Jason L. Powell is divisional head of social sciences at University of Central Lancashire.John Martyn Chamberlain is a lecturer in criminology and social policy at Loughborough University.

Social Welfare, Aging and Social Theory provides a significant critique of dominant theories in social gerontology. It covers a wide range of theoretical perspectives whilst offering a coherent perspective based around Foucauldian ideas. The links drawn between theory and practice are especially welcome and should ensure a wide readership.

• Chapter 1: The Relationship of Social Theory and Aging: A Critical ExegesisPart I. Modern Constructions of AgingChapter 2: From Galen to the Clinic: the Birth of BiomedicineChapter 3: Occidental Modernity, the Biomedical Gaze, and AgingChapter 4: Theorizing Aging: Critical Explorations of Modernist Sociological ApproachesPart II. Postmodern Deconstructions of AgingChapter 5: Postmodernism, Culture, and the Aging BodyChapter 6: The "Foucault Effect" and Aging: Relations of Power, Surveillance and GovernmentalityChapter 7: Aging in the "Risk Society"Chapter 8: Narrative and AgingChapter 9: Reconstructions of Aging: The Case of Global AgingChapter 10: Conclusion: Reconstructions of Aging

Jason L. Powell is divisional head of social sciences at University of Central Lancashire.John Martyn Chamberlain is a lecturer in criminology and social policy at Loughborough University.

Social Welfare, Aging and Social Theory provides a significant critique of dominant theories in social gerontology. It covers a wide range of theoretical perspectives whilst offering a coherent perspective based around Foucauldian ideas. The links drawn between theory and practice are especially welcome and should ensure a wide readership.

• Chapter 1: The Relationship of Social Theory and Aging: A Critical ExegesisPart I. Modern Constructions of AgingChapter 2: From Galen to the Clinic: the Birth of BiomedicineChapter 3: Occidental Modernity, the Biomedical Gaze, and AgingChapter 4: Theorizing Aging: Critical Explorations of Modernist Sociological ApproachesPart II. Postmodern Deconstructions of AgingChapter 5: Postmodernism, Culture, and the Aging BodyChapter 6: The "Foucault Effect" and Aging: Relations of Power, Surveillance and GovernmentalityChapter 7: Aging in the "Risk Society"Chapter 8: Narrative and AgingChapter 9: Reconstructions of Aging: The Case of Global AgingChapter 10: Conclusion: Reconstructions of Aging