The Social Pathologies of Contemporary Civilization (Classical and Contemporary Social Theory)

The Social Pathologies of Contemporary Civilization explores the nature of contemporary malaises, diseases, illnesses and psychosomatic syndromes, examining the manner in which they are related to cultural pathologies of the social body. Multi-disciplinary in approach, the book is concerned with questions of how these conditions are not only manifest at the level of individual patients' bodies, but also how the social 'bodies politic' are related to the hegemony of reductive biomedical and individual-psychologistic perspectives. Rejecting a reductive, biomedical and individualistic diagnosis of contemporary problems of health and well-being, The Social Pathologies of Contemporary Civilization contends that many such problems are to be understood in the light of radical changes in social structures and institutions, extending to deep crises in our civilization as a whole. Rather than considering such conditions in isolation - both from one another and from broader contexts - this book argues that health and well-being are not just located at the level of the individual body, the integral human person, or even collective social bodies; rather, they encompass the health of humanity as a whole and our relationship with Nature. A ground-breaking analysis of social malaise and the health of civilization, this book will be of interest to scholars of sociology, social theory, social psychology, philosophy and anthropology. The Social Pathologies Of Contemporary Civilization Explores The Nature Of Contemporary Malaises, Diseases, Illnesses And Psychosomatic Syndromes, Examining The Manner In Which They Are Related To Cultural Pathologies Of The Social Body. Multi-disciplinary In Approach, The Book Is Concerned With Questions Of How These Conditions Are Not Only Manifest At The Level Of Individual Patients' Bodies, But Also How The Social 'bodies Politic' Are Related To The Hegemony Of Reductive Biomedical And Individual-psychologistic Perspectives. Rejecting A Reductive, Biomedical And Individualistic Diagnosis Of Contemporary Problems Of Health And Well-being, The Social Pathologies Of Contemporary Civilization Contends That Many Such Problems Are To Be Understood In The Light Of Radical Changes In Social Structures And Institutions, Extending To Deep Crises In Our Civilization As A Whole. Machine Generated Contents Note: Pt. I Social Pathologies: Addressing The Question -- 1.the Notion Of Social Pathology: A Case Study Of Narcissus In American Society / Alain Ehrenberg -- 2.the Social Pathologies Of Contemporary Civilization: Meaning-giving Experiences And Pathological Expectations Concerning Health And Suffering / Arpad Szakolczai -- 3.modernity As Spiritual Disorder: Searching For A Vocabulary Of Social Pathologies In The Work Of Eric Voegelin / Bjørn Thomassen -- Pt. Ii Social Pathologies: Contemporary Malaises -- 4.the Value Of Houses In The Libidinal Economy: Financialization As Social Pathogenesis / Kieran Keohane -- 5.depression: Resisting Ultra-liberalism? / Bert Van Den Bergh -- 6.the Pathologization Of Morality / Svend Brinkmann -- 7.the Multiple Self: A Social Pathology? / Annalisa Porfilio -- 8.possible Explanations For Increasing Antidepressant Treatment In Modem Society / Gunnar Scott Reinbacher -- Contents Note Continued: Pt. Iii Social Pathologies: Biopower, Subjectification And Civilization -- 9.does Society Still Matter? Mental Health And Illness And The Social Sciences In The Twenty-first Century / Pia Ringø -- 10.evaluations As A Process Of Disenfranchisement / Rasmus Willig -- 11.schismogenesis, Liminality And Public Health / Agnes Horvath. Edited By Kieran Keohane And Anders Petersen. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Cover Contents Acknowledgements Notes on Contributors 1 Liquid Sociology – What For? 2 Blurring Genres: A Conversation with Zygmunt Bauman on Metaphors, Science versus Art, Fiction and Other Tricks of the Trade 3 Bauman’s Challenge: Metaphors and Metamorphoses 4 Bauman’s Travels: Metaphors of the Token and the Wilderness 5 ‘Welcome to the Hotel California’: Bauman and Virilio on Utopia, Dystopia, and Globalisation 6 The Heineken Effect: Bauman, Baudrillard and Žižek as Metaphorical Thinkers of Liquidity 7 On the Liquidity of Evil: Modernity and the Dissolution of Ethics in Bauman’s Social Theory 8 Strangers, ‘Others’ and the Unstable Metaphors of Race Representation in Liquid Modernity 9 Risk, Nichtwissen and Fear: Searching For Solidity in Liquid Times? 10 From ‘Solid’ Producers and Consumers to ‘Liquid’ Prosumers 11 The Question of a Sociological Poetics: Metaphors, Models and Theory 12 ‘Metaphormosis’: On the Metaphoricity of Zygmunt Bauman’s Social Theory 13 Conclusion: Liquid Sociology Index Rejecting a reductive, biomedical and individualistic diagnosis of contemporary problems of health and well-being, this book contends that many such problems are to be understood in the light of radical changes in social structures and institutions, extending to deep crises in our civilization as a whole.