Politics in Place
Social Power Relations in an Australian Country Town

Politics in Place is a community study focusing on political life in a typical Australian agricultural town.

Ian Gray (Author)

9780521404266, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 31 January 1992

228 pages, 7 b/w illus. 1 table
23.6 x 15.9 x 2.3 cm, 0.46 kg

Review of the hardback: '… its careful combination of theoretical and empirical material would make it a useful text for any students and researchers of politics and community in Western societies.' Journal of Rural Studies

Politics in Place focuses on political life in a typical Australian agricultural town. It examines the maintenance of a local political power structures through an analysis of the town's social processes and asociated ideologies. Dr Gray argues that local government does affect people's lives and discusses why it is that some people can use their local political system to their advantage while others remain unempowered. Unlike many earlier studies, Politics in Place does not rely on the identification of an elite group, nor does it merely describe static features of social stratification. Rather, it examines the historically based processes that have created the constraints which limit prospects for local people. The book will be of interest to anyone wishing to gain an insight into the workings of politics at local level.

List of figures, maps
1. Introduction: the origins of a study
2. Power: concepts and applications
3. A history of Cowra
4. Elitism and local government
5. Spatial politics
6. The politics of development
7. Gender, race and human services
8. The making of local politics
9. Ideologies and resources
10. Conclusion: the machinery of power
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
Appendix
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Politics & government [JP]