Memorializing violence:
Transnational feminist reflections. Rutgers University Press, 2025, p.29-42.
Murdocca, C. “You’re reminded of who you are in Canada, real quick:” Racial gendered violence and the politics of redress.” Vicki Chartrand and Josephine Savarese, eds. Unsettling Colonialism in the Canadian Criminal Justice System: A Reader. Athabasca: Athabasca University Press, 2024, p.107-128.
Murdocca, C., Vadasaria, S., Bryan, T. “Race and Colonialism in Socio-Legal Studies in Canada.” Violence, Imagination, and Resistance: Socio-Legal Interrogations of Power. Mariful Alam, Pat Dwyer, Katrin Roots, James Williams, eds. Athabasca: Athabasca University Press, 2023, p.35-58.
Murdocca, C. “Race, Indigeneity and Feminism.” In Feminist Issues: Race, Class, Sexuality. 6th edition, Nancy Mandel, Jennifer Johnson, eds. Toronto: Nelson, 2016, p.35-61.
Murdocca, C. “Racialization, Criminalization, Representation.” Murdocca C. with D. Brock, A. Glasbeek, eds. Criminalization, Representation, Regulation University of Toronto Press, 2014, p.107-132.
Murdocca, C. “Michel Foucault: Theories and Method.” Murdocca C. with D. Brock, A. Glasbeek , eds. Criminalization, Representation, Regulation. University of Toronto Press, 2014, p.5-28.
Murdocca, C., “Pursuing National Responsibility in a post-9/11 World: Seeking Asylum in Canada for Gender Persecution” Not Born A Refugee Woman: Contesting Identities, Rethinking Practices, Maroussia Hajdukowski-Ahmed, Nazilla Khanlou and Helene Moussa, eds. Oxford and New York: Berghahn Books and Refugee and Forced Migration Studies, 2008, 254-263.
Murdocca, C. “National Responsibility and Systemic Racism in Criminal Sentencing: The Case of R. v. Hamilton.” The Place of Justice, Nicholas Blomley and Sean Robertson, eds. Vancouver: Fernwood Publishing, 2006, 67-94.
Murdocca, C. “Her Home.ca: Feminist Postings Online.” Turbo Chicks: Talking Young Feminism, Lisa Bryn Rundle, Lara Karain, eds. Toronto: Sumach Press, 2001, p.213-220.
Murdocca, C., Review of Let Right Be Done: Aboriginal Title, the Calder Case, and the Future of Indigenous Rights, by Hamar Foster, Heather Raven and Jeremy Webber, eds. Vancouver, UBC Press, 2007. Law and Politics Review 18, 7, 2008, p.574-578.
Murdocca, C., Review of Challenging Diversity: Rethinking Equality and the Value of Difference, Davina Cooper (London: Cambridge University Press, 2004) Resources for Feminist Research, 2007, p.1021-1022.
Murdocca, C., Review of Rethinking Law, Society and Governance: Foucault’s Bequest. George Pavlich and Gary Wickham (eds.). Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 2003, http://www.ccja-acjp.ca/en/cjcr38.html
Murdocca, C., Review of Multicultural States: Rethinking Difference and Identity in Fuse, 23, 2 (2000), p.47-48.
Murdocca, C. “Understanding Gladue from the Perspective of Indigenous People.” Criminal
Law Quarterly 69, 3 (2021), p.377-401.
Murdocca, C. and Kwak, Laura J., “Introduction” Oñati Socio-legal Series Special Issue: Governing the Political: Law and the Politics of Resistance 10, 6 (2020), p.1075-1081.
Murdocca, C. “Let’s help our own:” Humanitarian compassion as racial governance in settler colonialism." Oñati Socio-legal Series 10, 6 (2020), p.1270-1288.
Murdocca, C. “Re-Imagining ‘Serving Time’ in Indigenous communities,” Canadian Journal of Women and the Law 32, 1 (2020), p.31-60.
Murdocca, C. “Ethics of Accountability: Gladue, racial carceral violence and the limits of reparative justice” Canadian Journal of Women and the Law 30, 2 (2018), p.522-542.
Murdocca, C. and G. Mahrouse and L. Thielen-Wilson, eds. “Introduction: Race, Gender and Law” Canadian Journal of Women and the Law 30, 8 (2018), i-viii.
Murdocca, C. “Visual Legalities of Race and Reparations,” Canadian Journal of Law and Society 29, 2 (2014), p.219-234.
Murdocca, C. “Persistence and Memorialization: Self-Harm and Suicide in Reparation Politics in Canada,” Australian Feminist Law Journal 38, 2 (2013), p. 93-107.
