Baptiste Brossard – författare

Why does an estimated 5% of the general population intentionally and repeatedly hurt themselves? What are the reasons certain people resort to self-injury as a way to manage their daily lives? In Why Do We Hurt Ourselves, sociologist Baptiste Brossard draws on a five-year survey of self-injurers and suggests that the answers can be traced to social, more than personal, causes. Self-injury is not a matter of disturbed individuals resorting to hurting themselves in the face of individual weaknesses and difficulties. Rather, self-injury is the reaction of individuals to the tensions that compose, day after day, the tumultuousness of their social life and position. Self-harm is a practice that people use to self-control and maintain order—to calm down, or to avoid "going haywire" or "breaking everything." More broadly, through this research Brossard works to develop a perspective on the contemporary social world at large, exploring quests for self-control in modern Western societies.

Why does an estimated 5% of the general population intentionally and repeatedly hurt themselves? What are the reasons certain people resort to self-injury as a way to manage their daily lives? In Why Do We Hurt Ourselves, sociologist Baptiste Brossard draws on a five-year survey of self-injurers and suggests that the answers can be traced to social, more than personal, causes. Self-injury is not a matter of disturbed individuals resorting to hurting themselves in the face of individual weaknesses and difficulties. Rather, self-injury is the reaction of individuals to the tensions that compose, day after day, the tumultuousness of their social life and position. Self-harm is a practice that people use to self-control and maintain order—to calm down, or to avoid "going haywire" or "breaking everything." More broadly, through this research Brossard works to develop a perspective on the contemporary social world at large, exploring quests for self-control in modern Western societies.

Alzheimer's disease has not only profound medical consequences for the individual experiencing it but a life-changing impact on those around them. From the moment a person is suspected to be suffering from Alzheimer's or another form of dementia, the interactions they encounter progressively change. Forgetting Items focuses on that social experience of Alzheimer's, delineating the ways disease symptoms manifest and are understood through the interactions between patients and the people around them. Mapping out those interactions takes readers through the offices of geriatricians, into patients' narratives and interviews with caregivers, down the corridors of nursing homes, and into the discourses shaping public policies and media coverage. Revealing the everyday experience of Alzheimer's helps us better understand the depth of its impact and points us toward more knowledgeable, holistic ways to help treat the disease.

Alzheimer's disease has not only profound medical consequences for the individual experiencing it but a life-changing impact on those around them. From the moment a person is suspected to be suffering from Alzheimer's or another form of dementia, the interactions they encounter progressively change. Forgetting Items focuses on that social experience of Alzheimer's, delineating the ways disease symptoms manifest and are understood through the interactions between patients and the people around them. Mapping out those interactions takes readers through the offices of geriatricians, into patients' narratives and interviews with caregivers, down the corridors of nursing homes, and into the discourses shaping public policies and media coverage. Revealing the everyday experience of Alzheimer's helps us better understand the depth of its impact and points us toward more knowledgeable, holistic ways to help treat the disease.

This book explores the contemporary relevance of Charles H. Cooley’s thought, bringing together scholars from the US, Europe and Australia to reflect on Cooley’s theory and legacy. Offering an up-to-date analysis of Cooley’s reception in the history of the social sciences, an examination of epistemological and methodological advances on his work, critical assessments and novel articulations of his major ideas, and a consideration of new directions in scholarship that draws on Cooley’s thought, Updating Charles H. Cooley will appeal to sociologists with interests in social theory, interactionism, the history of sociology, social psychology, and the sociology of emotions.

This book explores the contemporary relevance of Charles H. Cooley’s thought, bringing together scholars from the US, Europe and Australia to reflect on Cooley’s theory and legacy. Offering an up-to-date analysis of Cooley’s reception in the history of the social sciences, an examination of epistemological and methodological advances on his work, critical assessments and novel articulations of his major ideas, and a consideration of new directions in scholarship that draws on Cooley’s thought, Updating Charles H. Cooley will appeal to sociologists with interests in social theory, interactionism, the history of sociology, social psychology, and the sociology of emotions.

In recent decades, trauma has become an organizing principle of western cultures – one of the most powerful frameworks through which individuals make sense of suffering. But what exactly is 'trauma'? And how does it shape social life?This book develops a sociological theory of trauma as both lived experience and cultural category. From the micro-politics of flashbacks to global psychiatric discourses, from the biographical disruptions of violence to the historical legacies of war, it traces how traumatic experiences surface in everyday gestures, spread across interactions, reshape lives and haunt human collectives, to become a generative social process. At the heart of this approach is the concept of the traumatic imagination: a shared disposition to experience the present through the imprint of painful pasts. Brossard explains that this imagination configures how individuals come to live with, through and against their memory, and how societies mourn, cope and control.Ultimately, Trauma in Social Life calls for a renewed task for the social sciences: to treat mental health not merely as a clinical object or a cultural construct, but as a site of political reflexivity and subversion.

In recent decades, trauma has become an organizing principle of western cultures – one of the most powerful frameworks through which individuals make sense of suffering. But what exactly is 'trauma'? And how does it shape social life?This book develops a sociological theory of trauma as both lived experience and cultural category. From the micro-politics of flashbacks to global psychiatric discourses, from the biographical disruptions of violence to the historical legacies of war, it traces how traumatic experiences surface in everyday gestures, spread across interactions, reshape lives and haunt human collectives, to become a generative social process. At the heart of this approach is the concept of the traumatic imagination: a shared disposition to experience the present through the imprint of painful pasts. Brossard explains that this imagination configures how individuals come to live with, through and against their memory, and how societies mourn, cope and control.Ultimately, Trauma in Social Life calls for a renewed task for the social sciences: to treat mental health not merely as a clinical object or a cultural construct, but as a site of political reflexivity and subversion.

How can sociology explain the emergence of mental disorders in societies or individuals? This authoritative book makes a case for the renewal of the sociology of mental illness, proposing a reorganisation of this field around four areas: social stratification, stress, labelling and culture. Drawing on case studies from a range of global contexts, the book argues that current research focuses on identifying ‘social factors’, leaving the question of causality to psychiatry, while significant critical perspectives remain untapped. The result is an unprecedented resource that maps the current state of sociology of mental health, providing an invigorating manifesto for its future.