Contents:
1.Sociology and the 'problem' of the body 2.Bodily 'order': cultural and historical perspectives on conformity and transgression 3.Bodily 'control': body techniques, intercorporeality and the embodiment of social action 4.The body in 'high' modernity and consumer culture 5.The 'libidinal' body: psychoanalysis, critical theory and the 'problem' of human desire 6.'Uncontainable' bodies: feminisms, boundaries and reconfigured identities 7.The emotionally 'expressive' body 8.Pain and the 'dys-appearing' body 9.The 'dormant body: sleep, night-time and dreams 10.Artistic bodies: representaion and resistance. Conclusions.

The Lived Body takes a fresh look at the problem of human embodiment through a critical examination of the dualist legacies of the past. A broad range of classical and contemporary social theorists are surveyed - from Marx to Freud, Foucault to Giddens, Deleuze to Guattari and Irigary to Grosz - in terms of the bodily themes and issues they raise. A variety of new areas of research in this rapidly expanding field are also considered, including medical technology and the 'fate' of human embodiment, the relationshio between the body, art and society. The notion of an Embodied Sociology is put forward; one which outs minds back into bodies, bodies back into society and society back into the body. The Lived Body will provide students and researchers in medical sociology, health sciences, cultural studies and philosophy with clear, accessible coverage of theory and debate in body and social theory from basic issues to complex ideas and a challenging new way of thinking.