- I am Professor of Sociology at the University of Kent. Over the past three plus decades my writings have sought to un... moreI am Professor of Sociology at the University of Kent. Over the past three plus decades my writings have sought to understand the social and cultural implications of what it is to be an embodied being. Firstly, this has involved a critique of Cartesian influenced, ‘disembodied’ conceptions of sociology which marginalise the corporeal conditions of social action and the bodily consequences of social structures, and an excavation of those traditions that help us re-embody our conceptions of society. Secondly, I have contributed towards the establishment of an interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary field of ‘body studies’ which draws on the wide range of debates on corporality that have become increasingly prominent across the social sciences and humanities. Thirdly, my aim has been to develop original theoretical approaches which enable us to understand more adequately the significance of embodiment to the world in which we live.http://www.kent.ac.uk/sspssr/staff/academic/shilling.html
In pursuing this project I have written on embodiment in relation to a wide range of issues and my main books include The Body (2016, Oxford University Press), Sociology of the Sacred (2014, co-author with P.A. Mellor), Changing Bodies (2008, Sage), Embodying Sociology (Editor, 2007, The Sociological Review Monograph Series / Blackwell), The Body in Culture, Technology and Society (2005, Sage), The Body and Social Theory (2012 3rd edition. 1st edition 1993, Sage), The Sociological Ambition (2001, co-author with P.A. Mellor, Sage), and Re-forming the Body (1997, co-author with P.A. Mellor, Sage). My most recent book (with Philip A. Mellor) is entitled Uncovering Social Life. Critical Perspectives from Sociology and explores how contemporary institutional changes erode existing social relationships and identities but also create space for opposition to, or creative adaptation of, these broader shifts. It focuses on bodies and health. Most recently I have published a series of articles in two distinct areas: 1) advancing the study of what I have referred to as 'body pedagogics', and 2) exploring the importance of social character in the contemporary era (these are co-authored with P.A. Mellor). .edit
In an era when rapid social change, the disappearance of traditional communities, the rise of political populism and the threat posed by radical religious movements makes it appear that ‘all that is solid melts into air’, the classical... more
In an era when rapid social change, the disappearance of traditional communities, the rise of political populism and the threat posed by radical religious movements makes it appear that ‘all that is solid melts into air’, the classical sociological problem of how peaceable societies can be created and maintained assumes renewed urgency. Uncovering Social Life: Critical Perspectives from Sociology explores how contemporary institutional changes erode existing social relationships and identities but also create space for opposition, or creative adaptation, to these broader shifts.
Exploring the threats and opportunities confronting current social relationships and identities, this book identifies how sociology helps us understand the problems associated with social order and change before focusing on some of the most important institutional transformations to have occurred in the spheres of bodies and health; sex, gender and sexuality; employment; finance; the Internet and new social media; technology and artificial intelligence; religion; and governance. After a critical introduction placing these issues in their historical and sociological context, theoretical chapters analysing how sociology views the individual/society relationship, and the volatile processes endemic to the modern era, provide an innovative and comprehensive context for these explorations.
This book provides a clear and engaging account of social life. Covering a broad range of conventional and unconventional sociological topics, the diverse chapters are united in a concern with three major themes: the growing complexity of the current era, and the ‘doubled’ identities with which it is associated; the opportunities and constraints such developments pose to different groups; and the capacity of institutional changes to both erode existing social relationships, and create space for the emergence of new collective identities that oppose these structural shifts.
Exploring the threats and opportunities confronting current social relationships and identities, this book identifies how sociology helps us understand the problems associated with social order and change before focusing on some of the most important institutional transformations to have occurred in the spheres of bodies and health; sex, gender and sexuality; employment; finance; the Internet and new social media; technology and artificial intelligence; religion; and governance. After a critical introduction placing these issues in their historical and sociological context, theoretical chapters analysing how sociology views the individual/society relationship, and the volatile processes endemic to the modern era, provide an innovative and comprehensive context for these explorations.
This book provides a clear and engaging account of social life. Covering a broad range of conventional and unconventional sociological topics, the diverse chapters are united in a concern with three major themes: the growing complexity of the current era, and the ‘doubled’ identities with which it is associated; the opportunities and constraints such developments pose to different groups; and the capacity of institutional changes to both erode existing social relationships, and create space for the emergence of new collective identities that oppose these structural shifts.
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Read the first chapter here
http://www.uk.sagepub.com/upm-data/63639_Mellor__Sociology_of_the_sacred.pdf
http://www.uk.sagepub.com/upm-data/63639_Mellor__Sociology_of_the_sacred.pdf
This book provides an introduction, overview and critical assessment of the interdisciplinary field of body studies, including a chapter-by-chapter coverage of the major theories and studies in the field. Each chapter has been revised and... more
This book provides an introduction, overview and critical assessment of the interdisciplinary field of body studies, including a chapter-by-chapter coverage of the major theories and studies in the field. Each chapter has been revised and updated, with new discussions of 'actor network theory', body work, pragmatism, the global resurgence of religious identities, biological citizenship and neuroscience, and figurations of the living and dead.
This book engages with pragmatism in order to explore how human identities, social relationships and moral figurations develop as a result of people living in and seeking to reach beyond the currently encountered limits of their bodily... more
This book engages with pragmatism in order to explore how human identities, social relationships and moral figurations develop as a result of people living in and seeking to reach beyond the currently encountered limits of their bodily being. In opposition to critics of body studies who suggest that the recent focus on corporeality involves an 'inverted Cartesianism', this framework suggests that it is only by engaging with our embodied being that we can understand how human life accomplishes transcendence, as well as immanence, as a result of the cycles of habit, crisis and creativity that people engage in as they go about their daily lives. Having explicated this approach towards the body, Changing Bodes proceeds to develop it further through a series of studies on sport, transgenderism, illness, immigration, survival and belief.
