Alexandra Howson – författare

In everyday life we are not, for the most part, actively conscious of our bodies or the bodies of others – we simply take them for granted. This new edition of a lively introduction to the sociology of the body examines what certain aspects of our bodies, such as the size, shape, smell and demeanour, reveal about the social organization of everyday life and how the body is crucial to the way we engage with the world and the people around us.

The human body is endowed with varied forms of social significance which sociology has addressed by asking questions such as: To what degree do individuals have control over their own bodies? What interest does the state have in regulating the human body? How significant is the body to the development and performance of the self in everyday life? What images of the body influence people’s expectations of themselves and others? Written in a clear and comprehensible way, The Body in Society introduces students to the key conceptual frameworks that help us to understand the social significance of the human body. This second edition has been thoroughly updated to take into account recent theories and debates and also includes enhanced pedagogical features. Using familiar examples from everyday life, such as diet and exercise regimes, personal hygiene, dress, displays of emotion, and control over bodily functions, coupled with examples from popular culture, the text has strong contemporary relevance and will strike a chord with all who read it.

This book will be essential reading for students taking courses on the body in sociology, anthropology, gender studies and cultural studies.

Previously, sociologists have attempted to gender the body and feminists have attempted to embody gender but Alexandra Howson's accessible new text draws these two literatures together, pointing to ways of integrating feminist perspectives on the body into sociological theory.

Surveying all the key concepts in the field, this book introduces us to an extensive range of 'narratives of embodiment' and presents a full analysis of the most important texts in new feminist theories of the body.

Key questions covered include:

oWhat can sociology say about the body?

oWhat impact has the body made on sociology?

oWhat conceptual frameworks are used to address the body? How do these relate to issues of gender and embodied experience?

oHow do feminist conceptual tools sit within sociological analysis?

Written in a clear, accessible style, Embodying Gender is an invaluable text for undergraduate students, postgraduates and academics in the fields of women's and gender studies and sociology, and is particularly relevant to those specialising in sociology of the body, feminist theory and social theory.

There is currently a lively debate ongoing in society about the nature of trust and the conditions necessary to establish and sustain it. Given the role of trust in bridging uncertainty, it is perhaps not surprising that as our consciousness of risk has increased, the role and nature of trust in social practices has come under growing scrutiny. These developments are particularly relevant to health because participation in health practices is arguably based on and engendered through trust. There is thus a need for empirically based research, which intelligently unravels this complexity to support all stakeholders in the health arena. This multidisciplinary volume of work addresses this gap by contributing substantively to the exploration of trust in the experience, practice and organization of health. It offers an overview of recent scholarship, based on empirical research, which explores the significance of trust in relation to key health-related issues. At the same time, this text examines conceptual themes in relation to trust more generally, including the relationship between trust and auditing, consent, expert knowledges and social capital.

There is currently a lively debate ongoing in society about the nature of trust and the conditions necessary to establish and sustain it. Given the role of trust in bridging uncertainty, it is perhaps not surprising that as our consciousness of risk has increased, the role and nature of trust in social practices has come under growing scrutiny. These developments are particularly relevant to health because participation in health practices is arguably based on and engendered through trust. There is thus a need for empirically based research, which intelligently unravels this complexity to support all stakeholders in the health arena. This multidisciplinary volume of work addresses this gap by contributing substantively to the exploration of trust in the experience, practice and organization of health. It offers an overview of recent scholarship, based on empirical research, which explores the significance of trust in relation to key health-related issues. At the same time, this text examines conceptual themes in relation to trust more generally, including the relationship between trust and auditing, consent, expert knowledges and social capital.

Previously, sociologists have attempted to gender the body and feminists have attempted to embody gender but Alexandra Howson′s accessible new text draws these two literatures together, pointing to ways of integrating feminist perspectives on the body into sociological theory.

Surveying all the key concepts in the field, this book introduces us to an extensive range of ′narratives of embodiment′ and presents a full analysis of the most important texts in new feminist theories of the body.

Key questions covered include:

oWhat can sociology say about the body?

oWhat impact has the body made on sociology?

oWhat conceptual frameworks are used to address the body? How do these relate to issues of gender and embodied experience?

oHow do feminist conceptual tools sit within sociological analysis?

Written in a clear, accessible style, Embodying Gender is an invaluable text for undergraduate students, postgraduates and academics in the fields of women′s and gender studies and sociology, and is particularly relevant to those specialising in sociology of the body, feminist theory and social theory.