Focusing on the city of Armidale during the period 1830 to 1930, this book investigates the relationship between the development of capitalism in a particular region (New England, Australia) and the expression of ideology within architectural style. The author analyzes how style encodes meaning and how it relates to the social contexts and relationships within capitalism, which in turn are related to the construction of ideology over time.

1. Introduction.- 2. An Anatomy of Ideology.- What Is Ideology?.- What Does Ideology Do?.- Ideology and the Construction of Social Identity.- Ideology, Social Identity, and Style.- Style and the Semiotics of Social Identity.- 3. An Introduction to Armidale.- A History of Armidale and New England.- Colonial Armidale.- Ideology.- Discussion.- 4. Materials and Methods.- Selection of Place.- Selection of Structures.- Selection of Variables.- Variables Relating to Social Context.- Variables Relating to Style.- Variables Relating to Geographical Context.- Variables Relating to Use.- Data Collection.- Location of Structures.- Analysis.- Biases in the Database.- Limitations of the Study.- 5. The Semiotics of Social Position.- The Contexts of Production for Style in Armidale.- Discussion.- 6. Relations of Meaning and Relations of Membership.- Creating Social Identity.- Discussion.- 7. Style in Space.- The Contexts of Interpretation for Style in Armidale.- The Space of Style.- The Power of Style.- 8. Styles of Ideology.- Ideology from Artifacts.- Ideology and Public Identity.- The Material Constraints to Studying Ideology.- Discussion.- 9. Investments of Meaning.- Context and Identity.- Stylishness.- Directions of Emulation.- Dominant Ideology.- Scales of Ideology.- Persistence.- The Commodification of Heritage.- A Historical Archaeology of Ideology.- Appendix: List of Structures.- References.