Reflecting developments in consuuer culture, medical technology, identity politics, ecological awareness, genetic engineering and bio-politics, the body has become one of the fastest growing, most influential and most contested subjects... more
Reflecting developments in consuuer culture, medical technology, identity politics, ecological awareness, genetic engineering and bio-politics, the body has become one of the fastest growing, most influential and most contested subjects in the social sciences and humanities.
Comprising cutting edge contributions from Europe, America and Asia, this collection brings together a series of theoretical, methodological and empirical analyses by leading international exponents of body studies and a new generation of scholars concerned with exploring the structural, interactional, and phenomenological features of human embodiment.
Connecting the concerns of classical sociologists to new advances in social theory, anthropology, feminism and social research - and introducing for the first time the study of 'body pedagogics' - this volume takes the sociological study of the body in an exciting new direction and opens up new horizons for the sociological imagination.
Contributors include: Chris Shilling, Bryan Turner, Donald Levine, Kathy Davis, Judith Okely, Nick Crossley, Brian Lande, Anna Aalten, Erin O'Connor and Simon Williams.
Comprising cutting edge contributions from Europe, America and Asia, this collection brings together a series of theoretical, methodological and empirical analyses by leading international exponents of body studies and a new generation of scholars concerned with exploring the structural, interactional, and phenomenological features of human embodiment.
Connecting the concerns of classical sociologists to new advances in social theory, anthropology, feminism and social research - and introducing for the first time the study of 'body pedagogics' - this volume takes the sociological study of the body in an exciting new direction and opens up new horizons for the sociological imagination.
Contributors include: Chris Shilling, Bryan Turner, Donald Levine, Kathy Davis, Judith Okely, Nick Crossley, Brian Lande, Anna Aalten, Erin O'Connor and Simon Williams.
This book develops an original framework for the analysis of the relationship between embodiment, culture and society based upon what I refer to as corporeal realism. Through a sustained engagement with classical and contemporary social... more
This book develops an original framework for the analysis of the relationship between embodiment, culture and society based upon what I refer to as corporeal realism. Through a sustained engagement with classical and contemporary social theory, and a series of studies of the body and the economy, work, sociality, sport, music, food, and technology, it constructs a view of embodiment as a multi-dimensional medium for the constitution of society.
The second edition of this book updates the original attempt map out, develop and consolidate the interdisciplinary field of body studies by exploring recent developments in sociologically related studies of embodiment and by exploring... more
The second edition of this book updates the original attempt map out, develop and consolidate the interdisciplinary field of body studies by exploring recent developments in sociologically related studies of embodiment and by exploring the most important traditions of social scientific thought to have informed this movement.
In recent years, contemporary societies have been characterised by a heightened attention to the body, and by the growth of 'body projects', expressed in the changing relation of individual identity to health, sexuality and body image. Developments in areas as diverse as diet, genetic engineering, reproductive technologies, plastic surgery and sports science have made the body increasingly a site of social alternatives and individual choices. The rise of the body in consumer culture as a bearer of symbolic value has been reflected in the emergence of embodiment as a fundamental issue in sociology and related disciplines.
Surveying the range of social theories of the body, this monograph offers a comprehensive and innovative assessment of the field. It analyses naturalistic, social constructionist and feminist theories of the body, appraises the fundamental sociological contributions of Pierre Bourdieu and Norbert Elias, and demonstrates the centrality of the body to the traditional concerns of sociology and social theory.
The second edition includes a new Foreword, certain revisions to the chapters, and a major new 15,000 word Afterword that seeks to establish an original basis for the consolidation of body studies around a framework that recognises corporeal difference and diversity, yet builds upon the fundamental problems that face us all as a single human species inhabiting a single planet.
In recent years, contemporary societies have been characterised by a heightened attention to the body, and by the growth of 'body projects', expressed in the changing relation of individual identity to health, sexuality and body image. Developments in areas as diverse as diet, genetic engineering, reproductive technologies, plastic surgery and sports science have made the body increasingly a site of social alternatives and individual choices. The rise of the body in consumer culture as a bearer of symbolic value has been reflected in the emergence of embodiment as a fundamental issue in sociology and related disciplines.
Surveying the range of social theories of the body, this monograph offers a comprehensive and innovative assessment of the field. It analyses naturalistic, social constructionist and feminist theories of the body, appraises the fundamental sociological contributions of Pierre Bourdieu and Norbert Elias, and demonstrates the centrality of the body to the traditional concerns of sociology and social theory.
The second edition includes a new Foreword, certain revisions to the chapters, and a major new 15,000 word Afterword that seeks to establish an original basis for the consolidation of body studies around a framework that recognises corporeal difference and diversity, yet builds upon the fundamental problems that face us all as a single human species inhabiting a single planet.
This book provides a comprehensive overview, reevaluation and reassessment of the sociological tradition from its inception to its apparent fragmentation at the close of the twentieth century. Underpinning this analysis is a call for the... more
This book provides a comprehensive overview, reevaluation and reassessment of the sociological tradition from its inception to its apparent fragmentation at the close of the twentieth century. Underpinning this analysis is a call for the discipline to be revitalised on the basis of the ambition that informed the writings of its founding figures.
