ABSTRACT
According to widely shared views, there have been profound discontinuities in the social structures of advanced societies during the last several decades. To mention but a few: the expansion of the service sector, technological advances and trans-national markets have reshaped the occupational structure; women have demanded and gained access to education and careers and have revolutionised the small worlds of families and the large world of demography; the inflow of migrant workers has dissolved local communities and created new ones.
