Feminism's fandango with the state revisited: reflections on Australia, feminism, education and change

This is a revised version of a paper presented to the American Educational Research Association conference, San Diego, April 1998 as part of a symposium on Feminisms Up from Down Under.This article reflects on the achievements, involvements and complexities of feminism's involvement in education change in Australia over the past quarter century. In doing so, it continues a discussion about feminist theory and its relationship to politics and contexts. The article argues that this has been a period in which feminism has made a considerable impact on education, but that these achievements and even the growing wealth of experiences and sophistication of those working for such change have led to a more murky situation. The argument attempts to account for the particular form of Australian feminist work (theorizing as well as other practices) and to identify some of its consequences today.199