- Table View
- List View
Weber and the Persistence of Religion: Social Theory, Capitalism and the Sublime (Routledge Advances in Sociology)
by Joseph W. LoughThere is an increasing interest in religion and belief and the diverse forms these take in the contemporary world. This timely book provides a unique analysis of these issues through a discussion of the work of Marx and Weber. Taking Max Weber’s interpretations of capitalism and religion as its point of departure, Weber and the Persistence of Religion re-examines a wide range of classical and contemporary texts, including Immanuel Kant, Foucault and Jean Baudrillard, to help explain the peculiar character of religion and spirituality in mature capitalist societies. This book shows how the peculiar disembodied character of contemporary spirituality and religion, along with the disenchanted character of public life, may be formally related to the increasingly disembodied, immaterial character of value in capitalist societies. It will be of interest to students and scholars of Social Theory, History, the Sociology of Religion and Philosophy.
Weber and Toennies: Comparative Sociology in Historical Perspective
by Werner J. Cahnman Joseph B. Maier Judith Marcus Zoltán TarrThis collection of selected essays by Werner J. Cahnman brings together out of scattered dispersion his writings about Max Weber, Ferdinand Toennies, and historical sociology. The great theoretical range and depth of his intellect and mastery of sociological thinking is apparent as he discusses the impact of romanticism on modern thought, and how Weber and Toennies both analyzed and reacted to modernity.Cahnman places Weber (1864-1920), the dominant figure in twentieth-century sociology, in the midst of the methodological controversies so characteristic of contemporary social science, and he fully discusses the overarching importance of Weberian ideal-type theory. Although less well-known than Weber, Toennies (1855-1936) was also a sociologist of the first rank. He is best remembered for his enormously influential twin concepts, Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft, which contributed to our understanding of the historical and sociological basis for the change from premodern to modern societies. The essays in this volume establish Toennies' intellectual connections to Karl Marx, Max Weber, Emile Durkheim, and Herbert Spencer, and clarify his influence upon American sociology.Cahnman stood against strict separations between history and sociology, and his essays are all informed by a wonderful admixture of the theoretical and the concrete. They demonstrate how a genuine historical sociology, not unlike that of Weber and Toennies, can find and explain linkages between seemingly disparate events spanning time and place. This volume will be of interest to sociologists, political scientists, and intellectual historians.
Weber, Schumpeter and Modern Capitalism: Towards a General Theory (Routledge Studies in Social and Political Thought)
by John LoveThis book provides the groundwork for a general theory of modern capitalism by reinterpreting Max Weber’s work on the origins and institutional underpinnings of modern capitalism, and Joseph Schumpeter’s thought on the mechanisms and functioning of the capitalist economy. Focusing on the lesser-known works of both figures, particularly in the case of Weber, whose writings on economics and economic history are frequently overlooked, the author contends that a combination of Schumpeter’s and Weber’s theoretical schemas, incorporating their many valuable insights, provides the basis of a unified, overall theory of modern capitalism that is comprehensive, coherent and persuasive. With attention to the important theoretical connections between Weber and Schumpeter and the respective contributions of both with regard to the nature and workings of capitalism, the author explores the compatibility of the two approaches, arguing that the full significance of the contributions of the two writers has not been adequately appreciated. A systematic and sympathetic comparison and synthesis of the contributions of two of the central figures in social and economic theory, which highlights the enduring relevance of their work in times of political and economic crisis, Weber, Schumpeter and Modern Capitalism will appeal to scholars across the social sciences with interests in social and economic theory, classical sociology and economic history.
