Introduction: The Main Themes and the Structure of the Book

Abstract

Sociology has operated in Australia in one form or another for just over 100 years. It can be said to have been a formidable discipline only at some times and only in some places. Fragility is the book’s first theme. The second theme is survival. Fragility, while a handicap, can also be a spur to continued existence. The discipline has shown a remarkable ability to keep going, even when some university authorities and commentators were ready to read it the last rites. The third theme is rivalry. While some rivalry within Australian sociology has proven decidedly unhelpful to the discipline’s long-term survival, other instances of rivalry have actually helped to make it stronger, whereby rivals have ended up co-operating to the benefit of the whole.