Inequality in Australia

Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Contents......Page 7
Tables......Page 11
Figures......Page 12
Acknowledgements......Page 13
1 Introduction......Page 15
Why a new look at inequality?......Page 16
The importance of the social......Page 19
The importance of history......Page 23
Part 1 The Body Society and Inequality......Page 29
2 Inequality and the Sociology of the Body......Page 31
The micro-politics of bodily inequality......Page 33
The basis for a sociology of the body......Page 34
The origins of the sociology of the body: Classical social theory......Page 35
The critique of the idea of nature......Page 36
The body as cultural mirror......Page 40
Social structure, the body and inequality......Page 41
Foucault: The enabling and the constrained body......Page 43
The poststructuralist/postmodern body......Page 46
The decline of industry and the rise of consumption......Page 47
Post-industrial society and new forms of inequality......Page 49
Conclusion......Page 50
3 Sick Bodies and Inequality: Class, Mortality and Morbidity......Page 53
The role of modern medicine......Page 55
Lifestyle, social capital and work......Page 56
Lifestyle......Page 57
Communities and social capital......Page 59
Work and unemployment......Page 63
Unemployment: Does it cause or follow sickness?......Page 64
Australian socioeconomic patterns and health data......Page 65
Conclusion......Page 69
4 Gendered, Aged and Disabled Bodies......Page 72
Gender and health......Page 73
Women, gender and health......Page 74
Men, gender and health......Page 77
The family, the aged and the disabled......Page 79
Age and older women......Page 81
Constructing disabled bodies......Page 82
Structuring new forms of inequality: The increase in ageing bodies......Page 84
Constructing the elderly as sick......Page 85
The ‘increasing’ cost of the elderly......Page 87
Theorising the medicalisation of women and their caring roles......Page 89
Conclusion......Page 90
Part 2 The Self, Society and Understandings of Inequality......Page 93
5 Experiencing the Inequality of Social Resources......Page 95
Davies and Connell......Page 96
Chamberlain and Western......Page 99
McGregor and Peel......Page 103
The place of life chances in approaching inequality......Page 106
Social inequality and life chances......Page 107
The empirical picture of social inequality......Page 109
The changing face of middle Australia......Page 110
Poverty and the world of work......Page 113
Theorising social inequality and life chances......Page 116
Conclusion......Page 118
6 Experiencing the Inequality of Cultural Difference......Page 120
The problem with culture......Page 122
Assumptions surrounding cultural identity......Page 123
A closer look at the role of cultural identity......Page 124
Explaining cultural identity and organisation......Page 125
Multiculturalism as policy......Page 128
Multiculturalism in practice: The empirical picture......Page 135
The social construction of Aboriginality......Page 143
Conclusion......Page 149
7 Experiencing the Inequality of Life Choices......Page 152
The problem with gender......Page 153
Earlier understandings of gender and inequality......Page 156
The empirical reality: Gender and transsexualism......Page 157
The factors influencing ‘doing gender’......Page 159
Physical characteristics......Page 161
The links between gender, sex and sexual orientation......Page 162
Gender socialisation......Page 164
The role of history......Page 165
Conclusion......Page 167
Part 3 Politics, Society and Inequality......Page 171
8 Collective Identity, Politics and the Myth of Egalitarianism......Page 173
The contemporary political relevance of inequality......Page 175
Inequality and national identity......Page 177
The pervasiveness of the myth of egalitarianism......Page 181
The origins of the myth of egalitarianism......Page 183
Challenging the myth of egalitarianism......Page 185
Federation and inequality......Page 188
The growth of the welfare state and the reshaping of equality......Page 191
Transforming the post-Federation egalitarian myth......Page 195
Conclusion......Page 199
9 Citizenship, Nation-Building and Political Struggles for Equality......Page 202
The struggle for equality in the labour market......Page 203
The institutionalisation of Australian class conflict......Page 205
The consolidation of the postwar wage-earners’ welfare state......Page 207
The struggle for gender equality......Page 211
Domesticating gender inequality in Australia......Page 212
From citizen-mother to citizen-worker......Page 218
The struggle for cultural equality......Page 223
Immigration, assimilationism and nation-building......Page 225
Multiculturalism, equality and difference......Page 229
Conclusion......Page 232
10 The Contested Nature of Inequality in Contemporary Australia......Page 236
Unions, the state and inequality......Page 237
Globalisation and inequality......Page 240
The restructuring of work......Page 243
Information and inequality......Page 248
New social movements and new politics......Page 251
New elites and inequality......Page 254
The battle over the meaning of equality......Page 260
Conclusion......Page 267
The holistic approach......Page 270
The domains of inequality......Page 273
The nature of the findings......Page 275
Bibliography......Page 276
Index......Page 306