Advance Australia ... Where?In Advance Australia Where? Hugh Mackay, our most highly respected social researcher, takes a long hard look at our society in the 21st century. While we enjoy unprecedented levels of prosperity and the promise of more to come, we are still battling an epidemic of anxiety and depression, taking on record levels of debt, and yearning for a deeper sense of meaning in our lives. While many Australians complain about feeling powerless and isolated, Mackay sees some encouraging signs that we are learning how to absorb the impact of the revolutionary changes in our way of life. This fully updated edition examines Australia in the wake of the federal election of 2007, and explores the issues that are now confronting us. |
Contents
Project Australia A work in progress | 2 |
We havent got everything right yet | 20 |
Kaleidoscope Nation | 28 |
Ambiguity The gender revolution | 29 |
Uncertainty The workplace revolution | 70 |
Paradox The IT revolution | 117 |
Diversity The identity revolution | 164 |
Snapshots from the family album | 193 |
Yearning for magic simplicities | 322 |
The inward journey | 333 |
A dream of the community | 341 |
Is the Dreamy Period coming to an end? | 350 |
Reengagement or euphoria? | 360 |
We need to talk about | 393 |
Global warming Are we serious about renewable energy? | 394 |
Politics Can we improve the system? | 401 |
The relationships era Reinventing marriage and divorce | 194 |
Formula One prams Wheeling out our smallestever generation | 220 |
The mystery of the shrinking household | 252 |
The Dreamy Period | 285 |
Turning away from The Big Picture | 286 |
The quest for the perfect bathroom tile | 315 |
The Monarchy Arent we over it yet? | 407 |
Public education Do we really believe in it? | 412 |
Poverty A fact of life or a problem to be solved? | 421 |
Arts funding Are we missing a golden opportunity? | 429 |
What can an individual do? | 435 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
2007 federal election Aboriginal attitudes baby become birthrate Bloke Brendan Nelson couples create culture divorce Dreamy Period economic election emotional employees especially federal feel flexibility gender revolution global warming going happen herd Howard Hugh Mackay idea identity increase Indigenous Australians Ipsos Mackay Report Iraq issues John Howard Kevin Rudd kids kind Labor less liberation lives lone householders look male marriage married ment metrosexual Mind & Mood mobile phone mothers multiculturalism Muslims organisations parents partly partner Paul Keating percent of Australian perhaps Peter Costello political prime minister private schools problem question relationship religious renovations response seems sense simply social society spend Sydney Morning Herald symbol talk there’s things tion today’s tralian values voters women wonder workforce workplace