This study applies poststructuralist and postmodern ideas to issues of health and health care to provide a radical re-think of how health is to be understood. It offers a perspective in which health is seen as an affirmation of potential rather than a narrow biopsychosocial construct. The author develops his notion of archehealth, providing an account of a wide range of post-structuralist and postmodern theoretical perspectives and their relevance to the field of health. The book is divided into three sections; the first section explores issues of power and control in health settings; the second loooks ta resistance to such power and control; the final section addresses ways in which post-sztructuralist and postmodern approaches may be used as research methodology. In each chapter the author explains and apllies a selection of theoretical perspectives. These include Foucault, Derrida, Lyotard, Deleuze, Guattari, Cixous, Haraway, Kristeva, Beck, Barthes, Tyler, Landow, Bauman, Cascardi, Baudrillard and Atkinson.

The first book of its kind, Sociology and the New Materialism explores the many and varied applications of "new materialism," a key emerging trend in 21st century thought, to the practice of doing sociology. Offering a clear exposition of new materialist theory and using sociological examples throughout to enable the reader to develop a materialist sociological understanding, the book: Outlines the fundamental precepts of new materialism Explores how materialism provides new perspectives on the range of sociological topic areas Explains how materialist approaches can be used to research sociological issues and also to engage with social issues. Sociology and the New Materialism is a clear and authoritative one-stop guide for advanced undergraduates and postgraduates in sociology, cultural studies, social policy and related disciplines.