You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
Do second-generation ethnic minorities, those born and brought up in Britain, increasingly adopt British attitudes, values and ways or life, or do they, as some commentators have claimed, remain isolated from the mainstream? This study maps the extent of generational change among Britain’s ethnic minority population and explores the underlying processes involved. It asks whether generational change has been in the direction of greater integration, or whether some minorities been slower to integrate, perhaps as a result of the prejudice and discrimination from the white British that they have encountered or because of desires to maintain ethnic values and resist Western practices. The study...
A study of what ethnic minorities in Britain think about and how they engage in British politics. It considers the ways in which ethnic minorities resemble or differ from the white British population, and differences between different minority groups.
Britain has become increasingly diverse over the last fifty years and she has been fortunate to attract relatively highly educated immigrants with democratic values and positive perceptions of the British political system. But Britain's ethnic minorities have suffered prejudice, harassment and discrimination, while politicians increasingly argue that they have failed to integrate adequately into British society and accuse them of leading separate lives. In this book we set out to explore the extent and nature of the political rather than the economic integration of Britain's growing ethnic minority population. We consider what ethnic minorities in Britain think about and how they engage in B...
This major new work from the well-known team of Heath, Jowell and Curtice explores the emergence of New Labour from the ruins of old Labour's four successive defeats at the hands of the Conservatives. Based on the authoritative British Election Surveys the book explores some of the key questions about contemporary British elections and the social and political factors that decide their outcomes. The book begins with the electoral legacy of Margaret Thatcher. How far had Margaret Thatcher converted the electorate to her vision of a free-market, low tax society? Did her electoral success prove the popularity of her policies? Does any scope remain in Britain for left-wing policies? The Rise of ...
In his landmark 1942 report on social insurance Sir William Beveridge talked about the 'five giants on the road to reconstruction' — the giants of Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor, and Idleness. Social Progress in Britain investigates how much progress Britain has made in tackling the challenges of material deprivation, ill-health, educational standards, lack of housing, and unemployment in the decades since Beveridge wrote. It also asks how progress in Britain compares with that of peer countries — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Sweden and the USA. Has Britain been slipping behind? What has been the impact of the increased economic inequality which Britain experienced in the 1980s — has rising economic inequality been mirrored by increasing inequalities in other areas of life too? Have there been increasing inequalities of opportunity between social classes, men and women, and different ethnic groups? And what have been the implications for Britain's sense of social cohesion?
These essays not only describe the major changes in British society in recent years, but seek to understand and explain what is happening. While there have been rapid changes in overall levels, there have been slower changes in relativities, and this distinction is fundamental to a proper understanding of contemporary society. The book considers the wide variety of mechanisms that underlie these changes, in particular processes of social interaction. The complex and often ill-understood nature of these mechanisms may be a major reason why so much social reform has proved ineffective. The verdict on social reforms in education, gender inequalities and ethnic inequalities is rather negative; sociologists have been concerned about the unintended consequences of social action.
What is work? Is it simply a burden to be tolerated or something more meaningful to one's sense of identity and self-worth? And why does it matter? In a uniquely thought-provoking book, John W. Budd presents ten historical and contemporary views of work from across the social sciences and humanities. By uncovering the diverse ways in which we conceptualize work—such as a way to serve or care for others, a source of freedom, a source of income, a method of psychological fulfillment, or a social relation shaped by class, gender, race, and power—The Thought of Work reveals the wide-ranging nature of work and establishes its fundamental importance for the human experience. When we work, we e...
Dick Houtman argues that neither authoritarianism nor libertarianism can be explained by class or economic background, but rather by position in the cultural domain-- what he calls cultural capital. Although he examines all of the statistics and arguments of the conventional approaches with care and concern, Houtman convincingly demonstrates that the conclusions drawn from earlier studies are untenable at a more general theoretical level. Despite differences among advocates of class explanations, their theories are based on largely identical research findings--in particular a strong negative relationship between education and authoritarianism. Unobstructed by the conclusions these authors fe...
In many countries, concern about socio-economic inequalities in educational attainment has focused on inequalities in test scores and grades. The presumption has been that the best way to reduce inequalities in educational outcomes is to reduce inequalities in performance. But is this presumption correct? Determined to Succeed? is the first book to offer a comprehensive cross-national examination of the roles of performance and choice in generating inequalities in educational attainment. It combines in-depth studies by country specialists with chapters discussing more general empirical, methodological, and theoretical aspects of educational inequality. The aim is to investigate to what extent inequalities in educational attainment can be attributed to differences in academic performance between socio-economic groups, and to what extent they can be attributed to differences in the choices made by students from these groups. The contributors focus predominantly on inequalities related to parental class and parental education.
This volume reviews the research in the field of school effectiveness and improvement. Many key questions are examined, such as different methods for assessing school effectiveness and variations in examination attainment in schools. It draws together the funding of the programmes of improvement being implemented in schools and provides practical discussion of effective school practice and its direct implications in schools. It is aimed at teachers, student teachers, administrators and advisors. The contributors are: Bill Badger, Louise S. Balkey, Bert P.M. Creemers, Carol T. Fitz-Gibbon, Anthony F. Heath, Daniel V. Levine, Peter Mortimore, Joseph Murphy.