ABSTRACT
Many of the chapters in this book argue that Australian governmental policy over the last decade has neglected a systematic analysis of the intersections of class, gender, race and state power in the reconfiguration of education systems. A key aspect of such an analysis is an understanding of the strategic role of policy discourse in the playing out of such power. This chapter is about the discourses of current policy on Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal education. It is a study in the politics of representation, of how discourses and institutional practices construct and position groups and communities within the polity, and it is an exploration of the significant material, economic and cultural effects of such policies.