Having situated sociology in its historical, philosophical and theological contexts, it examines how its major perspectives were based around competing views of the processes elementary to social and moral life. Individual chapters examine these through evaluations of Human, Sacred, Tragic, Heroic and Normative forms of sociology. Post-classical thought and the attempted reconstruction of sociology is dealt with in chapters concerned with Conflict, Feminist, Racial, Rational and Post-Modern sociology.
Sociology evidenced from its origins a concern with socially and culturally patterned responses to universal problems regarding life and death that confront embodied subjects and societies, and The Sociological Ambition concludes by demonstrating the importance of revisiting this ground in order to regenerate the analysis of society.
Having situated sociology in its historical, philosophical and theological contexts, it examines how its major perspectives were based around competing views of the processes elementary to social and moral life. Individual chapters examine these through evaluations of Human, Sacred, Tragic, Heroic and Normative forms of sociology. Post-classical thought and the attempted reconstruction of sociology is dealt with in chapters concerned with Conflict, Feminist, Racial, Rational and Post-Modern sociology.
Sociology evidenced from its origins a concern with socially and culturally patterned responses to universal problems regarding life and death that confront embodied subjects and societies, and The Sociological Ambition concludes by demonstrating the importance of revisiting this ground in order to regenerate the analysis of society.
This book provides an original history of Western civilization from the medieval era by undertaking an analysis of how successive re-formations of the body are related to the creation of different patterns of human community and the... more
This book provides an original history of Western civilization from the medieval era by undertaking an analysis of how successive re-formations of the body are related to the creation of different patterns of human community and the somatic experience of the sacred.
It places the relationship between embodiment and the sacred at the centre of social theory, and casts fresh light on the emergence and transformation of modernity. Re-forming the Body examines critically the thesis that the rational projects of modern bodies have 'died and gone to cyberspace' and suggests we are witnessing the rise of virulent, effervescent forms of the sacred that are changing how people sensorily engage with the world around them.
Grounded in classical and contemporary sociological and social theory, this study makes a new contribution to understanding the relationship between the sacred and the profane, the world of religious and moral sentiment, the creation and breakdown of social orders, and the centrality of the body.
It places the relationship between embodiment and the sacred at the centre of social theory, and casts fresh light on the emergence and transformation of modernity. Re-forming the Body examines critically the thesis that the rational projects of modern bodies have 'died and gone to cyberspace' and suggests we are witnessing the rise of virulent, effervescent forms of the sacred that are changing how people sensorily engage with the world around them.
Grounded in classical and contemporary sociological and social theory, this study makes a new contribution to understanding the relationship between the sacred and the profane, the world of religious and moral sentiment, the creation and breakdown of social orders, and the centrality of the body.
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This book seeks to map out, develop and consolidate the emerging interdisciplinary field of body studies by exploring recent developments in sociologically related studies of embodiment and by exploring the most important traditions of... more
This book seeks to map out, develop and consolidate the emerging interdisciplinary field of body studies by exploring recent developments in sociologically related studies of embodiment and by exploring the most important traditions of social scientific thought to have informed this movement.
In recent years, contemporary societies have been characterised by a heightened attention to the body, and by the growth of 'body projects', expressed in the changing relation of individual identity to health, sexuality and body image. Developments in areas as diverse as diet, genetic engineering, reproductive technologies, plastic surgery and sports science have made the body increasingly a site of social alternatives and individual choices. The rise of the body in consumer culture as a bearer of symbolic value has been reflected in the emergence of embodiment as a fundamental issue in sociology and related disciplines.
Surveying the range of social theories of the body, this monograph offers a comprehensive and innovative assessment of the field. It analyses naturalistic, social constructionist and feminist theories of the body, appraises the fundamental sociological contributions of Pierre Bourdieu and Norbert Elias, and demonstrates the centrality of the body to the traditional concerns of sociology and social theory.
In recent years, contemporary societies have been characterised by a heightened attention to the body, and by the growth of 'body projects', expressed in the changing relation of individual identity to health, sexuality and body image. Developments in areas as diverse as diet, genetic engineering, reproductive technologies, plastic surgery and sports science have made the body increasingly a site of social alternatives and individual choices. The rise of the body in consumer culture as a bearer of symbolic value has been reflected in the emergence of embodiment as a fundamental issue in sociology and related disciplines.
Surveying the range of social theories of the body, this monograph offers a comprehensive and innovative assessment of the field. It analyses naturalistic, social constructionist and feminist theories of the body, appraises the fundamental sociological contributions of Pierre Bourdieu and Norbert Elias, and demonstrates the centrality of the body to the traditional concerns of sociology and social theory.
This monograph explores the history of vocational education, and explores (through a series of interrelated empirical studies) the unintended outcomes of school-work relationships and work-experience schemes. The state has historically... more
This monograph explores the history of vocational education, and explores (through a series of interrelated empirical studies) the unintended outcomes of school-work relationships and work-experience schemes. The state has historically and contemporarily promoted 'work relevant' education, but there is little evidence that this orientation towards learning and the organisation of schooling improves economic efficiency, meets employer needs, or results in young people eager to join, or more finally attuned to, the labour market.
This monograph explores the history of vocational education, and explores (through a series of interrelated empirical studies) the unintended outcomes of school-work relationships and work-experience schemes. The state has historically... more
This monograph explores the history of vocational education, and explores (through a series of interrelated empirical studies) the unintended outcomes of school-work relationships and work-experience schemes. The state has historically and contemporarily promoted 'work relevant' education, but there is little evidence that this orientation towards learning and the organisation of schooling improves economic efficiency, meets employer needs, or results in young people eager to join, or more finally attuned to, the labour market.