Murdocca, C. “‘A Matter of Time and a Matter of Place’: Colonial Inquiries and the Politics of Testimony,” Law, Culture and the Humanities (2013), p.1-23.
Murdocca, C. “‘There is Something in that Water:’ Race, Nationalism and Legal Violence,” Law and Social Inquiry 35, 2 (2010): 369-402.
Murdocca, C. “From Incarceration to Restoration: National Responsibility, Gender and the Production of Difference,” Social and Legal Studies 18, 1 (2009): 23-45.
Murdocca, C., “The Racial Profile: Governing Race through Knowledge Production,” Canadian Journal of Law and Society 19, 1 (2004): 153-167.
Murdocca, C., “When Ebola Came to Canada: Race and the Making of the Respectable Body,” Atlantis: A Women’s Studies Journal, 27, 2 (2003): 24-31.
Murdocca, C. and L. Kwak, eds. Governing the Political: Law and the Politics of Resistance. Special Issue, Oñati Socio-Legal Series Journal 10, 6 (2020).
Murdocca, C., G. Mahrouse and L. Thielen-Wilson, eds. Race, Gender and Law: Special Journal Issue, Canadian Journal of Women and the Law 30, 8 (2018).
Current Courses
| Term | Course Number | Section | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall/Winter 2025 | AP/SOCI3450 6.0 | A | The Sociology of Race and Racism | LECT |
Dr. Carmela Murdocca is a Full Professor and York Research Chair in Reparative and Racial Justice. She holds graduate appointments in Sociology, Socio-Legal Studies, and Social and Political Thought. She was a Fulbright Scholar at Columbia University Law School’s Center for the Study of Law and Culture and has served as a Visiting Fellow at Columbia University’s Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race. She is a Senior Fellow at Massey College, University of Toronto.
Professor Murdocca’s research examines the relationship between racism and the law with a particular focus on the social and legal politics of repair, redress, and reparations. Her scholarship traces how socio-legal regimes both sanction violence and harm and define the conditions under which violence is recognized, addressed, or left unremedied. Her book, To Right Historical Wrongs: Race, Gender, and Sentencing in Canada, explores how restorative and reconciliatory reforms often reshape, rather than eliminate, ongoing racial and gendered violence within liberal legal systems.
Her research has been recognized with the York University President’s Research Impact Award, a Dean’s Award for Social Justice Research, and a Law Commission of Canada Award for law reform research. Her teaching and mentorship have been recognized with the Geoffrey Marshall Mentoring Award from the Northeastern Association of Graduate Schools and the York University Faculty of Graduate Studies Teaching Award.
Professor Murdocca collaborates with lawyers, legal advocacy organizations, and Indigenous organizations on research and law and policy reform and has appeared as an expert witness in significant legal cases addressing racism and the law. She convenes the Collaborative for Racial Justice, a research forum that supports critical reflection and dialogue on racial justice and the ethical challenges involved in responding to enduring forms of racial violence.
All Publications
Murdocca, C. “Law’s racial memory” A. Crosby and H. Evans (Eds). Memorializing violence:
Transnational feminist reflections. Rutgers University Press, 2025, p.29-42.
Murdocca, C. “You’re reminded of who you are in Canada, real quick:” Racial gendered violence and the politics of redress.” Vicki Chartrand and Josephine Savarese, eds. Unsettling Colonialism in the Canadian Criminal Justice System: A Reader. Athabasca: Athabasca University Press, 2024, p.107-128.
Murdocca, C., Vadasaria, S., Bryan, T. “Race and Colonialism in Socio-Legal Studies in Canada.” Violence, Imagination, and Resistance: Socio-Legal Interrogations of Power. Mariful Alam, Pat Dwyer, Katrin Roots, James Williams, eds. Athabasca: Athabasca University Press, 2023, p.35-58.
Murdocca, C. “Race, Indigeneity and Feminism.” In Feminist Issues: Race, Class, Sexuality. 6th edition, Nancy Mandel, Jennifer Johnson, eds. Toronto: Nelson, 2016, p.35-61.
Murdocca, C. “Racialization, Criminalization, Representation.” Murdocca C. with D. Brock, A. Glasbeek, eds. Criminalization, Representation, Regulation University of Toronto Press, 2014, p.107-132.
Murdocca, C. “Michel Foucault: Theories and Method.” Murdocca C. with D. Brock, A. Glasbeek , eds. Criminalization, Representation, Regulation. University of Toronto Press, 2014, p.5-28.
