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This paper reports the arguments used by members of two convict-descendant societies in embracing their convict ancestry. The data are taken from interviews that I conducted in 1999. In the main, respondents were involved in genealogy prior to discovering their or their spouses' convict ancestry. Respondents effectively countered ancestral stigma by making two kinds of argument. In the first, they recast ancestral convicts as: objects of quasi-professional interest; nation-builders; a minority within a multicultural society; collectibles; and embodying 'interesting stories'. The second type of argument forwarded more particularized treatments of convict ancestors by: minimizing the gravity of their offences; temporally distancing descendants from them; empathizing with them; and claiming their redemption. I offer some concluding thoughts on the sociology of memory and the place of genealogical memory workers within the family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unemployment policy is currently informed by notions of labour force flexibility, workfare and mutual obligation. Things have not always been this way. Over this century there have been profound shifts in the way in which unemployment and government responsibilities have been conceptualized. Using the notion of 'welfare rationalities' to guide the discussion, this paper records the nature of these changes. Particular attention is paid to the ways in which economic objectives intersect with the social and moral-behavioural components of unemployment programmes. The changing nature of these factors is traced through three distinct welfare rationalities surrounding un/employment: relief, full employment and mutual obligation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The decline in fertility rates across Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) nations has been the subject of considerable debate over the past decade. The sudden decline in fertility following the post-war baby boom is viewed by some as a return to long-run trends, while others attribute the fall to decline in government financial support for families and changing social attitudes, career and lifestyle aspirations. This article explores a range of attitudes and aspirations reported by a group of childless respondents to the Negotiating the Life Course survey to establish whether these attitudes/aspirations vary with their stated fertility expectations, Using responses to 20 questions that cover gender role attitudes, the importance of children, and career and lifestyle aspirations, we find some significant differences between those who do and those who do not want to have a child. We further investigate respondents' fertility expectations three years on, and find that fertility expectations are not stable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article draws insights from social resource theory and class habitus theory to study friendship choices in urban China. Data are from two surveys conducted in two Chinese cities in 2000 and 2001 respectively. Data analysis shows that cross-status friendships are negatively related to both cadre status and professional status in urban China. However, in-group association is more closely related to instrumentality than to cultural distinction. These findings suggest new interpretations of the effect of social resources and cultural distinction on friendship formation in urban China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Feminists of various kinds – structural, radical, critical, materialist – have repeatedly asserted that marriage benefits men more than women and usually at women's expense. There is now a considerable body of empirical evidence that supports the major thrust of their claims. However, there are feminists adopting a post-structuralist perspective who argue that many accounts of men's dominance are overly deterministic. The argument goes that there is insufficient recognition of change that is already ensuring more rewarding marriages for women much of which is probably due to women's exercise of agency. It is further argued that, in order for women to initiate successful change, it is necessary but not sufficient for them to be aware of inequities and other shortcomings occurring at specific sites in their marriage. In the present study, a sample of 45 wives and 40 husbands were questioned to see if they agreed that men generally benefited the most from marriage, to find out what reasons they offered for their judgements and to establish if women were more conscious than men of the need for specific changes in their own marriages. The possibilities of actors negotiating successfully for specific change in the face of their partner's opposition are also considered. It is argued that women will make only limited gains until men experience a change of heart. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]