This paper attempts to demonstrate the applicability of certain themes
from post-structuralist theory to issues raised try the Mabo judgment
and the subsequent debate over native title. It outlines some common
features of a post-structuralist conception of society, commenting par
ticularly on conceptions of freedom and the shared concern with differ
ence. It then shows how questions of difference and identity raised by
Mabo may be described in post-structuralist terms, and contrasts the
treatment of difference by Derrida and Deleuze from a political point
of view. Finally, the paper suggests ways in which Mabo may be seen as
a significant event, and an exercise of freedom, in Deleuzian terms.