Synopses & Reviews
There has been a notable upsurge of interest in the body in empirical and theoretical study and debate. Contributions to this book move these debates forward by considering a range of bodies as active in their own construction in social and economic processes. The authors consider the body as a site of agency, resistance, and compromise and reflect upon the reluctance of sociology to engage with the body and notions of embodiment.
About the Author
Nick Watson is Lecturer in Medical Sociology, Department of Nursing Studies, and
Sarah Cunningham-Burley is Senior Lecturer in Medical Sociology, Department of Community Health Sciences, both at the University of Edinburgh.
Table of Contents
Part I: Theoretical Reframings of the Body * Bodies, Intellectuals and World Society--R.W. Connell * Strong Worlds, Strong Minds, Strong Bodies: An Analysis of the Narrative Structure of Affirmatory Metaphors in Personal Development Programs--Ron Iphofen * The Body and Society: Some Reflections of the Concepts of Impairment and Disability--Carol Thomas * The Body in Death--Elizabeth Hallam, Jenny Hockey & Glennys Howarth *
Part II: Institutions and Fashion at Work on the Body * Incorporating Clinical Authority: A New Test For People with HIV--Kane Race * Vampires and the Gendered Body--Milly Williamson * Constructing the Balletic Body: The "Look", The Sylph, and the Performance of Gender Identity--Keryn Lavinia Carter *
Part III: Bodies at the Gym * The Bodybuilding Ethnophysiology Thesis--Lee Monaghan * "Be What You Wanna": A Sense of Identity Down at the Local Gym--Lesley Fishwick * Muscling in: Gender and Physicality in Weight Training Culture--Jenny Ryan *
Part IV: Bodies on the Net * Crossing Cyber Boundaries: Where is the Body Located in the Online Community?--Katie Ward * Disembodies Cyber Co-Presence: The Art of Being There While Somewhere Else--G. Coates * Life Around the Screen: Re-Framing Young People's Use of the Internet--Nick Bingham, Gill Valentine & Sarah Holloway