The Sociology of the Body
Mapping the Abstraction of Embodiment
- Kate Cregan - Monash University, Australia
Sociology of the Body
- 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.
Interesting text with chapters on: Space and Place: Habitus and Social Control. The Bounded body and Psychoanalysis.
Useful text and very well organised, a great introduction for undergraduate level.
I have adopted this text as recommended reading for my students at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. Theoretical ideas are accessible and carefully presented - a great addition to the literature in this area.
This is a very useful introductory text that will help students understand a range of theoretical approaches to the body. It is compact and clearly written. I would have liked it to flag up more directly which theorists were being addressed in each chapter - names and approaches are embedded in introductory sections, whereas more explicit chapter titles and sub-headings indicating topics would be very useful for readers, especially students.
