A prominent feature of the social revolution in France has been the decline of the great national institutions -- the Republic, the Army, the church, and the schools -- which are losing their symbolic value and are no longer the targets of ideological disputes. As a result, there is a growing basic consensus among the French people. At the same time, the French have developed a new interest in managing local problems -- due to the decentralization law -- which has led to the establishment of many voluntary associations. Changes in family life following the "revolution" of 1968 have led to...

The thirty-year period examined was characterized in West Germany by a number of inconsistent trends. While income and consumption levels increased as part of a "silent revolution," poverty also increased, especially during the 1980s. People's lifestyles changed, with less time spent on formal employment and more on household production and recreation. Individualization and pluralization began to dissolve the class structure, and social movements such as feminism and environmentalism gained some influence. Although hostility toward foreigners did not disappear, de facto immigrants were...

The international sociological community has engaged in a controversial discussion on social inequality. This title offers a deed analysis of country-specific research traditions in the fields of class analysis and social stratification, revealing important conceptual differences that have consequences for the diagnoses.

Canadian society has changed dramatically since 1960.This work captures the scope and range of these changes through a systematic documentation of seventy-eight social trends. The introduction summarizes and locates the major waves of change. The authors then document each trend in relation to eighteen thematic groups that include age, community, women, labour, management, stratification, social relations, the state, mobilizing institutions, social forces, ideologies, households, lifestyle, leisure, education, integration, and attitudes and values. In contrast to many recent works and...

The newest volume in the Comparative Charting of Social Change Series, which documents patterns of social change in modernized societies, Recent Social Trends in Russia is a collection of statistical and sociological data on trends in Russian society that have never before been assembled in a comprehensive and systematic manner. It presents an extensive analysis of the major social transformations that took place in Russia both before and after the fall of the Communist system and dispels many illusions about Russian society in the twentieth century. Recent Social Trends in Russia reveals...

Italy remains an enigma for many observers. Recent Social Trends in Italy, 1960-1995, the sixth volume from the international Comparative Charting of Social Change program, provides a new and convincing schema for its comprehension. It shows that three essential institutions have structured and unified Italian society: the family, the church, and political parties. While the state remains a weak institution, it is important as a regulator of the economy and of society through the welfare state. The book, which contains a long introduction by Alberto Martinelli on the uneven modernization of...

Changing Structures of Inequality examines these questions in a new comparative perspective, covering five national societies - Canada, France, Germany, Spain, and the United States. The authors offer a deed analysis of country-specific research traditions in the fields of class analysis and social stratification, revealing important conceptual differences which have consequences for the diagnoses. They present the results of substantial compa-rative studies on different aspects of inequality in developed societies - the inequality of income and wealth; educational inequalities; status...