Migrant Workers & Ethnic Communities - Their Struggles for Social Justice & Cultural Rights: The Role of Greek-Australians by George Zangalis is now available.
The ACTU President, Sharan Burrow in her foreword described the work as a “unique contribution to Australian history - lens on union and labour history offers a rich understanding of how multiculturalism developed within a working class environment, through our workplaces, ethnic and migrant associations, our inner city schools and, indeed, the influence on public policy”.
Dr Michael Tsounis, the doyen of Greek-Australian historians, in his foreword writes: “This study adds a new chapter in understanding the development of Australia as a multi-ethnic and multicultural society… and the role played by Greek-Australians”. The book has several chapters on the history and role of Ethnic Community Councils, Ethnic Affairs Commissions, Ethnic Affairs Ministries and Departments.
Mary Kalantzis, Dean of the College of Education, Professor of Education, Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Illinois, Urbana, USA.
Joleen Steyn-Kotze, Professor of Political Science, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University; winner of the International Award for Excellence in the area of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences awarded by the International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences.
Thomas Bley, Professor, Design Studies, University of Otago, Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand
Kyrkos Doxiadis, Associate Professor, Social Theory with special reference to Communication; Director, Social Theory and Sociology, Department of Political Science and Public Administration, University of Athens, Athens, Greece
8-11 July 2009
University of Athens, Greece
www.SocialSciencesConference.com
Erika Pearson has an article, All the World Wide Web’s a stage: The performance of identity in online social networks, in the latest issue of the journal First Monday. This is the abstract:
This paper discusses how ideas of performance can be used to conceptualize the play of identity formation on social networking sites (SNS). Linking Goffman’s theories of social performance with Granovetter’s notion of the social tie, this paper will argue that identities on SNS are deliberately constructed performances that straddle the frontstage and the backstage, the public and the private, and in doing so both support and rely upon webs of social connections which engage with fluid or playful identity constructions.
Congratulations to Joleen Steyn-Kotze, the winner of the International Award for Excellence in the area of interdisciplinary social sciences.
Joleen Steyn-Kotze’s paper, An Overdue Appraisal: The Need to Rethink Democracy Theory, can be accessed in the online bookstore: http://iji.cgpublisher.com/product/pub.88/prod.629
Paper abstract: This paper is rooted in democracy and transformative theories as it attempts to identify issues surrounding democracy theory in order to determine whether there is a need to review democracy theory as it stands today. The central purpose of democratic consolidation theory is to determine what will ensure stability and deepening of democracy in emerging democracies. It is widely accepted that democratic consolidation theory centre on conditions that are most conducive to political stability and as such attempt to identify the conditions conducive for political stability. These conditions relate to institutions and regime performance in general. There are however fundamental flaws with democratic consolidation theory. The paper will explore the need to re-evaluate theory in order to obtain a more inclusive interpretation of reality. In essence, theory seems to be missing the point in practice, especially in non-Western contexts.
Migrant Workers & Ethnic Communities - Their Struggles for Social Justice & Cultural Rights: The Role of Greek-Australians by George Zangalis is now available.