During the past two decades, there has been a significant growth of sociological studies into the ‘body pedagogics’ of cultural transmission, reproduction and change. Rejecting the tendency to over-valorise cognitive information, these... more
During the past two decades, there has been a significant growth of sociological studies into the ‘body pedagogics’ of cultural transmission, reproduction and change. Rejecting the tendency to over-valorise cognitive information, these investigations have explored the importance of corporeal capacities, habits and techniques in the processes associated with belonging to specific ‘ways of life’. Focused on practical issues associated with ‘knowing how’ to operate within specific cultures, however, body pedagogic analyses have been less effective at accounting for the incarnation of cultural values. Addressing this limitation, with reference to the radically diverse norms involved historically and contemporarily in ‘vélo worlds’, I develop Dewey’s pragmatist transactionalism by arguing that the social, material and intellectual processes involved in learning physical techniques inevitably entail a concurrent entanglement with, and development of, values.
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This paper contributes to the growing sociological concern with body pedagogics; an embodied approach to the transmission and acquisition of occupational, sporting, religious and other culturally structured practices. Focused upon the... more
This paper contributes to the growing sociological concern with body pedagogics; an embodied approach to the transmission and acquisition of occupational, sporting, religious and other culturally structured practices. Focused upon the relationship between those social, technological and material means through which institutionalized cultures are transmitted, the experiences of those involved in this learning, and the embodied outcomes of this process, existing research highlights the significance of body work, practical techniques, and the senses to these pedagogic processes. What has yet to be explicated adequately, however, is the embodied importance of cognition to this incorporation of culture. In what follows, I address this lacuna by building on John Dewey’s writings in proposing an approach to body pedagogics sympathetic to the prioritization of physical experience but that recognizes the distinctive properties and capacities of thought and reflexivity in these processes.
The Mini‐Enterprise in Schools Project (MESP) represents one aspect of the growing 'education for enterprise'movement in Britain. It is distinctive in catering for school students from the age of nine years, and... more
The Mini‐Enterprise in Schools Project (MESP) represents one aspect of the growing 'education for enterprise'movement in Britain. It is distinctive in catering for school students from the age of nine years, and in making young people part‐time capitalists or labourers during school time. This paper examines some of the general issues relevant to the form of enterprise education promoted by the Mini‐Enterprise Project. MESP is analysed as an important development in the field of education‐industry relations, which has the potential ...
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This paper proposes a novel understanding of ‘edgework’ – a term denoting the voluntary embrace of risk - by drawing on the longstanding sociological tradition of character studies. In so doing, it addresses the paradox that while... more
This paper proposes a novel understanding of ‘edgework’ – a term denoting the voluntary embrace of risk - by drawing on the longstanding sociological tradition of character studies. In so doing, it addresses the paradox that while first-generation research into high-risk leisure suggested that these activities provided identity-affirming escapes from bureaucratized capitalism, a second-generation of writings argued that edgework exists in harmony with the norms of ‘risk societies’, raising questions about its continuing appeal. Reappraising these views, we argue that the former analyses need to be understood in the context of challenges to ‘other-directed’ characterological forms prominent within the post-War era, while the latter signal the embodiment of edgework within emergent ‘opportunity-directed’ modalities of social character. This interpretation enables us to explain the enduring attractions of edgework alongside its changed social role, while signalling its utility as a prism through which to observe broader characterological changes.
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There has during the past two decades been a significant growth of sociological studies into the ‘body pedagogics’ of cultural transmission, reproduction and change. Rejecting the tendency to over-valorise cognitive information, these... more
There has during the past two decades been a significant growth of sociological studies into the ‘body pedagogics’ of cultural transmission, reproduction and change. Rejecting the tendency to over-valorise cognitive information, these investigations have explored the importance of corporeal capacities, habits, and techniques in the processes associated with belonging to specific ‘ways of life’. Focused on practical issues associated with ‘knowing how’ to operate within specific cultures, however, body pedagogic analyses have been less effective at accounting for the incarnation of cultural values. Addressing this limitation, with reference to the radically diverse norms involved historically and contemporarily in ‘vélo worlds’, I develop Dewey’s pragmatist transactionalism by arguing that the social, material and intellectual processes involved in learning physical techniques inevitably entail a concurrent entanglement with, and development of, values.
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This paper develops the longstanding sociological tradition of ‘character studies’ (Riesman, 1969 [1950]), arguing that the accelerated change and associated uncertainties central to late modern life have been accompanied by a new... more
This paper develops the longstanding sociological tradition of ‘character studies’ (Riesman, 1969 [1950]), arguing that the accelerated change and associated uncertainties central to late modern life have been accompanied by a new opportunity-directed form of individuality. Engaging with Sayer’s (2019) agenda-setting return to the subject, we acknowledge the ideological uses to which the promotion of this characterological form may be put, but argue that its core qualities can help suitably situated persons negotiate radical uncertainty via a reflexive, future-oriented commitment to agency. Despite the advantages of this orientation in the contemporary era, however, we conclude by suggesting that opportunity-directedness is associated with certain ‘pathologies’, involving psychological costs and social inequalities, that raise questions about its desirability and sustainability.
