Ulla Gustafsson – författare

This volume brings together contributions that provide a snapshot of current food research. What is Food? acknowledges the many dimensions of food, including its social, cultural, symbolic and sensual qualities, while also being material in that it is fundamental to our survival.The collection addresses contemporary challenges and reflects the concerns of funders and researchers working in the broad field of the sociology of food: dietary health, sustainability, food safety and food poverty. Reflecting broader academic trends, the chapters are moreover concerned with interdisciplinarity, the analysis of change, data reuse and the use of social media as data. The book includes empirical evidence from around the UK, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland and Taiwan and addresses food both as a lens through which to examine these wider social relationships, processes and social change and as a primary subject.The contributions will be of interest to a wide range of students and researchers looking for a cutting-edge insight into how to frame and study food in areas related to the sociology of food, health, risk, poverty, sustainability and research methods.

This book focuses on food policy, and its relationship to public health, as an increasingly important issue in today’s society. Contributors highlight the lack of global regulation in the food supply chain and explore the common tendency to leave regulation to markets and to individual consumer decisions. In a period where there is growing concern about the sustainability of contemporary food systems, this book considers the inadequate response made to issues of food waste where solutions in high income countries are dependent on lifestyle and consumer behaviour. It offers an insight in to the importance of people’s everyday lives in relation to policies on public health, food and sustainability. The text demonstrates the corrosive impact of social inequality, and the futility of identifying lower income consumers as flawed when aiming for food policies that seek to achieve improvements in public health. Factors such as technological developments, ecological concerns and international trade are also taken in to account.This book was originally published as a special issue of Critical Public Health.

The Sociology of Health and Illness Reader brings together some of the best examples of recent sociological studies on health, illness and health care. The volume emphasizes the empirical nature of medical sociology and its relationship with the development of sociological theory. It thus presents an array of substantive topics viewed from a range of contemporary theoretical positions. Reflecting the key areas of medical sociology, the chapters are organized into five sections: ‘Bodies’, ‘Health and Risk’, ‘Experiencing Illness’, ‘Social Patterning of Health and Illness’ and ‘Health Care Work’. Each area is introduced by the editors, who provide an overview of the topic and highlight key developments. Although the chapters cover a wide range of topics, they all deal with issues pertinent to health and illness in the twenty-first century, and draw upon broader sociological debates around notions of risk, reflexivity, flexibility, uncertainty and late modernity. The book includes an extensive introduction that provides the student with an orientation to the field.

The Sociology of Health and Illness Reader brings together some of the best examples of recent sociological studies on health, illness and health care. The volume emphasizes the empirical nature of medical sociology and its relationship with the development of sociological theory. It thus presents an array of substantive topics viewed from a range of contemporary theoretical positions. Reflecting the key areas of medical sociology, the chapters are organized into five sections: ‘Bodies’, ‘Health and Risk’, ‘Experiencing Illness’, ‘Social Patterning of Health and Illness’ and ‘Health Care Work’. Each area is introduced by the editors, who provide an overview of the topic and highlight key developments. Although the chapters cover a wide range of topics, they all deal with issues pertinent to health and illness in the twenty-first century, and draw upon broader sociological debates around notions of risk, reflexivity, flexibility, uncertainty and late modernity. The book includes an extensive introduction that provides the student with an orientation to the field.

This volume brings together contributions that provide a snapshot of current food research. What is Food? acknowledges the many dimensions of food, including its social, cultural, symbolic and sensual qualities, while also being material in that it is fundamental to our survival.The collection addresses contemporary challenges and reflects the concerns of funders and researchers working in the broad field of the sociology of food: dietary health, sustainability, food safety and food poverty. Reflecting broader academic trends, the chapters are moreover concerned with interdisciplinarity, the analysis of change, data reuse and the use of social media as data. The book includes empirical evidence from around the UK, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland and Taiwan and addresses food both as a lens through which to examine these wider social relationships, processes and social change and as a primary subject.The contributions will be of interest to a wide range of students and researchers looking for a cutting-edge insight into how to frame and study food in areas related to the sociology of food, health, risk, poverty, sustainability and research methods.

This book focuses on food policy, and its relationship to public health, as an increasingly important issue in today’s society. Contributors highlight the lack of global regulation in the food supply chain and explore the common tendency to leave regulation to markets and to individual consumer decisions. In a period where there is growing concern about the sustainability of contemporary food systems, this book considers the inadequate response made to issues of food waste where solutions in high income countries are dependent on lifestyle and consumer behaviour. It offers an insight in to the importance of people’s everyday lives in relation to policies on public health, food and sustainability. The text demonstrates the corrosive impact of social inequality, and the futility of identifying lower income consumers as flawed when aiming for food policies that seek to achieve improvements in public health. Factors such as technological developments, ecological concerns and international trade are also taken in to account.This book was originally published as a special issue of Critical Public Health.