Handbook

Australian culture tends to downplay the relevance, or even existence, of social class. Yet, class and global capitalism influence all aspects of our social world from everyday injustices to popular uprisings and climate change. This subject examines different ways of thinking about class and how it shapes personal identities, lived realities, communities, whole societies and the planet. Historical and contemporary examples of class formations, inequalities, power and conflict in Australian and international contexts will be explored. By learning how class is a major force of social change and resistance in a capitalist-dominated world, this subject empowers students to recognise and become social change agents.