Introduction to Australian society a sociological perspective

Edgar, Donald Ernest1980

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Summary

Designed as an introductory text, the book will attempt to show the relationship between life concerns (as shown in culture) and life chances (as shown in social structure) within the Australian context. The emphasis throughout will be upon observing and explaining social behaviour as an ongoing exchange between relatively fixed power bases and emergent pressures for change from new resources and interpretations of reality. Social structure is presented as the social distribution of life chances through the pattern of existing resources, the key institutions and groups which limit social interaction and the organization of life stages. Culture is presented as the means by which the social structure is reproduced, the patterning of central life concerns through traditions, rituals, socialization in the family, school, work and media. The central problem is seen as that of legitimacy and conflict over access to and use of valued social resources, with the study of deviance, conformity and social change giving a basis for understanding social theory as a search for meaning and control.