Murdocca, C., “Pursuing National Responsibility in a post-9/11 World: Seeking Asylum in Canada for Gender Persecution” Not Born A Refugee Woman: Contesting Identities, Rethinking Practices, Maroussia Hajdukowski-Ahmed, Nazilla Khanlou and Helene Moussa, eds. Oxford and New York: Berghahn Books and Refugee and Forced Migration Studies, 2008, 254-263.
Murdocca, C. “National Responsibility and Systemic Racism in Criminal Sentencing: The Case of R. v. Hamilton.” The Place of Justice, Nicholas Blomley and Sean Robertson, eds. Vancouver: Fernwood Publishing, 2006, 67-94.
Murdocca, C. “Her Home.ca: Feminist Postings Online.” Turbo Chicks: Talking Young Feminism, Lisa Bryn Rundle, Lara Karain, eds. Toronto: Sumach Press, 2001, p.213-220.
Murdocca, C., Review of Let Right Be Done: Aboriginal Title, the Calder Case, and the Future of Indigenous Rights, by Hamar Foster, Heather Raven and Jeremy Webber, eds. Vancouver, UBC Press, 2007. Law and Politics Review 18, 7, 2008, p.574-578.
Murdocca, C., Review of Challenging Diversity: Rethinking Equality and the Value of Difference, Davina Cooper (London: Cambridge University Press, 2004) Resources for Feminist Research, 2007, p.1021-1022.
Murdocca, C., Review of Rethinking Law, Society and Governance: Foucault’s Bequest. George Pavlich and Gary Wickham (eds.). Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 2003, http://www.ccja-acjp.ca/en/cjcr38.html
Murdocca, C., Review of Multicultural States: Rethinking Difference and Identity in Fuse, 23, 2 (2000), p.47-48.
Brock, D., Glasbeek, A., Murdocca, C., eds. Criminalization, Representation, Regulation. University of Toronto Press, 2014.
Murdocca, C. To Right Historical Wrongs: Race, Gender, and Sentencing in Canada. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2013.
Murdocca, C. “Understanding Gladue from the Perspective of Indigenous People.” Criminal
Law Quarterly 69, 3 (2021), p.377-401.
Murdocca, C. and Kwak, Laura J., “Introduction” Oñati Socio-legal Series Special Issue: Governing the Political: Law and the Politics of Resistance 10, 6 (2020), p.1075-1081.
Murdocca, C. “Let’s help our own:” Humanitarian compassion as racial governance in settler colonialism." Oñati Socio-legal Series 10, 6 (2020), p.1270-1288.
Murdocca, C. “Re-Imagining ‘Serving Time’ in Indigenous communities,” Canadian Journal of Women and the Law 32, 1 (2020), p.31-60.
Murdocca, C. “Ethics of Accountability: Gladue, racial carceral violence and the limits of reparative justice” Canadian Journal of Women and the Law 30, 2 (2018), p.522-542.
Murdocca, C. and G. Mahrouse and L. Thielen-Wilson, eds. “Introduction: Race, Gender and Law” Canadian Journal of Women and the Law 30, 8 (2018), i-viii.
Murdocca, C. “Visual Legalities of Race and Reparations,” Canadian Journal of Law and Society 29, 2 (2014), p.219-234.
Murdocca, C. “Persistence and Memorialization: Self-Harm and Suicide in Reparation Politics in Canada,” Australian Feminist Law Journal 38, 2 (2013), p. 93-107.
Murdocca, C. “‘A Matter of Time and a Matter of Place’: Colonial Inquiries and the Politics of Testimony,” Law, Culture and the Humanities (2013), p.1-23.
Murdocca, C. “‘There is Something in that Water:’ Race, Nationalism and Legal Violence,” Law and Social Inquiry 35, 2 (2010): 369-402.
Murdocca, C. “From Incarceration to Restoration: National Responsibility, Gender and the Production of Difference,” Social and Legal Studies 18, 1 (2009): 23-45.
Murdocca, C., “The Racial Profile: Governing Race through Knowledge Production,” Canadian Journal of Law and Society 19, 1 (2004): 153-167.
Murdocca, C., “When Ebola Came to Canada: Race and the Making of the Respectable Body,” Atlantis: A Women’s Studies Journal, 27, 2 (2003): 24-31.
Murdocca, C. and L. Kwak, eds. Governing the Political: Law and the Politics of Resistance. Special Issue, Oñati Socio-Legal Series Journal 10, 6 (2020).
Murdocca, C., G. Mahrouse and L. Thielen-Wilson, eds. Race, Gender and Law: Special Journal Issue, Canadian Journal of Women and the Law 30, 8 (2018).
Current Courses
| Term | Course Number | Section | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall/Winter 2025 | AP/SOCI3450 6.0 | A | The Sociology of Race and Racism | LECT |
