Purpose Through a political genealogy, the purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how the institutionalisation of the so-called “secular principle” in NSW state schools in the late-nineteenth century, which is commonly assumed to be a historical moment when religious neutrality was enshrined in public education, was overdetermined by the politics of racialisation and ethno-nationalism. Design/methodology/approach The historiographical method used here is labelled “political genealogy”. This approach foregrounds how every social order and norm is contingent on political struggles that have shaped its form over time. This includes foregrounding the acts of exclusion that constitute any social order and norm. Findings The secular principle institutionalised in the NSW Public Instruction Act of 1880, far from being the “neutral” solution to sectarian conflict, was in fact a product of anti-Catholic sentiment fuelled by the racialisation of Irish Catholicism and ethno-nationalist anxieties about its presence in the colony. Originality/value This paper makes clear that “the secular” in secular schooling is neither a product of historical and moral “progress” from a more “primitive” state to a more progressive one, nor a principle of neutrality that stands outside of particular historical and political relations of power. Thus, it encourages a more pragmatic and supple understanding of “the secular” in education. It also invites both advocates and critics of secular education to adapt their arguments based on changing historical circumstances, and to justify the exclusions that such arguments imply without recourse to transcendent principles.

中文翻译：

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新南威尔士州的世俗主义，种族，宗教和1880年《公共教育法》

目的通过政治家谱，本文的目的是展示十九世纪末新南威尔士州公立学校所谓的“世俗原则”如何制度化，这通常被认为是宗教中立的历史时刻。种族教育和种族民族主义的政治决定了公共教育中所包含的思想。设计/方法/方法这里使用的史学方法被标记为“政治家谱”。这种方法预示了每种社会秩序和规范如何取决于随着时间的推移而形成其形式的政治斗争。这包括突出构成任何社会秩序和规范的排斥行为。发现在1880年的《新南威尔士州公共教育法》中，世俗化的原则得以制度化，实际上，这并非是解决宗派冲突的“中立”解决方案，而是爱尔兰天主教的种族化和民族民族主义对其在该殖民地存在的焦虑推动了反天主教情绪的产物。原创性/价值本文明确指出，世俗教育中的“世俗”既不是历史和道德“从”更原始的状态发展为更进步的状态的产物，也不是中立于特定历史之外的原则和权力的政治关系。因此，它鼓励人们对教育中的“世俗”更加务实和顺从。它还邀请世俗教育的倡导者和批评者根据不断变化的历史情况来调整他们的论点，并为排除这种论点所隐含的理由辩解，而这些论点暗示不诉诸先验原则。