A Weberian Analysis of Business Groups and Financial Markets: Trade Relations in Taiwan and Korea and some Major Stock Exchanges
by Sandro SegreMoral economy, as a set of rules which regulate market transactions, has been the object of much research and debate since the 1980s; it has also been the focus of classical sociological authors such as Weber, Simmel and Toennies. Weber in particular examined the rules of the moral economy in the financial markets, and this volume sheds light on his contribution to the subject. The book formulates two models of business relations - one oligopolistic model, the other based on free competition - which are derived from Weber and Simmel's writings and which represent alternative instances of the moral economy. Empirical case studies in the form of South Korea and Taiwan are included to exemplify the two models and to highlight the consequences of adopting one model over the other. The volume also examines the conduct of actors in some of the leading financial markets, with reference to Weber's writings on the 19th century London and Berlin Stock Exchanges.
A Weberian Perspective on Home, Nature and Sport: Disenchantment and Salvation (ISSN)
by Michael SymondsThis book extends Max Weber’s theory of the value-spheres of modernity into wholly new areas, showing that the addition of home, nature and sport to Weber’s own list of five spheres (economic, scientific/intellectual, political/legal, erotic and aesthetic) yields original insights into these aspects of modernity and modernity itself. It shows how each of these new spheres is able to create its own ‘inner cosmos’ of salvation from rationalised senselessness, just as Weber’s ‘irrational’ spheres offer release from the grim reality of capitalism, the disenchanted universe and the bureaucratic state formed by the more ‘rationalised’ spheres. Drawing on a wide, cross-disciplinary range of sources, the author sheds light on the role of home in creating a sense of our enchanted past, of nature in helping to restore to the world a teleological meaning constructed from innocence and purity and of sport in imposing sense on the world, at least temporarily. A Weberian Perspective on Home, Nature and Sport: Disenchantment and Salvation will appeal to scholars of sociology and social theory with interests in classical sociological theory and the analysis of modernity.
Weber’s Rationalism and Modern Society
by Tony Waters Dagmar WatersWeber's Rationalism and Modern Society rediscovers Max Weber for the twenty-first century. Tony and Dagmar Waters' translation of Weber's works highlights his contributions to the social sciences and politics, credited with highlighting concepts such as "iron cage," "bureaucracy," "bureaucratization," "rationalization," "charisma," and the role of the "work ethic" in ordering modern labor markets. Outlining the relationship between community (Gemeinschaft), and market society (Gesellschaft), the issues of social stratification, power, politics, and modernity resonate just as loudly today as they did for Weber during the early twentieth century.
WEconomy: You Can Find Meaning, Make A Living, and Change the World
by Craig Kielburger Marc Kielburger Sheryl Sandberg Sir Richard Branson Holly BransonYour guide to ‘Business with Benefits'... for All! Purpose and profit are powerful human motivators. Combined, this power can change the world. WEconomy is your guidebook to the greatest evolution in business since the assembly line. Discover the secret to achieving purpose with profit in your career and company, all while driving positive impact. Do you crave more meaning in your job? This book is your roadmap. Are you seeking to inspire employees? CEOs are discovering that purpose is the key to increasing productivity and retaining top performers. If you’re in sales, unleash the power of purpose to inspire customers to be passionate brand ambassadors. If you are an aspiring social entrepreneur, learn how to massively scale your mission. Get paid to change the world — who wouldn’t want to be the person doing that? Uncover the methods of megastars like Oprah Winfrey, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, and Sir Richard Branson, who make the world a better place through purposeful—and highly successful—business strategies. The stellar authorial team share in candid detail, the setbacks and achievements they experienced building successful enterprises and charities—with purpose. With the tips inside this book, you, your business, or your charity can: Find a cause that drives you and your career goals to new heights Create a job that you love and be celebrated by your peers, boss, and industry Inspire brand fanatics to stay loyal to you, your company, and your cause Add a halo to your product, grow your geographic reach, innovate for “the next big thing,” engage Boomers to Gen Z, and much more! This is your blueprint for living by your personal values, achieving career success, and changing the world. Purpose and profit are the greatest human motivators. This is the definitive roadmap for