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Reimagining Class in Australia

Marxism, Populism and Social Science

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  • © 2017

Overview

Authors:
  1. Henry Paternoster

    1. La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia

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  • Offers a new critique and appraisal of the successes and failures of Marxist class analysis of Australia during the 1980s

  • Considers how contemporary Australian society can be understood from a historical perspective as shaped by class analysis

  • Engages with works by Raewyn Connell and Terence Irving, Andrew Wells, and Andrew Metcalfe

  • Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

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Table of contents (9 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xi
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Introduction: Why Class?

    • Henry Paternoster
    Pages 1-20

  3. Imagining Class in Australian History

    • Henry Paternoster
    Pages 21-65

  4. The New Left and Marxism

    • Henry Paternoster
    Pages 67-96

  5. Connell and Irving’s Class Structure in Australian History

    • Henry Paternoster
    Pages 97-139

  6. Wells’ Constructing Capitalism and Political Economy

    • Henry Paternoster
    Pages 141-178

  7. Andrew Metcalfe and Working-Class Consciousness

    • Henry Paternoster
    Pages 179-218

  8. The Death of Class and Its Afterlife

    • Henry Paternoster
    Pages 219-254

  9. Conclusion: Reimagining Class

    • Henry Paternoster
    Pages 255-272

  10. Erratum to: Reimagining Class in Australia

    • Henry Paternoster
    Pages E1-E1

  11. Back Matter

    Pages 273-279
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Keywords

About this book

This book re-evaluates New Left and Marxist texts from the 1980s, in order to explore problems facing the study of ‘class’ which have emerged within Australian and international theories. The author contrasts the popular ideas of Connell, Bourdieu and the ‘Death of Class’ thesis, with those of lesser known texts, concluding that no single definition can account for the various historical meanings of class. Instead, loosely following Castoriadis, the concept of class can best be understood as creatively imagined and institutionalised. Paternoster proposes that class is best studied through historical phenomenology, which can be used to link political economy, cultural sociology and anthropological ethnographies. This approach allows the contributions of Marxist and New Left authors to be reintegrated with contemporary theories. Doing so highlights the significance of labour populism, while cautioning against the ahistorical applications of texts such as Bourdieu’s Distinction.



Reimagining Class in Australia will be of interest to students and scholars across a range of disciplines, including sociology, history, political economy and anthropology.




Authors and Affiliations

  • La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia

    Henry Paternoster

About the author

Henry Paternoster is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Melbourne.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Reimagining Class in Australia

  • Book Subtitle: Marxism, Populism and Social Science

  • Authors: Henry Paternoster

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55450-1

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: Social Sciences, Social Sciences (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-55449-5Published: 02 October 2017

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-85665-0Published: 10 August 2018

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-55450-1Published: 21 September 2017

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XI, 279

  • Topics: Social Structure, Social Inequality, Social Theory, Political Theory

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