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Abstract Supply teachers are playing a growing role in many schools across England and Wales as a result of staff shortages and the demands of implementing the 1988 Education Reform Act. However, little research has been conducted into... more
Abstract Supply teachers are playing a growing role in many schools across England and Wales as a result of staff shortages and the demands of implementing the 1988 Education Reform Act. However, little research has been conducted into this female dominated section of the teaching force despite governmental concern about the motivation and recruitment of supply teachers, and recent deteriorations in their pay and conditions of service. This paper uses data from a comparative case‐study of cover arrangements in a 'Shire'Local ...
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ABSTRACT The spatial dimensions of social interaction and reproduction have received increasing attention from sociologists in recent years. However, these issues remain largely implicit in most studies of classrooms, schools and the... more
ABSTRACT The spatial dimensions of social interaction and reproduction have received increasing attention from sociologists in recent years. However, these issues remain largely implicit in most studies of classrooms, schools and the education system. In this paper, I argue that the ...
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... Sociology and the Problem of Eroticism ■ Chris Shilling University of Kent ■ Philip A. Mellor University of Leeds ... This abjection was apparent in how religious myth and ritual identified women as 'threats to be... more
... Sociology and the Problem of Eroticism ■ Chris Shilling University of Kent ■ Philip A. Mellor University of Leeds ... This abjection was apparent in how religious myth and ritual identified women as 'threats to be vanquished by sacrifice' (Greaney, 2008; Reineke, 2003: 114). ...
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The Mini‐Enterprise in Schools Project (MESP) represents one aspect of the growing 'education for enterprise'movement in Britain. It is distinctive in catering for school students from the age of nine years, and... more
The Mini‐Enterprise in Schools Project (MESP) represents one aspect of the growing 'education for enterprise'movement in Britain. It is distinctive in catering for school students from the age of nine years, and in making young people part‐time capitalists or labourers during school time. This paper examines some of the general issues relevant to the form of enterprise education promoted by the Mini‐Enterprise Project. MESP is analysed as an important development in the field of education‐industry relations, which has the potential ...
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This paper explores how female bodybuilders seek to maintain a viable sense of self despite being stigmatized by the gendered ‘interaction order’; the unavoidable presentational context in which identities are forged during social life... more
This paper explores how female bodybuilders seek to maintain a viable sense of self despite being stigmatized by the gendered ‘interaction order’; the unavoidable presentational context in which identities are forged during social life (Goffman, 1983). In examining their attempts to avoid the detrimental effects of these interactional norms, we draw on a two year ethnographic study of British female bodybuilders and focus upon the workout; a ritualized activity-space central to the identity affirming activities of these women. Drawing on Victor Turner’s (1992) analysis of liminality, we argue that while the workout is key to the creation of female bodybuilders’ identities, and is relatively autonomous from wider interactional norms, the experiences associated with, and the social consequences of, this activity remain phenomenologically and culturally ambivalent. Immersion in the rituals and routines of weight lifting provide female bodybuilders with a temporary, ‘liminoid’, escape from daily life, but offer no permanent solution to the ‘spoilt’ identities attributed to these women.
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Das globale Wiederauflebeo der Religion hat die methodologische ,Standardposition' vieler Soziologeo herausgefordert, wonach Religion stets eine ,abbängige Variable' im Verhältnis zu säkulareo Phänomeneo sei. Dies war auch die... more
Das globale Wiederauflebeo der Religion hat die methodologische ,Standardposition' vieler Soziologeo herausgefordert, wonach Religion stets eine ,abbängige Variable' im Verhältnis zu säkulareo Phänomeneo sei. Dies war auch die Position, die dem Einfluss der Säkularisierungsthese zugrunde lag (Bruce 2002; Martin 1991) und die weiterhin aktuelle Studieo prägt, einschließlich Turners Erklärung des islamischeo ,Fundameotalismus' als einem Produkt von "social dislocations produced by the global economy" (Turner 2002, S. 117; 2006, S. 400f.). Die Vor- ...
The embodied foundations of social theory. Shilling, Chris (2001) The embodied foundations of social theory. In: Ritzer, G. and Smart, B., eds. Handbook of Social Theory. ... ID Code: 3954. Deposited by: Chris Shilling. Deposited on: 18... more
The embodied foundations of social theory. Shilling, Chris (2001) The embodied foundations of social theory. In: Ritzer, G. and Smart, B., eds. Handbook of Social Theory. ... ID Code: 3954. Deposited by: Chris Shilling. Deposited on: 18 Jun 2008 13:46. ...
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Two trends have dominated recent sociological analyses of embodiment. There has, on the one hand, been a proliferation of analyses identifying bodies as the experiential vehicles through which we exist and interact in the world. On the... more
Two trends have dominated recent sociological analyses of embodiment. There has, on the one hand, been a proliferation of analyses identifying bodies as the experiential vehicles through which we exist and interact in the world. On the other hand, this has been accompanied by a large growth in studies suggesting that technological advances have both increased our exposure to instrumental rationality and radically weakened the boundaries between humans and machines. Considered together, these trends raise an important question which has, however, been marginalised in the literature: if bodies are increasingly shaped and even constituted by the performative demands and invasive capacities of technology, what implications does this have for our lived experience of ourselves and our social and natural environment? In addressing this issue, our paper revisits Heidegger's discussion of the technological ‘enframing’ of humans and asks two questions. First, what have we lost experientia...
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The growth of work‐experience as part of the school curriculum in such schemes as TVEI, has led to a growing body of literature concerned with the educational, social and political consequences of this trend. However, one aspect of... more
The growth of work‐experience as part of the school curriculum in such schemes as TVEI, has led to a growing body of literature concerned with the educational, social and political consequences of this trend. However, one aspect of analysis has been neglected by those working in this area. There has been a marked lack of investigation into factors which affect the supply of work placements to schools. Behind this lies an assumption that the participation of industry with schools is a straightforward and easy to accomplish process. ...
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Shilling, Chris (2008) Foreword:Body pedagogics, society and schooling. In: Evans, J. and Rich, E. and Davies, B. and Allwood, R., eds. Education, Disordered Eating and Obesity Discourse: Fat fabrications. Routledge, London, ix-xv. ISBN... more
Shilling, Chris (2008) Foreword:Body pedagogics, society and schooling. In: Evans, J. and Rich, E. and Davies, B. and Allwood, R., eds. Education, Disordered Eating and Obesity Discourse: Fat fabrications. Routledge, London, ix-xv. ISBN 978-0-415-41895-9. ... The full text of this publication is not available from this repository.
There has during the past two decades been a significant growth of sociological studies into the ‘body pedagogics’ of cultural transmission, reproduction and change. Rejecting the tendency to over-valorise cognitive information, these... more
There has during the past two decades been a significant growth of sociological studies into the ‘body pedagogics’ of cultural transmission, reproduction and change. Rejecting the tendency to over-valorise cognitive information, these investigations have explored the importance of corporeal capacities, habits, and techniques in the processes associated with belonging to specific ‘ways of life’. Focused on practical issues associated with ‘knowing how’ to operate within specific cultures, however, body pedagogic analyses have been less effective at accounting for the incarnation of cultural values. Addressing this limitation, with reference to the radically diverse norms involved historically and contemporarily ‘vélo worlds’, I develop Dewey’s pragmatist transactionalism by arguing that the social, material and intellectual processes involved in learning physical techniques inevitably entail a concurrent entanglement with, and development of, values.
Research Interests:
This paper develops the longstanding sociological tradition of ‘character studies’ (Riesman, 1969 [1950]) by arguing that the accelerated pace of change and associated uncertainties central to late modern life have been accompanied by the... more
This paper develops the longstanding sociological tradition of ‘character studies’ (Riesman, 1969 [1950]) by arguing that the accelerated pace of change and associated uncertainties central to late modern life have been accompanied by the emergence of a new opportunity-directed form of individuality. Engaging with Sayer’s (2019) recent agenda-setting return to the subject, we acknowledge the ideological uses to which the promotion of this characterological form can be put, but argue that the qualities with which it is associated may help suitably situated persons negotiate radical uncertainty via a reflexive, future-oriented commitment to agency. Despite the advantages of this orientation in the contemporary social and economic environment, however, we conclude by suggesting that opportunity-directedness has as its counterpoint a number of ‘pathologies’, in the sense of the psychological costs and social inequalities with which it is associated, that raise questions about its desirability and long-term sustainability.
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ABSTRACT his paper develops a theoretically grounded account of one extraordinary individual’s journey from female bodybuilder to Strongwoman. It is set against the challenges socially marginalised sportswomen confront in seeking to forge... more
ABSTRACT his paper develops a theoretically grounded account of one extraordinary individual’s journey from female bodybuilder to Strongwoman. It is set against the challenges socially marginalised sportswomen confront in seeking to forge a coherent identity amidst the competing demands of the social, practical and embodied environments that invariably impinge upon such quests. Highlighting the complexities and ambiguities of the regimes to which Sarah and other ‘gender outlaws’ dedicate themselves, we begin by suggesting that these sporting vocations constitute stochastic arts; the practical indeterminacies of which are exacerbated by both the ultimate frailty of the physical body and the social inequalities women confront in pursuing such activities. Focusing upon Sarah’s life-narrative, we then explore within this framework the pleasures and problems she encountered when participating in and switching from bodybuilding to Strongwoman competitions, and identify what is at stake in this sporting route to self-transformation.
Contemporary research into the field of body pedagogics has produced a growing number of studies concerned with the embodied character of cultural transmission, experience, reproduction and change. This article advances this sociological... more
Contemporary research into the field of body pedagogics has produced a growing number of studies concerned with the embodied character of cultural transmission, experience, reproduction and change. This article advances this sociological development by reinterpreting recent writings on situated epistemic relations (SER) and practical epistemological analysis (PEA) as complementary, methodological, techniques that can enhance these investigations. After outlining existing explorations into the body pedagogics of occupational, sporting, religious, educational and other cultures, the author demonstrates how the interlinked approaches to learning made possible by systematizing SER and PEA can be developed into a new approach that increases the effectiveness with which the theoretical and empirical concerns of studies into embodied acculturation are harnessed.
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This paper examines the arbitrageur as a figure who both embodies the new ethos of uncertainty central to ‘financialised’ capitalism, and exemplifies the issues of ethics and innovation raised by those who now personify what Weber called... more
This paper examines the arbitrageur as a figure who both embodies the new ethos of uncertainty central to ‘financialised’ capitalism, and exemplifies the issues of ethics and innovation raised by those who now personify what Weber called the ‘devotion to the calling of making money’. We begin by providing a brief background to financial ‘abstraction’ in the economy, and the issues of dissimulation with which this has been associated, before suggesting that engaging creatively with Weber’s writings can help us identify uncertainty as key to the character of contemporary financial decision-making. It is against this background that we analyse the arbitrageur as an ideal-type personality who embodies a newly abstract approach to capitalism. This approach is frequently portrayed as unethical, but we suggest it can be associated with an ethics of managing the unknown through an innovative commitment to overcoming limits that has consequences for human life in general.