bringing the power of both forces together—achieving purpose with profit in your career, company, and changing the world. Do you crave more meaning in your job? This book will give you the roadmap. Are you seeking to inspire employees? CEOs are discovering that purpose is the secret to increasing productivity and retaining top workers. If you’re in sales, unleash the power of purpose to inspire customers to be passionate brand ambassadors. Everyone wants more meaning. We all inherently know that purpose is powerful, but this is the ground-breaking book to unleashing the purpose within your career, company, and life goals. This book will show you how to profit with purpose, whether you’re the one calling the shots or a junior employee looking to advance. Get paid to change the world – who wouldn’t want to be the person doing that? Discover the methods of megastars like Oprah Winfrey, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, and Sir Richard Branson, who make the world a better place through purposeful—and highly profitable—business strategies. Go behind the scenes of real companies at the forefront of this watershed movement and learn from business leaders, entrepreneurs, celebrities, and aspiring influencers. The all-star authorial team shares in candid detail the setback
Wedding Cakes and Cultural History (Routledge Revivals)
by Simon CharsleyFirst published in 1992, Wedding Cakes and Cultural History is a unique contribution to the anthropology of food, tracing the fascinating history of wedding cakes, from late medieval feasts and rites, through the Victorian wedding breakfast and into the 1990s. Dr. Charsley maps the intricate creation of the wedding cake and explores its uses and meanings. He shows that the wedding cake provides a vivid illustration of the traditions and traditional values inherent in all foods and demonstrates the part that material culture plays in the process of change. Challenging in its ideas, yet approachable in style and subject matter, this book will be of great interest to students and teachers of anthropology, sociology and cultural studies.
The Wedding Present: Domestic Life Beyond Consumption
by Louise PurbrickIn this fascinating work, Louise Purbrick offers an alternative analysis of contemporary domestic consumption. She investigates the ritualized presentation of objects upon marriage, and their subsequent cycles of exchange within the domestic sphere. Focusing on gift-giving in Britain from 1945 to the present, comparative context is provided by material from North America and Europe. Presenting new material on the enactment of exchange relationships within everyday domesticity, the book makes significant historical, theoretical and methodological contributions to the analysis of contemporary consumption. It also re-evaluates consumption theory as well as examining the methodology of recent studies in consumption and domesticity, pressing for a more rigorous approach to the use of case studies. By considering how the specific contexts in which consumption occurs, such as married domesticity, can limit possible versions of selfhood, The Wedding Present tests the assumption that consuming creates individual identities. Thus, the book argues, consumption cannot be isolated as an explanation of individual or social formation.
Wedlocked: The Perils of Marriage Equality (Sexual Cultures #38)
by Katherine FrankeThe staggering string of victories by the gay rights movement’s campaign for marriage equality raises questions not only about how gay people have been able to successfully deploy marriage to elevate their social and legal reputation, but also what kind of freedom and equality the ability to marry can mobilize.<P><P> Wedlocked turns to history to compare today’s same-sex marriage movement to the experiences of newly emancipated black people in the mid-nineteenth century, when they were able to legally marry for the first time. Maintaining that the transition to greater freedom was both wondrous and perilous for newly emancipated people, Katherine Franke relates stories of former slaves’ involvements with marriage and draws lessons that serve as cautionary tales for today’s marriage rights movements. While “be careful what you wish for” is a prominent theme, they also teach us how the rights-bearing subject is inevitably shaped by the very rights they bear, often in ways that reinforce racialized gender norms and stereotypes. Franke further illuminates how the racialization of same-sex marriage has redounded to the benefit of the gay rights movement while contributing to the ongoing subordination of people of color and the diminishing reproductive rights of women.<P> Like same-sex couples today, freed African-American men and women experienced a shift in status from outlaws to in-laws, from living outside the law to finding their private lives organized by law and state licensure. Their experiences teach us the potential and the perils of being subject to legal regulation: rights—and specifically the right to marriage—can both burden and set you free.
