Medical Power and Social Knowledge

Bryan S. Turner is Professor of Sociology in the Asian Research Institute (ARI) at the National University of Singapore. Previously he was Professor of Sociology in the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Cambridge from 1998-2005. His research interests include globalization and religion, concentrating on such issues as religious conflict and the modern state, religious authority and electronic information, religious, consumerism and youth cultures, human rights and religion, the human body, medical change, and religious cosmologies. He is Joint Chief Editor of the journal Citizenship Studies and serves on the editorial boards of several prestigious journals.

`Turner′s intelligible and readable style and his broad grasp of social theory and history make this volume an interesting blend of historical particularities and specific cross-national examples. It is a work that is both entertaining, informative and accessible to sociologists and students′ - Medical Sociology News`Symbolises the maturation of the sociology of health and illness.... In sum, both students and scholars alike would profit from thinking through the issues, criticisms and directions raised in this book for it will force them to argue from a more historically sensitive and theoretically sound position. The book is at its best in being challenging and thought provoking. Whether or not readers always agree with the argument or criticism, they are required to intellectually engage and question their own work. For these reasons, the book will initiate fruitful discourse′ - SociologyReviews of the first edition:`Bryan Turner has built on his previous work on the sociology of the body to expand, redefine, and evaluate critically medical sociology, producing a broad interdisciplinary synthesis of approaches to health, illness and the medical professions.... the comprehensiveness, originality and critical force of this survey of medical sociology are admirable′ - American Journal of Sociology`This is a superb textbook. The material on history and the interactional aspects of illness is outstanding... because of its logic and clarity... should be required reading for all medical schools′ - The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease`This book can be recommended as the best brief introduction to medical sociology′ - Medical History

• PART ONE: INTRODUCTIONMedical SociologyReligion and MedicineFrom Sin to SicknessPART TWO: CONCEPTS OF DISEASE AND SICKNESSOn Being SickMadness and Psychiatry - Colin SamsonWomen′s ComplaintsPatriarchy and IllnessAging, Dying and DeathPART THREE: SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF MEDICAL POWERProfessions, Knowledge and PowerMedical BureaucraciesThe Hospital, the Clinic and Modern SocietyCapitalism, Class and IllnessComparative Health SystemsThe Globalization of Medical PowerPART FOUR: CONCLUSIONThe Regulation of BodiesRisk Society and the New Regime of DiseaseThe Expanding Field of the Sociology of the Body