These essays not only describe the major changes in British society in recent years, but seek to understand and explain what is happening. One of the themes running through this book is that, while there have been rapid changes in overall levels, there have been slower changes in relativities, and this analytical distinction is absolutely fundamental to a proper understanding of contemporary society. The book also 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; and sociologists have long been concerned about the unintended consequences of social action, and in the policy field these are frequent. By highlighting the complexities of the causal mechanisms, sociological research can make a major contribution to policy and public debate.
While these papers do not claim that sociology will provide all the answers, they demonstrate that it has made real progress in understanding the social changes that Britain has experienced in recent decades.
These essays not only describe the major changes in British society in recent years, but seek to understand and explain what is happening. One of the themes running through this book is that, while there have been rapid changes in overall levels, there have been slower changes in relativities, and this analytical distinction is absolutely fundamental to a proper understanding of contemporary society. The book also 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; and sociologists have long been concerned about the unintended consequences of social action, and in the policy field these are frequent. By highlighting the complexities of the causal mechanisms, sociological research can make a major contribution to policy and public debate.
While these papers do not claim that sociology will provide all the answers, they demonstrate that it has made real progress in understanding the social changes that Britain has experienced in recent decades.
Anthony F. Heath, John Ermisch, and Duncan Gallie: Introduction
John Ermisch: The Puzzling Rise in Childbearing Outside
Marriage
Richard Breen: Why Did Class Inequalities in Educational Attainment
Remain Unchanged over Much of the Twentieth Century?
John Gray: Is Failure Inevitable? The Recent Fate of Secondary
School Reforms Intended to Alleviate Social Disadvantage
Paul Edwards: The Puzzle of Work: Insecurity and Stress and
Autonomy and Commitment
Duncan Gallie: Entrapment in Unemployment: Motivational Deficiency
or Structural Constraint?
Heather Joshi: Gender and Pay: Some More Equal than Others
Anthony F. Heath and Soojin Yu: Explaining Ethnic Minority
Disadvantage
Sarah Harper and Peter Laslett: The Puzzle of Retirement and Early
Retirement SARAH HARPER & PETER LASLETT
George W. Brown: The Social Origins of Depression and the Role of
Meaning
Bryan Wilson and Eileen Barker: What are New Religious Movements
Doing in a Secular Society?
Paul Rock: Victims' Rights in England and Wales at the Beginning of
the Twenty-first Century
Anthony F. Heath, Professor of Sociology, Oxford University
John Ermisch, Professor of Sociology, Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Essex
Duncan Gallie, Professor of Sociology, Oxford University
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