'Bryan Turner's bracing The Body & Society is now better than ever. With his characteristic sociological flair, Turner bridges the organic and cultural with his philosophical and theological aspirations: the result is a penetrating analysis of society's blend of bodies - from erotic to famished bodies, labouring to desiring bodies' - Anthony Elliott, Professor of Sociology and Associate Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Flinders University 'Bryan Turner has revolutionized the way in which we think about ourselves and our bodies. This edition ! demonstrates further intellectual growth and development; innovative ideas inform an already classic understanding. The human body is the very material of our lives; this book allows us to deepen our knowledge of the meanings of the body in the twenty-first century and offers a definitive and emancipatory account of the possibilities (both negative and positive) with which we are presented and which we construct for ourselves.' - Mary Evans, London School of Economics This is a fully revised edition of a book that may fairly claim to have re-opened the sociology of the body as a legitimate area of enquiry.
Providing an unparalleled guide to all aspects of the subject, each chapter has been revised and updated while the book contains new material that reflects both recent changes in the field and Turner's developing position on the centrality of vulnerability. Assured and innovative, this book provides the most authoritative statement of work on the sociology of the body by one of the leading writers in the field. Bryan Turner is currently Professor of Sociology at the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore. Praise for the second edition: 'This book provides a stimulating overview of social and sociological thinking, written in a way which helps in reassessing and critically comparing the kinds of accounts they provide of the body and bodily experience! This continues to be a valuable and thought provoking book' - Medical Sociology News 'His analysis remains compelling! the book is interesting, well-written and relevant' - Health