Wednesday's Child
by Shane DunphyShane Dunphy was involved in social care for fifteen years. This book is a distilling of the cases he encountered in that time to make a single, year-long narrative. Apart from that compression, and some necessary changes of identifying details, everything in this book is true. And what the truth reveals! Here are the cases of three dysfunctional families, struggling at the margins of scoiety that barely acknowledges the existence of such people. This is a portrait of fatalistic despair, of families so sunk into chronic poverty and neglect that they are beyond saving themselves or their children. All the elements of social dysfunction are present: the unkempt houses, truant children, endless television, anorexia, alcoholism, suicidal depression. Yet out of this mess there is hope as well as tragedy. Most of Wednesday's children don't make it, but some do. Some survive the most appalling childhood horrors to make it through to the normal adult world. But more are doomed. Despite the heroism of child protection workers and the best efforts of well-intentioned people, we still face a hidden mountain of avoidable human misery. Wednesday's Child is shocking and disturbing. And most of all, true. In three amazing stories childcare worker Shane Dunphy reveals a world of hidden heartbreak and survival against the odds. When Shane meets her, Gillian is starving herself to death and in thrall to a mother more interested in abusing and manipulating her daughter than cherishing and protecting her. Though he tries to help, it seems Shane is just another adult destined to fail Gillian . . . For the daughter of disturbed violent parents, Connie is an amazingly well-adjusted A-grade student. But when Shane finally gets behind the facade, he unearths a shattering truth behind her apparent normality. . . Cordelia, Victor and Ibar are three loving siblings left with a hopelessly alcoholic neglectful father. It's a race against time to see if their father can ever become the kind of Dad he wants to be, or if they are destined to be split up and sucked into the childcare merry-go-round. . .
Wednesday's Child
by Shane DunphyIn three amazing stories childcare worker Shane Dunphy reveals a world of hidden heartbreak and survival against the odds.When Shane meets her, Gillian is starving herself to death and in thrall to a mother more interested in abusing and manipulating her daughter than cherishing and protecting her. Though he tries to help, it seems Shane is just another adult destined to fail Gillian ...For the daughter of disturbed violent parents, Connie is an amazingly well-adjusted A-grade student. But when Shane finally gets behind the facade, he unearths a shattering truth behind her apparent normality ... Cordelia, Victor and Ibar are three loving siblings left with a hopelessly alcoholic neglectful father. It’s a race against time to see if their father can ever become the kind of Dad he wants to be, or if they are destined to be split up and sucked into the childcare merry-go-round …
Weed: The User's Guide
by David SchmaderThe United States is in the midst of a new Golden Age of legal weed. Recreational marijuana is now legal in four states--Washington, Colorado, Oregon, and Alaska--and Washington, DC, while medical marijuana is legal in 25 states and counting. This definitive, hands-on, and experienced guide to the new world of decriminalized recreational marijuana, written by the lovingly blunt and unfailingly witty David Schmader, will educate and entertain the novice and experienced user alike. Complete with history, ways to enjoy, recipes, safety and legality tips, and medical-use information, this witty guide is perfect for gift giving.
Weed Land: Inside America's Marijuana Epicenter and How Pot Went Legit
by Peter HechtEarly in the morning of September 5, 2002, camouflaged and heavily armed Drug Enforcement Administration agents descended on a terraced marijuana garden - a medicinal and spiritual refuge for the sick and dying. The DEA raid on the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana, a sanctuary for severely ill patients who were using marijuana as medicine, stirs the opening of Weed Land, an up-close journalistic narrative that chronicles a transformative epoch for marijuana in America. Moving from the passage of California's Proposition 215, the nation's first medical marijuana law, through law enforcement raids and the emergence of a lucrative cannabis industry, Weed Land reveals the changing political, legal, economic, and social dynamics of pot. It offers an independent, meticulously reported account of the clashes and contradictions of a burgeoning California cannabis culture that stoked pot liberalization elsewhere, leading to marijuana legalization votes in Colorado and Washington. Written by Peter Hecht, an award-winning journalist from The Sacramento Bee, Weed Land takes readers into the laboratories of researchers who challenged federal drug policy with clinical studies revealing the medical benefits of cannabis. It also explores an exploding marijuana marketplace that pitches compassionate healing with the pure joy of pot. And it takes readers inside the law enforcement backlash - and unfolding consequences - of a federal crackdown on America's largest marijuana economy.
