?I found this volume extremely motivating. The broad scope for embodying sociology is well represented through the range of contributions, and the vast possibilities for future work in this area are highlighted.? (
Medical Sociology , July 2008)
1. Sociology and the Body: Classical Traditions and New Agendas: Chris Shilling (University of Portsmouth).
2. Culture, Technologies and Bodies: the Technological Utopia of Living Forever: Bryan S. Turner (Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore).
3. Somatic Elements in Social Conflict: Donald N. Levine (The University of Chicago, USA).
4. Reclaiming Women s Bodies: Colonialist trope or critical epistemology?: Kathy Davis (Utrecht University, The Netherlands).
5. Fieldwork Embodied: Judith Okely (Hull University and Oxford University).
6. Researching Embodiment By Way of Body Techniques : Nick Crossley (University of Manchester).
7. Breathing Like A Soldier: Culture Incarnate: Brian Lande (University of California–Berkeley, USA).
8. Listening to the Dancer s Body: Anna Aalten (University of Amsterdam).
9. Embodied Knowledge in Glassblowing: The Experience of Meaning and the Struggle Towards Proficiency: Erin O Connor (New School for Social Research, New York City, USA).
10. Vulnerable/Dangerous Bodies? The Trials and Tribulations of Sleep: Simon J. Williams (University of Warwick).
Notes on Contributors.
Name Index.
Subject Index.
Chris Shilling is Professor of Sociology at the University of Portsmouth. He has written extensively on the subject of embodiment, and on sociological and social theory, and his publications include
The Body in Culture, Technology & Society (2005),
The Body in Social Theory (2nd edition, 2003),
The Sociological Ambition (co–authored with P.A. Mellor), and
Re–forming the Body (co–authored with P.A. Mellor). He is currently writing a monograph entitled
Changing Bodies and is coordinator of the International Body Pedagagics Project.
Reflecting developments in consumer culture, medical technology, identity politics, ecological awareness, genetic engineering and bio–politics, the body has become one of the fastest growing, most influential, and most contested subjects in the social sciences and humanities.
Comprising cutting edge contributions from Europe, America and Asia, this collection brings together a series of theoretical, methodological and empirical analyses by leading international exponents of body studies and a new generation of scholars concerned with exploring the structural, interactional and phenomenological features of human embodiment.
Connecting the concerns of classical sociologists to new advances in social theory, anthropology, feminism and social research – and introducing for the first time the study of body pedagogics – this volume takes the sociological study of the body in an exciting new direction and opens up new horizons for the sociological imagination.