Evidence and Perceptions of Inequality in Australia

Following the increasing impact of globalising economic forces world wide Australia, like many other liberal democracies, moved to adopt neoliberal economic policies with an emphasis on increasing deregulation of economic markets. The economic changes instituted since the 1980s have fundamentally restructured the economy and created a more flexible labour market. Jobs growth has been concentrated in industries that rely heavily on casual and part-time workers. Consequently, the proportion of all jobs that are permanent and full-time has declined. In this paper, we are interested in how these changes have affected the level of income and wealth inequality within Australian society. Although there is a general agreement amongst researchers that there has not been a significant increase in inequality in regard to either income or wealth between the 1980s and the 2000s, some researchers argue that earnings inequality has increased. There is also evidence of a mismatch between objective measures of inequality and the perceptions of the Australian people, with a significant majority of respondents in a national survey conducted in 2005 believing that Australia had become a more divided and less fair society since the 1980s. The present paper examines these disparities and attempts to account for them.Social inequality, neoliberalism, attitudes

The Authorship of Places: Reflections on Fieldwork in South Africa

A social geographer takes a reflective view from afar of troubled South Africa, where he did intensive fieldwork. Issues of personal, academic, and social responsibility, plus those of the philosophy of social science, arise

Measuring Community Strength and Social Capital

In 2001/02 five case study communities in both metropolitan and regional urban locations in Australia were chosen as test sites to develop measures of community strength on four domains: natural capital; produced economic capital; human capital; and social and institutional capital. Secondary data sources were used to develop measures on the first three domains. For the fourth domain?social and institutional capital?primary data collection was undertaken through sample surveys of households. A structured approach was devised. This involved developing a survey instrument using scaled items relating to four elements: formal norms; informal norms; formal structures; and informal structures?which embrace the concepts of trust, reciprocity, bonds, bridges, links and networks in the interaction of individuals with their community inherent in the notion social capital. Exploratory principal components analysis was used to identify factors that measure those aspects of social and institutional capital, with confirmatory analysis conducted using Cronbach?s Alpha. This enabled the construction of four primary scales and 15 sub-scales as a tool for measuring social and institutional capital. Further analyses reveals that two measures?anomie and perceived quality of life and wellbeing?relate to certain primary scales of social capital.

Deriving Spatial Metropolitan Wide Patterns of Quality of Life Dimensions From Survey Data: the Case of the Brisbane-South East Queensland Region in Australia

Quality of life studies typically focus either on aggregate measures of QOL variables using secondary data sources for aggregated spatial units or on primary data collected through sample surveys whereby individuals provide subjective assessments of QOL dimensions. This paper uses sample survey data collected in a 2003 survey of QOL using a spatially stratified sample design across the Brisbane-South East Queensland (SEQ) region, Australia's fastest growing metropolitan region in the 'sun belt'. Multi-variate statistical modelling and GIS-based spatial modelling techniques are used to derive summary masures of QOL dimensions from the survey data and to then produce estimated spatial patterns of QOL dimensions across the residential neighbourhoods comprising the SEQ region

Review of L' Afrique du Sud

This admirable handbook does and does not do what it sets out to do. What it does do well and reliably, without raising its voice, is to provide excellent up-to-date information on contemporary South Africa. What it does not do - or should I say, falls short of doing - is, as would seem to be promised by the back cover blurb of this contributor to the “Idées Reçues” series, to interrogate a number of possibly misleading conventional wisdoms, such as "Nelson Mandela est un héros." ( So one exp..

Letter from Hannah Hall to Dan Tompkins

When Hannah Hall wrote this letter, prohibition was still officially in effect; the 18th amendment would not be repealed until December 1933. However, on March 20th, Congress passed the Cullen-Harrison Act, which legalized the sale of 3.2 percent beer and wine in any state whose legislature permitted it.On April 5 that year, the NC House of Representatives voted to permit the sale of beer and wine starting May 1st, which Dan Tompkins announced that day in the Jackson County Journal. The beer bill received overwhelming support: “75 for the and 27 against.” However, among the dissent was Dan Tompkins, along with the representatives from other mountain counties, Yancey, Buncombe, Haywood and Macon.Additionally, Tompkins pressed for an amendment to the bill, which would revoke “licenses… where the sellers of beer engage in bootlegging,” as well as ban the sale of alcohol in the proximity of churches and schools, and ban its sale on Sundays. The House of Representatives supported Tompkins’ amendment as a regulatory measure, providing some parameters many believed the bill lacked. As Tompkins writes, “The bill would have possibly have received more votes than it did, had the regulatory amendments been adopted. Some representatives state that they would have voted for it if it had been in proper shape.” By his vote against the bill and his proposed regulatory amendment, Tompkins made a name for himself as a supporter of temperance.By May 2nd, ads for beer began showing up in the Ruralite, the newspaper Tompkins edited. In response to these ads, Mrs. Hannah Hall, a supporter of temperance, writes to Tompkins, praising him for his legislative opposition in April and to express her fervent displeasure at the spread of alcohol in Sylva. And though she could have railed against Tompkins for publishing the ads, Mrs. Hall seems warmly supportive of him.This letter is housed in the Special Collections department of the Hunter Library at Western Carolina University

Letter to Florence (Mrs. James Y.) Paris from “Hallie”

This is a simple postcard, addressed to “Mrs. James Y. Paris,” in the care of Dan Tompkins, written by someone named “Hallie.” The identity of Hallie is unknown, but she listed her return address as a postbox at Duke University. Mrs. James Y. Paris is Florence Paris (1871-1954), wife of James Paris, a farmer in Sylva with whom she had many children. Records show Florence’s last name spelled both “Paris” and “Parris” but the other biographic information is identical.Presumably, Paris was staying with Tompkins at the time, but it is unclear why. Census records from 1940 show that Dan had more than just himself and his wife Emily in the house; he also had his mother, Annie Tompkins, 21-year-old Marjorie Grindstaff, and Addie and Sadie Luck (70 and 62). Evidently, Dan was in the practice of letting women stay at his house. So, perhaps it was under similar circumstances that Florence Paris was staying with him.This letter is housed in the Special Collections department of the Hunter Library at Western Carolina University

Components influencing craving in substance use disorders

Previous research has established craving as a significant element in models of Substance Use Disorders (SUD). Craving is a new criterion for SUD in the most recent Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Illness (DSM-5) and is also considered a predictor of relapse post-treatment. Moreover, research indicates that stress, negative emotional states, and symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can influence craving, suggesting that affective states are key to the treatment and relapse risk of individuals with SUD. In fact, recent research suggests that these affective elements may share a common core which influences craving and subsequent relapse. This study introduces a new measure which attempts to isolate that common core, and aims to explore the interplay among stress, negative emotionality, PTSD symptoms, and craving in a clinical sample comprised of adults with SUDs. Findings may aid in conceptualization and treatment (including relapse prevention) for this population

Primary objects

We construct our environments and experiences through a continuous acquisition and collection of objects. However these objects make their way into our lives, we adapt in relation to them. There are objects and environments that we interact with more often than others, because they serve functions integral to our lives. My thesis focuses on an examination of the relationships we form and experiences we have with and in relation to these objects and environments