Understanding Post-War British Society (Hardcover)

This textbook brings together the perspectives of a group of sociologists and social historians to understand the shaping of British society. The premise of the book is that these two approaches are complementary and mutually enriching. To understand how society operates it is necessary to explore not only its constituent structures and relationships, but also how these structures emerge and why changes occur within them. The book critically appraises the usefulness of current theories in advancing our understanding of contemporary society, and explores British society as dynamic and developing. In the process the authors appreciate and draw our attention to the fact that society is shaped not just by social policy and structures, but by how far these shape people's life-patterns, attitudes, experience and conduct.