MTU Cork Library Catalogue

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The body and social theory / Chris Shilling.

By: Shilling, Chris.
Material type: materialTypeLabelBookSeries: Theory, culture & society.Publisher: London ; Newbury Park, Calif. : Sage Publications, 1993Description: 232 p. ; 23 cm.ISBN: 0803985851; 080398586X (pbk.).Subject(s): Body, Human -- Social aspectsDDC classification: 306.4
Contents:
Introduction -- The body in sociology -- The naturalistic body -- The socially constructed body -- The body and social inequalities -- The body and physical capital -- The civilized body -- The body, self-identity and death -- Concluding comments.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number Copy number Status Date due Barcode Item holds
General Lending MTU Bishopstown Library Lending 306.4 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) 1 Available 00019194
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

This clear, critical analysis of the new sociological literature on the body provides an introduction to the most important traditions of thought which have informed social theories of human embodiment.

Surveying the range of social theories of the body, Chris Shilling offers a comprehensive and innovative assessment of the field. He analyzes naturalistic, social constructionist and feminist theories of the body, appraises the fundamental sociological contributions of Pierre Bourdieu and Norbert Elias, and demonstrates the centrality of the body to the traditional concerns of social theory.

Bibliography: (pages 205-224) and index.

Introduction -- The body in sociology -- The naturalistic body -- The socially constructed body -- The body and social inequalities -- The body and physical capital -- The civilized body -- The body, self-identity and death -- Concluding comments.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

  • Introduction
  • The Body in Sociology
  • The Naturalistic Body
  • The Socially Constructed Body
  • The Body and Social Inequalities
  • The Body and Physical Capital
  • The Civilized Body
  • The Body, Self-Identity and Death
  • Concluding Comments

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Schilling's book provides a comprehensive review of theories of the body and society, with particular attention to naturalistic, social constructionist, and feminist approaches. Among the many goals of this book, one of the most central is to examine the ways in which sociologists and cultural theorists, despite claims to the contrary, have overlooked the body and focused instead on the mind. In effect, many of these writers have ignored the corporeality of human existence. The absence of an adequate theory of the body, then, exists alongside the body's reconceptualization in high modernity, during which time the body has come to be seen as both potentially limitless in its capacity for change and utterly vulnerable because of the current AIDS epidemic. Schilling also examines the means through which the body both contributes to and is constructed by social inequalities; explores the ways in which the body is an ongoing project, formed from both biology and society; and points to the importance of building a theory of death in the modern age. Essential to any collection of work on the body, health and illness, or social theory. Advanced undergraduates and above.

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