THE IMAGINED COMMUNITY OF ACCESS AND EQUITY

Access and Equity programs are framed within the discourse of citizens hip and organised around the notion of individual rights. This marks a shift in orientation away from the individual liberation strategies o f the 1960s and 1970s, which utilised the notion of 'community' as the major site of struggle. Nevertheless, Access and Equity programs must engage with the multiple and contradictory meanings that were infused into the notion of community during these earlier struggles. They mus t also engage with the 'communities' that were politically constituted during this era and utilise the community-based services that are now a fundamental part of the welfare system. It is argued that governmen ts are able to utilise this legacy to resolve the contradictions inher ent in Access and Equity programs, in particular the tension between ' sameness' and 'difference', universal citizenship and substantive equa lity. As this tension become more acute with government stringency mea sures, the limitations of reform strategies based on the notion of cit izenship become more apparent.