Reflexive Embodiment in Contemporary Society: The Body in Late Modern Society - Couverture souple

Crossley, Nick

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0335216978 ISBN 13 : 9780335216970

Editeur : Open University Press, 2006

Synopsis

In this book, Nick Crossley explores the concept of reflexive embodiment – how we, as embodied beings, reflect upon our own embodiment. He considers the ways in which we modify and maintain our bodies, from brushing our teeth and washing our faces through to tattooing and bodybuilding. Some forms of ‘body work’ are demanded by social conventions; others represent legitimate choices, and others still deviate from or resist the norm. He argues that a proper understanding of reflexive embodiment must be alert to these differences, and that we must appreciate that our bodies are not passive or inert substances that we can mould as we like. They change in ways that we do not intend and of which we are not aware, and they may prove difficult to change in the ways we do intend.

Many theorists in sociology offer perspectives on the link between society and body modification, mostly focused in one way or another upon ‘modernity’. Reflexive Embodiment in Contemporary Society reviews this literature, evaluates competing claims and suggests an alternative approach. Nick Crossley contends that existing perspectives are very selective in the range of modification practices they focus upon and in their conception of both modernity and its effects upon the body. While various theories identify clusters of modification practices and link them to aspects of modernity, there has been no systematic attempt to combine these partial accounts into a coherent vision. This book provides such a vision and offers a major contribution to the sociology of the body.

A propos du livre

À propos de l'auteur

Nick Crossley has been involved in this area of research for over ten years and was very much involved in the first large wave of interest in British sociology. He has published one book already in the area (The Social Body, 2001), as well as a string of papers and articles, and is contributing a chapter of 'The Sociology of the Body' to a new international handbook of sociology.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Open University Press
• Date d'édition: 2006
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0335216978
• ISBN 13: 9780335216970
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 172
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible