Showing papers on "Contemporary society published in 1978"

Women and Equality.

Abstract: In this short, closely argued volume William Chafe examines the demands, values, and challenges of the modern women's movement in historical context and in comparison with the demands of the movement for racial equality. The problem of both movements is how to achieve equality and change in institutions and in the social and cultural values which sustain them within a society in which "the values of individualism, competition, and material success comprise the credo of a civil religion." He explores the "fundamental incompatibility of the achievement ethic and the social goal of equality" and assesses, in the light of such strong constraints to social change, the likely future of the movement for women's equality. His analysis of the actual changes of contemporary society in regard to the "place" of women and in sex role definitions, personal values, and goals is concise and insightful. His overview of women's history, especially his precise analysis of the modern feminist movement, grounds his argument in solid historical scholarship and is in itself a valuable introduction to the topic for the general reader. Chafe's essential concern, however, is not so much the interpretation of a social movement as the problem of historical theory and methodology. It is a problem which has vexed most historians of women's history and to which only a few have seriously addressed themselves. How to define women as "a separate category within the cultural norms of society" is the basic question. Women have historically lived under a division of labor, in which they were mainly responsible for child-rearing and home-making, and have been subject to discrimination in employment, law, and custom, yet they have not, by and large, consciously referred to themselves as a subordinate group. As Chafe puts it, "the differential experiences of women in material conditions of life, and in group orientation according to class, race, and ethnicity, tend to undercut the definition of women as a homogeneous, self-defined, and coherent group within the

The Victimization of women

Abstract: The contributors to this volume -- practitioners, planners, and policy-oriented professionals -- are all concerned with the ways in which women are collectively and individually abused in contemporary society. Despite an apparent rise in the consciousness of the general public with respect to these crimes, the victims continue to be subjected to a second 'victimization' by the criminal justice system, the community, and sometimes their families, who suggest that the women contributed to their criminal victimization or even 'deserved it'.

Sport and Ideology in Contemporary Society

Abstract: This article investigates the significance of sport as a social phenomenon in con temporary society, and examines the relationship between the value structure of sport and dominant ideological values. The role which sport plays in enculturating dominant values is examined, and cross-cultural analyses concerning the societal functions of sport are presented. Empirical research into the cultural values of sport and an analysis of sports literature suggests that there is an interdependent relation ship between the social institution of sport and the dominant ideology in contempo rary society.

Systematic Nationalism: A Legitimate Strategy for National Selfhood

Abstract: The contemporary Marxists' credo these days is based upon historically incorrect perceptions of American society and consequently affords no historically or experientially derived methods for us. Their belief in the inherent integrity of the working class is contradictory to our history in America. Futhermore, the current critiques of Pan-Africanism and nationalism by black Marxists are simplistic formulas derived from the 1860s. In an attempt to attack African cultural, political, and economic unity at home and abroad they have seriously distorted the political configuration of contemporary society and failed to account for the historically correct analyses of leading national theoreticians. Systematic nationalists as opposed to naive nationalists have always considered Pan-Africanism without socialism to be self-defeating because otherwise the exploitation of the people would simply continue at the hands of black exploiters. Thus, exploitation in any form by any type of economic order is vehemently denounced. What is disturbing, however, is that the Marxists believe that in order to achieve cultural and political solidarity among black people there has to be complete unification of the world's working classes. Not only is this a naive Marxist view, it is a view which has been roundly criticized for its inaccuracies. At least, nationalists have

Writing the History of Australian Women

Abstract: One of the key issues facing students of women's history and politics is the nature of the relationship between sex, class and status in under standing the position of women in contemporary society. Approaches adopted by researchers to the problem include: the analysis of 'women's work' or domestic labour and its role in specifying male-female relation ships; and the study of the origins and nature of sex-segregation in the workforce, in an attempt to understand the nature of the labour process and the foundations of divisions within the working class.2 The sex-class dilemma is also confronting women's movements' strategists in western capitalist societies. Consequently, it has become fashionable to reject, as a guide to theory and practice, the notion of 'sisterhood', the rallying cry of the early second wave feminists, and demand that it be replaced with an holistic analysis of women's oppression.3 This rejection reflects the belief that feminism has reached a cross-roads.

Leisure: a perspective on contemporary society

Abstract: In the field of leisure studies one should be wary of inflexible explanatory theories and excessively narrow approaches to the question. Meaningful analysis of leisure raises serious questions about the social structure as a whole and must face up to some objections as to its own usefulness. A definition of leisure should reflect the many dimensions of the phenomenon. A simple or unitary definition would inadequately reflect both the subjectives perception individuals have of leisure and the relationship between their leisure experience and different contexts. Leisure models are linked to organizational models of work and family life. Leisure planning is closely dependent on the whole of a society's social policies and can be seen either as a means of promoting the general interest, or as a threat to individual liberties.

Documentation and information in the social sciences in Austria

Abstract: ITHERESEARCHINFORMATIONSYSTEMREALISATIONS AND PROJECTSIN AUSTRIA 1 I The demand for information The evolution of society depends on the appropriate structure of society and on the available resources meaning not only food and energy, but also implying the quickest possible access to needed information The human society can be seen as a learning one By making use of guaranteed and fixed knowledge, by utilization of the stored information of the past, new knowledge arises [ 11 Thus, the great importance of the role played by libraries and institutions of documentation and information in fulfilling their task of storing information and making it accessible in order to cope with the growing needs for information of our contemporary society is no longer a question to discuss The aim is to achieve better access to all types of information from the different areas in science, so that existing knowledge and information can contribute to the solution of scientific, technical, economic, social and political problems Furthermore, scientific information helps to avoid wasteful duplication and wrong investment