Suchergebnisse

This article examines the adoption of threshold learning outcomes (TLOs) for academic disciplines in Australia as an example of institutional isomorphism. It is argued that the type of sociology embedded in the TLOs values the sociology of the metropole and that, while the TLOs are broad enough to allow for individual sociology departments to continue to teach their own version of sociology, they further institutionalise the norm that sociology is about metropolitan theory and methods. Nevertheless, these isomorphic processes may serve to positively legitimise and institutionalise sociology, potentially enhancing the discipline's position in higher education.

Using the global tobacco advocacy networks as a case study, this article argues that the Advocacy Coalition Framework (Sabatier and Jenkins‐Smith 1999), which theorises how advocacy coalitions affect policymaking domestically, and Keck and Sikkink's research into transnational advocacy networks (Keck and Sikkink 1998) can provide insights into the mechanisms of how transnational advocacy networks impact both local and intergovernmental policymaking. I argue that by combining aspects of each of these approaches, all sides of a policy situation can be analysed. I contrast these approaches with the epistemic communities approach (Haas 1992), suggesting that, for the tobacco policy system, the epistemic communities approach provides less insight than the other two.

Modern professional sport is a key site of social action. This book focuses on the interactions of sport and society, and engages with the political, policy and organisational aspects of such interactions. With a clever structure that takes in turn issues of process, regulation and culture, this is a unique introduction to the sociology of sport.

This article presents a dramaturgical view of the social integration of minorities. Based on 30 interviews with prominent Australian Muslim leaders, we argue that they explain and approach the problem of social integration largely in presentational terms. As a corollary, their chief collective and political strategy towards social integration is to put forward alternative discourses to counter the dominant anti-Islam discourses. We use Goffman's (1959, 1963) dramaturgical model to analyse their strategies. In a striking difference from dominant narratives that situate Islamic values and western values as incompatible, the analysis we provide shows that Muslim leaders do not see Islamic teachings or texts as a problem for social integration; rather they view the problem as negative media representations and the solution as putting forward alternative images.

This research explores the initiation and progression of new late-life romantic relationships among older Australians (60 years plus). Our research found that older adult romantic relationships were meaningful, important and sexually intimate. However, few led to cohabitation or marriage, with these older adults preferring to date or to maintain separate households (living-apart-together, LAT). In line with Giddens' ideal of 'pure' relationships, our research indicates that older adults are looking for egalitarian relationships based on emotional and sexual equality, albeit not necessarily based on cohabitation or monogamy.

Sport and representations of sport in the media are key sites for political and social struggles around race and nation. In order to explore how meanings of race are constructed in a sporting context, we undertook a discourse analysis of Australian print media coverage of two incidents of alleged racial vilification in sport. In one, Australian cricketer Darren Lehmann was suspended for racially vilifying the Sri Lankan team. In the other, Pakistani cricketer Rashid Latif was accused of racially vilifying an Australian cricketer. Our research suggests the following: first, there was strong condemnation of racial vilification; second, despite this, print media representations reflect a white versus black divide in world cricket; third, a Lehmann as victim/reverse racism theme emerged. We conclude that race is being mobilized as a potent but contested symbol of both inclusion and exclusion within Australia.

'Australian Media and the Politics of Belonging' addresses key topical themes and concerns in contemporary Australia, which will be of interest to both students and researchers concerned with developing a greater understanding of issues of belonging, and to a broader and general readership concerned with engaging with this key area of national and international interest.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore how highly skilled migrants to Australia integrate into the workplace, focussing on the factors that foster or hinder that integration.Design/methodology/approachAn inductive method using an interpretive methodological approach was employed. In-depth interview data were analysed thematically.FindingsInformal workplace practices, such as informal peer mentoring and having an "empathetic" supervisor, also assisted with integration, as did migrant self-help strategies. Factors hindering integration included structural barriers outside the organisation and workplace factors such as racism, cultural barriers and individual factors that centred on the migrants themselves.Research limitations/implicationsWhile the exploratory qualitative enquiry sheds light on issues of concern regarding workplace integration of skilled migrants, further studies with diverse migrant groups would be required to understand if the findings could be replicated. An industry or sector-wise migrant study would shed more light on the issues.Practical implicationsFostering and hindering factors identified through the lens of four workplace integration theories can inform workplace integration strategies and related policy formulation.Originality/valueInformed by four theories of integration, the findings shed light on the everyday workplace experiences of linguistically competent, self-initiated, highly skilled migrants from diverse ethnic/cultural backgrounds in Australian workplaces in a range of industries. While previous research has identified problems experienced by migrants at work, this paper explores factors fostering and hindering workplace integration through the lens of the lived experiences of skilled migrant workers.

AbstractThis article reviews recent research on the relationship between sport and social inequalities, focusing on gender, race, nation and social mobility. Through an engagement with these areas of research, we highlight how sport reflects and reinforces broader hierarchical structures; how it serves as a site for both inclusion and exclusion, but in ways that work unevenly; and how sport is ultimately a site for social reproduction of hierarchy and social stratification. We argue that the gender, racial and national hierarchies that sport is embedded within interact to largely prevent sport from being a site for social mobility, despite popular myths to the contrary.

Existing research suggests that media representations influence how migrants experience rights in terms both of how they are viewed by other members of society, and the degree to which they feel empowered to exercise their right to communicate. A critical element of this process concerns the ways in which migrants are represented in the media. To engage with this issue, and related debates around race and multiculturalism, this paper asks: how does the Australian print media represent Sudanese people? To answer this question we conducted a content analysis of articles from The Australian, The Age, and the Herald Sun. 207 articles were collected from 1 September 2007 through 30 April 2008, the eight months surrounding the 2007 Australian federal election. A quantitative content analysis of the articles uncovered four themes: difficulties in Sudan; violence; human interest/new beginnings; and nationhood. Combined, we argue that these themes tend to reproduce and reinforce notions of a White Australian "we" and a non-White "other". While media representations of Sudanese people are not overtly racist, by locating them within a few critical areas of human experience, a particular image emerges which raises critical questions around belonging and inclusion. Our research also shows the importance of locating everyday media coverage within broader analytic frameworks which understand race, multiculturalism, migration and media as social, political and historical processes.