Key Concepts In Body And Society

"This is a very useful book outlining the key concepts of the body in society. It is easy to read and provides useful examples, making it ideal for students across a range of social science disciplines." - Dr Sharron Hinchliff, Sheffield University "Cregan has achieved something distinct: an account of the sociology of the body which incorporates both theory and empirical studies, which demonstrates excellent coverage of an ever expanding field, and which is written in an accessible style... An intelligent treatment and account of the sociology of the body, which I look forward to incorporating into my teaching." - Dr Rob Meadows, University of Surrey "This book is a great idea. It provides a thorough, accessible and interesting introduction to the most important concepts in the sociology of the body. Students new to this area will find it invaluable." - Professor Deborah Lupton, University of Sydney This book provides a clear, focused road map to the study of the body in society. It defines, explains and applies core topics relating to the human body demonstrating how we approach it as a social phenomenon. Each concept: Includes an easy to understand definition Provides real-world examples Gives suggestions for further reading Is carefully cross-referenced to other related concepts. Written to meet the needs of the modern student, this book offers the basic materials, tools and guidance needed study and write about the body.

This book provides a clear, focused road map to the study of the body in society. It defines, explains and applies core topics relating to the human body demonstrating how we approach it as a social phenomenon.

"This is a very useful book outlining the key concepts of the body in society. It is easy to read and provides useful examples, making it ideal for students across a range of social science disciplines." - Dr Sharron Hinchliff, Sheffield University "Cregan has achieved something distinct: an account of the sociology of the body which incorporates both theory and empirical studies, which demonstrates excellent coverage of an ever expanding field, and which is written in an accessible style... An intelligent treatment and account of the sociology of the body, which I look forward to incorporating into my teaching." - Dr Rob Meadows, University of Surrey "This book is a great idea. It provides a thorough, accessible and interesting introduction to the most important concepts in the sociology of the body. Students new to this area will find it invaluable." - Professor Deborah Lupton, University of Sydney This book provides a clear, focused road map to the study of the body in society. It defines, explains and applies core topics relating to the human body demonstrating how we approach it as a social phenomenon. Each concept: Includes an easy to understand definition Provides real-world examples Gives suggestions for further reading Is carefully cross-referenced to other related concepts. Written to meet the needs of the modern student, this book offers the basic materials, tools and guidance needed study and write about the body.

Thoroughly updated and revised throughout with brand new chapters on affective bodies, indeterminate bodies, assemblaged bodies and a new conclusion, and featuring essay and classroom questions for classroom use, The Body: Key Concepts, Second Edition, presents a concise and up-to-date introduction to, and analysis of, the complex and influential debates around the body in contemporary culture. Lisa Blackman outlines and illuminates those debates which have made the body central to current interdisciplinary thinking across the arts, humanities and sciences. Since body studies hit the mainstream, it has grown in new regions, including China, and moved in new directions to question what counts as a body and what it means to have and be a body in different contexts, milieu and settings. Lisa Blackman guides the reader through socio-cultural questions around representation, performance, class, race, gender, disability and sexuality to examine how current thinking about the body has developed and been transformed. Blackman engages with classic anthropological scholarship from Nancy Scheper-Hughes and Margaret Lock, revisits black feminist writings from the 1980s, as well as engaging with recent debates, thought and theorists who are inventing new concepts, methods and ways of apprehending embodiment which challenge binary and dualistic categories. It provides an overview of the proliferation of body studies into other disciplines, including media and cultural studies, philosophy, gender studies and anthropology, as well as mapping the future of body studies at the intersections of body and affect studies.

"This truly deserves to be considered a classic and I strongly encourage my students to read it from cover to cover. Turner′s work on the body needs to be considered in its own right within courses on the sociology of the body." - Dr Robert Meadows, Surrey University "Remains the foundational text for courses in the sociology of the body, replete with insights and a depth of analysis that has largely inspired an entire new area of studies across the social sciences." - Dr Michael Drake, Hull University "This is THE contemporary text for both academics and students exploring the sociology of the body." - Jessica Clark, University Campus Suffolk This is a fully revised edition of a book that may fairly claim to have re-opened the sociology of the body as a legitimate area of enquiry. Providing an unparalleled guide to all aspects of the subject, each chapter has been revised and updated while the book contains new material that reflects both recent changes in the field and Turner′s developing position on the centrality of vulnerability. Assured and innovative, this book provides the most authoritative statement of work on the sociology of the body by one of the leading writers in the field.

Where are we at with studies of Body & Society? What are the key accomplishments in the field? This book provides the clearest and most comprehensive account of work in this area to date. Based on a novel theory of action it surveys the terrain by arguing that human identity, social relationships and moral figurations develop as a result of people living in and seeking to reach beyond the limits of their bodily being. From this starting point the author undertakes a series of studies on sport, transgenderism, migration, illness, survival and belief which illuminate the relationship between bodily change and action. The book provides an unrivalled survey of theory and empirical research and explores the hitherto neglected tradition of American ′body studies′. Wide in scope, systematic and incisive the book represents a landmark addition to the field of studies in body and society.

"Through a provocative analysis, this book contextualizes, explicates and critically analyses the work of those key theorists and texts that have been most influential in refocusing our gaze on human embodiment. Upon this foundation, the author builds her own distinctive theoretical framework towards the analysis of embodiment. This is a valuable addition to the field of body studies." - Chris Shilling, University of Kent Over the last 20 years, the social sciences have witnessed a remarkable inter-disciplinary surge of interest in the body. The latter is now recognized as a core concept and is the subject of intensive study at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. But how can we map this work? What are the contributions and differences of the various approaches? This lucid and authoritative text: Provides a critical evaluation of the work of Elias, Aries, Foucault, Bourdieu, Mary Douglas, Kristeva, Butler, Haraway and Bordo. Guides the reader through the inter-disciplinary influence of these ideas. Gives a clear and compelling analysis of the significance of the ′turn′ towards the body. Explains the complex way in which embodiment is formed across different social formations. Clearly organized and powerfully expressed the book provides the best available guide to the ′turn to the body′ in the social sciences.

Praise for the First Edition: `Essential to any collection of work on the body, health and illness, or social theory' - Choice `Sophisticated ... and acutely perceptive of the importance of the complex dialectic between social institutions, culture and biological conditions' - Times Higher Education Supplement `Chris Shilling has done us all a splendid service in bringing together and illustrating the tremendous diversity and richness of sociological thinking on the topic of human embodiment and its implications' - Sociological Review This updated edition of the bestselling text retains all the strengths of the first edition. Chris Shilling: provides a critical survey of the field; demonstrates how developments in diet, sexuality, reproductive technology, genetic engineering and sports science have made the body a site for social alternatives and individual choices; and elucidates the practical uses of theory in striking and accessible ways. In addition, new, original material: explores the latest feminist, phenomenological and action-oriented approaches to the body; examines the latest work on `body projects' and the relationship between the body and self-identity; and outlines a compelling theoretical framework that provides a radical basis for the consolidation of body studies.