The Week: A History of the Unnatural Rhythms That Made Us Who We Are
by David M HenkinAn investigation into the evolution of the seven-day week and how our attachment to its rhythms influences how we live We take the seven-day week for granted, rarely asking what anchors it or what it does to us. Yet weeks are not dictated by the natural order. They are, in fact, an artificial construction of the modern world. With meticulous archival research that draws on a wide array of sources—including newspapers, restaurant menus, theater schedules, marriage records, school curricula, folklore, housekeeping guides, courtroom testimony, and diaries—David Henkin reveals how our current devotion to weekly rhythms emerged in the United States during the first half of the nineteenth century. Reconstructing how weekly patterns insinuated themselves into the social practices and mental habits of Americans, Henkin argues that the week is more than just a regimen of rest days or breaks from work, but a dominant organizational principle of modern society. Ultimately, the seven-day week shapes our understanding and experience of time.
The Weekend Effect: The Life-Changing Benefits of Taking Two Days Off
by Katrina Onstad'A powerful argument, and practical advice, on the importance of reclaiming your leisure time to live a happier and more fulfilling life' - Gretchen Rubin, New York Times bestselling author of Better Than Before and The Happiness ProjectEncroaching work demands - coupled with domestic chores, overbooked schedules, and the incessant pinging of our devices - have taken a toll on what used to be our free time: the weekend. With no space to tune out and recharge, every aspect of our lives is suffering: our health is deteriorating, our social networks (the face-to-face kind) are dissolving and our productivity is down. The notion of working less and living more has given way to the belief that you must be 'on' 24/7.Tired of suffering from Sunday-night let down, award-winning journalist Katrina Onstad pushes back against this all-work-no-fun ethos. Onstad follows the trail of people, companies and countries vigilantly protecting their time off for joy, adventure and meaning, and digs into the history, positive psychology and cultural anthropology of the great missing weekend. The Weekend Effect reveals that taking back those precious forty-eight hours is the key to increasing joy, creativity, productivity and success. It will be your persuasive, practical and much-needed guide to reclaiming your time off and, ultimately, saving yourself.
The Weekend Effect: The Life-Changing Benefits of Taking Time Off and Challenging the Cult of Overwork
by Katrina OnstadEncroaching work demands—coupled with domestic chores, overbooked schedules, and the incessant pinging of our devices—have taken a toll on what used to be our free time: the weekend. With no space to tune out and recharge, every aspect of our lives is suffering: our health is deteriorating, our social networks (the face-to-face kind) are dissolving, and our productivity is down. The notion of working less and living more, once considered an American virtue, has given way to the belief that you must be “on” 24/7.Award-winning journalist Katrina Onstad, pushes back against this all-work, no-fun ethos. Tired of suffering from Sunday night letdown, she digs into the history, positive psychology, and cultural anthropology of the great missing weekend and how we can revive it. Onstad follows the trail of people, companies, and countries who are vigilantly protecting their time off for joy, adventure, and most important, purpose. Filled with personal and professional inspiration, The Weekend Effect is a thoughtful, well-researched argument to take back those precious 48 hours, and ultimately, to save ourselves.
Wegbereiter der modernen Islamfeindlichkeit: Eine Analyse der Argumentationen so genannter Islamkritiker (essentials)
by Thorsten Gerald SchneidersVorgetäuschte Islamkritik, die nur so tut, als verfolge sie seriöse Absichten, ist einer der Hauptverbreitungswege für Islamfeindlichkeit und Vorbehalte gegenüber Muslimen. Im deutschsprachigen Raum hat sich vor einigen Jahren ein Zirkel von Personen gebildet, der diese Art der ,,Islamkritik" öffentlichkeitswirksam vertrat. Dazu gehörten Mina Ahadi, Henryk Broder, Ralph Giordano, Necla Kelek, Alice Schwarzer, Udo Ulfkotte und Leon de Winter. Ihre Argumentationsweisen werden in diesem Essential mittels diskursanalytischer Ansätze untersucht. Der Autor stellt typische Techniken vor und leistet dadurch einen Beitrag, um echte Islamkritik künftig besser von Islamfeindlichkeit abgrenzen zu können.