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This paper contributes to the growing sociological concern with body pedagogics; an embodied approach to the transmission and acquisition of occupational, sporting, religious and other culturally structured practices. Focused upon the... more
This paper contributes to the growing sociological concern with body pedagogics; an embodied approach to the transmission and acquisition of occupational, sporting, religious and other culturally structured practices. Focused upon the relationship between those social, technological and material means through which institutionalized cultures are transmitted, the experiences of those involved in this learning, and the embodied outcomes of this process, existing research highlights the significance of body work, practical techniques, and the senses to these pedagogic processes. What has yet to be explicated adequately, however, is the embodied importance of cognition to this incorporation of culture. In what follows, I address this lacuna by building on John Dewey’s writings in proposing an approach to body pedagogics sympathetic to the prioritization of physical experience but that recognizes the distinctive properties and capacities of thought and reflexivity in these processes.
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During the last few decades there has been a pro- nounced ‘turn to the body’ within sociology and social thought. Ex- ploring the background to and the parameters of this development, this paper explores how this focus on embodiment has... more
During the last few decades there has been a pro- nounced ‘turn to the body’ within sociology and social thought. Ex- ploring the background to and the parameters of this development, this paper explores how this focus on embodiment has been used to de- velop new perspectives within social and cultural analysis, and can be assessed as an essential means of avoiding the Cartesian bias within much Western thought. Revisiting sociology’s heritage, it then identi- fies important resources for this project within classical writings, be- fore analyzing why the body has become such a contested phenome- non within social analysis and society. As developments in science, medicine and technology have made the body increasingly malleable, so too have they made it subject to debates and disagreements about what is normal, desirable and even sacred about the physical identities and capacities of embodied subjects.
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In this paper we argue that Emile Durkheim’s sociology contains within it a theory of society and religion as a form of embodied intoxication that is implicit in his writings on effervescent assemblies but has not yet been explicated or... more
In this paper we argue that Emile Durkheim’s sociology contains within it a theory of society and religion as a form of embodied intoxication that is implicit in his writings on effervescent assemblies but has not yet been explicated or devel- oped fully by subsequent commentators. This holds that for social or religious collectivities to exist, the bodies of individuals must be both marked by insignia, customs and techniques that facilitate the possibility of culturally normative pat- terns of recognition, interaction and action, while also being excited, enthused or intoxicated sufficiently to be inhabited as collective rather than egoistic beings. Our paper begins by investigating the central features of Durkheim’s theory – including his interest in the ritual steering of these processes – as developed most fully in his last major study, The Elementary Forms of Religious Life. We then develop our own analysis of Durkheim’s concern that modernity has stimulated a rise in ‘abnormal’ forms of embodied intoxication that fail to attach individuals to the wider societies in which they live, and demonstrate the utility of our ana- lytical framework by employing it to assess the recent resurgence of charismatic Christian revivalism.
The sociological importance attributed to ‘the sacred’ has varied historically as theorists sought to explain the relationship between religion and early capitalism, the rise of twentieth century secularisation processes, the profusion of... more
The sociological importance attributed to ‘the sacred’ has varied historically as theorists sought to explain the relationship between religion and early capitalism, the rise of twentieth century secularisation processes, the profusion of nationalism in post-Soviet societies, and the recent global upsurge in religious movements. Paradoxically, however, sociology’s concern with the social significance of the sacred has not been accompanied by commensurate interest in those contrasting and varied sacrificial processes implicated in creating the sacred. This paper suggests that this imbalance limits our understanding of the relationship between the sacred, religion and society, and makes it difficult to assess the contemporary relevance of classical writings on the subject. Specifically, it hinders our knowledge of why certain phenomena become sacred, and in so doing limits our appreciation of how societies develop cultural priorities, of how they stimulate individuals to become certain types of social subjects, and of the risks and opportunities that arise in milieu characterised by shrinking or expanding prospects for creating sacred phenomena. This is because sacrifice (sacer facere), ‘the making of sacred things’, constitutes a crucial mediator of these phenomena; illuminating the nature and consequences of specific modalities of sacred rituals, actions and objects, and revealing much about their location within or dislocation from particular social locations, identities and religions. Our argument progresses by viewing sacrifice as an example of what Mauss refers to as a ‘total social fact’, and by engaging with the writings of Bataille, Girard and Simmel; three figures to have made important, sociologically underexplored, contributions to the subject. In so doing, we aim to lay the foundations for a sociology of the contemporary nature and function of sacrifice, suggesting it should be a core issue for.twenty-first century sociology.
In this article I identify how developments in consumer culture, waged-work and health policy have informed our current interest in the body, before suggesting that Durkheim’s and Mauss’s methodological approach towards the external and... more
In this article I identify how developments in consumer culture, waged-work and health policy have informed our current interest in the body, before suggesting that Durkheim’s and Mauss’s methodological approach towards the external and internal dimensions of ‘social facts’ provides us with a valuable basis on which we can analyse the impact of these factors on those subject to them. Building on their interest in the corporeal internalization of societal trends, and the centrality of body techniques to the habitus, I then outline a new corporeal realist framework that can assist us in analysing the education of bodies. This focuses on the relationship that exists between the general forms of body pedagogics dominant within a society as a whole and the specific types of body pedagogies evident in curricula and schools. Recognizing these different terms as referring to distinctive phenomena helps us avoid the assumption that schools simply mirror society, highlights the importance of exploring the interactions between society and school, and sensitizes us to the need to investigate how social norms and policy initiatives are variously filtered, mediated and re-contextualised within the educational field.
