The Sociology Of Health Promotion: Critical Analyses Of Consumption, Lifestyle And Risk

The sociology of health promotion Over the last decade the promotion of health has become a central feature of health policy at local, national and international levels, forming part of global health initiatives such as those endorsed by the World Health Organisation. At the same time a concern with ‘healthy living’ has become a preoccupation for many people. The Sociology of Health Promotion responds by offering the first critical sociological account of these developments and locates them within a set of wider socio-cultural changes associated with late modernism. Drawing upon the work of Foucault, Beck, Giddens, Featherstone and others the book presents a theoretical as well as empirical examination of health promotion. The Sociology of Health Promotion offers analyses of contemporary public health policy, lifestyle, consumption, risk and health. It also examines socio-political critiques of health promotion and reflects upon their implications for policy and practice. Substantive topics covered include: the institutional emergence of health promotion at both global and national levels, accidents and the risk society, smoking, HIV/AIDS, ageing, the body, and health-related consumption. A key theme of the collection is that health promotion is emblematic of wider sociocultural changes. Changes such as the demise of institutional forms of welfare and social control, a blurring of ‘expert’ and lay knowledge, a heightened collective perception of uncontainable risks, and a shift to a consumer- rather than producer-driven economy. This collection will be invaluable reading for students and social scientists with an interest in health and health policy, health promotors, public health doctors and practitioners engaging in critical reflection upon their professional activities. Robin Bunton is Senior Lecturer in Social Policy at the University of Teesside, Sarah Nettleton is Lecturer in Social Policy at the University of York, and Roger Burrows is Reader in Sociology at the University of Teesside. The sociology of health promotion Critical analyses of consumption, lifestyle and risk Edited by Robin Bunton, Sarah Nettleton and Roger Burrows London and New York First published 1995 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 © 1995 Robin Bunton, Sarah Nettleton and Roger Burrows, selection and editoiral matter; individual chapters, the contributors All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book