Wege aus der Einsamkeit für Dummies (Für Dummies)
by Andrea WigfieldRaus aus der Einsamkeitsspirale! Einsamkeit betrifft schon längst nicht mehr nur die ältere Generation. Auch unter jungen Menschen ist Einsamkeit heutzutage weit verbreitet. Doch Einsamkeit ist keine Sackgasse. Es gibt viele Gründe für Einsamkeit – und genauso viele Wege führen aus ihr heraus. Mit viel Empathie und einer großen Portion Praxisbezug beschreibt die Autorin, wie auch Sie Ihren Weg in ein erfülltes Miteinander finden können. Vollgepackt mit zahlreichen Tipps, angepasst an Ihre persönliche Ausgangslage, hilft Ihnen dieses Buch mit konkreten Vorschlägen die Einsamkeit hinter sich zu lassen. Sie erfahren Wie Sie messen können, ob Sie einsam sind Welche Maßnahmen Sie kurz- und langfristig ergreifen können, um weniger einsam zu sein Warum Sie nicht alleine mit dem Einsamkeitsgefühl sind
weiblich – muslimisch – sportengagiert: Eine intersektionale Analyse sportbezogener Biografien türkeistämmiger Frauen in Deutschland
by Natalia FastMädchen und Frauen mit türkischem Migrationshintergrund sind im organisierten Sport in Deutschland, im Vergleich zu einheimischen Mädchen und Frauen, unterrepräsentiert. Da sie die größte herkunftslandbezogene Gruppe unter den Migrantinnen bilden, handelt es sich um eine beträchtliche Zahl von Mädchen und Frauen, die einem bedeutsamen kulturellen Bereich der Gesellschaft – dem Sport – fernbleiben. Die geringe Teilhabe dieser Gruppe verweist auf Prozesse sozialer Ungleichheit, denn diesen Mädchen und Frauen kommen nicht dieselben Entwicklungschancen zu. Von diesem Problem ausgehend, wird – unter einer intersektionalen Perspektive – anhand einer Interviewstudie mit türkeistämmigen Frauen der Frage nachgegangen, in welcher Weise die Faktoren Migration, Geschlecht, sozioökonomischer Status, Bildungshintergrund und Religion zusammenwirken und auf das Sportengagement Einfluss nehmen. Darüber hinaus wird untersucht, welche Effekte ein nachhaltiges Sportengagement auf die Subjektkonstruktionen dieser Frauen hat. Abschließend werden Gelingensbedingungen für den Zugang und Verbleib im organisierten Sport herausgearbeitet
Weighing In: Obesity, Food Justice, and the Limits of Capitalism
by Julie GuthmanWeighing In takes on the "obesity epidemic," challenging many widely held assumptions about its causes and consequences. Julie Guthman examines fatness and its relationship to health outcomes to ask if our efforts to prevent "obesity" are sensible, efficacious, or ethical. She also focuses the lens of obesity on the broader food system to understand why we produce cheap, over-processed food, as well as why we eat it. Guthman takes issue with the currently touted remedy to obesity--promoting food that is local, organic, and farm fresh. While such fare may be tastier and grown in more ecologically sustainable ways, this approach can also reinforce class and race inequalities and neglect other possible explanations for the rise in obesity, including environmental toxins. Arguing that ours is a political economy of bulimia--one that promotes consumption while also insisting upon thinness--Guthman offers a complex analysis of our entire economic system.
