Relegitimating neoliberalism? Performance management and indigenous affairs policy
- UK : Policy Press, july. 2008
Using New Zealand and Australian examples, this article provides evidence that neoliberalism is both coherent and diverse. An analysis of government initiatives focused on 'improving government performance' regarding indigenous outcomes and indigenous 'capacity building' illustrates how 'performance management' has legitimated and extended neoliberalism in both countries. However, instabilities contained within a performance management discourse provide spaces for contestation that may ultimately lead to further reform and reorientation. Furthermore, the particular sociopolitical contexts of each country have ensured that the forms of neoliberalism being embedded in the 21st century are highly complex, indigenised hybrids rather than a one-size-fits-all formula