Suchergebnisse

During the last two decades, there has been a striking and, so far as socio logical theory is concerned, largely unanticipated resurgence of religious fundamentalism and primordial ethnic loyalties across the world. We have witnessed the dissolution of formerly inclusive but ethnically diverse states into ethnically more 'homogeneous' nations, the breakdown of social solidarity due to competing ethnic claims, and a repugnant process called ethnic cleansing. We have also seen the resurgence of religious fundamentalism and, in most industrialised countries, the marginalisation of minority groups from a central social institution (the paid labour market) as a result of high unemployment. The threat, and the reality, of ethnic conflict is now widespread. In culturally diverse countries such as Australia, ethnic diversity is sometimes seen as a threat to national unity. It is therefore important to examine the extent to which Australians today share a common civic culture that binds a culturally diverse citizenry together. This article examines recent data on the sources of national identity, its variation across ethnic sub-groups, and its relation to ethnic prejudice and to views about immigrants and immigration.

Ever since Durkheim's classic study Suicide, sociologists have grappled with the problem of integrating analyses of individual behaviour and the social contexts within which that behaviour occurs. I review some of these issues to show how recent developments in multilevel models provide not only an example of convergence between theory and method but also a partial solution to this long-standing problem. I use Australian data on ethnic marriage patterns to illustrate how relevant features of the group context can be introduced into empirical analyses in order to understand variations in ethnic homogamy between groups and over time.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics recently released a new occupational classification, the Australian Standard Classifi cation of Occupations. Unlike its predecessor, the new classifi cation is skill-based. In this research note, I use a public use sample from the 1986 Census, the ASCO/CCLO link file, and other census data, to explore the structural basis of the two main Australian prestige scales. I also present a new socio- economic status scale, the ANU3 scale, for use with the Aus tralian occupational classification.

To date most studies of social closure in the stratification orders of industrial societies have used as their empirical indicators one or another measure of father-to-son mobility. A complementary insight into such processes is provided by tendencies towards status homogamy. Census data from the 1981 Australian census (the one per cent sample tape) for 4 different cohorts of married couples provide a basis for assessing to what extent there has been any change over time in the stratification of marital choices, as reflected in the school leaving ages and post-school qualifications of spouses. The findings point to no loosening in the bonds of stratification since 1950, although there is some slight evidence of differences among those who married during the 1940s.

The history of Australian education is outlined. Then the pattern of present access to higher education of persons of different social classes is examined by analysis of data from the National Social Science Survey 1984–5. Trends identified include a worsening of the labour market for school leavers, deferring entry to higher education, an increasing population of mature students, and a decrease in the price of non‐government education.

This paper is concerned to illustrate a general theorem, that purely individual rational behaviour can produce aggregate social outcomes consistent with, perhaps even suggestive of, concerted collective action and discrimination. It is a formal, even formalistic, analysis and not the results of any empirical investigation, although these formal models are useful in understanding certain aspects of more complex social pro cesses. To focus the discussion, I draw upon two areas that have in fact been the subject of considerable empirical research: residential segrega tion between racial groups, and gender segregation in the occupational structure. I discuss a restricted class of phenomena, amenable to rational choice theory, to demonstrate how actions which are rational at the in dividual level produce aggregate outcomes far more extreme than anyone intended or desired. A major implication of the analysis is that in order to realise more optimal outcomes the private actions of in dividuals need to brought into harmony through coordinated and col lective action.