The Weight of Images: Affect, Body Image and Fat in the Media (Gender, Bodies and Transformation)
by Katariina KyröläThe Weight of Images explores the ways in which media images can train their viewers’ bodies. Proposing a shift away from an understanding of spectatorship as being constituted by acts of the mind, this book favours a theorization of relations between bodies and images as visceral, affective engagements that shape our body image - with close attention to one particularly charged bodily characteristic in contemporary western culture: fat. The first mapping of the ways in which fat, gendered bodies are represented across a variety of media forms and genres, from reality television to Hollywood movies, from TV sitcoms to documentaries, from print magazine and news media to online pornography, The Weight of Images contends that media images of fat bodies are never only about fat; rather, they are about our relation to corporeal vulnerability overall. A ground-breaking volume, engaging with a rich variety of media and cultural texts, whilst examining the possibilities of critical auto-ethnography to unravel how body images take shape affectively between bodies and images, this book will appeal to scholars and students of sociology, media, cultural and gender studies, with interests in embodiment and affect.
Weight of Modernity
by Cathy Banwell Anna Davies Jane Dixon Dorothy BroomOver a half of adults in the US, Canada, Australia and numerous European countries are now overweight or obese, a proportion that has risen sharply in the past two decades. Dominant biomedical explanations focus on the energy equation - an imbalance between energy intake and expenditure - and remedies focus on motivating individuals to restore the balance by eating better and being more active, or - in extreme cases - surgical intervention. This book offers a perspective that sees increasing obesity as a social phenomenon as well as a public health problem. It contains detailed accounts of three generations of Australians' experiences of changing environments and the emergence of social trends such as increasing availability of convenience foods, the individualisation and commercialisation of leisure, car reliance, and busyness. Participants' narratives are interwoven with sociological and historical analyses of changes to show how contemporary Australians are experiencing and adapting to dramatic socio-cultural and environmental changes that are reshaping their lives and, in many cases, their bodies. The book demonstrates that obesity is an unintended consequence of economic development accompanied by profound socio-cultural changes, and by identifying the key developments the authors propose leverage points. While the research was conducted in Australia, the fundamental drivers of rapid weight gain are equally present in other modern, secular societies.
Weighty Issues: Fatness and Thinness as Social Problems (Social Problems And Social Issues Ser.)
by Jeffery Sobal and Donna MaurerMany people consider their weight to be a personal problem; when, then, does body weight become a social problem? Until recently, the major public concern was whether enough food was consistently available. As food systems began to provide ample and stable amounts of food, questions about food availability were replaced with concerns about ideal weights and appearance. These interests were aggregated into public concerns about defining people as too fat and too thin.Social constructionist perspectives can contribute to the understanding of weight problems because they focus attention on how these problems are created, maintained, and promoted within various social environments. While there is much objectivist research concerning weight problems, few studies address the socially constructed aspects of fatness and thinness.This book however draws from and contributes to social constructionist perspectives. The chapters in this volume offer several perspectives that can be used to understand the way society deals with fatness and thinness. The contributors consider historical foundations, medical models, gendered dimensions, institutional components, and collective perspectives. These different perspectives illustrate the multifaceted nature of obesity and eating disorders, providing examples of how a variety of social groups construct weight as a social problem.
Weighty Problems: Embodied Inequality at a Children’s Weight Loss Camp
by Laura BackstromMany parents, teachers, and doctors believe that childhood obesity is a social problem that needs to be solved. Yet, missing from debates over what caused the rise in childhood obesity and how to fix it are the children themselves. By investigating how contemporary cultural discourses of childhood obesity are experienced by children, Laura Backstrom illustrates how deeply fat stigma is internalized during the early socialization experiences of children. Weighty Problems details processes of embodied inequality: how the children came to recognize inequalities related to their body size, how they explained the causes of those differences, how they responded to micro-level injustices in their lives, and how their participation in a weight loss program impacted their developing self-image. The book finds that embodied inequality is constructed and negotiated through a number of interactional processes including resocialization, stigma management, social comparisons, and attribution.