1. ‘State’ is used here in the critical theory sense of ‘the central institutionalisation of social power’ which regulates relations between people ‘by policy and policing’ (Franzway and others, 1989: 52). More specifically, the term is used in the Marxist sense of ‘the political means by which the political needs of the economically powerful classes (are) met’ (Curthoys, 1988: 36). The position adopted here seeks to avoid the functionalist and determinist difficulties of older Marxist theories of the state by focusing on the ideological and legitimising role of the state, and in particular the way the state constitutes (i.e. establishes or enacts) the very categories (such as education) through which social life is defined (Franzway and others, 1989: 52). S. Franzway,Staking a Claim: Feminism, bureaucracy and the state, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, 1989; A. Curthoys, ‘Concepts in social theory’, in: G. Kress (Ed.),Communication and Culture: An Introduction, Sydney: New South Wales University Press, 1988.
2. ACTU/TDC (1987).Australia Reconstructed, Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service
3. Adams, Frank (1975).Unearthing Seeds of Fire. The Idea of Highlander, Winston-Salem: John Blair
4. Adams, Frank (1988). ‘Worker Ownership: An opportunity to control the production of knowledge’, in T. Lovett (ed),Radical Approaches to Adult Education: A Reader, Routledge, pp 263–280