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In this era of reflexive sociology it is commonplace that subjectivity is of great sociological concern, and that the comprehension by social researchers of their own subject position is essential. Still, old habits die hard. Focusing on selected texts in the sociology of the Australian family, this paper traces the effects of failing to focus the sociological gaze on subjectivity and its variation across society. Highlighted are some patterns of analytic misconstruction of subjectivity, especially the substitution of measurement for a theory of practice, and the projection by sociologists of their own class-specific subjectivity onto society at large. Ultimately, this misconstruction turns works like those discussed in this paper into a powerful denial of alternative subjectivities, and a reinforcement of the socially dominant perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper addresses several debates surrounding the reproduction of socio-economic inequality: (i) the persistent inequality thesis, which maintains that despite the increases in educational participation socio-economic inequalities in education have not declined; (ii) the related thesis of maximally maintained inequality, which proposes that socio-economic inequalities decline only when participation levels for the most privileged socio-economic group approach saturation levels; (iii) the meritocracy debate on the importance of ability vis-à-vis socio-economic background and changes in its influence over time; and (iv) the effect of policy changes on socio-economic inequalities in education. These issues are addressed using data from six Australian youth cohorts born between 1961 and the mid-1980s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The connection between class and voting choices has been the subject of controversy in recent years. At one time, most scholars regarded class as the primary basis of political alignments in industrial societies, at least in those not sharply divided by religion or ethnicity. In the 1970s, however, researchers in several countries argued that the connection between class and party was now weakening. Several researchers hold that the political significance of class increases in the early stages of industrialization, but declines in advanced industrial societies. Thus, the leading position of social class was characteristic of a particular stage of society that is now passing. Although this view is widely accepted, it has attracted a number of critics, some argue that political alignments have not actually changed very much in recent years, while others stress the diversity of national experiences. A major reason for the continued disagreement is simply the scarcity of evidence. To measure the association between class and party choice precisely, one must have individual-level data, which are not available for most countries until the 1970s.