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Although conceptually distinct, ‘time’ and ‘community’ are multiply intertwined within a myriad of key debates in both the social sciences and the humanities. Even so, the role of conceptions of time in social practices of inclusion and exclusion has yet to achieve the prominence of other key analytical categories such as identity and space. This article seeks to contribute to the development of this field by highlighting the importance of thinking time and community together through the lens of political apologies. Often ostensibly offered in order to re-articulate both the constitution of ‘the community’ and its future direction, official apologies are prime examples of deliberate attempts to intervene in shared understandings of political community and its temporality. Offering a detailed case study of one of these apologies, I will focus on Australian debates over the removal of indigenous children from their families, known as the Stolen Generations, and examine the temporal dimensions of the different responses offered by former prime ministers John Howard and Kevin Rudd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Australian cosmopolitan is an important symbolic figure in popular discourse and the political landscape. Regardless of the actual scope and scale of 'cosmopolitanness' in Australia, the spectre of cosmopolitanism, and its close relatives such as tolerance of diversity or openness to difference, is a powerful figure in contemporary culture. The cosmopolitan willingness to accommodate otherness is perceived as a betrayal of Australian culture, yet continuing high levels of immigration from diverse sources demand cosmopolitan tolerance. Sociologists know that cosmopolitan people can accommodate diversity, but how this is achieved is the subject of much theoretical debate. It is reasonable to assume that cosmopolitans conceptualize otherness in ways that reduce or eliminate a sense of threat, but how can we reliably access individual conceptualizations? Informed by a cultural sociology approach, this project utilized the concept of cognitive schemas from psychology, and formal semantics from linguistics, to access cosmopolitan conceptualizations. Analysis of focus group data concluded that cosmopolitan schemas are constructed using a repertoire of strategies which compartmentalize categories of otherness into manageable portions. It is argued that, from the cosmopolitan perspective, Australian cultural integrity remains the intact and dominant host of smaller, harmless or manageable cultural fragments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews three recent books - one Australian, one European and one American - in order to reflect on the current state of play in economic sociology. Economic sociology is a fast-growing field of research in the US, and to a lesser extent in Europe, but it has barely registered in Australia. This is partly a reflection of the fact that economic sociology draws some of its inspiration from `new economy' industries that are weak in Australia. It also reflects the influence of the Marxist tradition in Australia, focusing mainly on the state as a countervailing force to markets. The upshot is that the market is both a constant point of reference in sociological research, but also a `black box' beyond social inquiry. The new economic sociology, in contrast, focuses upon the constitutive role of social institutions in relation to markets. It suggests promising new lines of inquiry in the Australian context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Representations of asylum seekers, commonly referred to as `boat people', became a central issue during the 2001 election campaign amidst claims that Australia was at risk of a flood of refugees. This article explores the intersection between populist politics and media discourse through analysis of media representations of refugees and asylum seekers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sociologists in Australia often talk about a politics of fear, or of moral panic, in order to explain the apparent awkwardness of a situation where leftwing intellectuals cannot come to grips with a rightwing political moment. This article addresses the question of dominant images of Australia through the 20th century as a part of the dominant leftwing historiography, which has now been replaced by a rightwing political narrative. The central theoretical and historical issue here is the problem of populism, and its shift from left to right. This leads to a discussion of the politics of fear and uncertainty, and how to begin to think about them, and to questions of the role of sociologists in all this. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While terrorism has become a major topic of discussion and analysis in the academy and in the policy making of Australian institutions, it rarely affects the everyday life of Australian citizens. Yet for some groups, in terrorem is a way of life - particularly for those whose lives are performed under social and political spotlights. At the core of the limitations imposed on certain groups in Australia is the use of language to police the behaviours of these groups, and to create a social environment that makes hiding one's identity the most effective mechanism to avoid terror. In this article, I analyse the linguistic themes and forms used in hate violence as a way to illustrate the impact of in terrorern on gay men, lesbians and Jews, and suggest alternative means by which to regulate the harm caused by vilification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comparison of social work practice in rural areas of the United States and Australia reflects similar characteristics. Findings add support to the assertion that there are particular qualities to practice in the rural context that are embedded in the subtleties of shaping social work roles to fit into rural culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To mark the 40th anniversary of the Australian Sociological Association (TASA), a survey on the Most Influential Books in Australian Sociology (MIBAS) was conducted. In this article we discuss the MIBAS process, its findings, and provide some reflections on the top 10 most influential books. We also situate the MIBAS survey among other attempts to compile lists of the most influential books in the discipline of sociology, and discuss the benefits and limits of such endeavours. We argue that the MIBAS exercise was useful not only as a commemorative device, but as an opportunity to reflect on the breadth and influence of Australian sociological scholarship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The vote by TASA members on the `Most Influential Book in Australian Sociology' (MIBAS) provides an opportunity to compare quantitative indicators based on citations with the peer review represented by the MIBAS votes. While it is generally agreed that citations are only a partial indicator of such a complex phenomenon as quality, citations are regarded as a reflection of a publication's, author's or research group's `impact' or influence. This assumption is explored by applying several interpretations and operationalizations of the concept of `influence', by discussing their validity, and by comparing the respective citation rankings to the MIBAS poll; The major lessons of the comparison are that citation-based indicators should not be applied in diachronic comparisons, for evaluating publications on nationally specific topics, or in fields in which books are an important part of the research output. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the various aspects associated with sociology. The article author, Stephen Crook, president of The Australian Sociology Association (TASA) addresses the issues of uncertainty, change and future of sociology as curricula in the universities in Australia, in TASA conference of 2000. The concerns are amplified by funding problems, shifts in student enrolment patterns towards safe vocational courses, permanent revolution in organizational structures. Sociology and the other 19th-century projects, which were posthumously enrolled as sociological were born in the attempt to make sense of an emergent industrial, urban, democratic and modern order. Some of the major sites of uncertainty in that order are urban poverty, crime, labor unrest and political conflict. Discussing on the issue of utilitarian culture, Crook views that it is here that the threats to their discipline are at their most visible and connect most plainly with the institutional travails. As a solution to these threats, the article author suggests that the educators on the topic of sociology should accept a secular shift from discipline-based knowledge production, located primarily in universities, to trans-disciplinary productions whose sites are far more widely dispersed.

Since the late 1970s, there has been considerable debate surrounding the question of whether or not exposures to non-ionizing radiation and electric and magnetic fields (EMF), produced by powerlines and electrical and telecommunications technologies, are harmful to health. Whilst there has been some recent evidence of regulatory fatigue, and attempts to enforce closure, the EMF debate nevertheless still continues. This paper will explore the rôle played by competing images of scientific method in the argumentative strategies used by two of the main protagonists in an Australian public inquiry (held in 1990-91) which investigated the EMF issue: 'Inquiry into Community Needs and High Voltage (132kv and above) Transmission Line Development', the so-called Gibbs Inquiry. Apart from documenting some of the epistemologically intricate features of the EMF controversy, the following discussion will also consider the way scientific method discourses can contribute to enhancing the durability of knowledge claims in legal and regulatory settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In social science the 'national' has been studied extensively, but comparatively little attention has been given to the 'un-national'. The article takes up this challenge in an Australian context. Drawing on the work of Raymond Williams, investigation is centred around the keyword 'UnAustralian'. Participants in focus groups were asked to nominate and account for what they thought of as 'UnAustralian' people, places, values, activities, groups and organizations. Analysis of the data revealed that two factors underpinned an attribution: incivility and foreign influence. Contemporary uses revolve around outcomes from globalization and can be contrasted with the centrality of class politics to deployments of the concept in the first part of the 20th century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Australian government has expressed a continuing interest in the assessment of research productivity as a basic element of a 'rationalised' research funding process. Bibliometric analyses are among the techniques that the government uses to evaluate the quality of research performance. Like many other disciplines, sociology is a target of these assessments. This paper presents data to demonstrate how Australian sociology might measure up if subjected to an inquiry using these methods. Data are provided on the standing of Australian sociology internationally and on the research contributions of major Australian universities. Several important methodological issues are reviewed and discussed. It is concluded that Australian sociologists would be well served by becoming active participants in the ongoing national debate over the assessment of research performance and the allocation of funding for tertiary education and science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the Australian humanities and social sciences, the research field of Australian identity has produced a substantial literature. Yet, notwithstanding the impressive array of scholarship on the topic, empirical research and analysis on how contemporary Australians understand and experience Australian identity has existed in a disparate form. Since studies of popular views about Australian identity remain to be integrated, this paper will review social scientific research and analysis in the area for the first time. Three matters will be considered in reviewing these studies. First, I illustrate the contexts in which research on popular views about Australian identity has been conducted. Second, findings from these studies are pooled for the purpose of documenting current empirical knowledge about Australian identity. Third, some problems with existing research are considered and possible directions for future research proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]