Overview

How do we know we are ill? Are health, illness and disability universal categories? How important is the body in our understanding of health? These crucial questions are just some of the issues tackled in this comprehensive and insightful new book. Embodying Health Identities offers a fundamental account of the sociology of health, exploring the relationship between health and identity through a focus on embodiment. Bringing together existing literature with new cutting edge theories, the authors investigate the implications of the body on our experiences of health and illness and its role in how health, illness and identity relate to each other. The text begins by outlining the key concepts of health and illness, and then continues with an exploration of the social factors which impact on health and a consideration of the journey of illness, from causation to treatment, across the life course. Throughout the text, theoretical arguments are effectively illustrated with contemporary examples taken from every day life and a diverse range of cultures. Written by two reputed authors in the field, this accessible text offers stimulating and refreshing reading for all students of the sociology and anthropology of health.

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9781403914736

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Reviews

'Any student wanting to get started on health and the body should start here. The text is accessible, relevant and up-to-date and balances anthropological and sociological approaches to this very broad area of study.' - Robin Bunton, Professor of Sociology, University of Teesside.

Author Information

ALLISON JAMES is Professor of Sociology at the University of Sheffield, UK. She is also Director of the Centre for the Social Study of Childhood and has helped pioneer the theoretical and methodological approaches to research with children which are central to the new childhood studies. She is an experienced and well-respected author who has published extensively in the field of Childhood Studies, as well as in medical anthropology and the life course. JENNY HOCKEY is Professor of Sociology at the University of Sheffield, UK. Her current teaching includes the following areas: death and dying; sociology of health, illness and identity; the life course; qualitative research methods.

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