Research Interests: Methodology, Embodiment, Theory, The Body, Sport, and 3 moreMauss, Body Pedagogics, and Body Techniques
Contemporary sociology mirrors Western society in its general aversion and sensitivity to pain, and in its view of pain as an unproductive threat to cultures and identities. This highlights the deconstructive capacities of pain, and... more
Contemporary sociology mirrors Western society in its general aversion and sensitivity to pain, and in its view of pain as an unproductive threat to cultures and identities. This highlights the deconstructive capacities of pain, and marginalizes collectively authorized practices that embrace it as constitutive of cultural meanings and social relationships. After exploring the particularity of this Western orientation to pain – by situating it
against processes of instrumentalization and medicalization, and within a broader context of other social developments conducive to a heightening of affect control – this article builds on Mauss’s analysis of ‘body techniques’ in suggesting that the
cultural, physiological and psychological dimensions of pain can be combined in various ways. In examining this point further, we then compare contrasting religious engagements with pain as a way of detailing how it can be positively productive of cultural meanings and identities, and conclude by using these comparisons to illuminate the relationship between the current Western approach to pain and the Christian traditions that shaped the West historically.
against processes of instrumentalization and medicalization, and within a broader context of other social developments conducive to a heightening of affect control – this article builds on Mauss’s analysis of ‘body techniques’ in suggesting that the
cultural, physiological and psychological dimensions of pain can be combined in various ways. In examining this point further, we then compare contrasting religious engagements with pain as a way of detailing how it can be positively productive of cultural meanings and identities, and conclude by using these comparisons to illuminate the relationship between the current Western approach to pain and the Christian traditions that shaped the West historically.
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"Sociology has traditionally been concerned with problems of social order and meaning, and with how modern societies confronted these challenges when reli- gion was in apparent decline, yet classical sociologists struggled to reconcile... more
"Sociology has traditionally been concerned with problems of social order and meaning, and with how modern societies confronted these challenges when reli-
gion was in apparent decline, yet classical sociologists struggled to reconcile within their analyses the (dis)ordering and meaningful potentialities of eroticism. This article examines how eroticism has been viewed as a source of life-affirming meanings and as personally and socially destructive. Utilizing the contrasting theories of Weber and Bataille, we explore sociology’s ambivalence towards eroticism, and criticize contemporary sociological approaches to the subject, before turning to the writings of Cixous, Irigaray and Kristeva for alternative models of the religiously
informed eroticization of daily life. The perspectives these French theorists bring to the subject, and the issues that remain unresolved in their work, identify new lines of inquiry and re-emphasize the importance of building a sociology of eroticism that can address adequately its relationship to questions of order and meaning.
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gion was in apparent decline, yet classical sociologists struggled to reconcile within their analyses the (dis)ordering and meaningful potentialities of eroticism. This article examines how eroticism has been viewed as a source of life-affirming meanings and as personally and socially destructive. Utilizing the contrasting theories of Weber and Bataille, we explore sociology’s ambivalence towards eroticism, and criticize contemporary sociological approaches to the subject, before turning to the writings of Cixous, Irigaray and Kristeva for alternative models of the religiously
informed eroticization of daily life. The perspectives these French theorists bring to the subject, and the issues that remain unresolved in their work, identify new lines of inquiry and re-emphasize the importance of building a sociology of eroticism that can address adequately its relationship to questions of order and meaning.
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Sociological theory has been central to the modern study of religion. In the face of the global resurgence of religious phenomena, however, and the challenge this has presented for the assumptions that characterised much twentieth... more
Sociological theory has been central to the modern study of religion. In the face of the global resurgence of religious phenomena, however, and the challenge this has presented for the assumptions that characterised much twentieth century sociology, there is a need for new theoretical models to make sense of religion today. This paper contributes to this task by building upon Durkheim’s suggestion that religious social facts become fully efficacious only when internalised, and Luhmann’s interest in sociological manifestations of ‘transcendence’ and ‘immanence’, in order to analyse religion as a thoroughly embodied phenomenon that can be understood through the study of religious body pedagogics. Having outlined the key steps involved in the analysis of body pedagogics, we illustrate the utility of this realist framework through an ideal-typical representation of Christianity and Islam and reflect, via a consideration of several objections that could be directed towards it, upon how this approach can deal with the complexities and contingencies of contemporary religion. In conclusion, it is suggested that this systematic body pedagogic focus on embodied commonalities and differences across diverse religious contexts offers a valuable basis upon which to engage critically with religion today.
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The origins of sociology are commonly associated with post-Enlightenment rationalism, positivism and the instrumentalization of modern societies. What is frequently neglected in accounts of the emergence of the discipline, however, is... more
The origins of sociology are commonly associated with post-Enlightenment rationalism, positivism and the instrumentalization of modern societies. What is frequently neglected in accounts of the emergence of the discipline, however, is that many of its founding figures also analyzed the ontological foundations of human beings. These foundations informed those emotions, passions and collective bonds that not only underpinned and coexisted with the rational dimensions of society, but possessed the capacity to challenge these ...
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The issue of morality has lost its position of importance within the discipline, yet a growing number of sociologists interested in the ambivalent character of (post)modernity have returned to this subject in recent years. This article... more
The issue of morality has lost its position of importance within the discipline, yet a growing number of sociologists interested in the ambivalent character of (post)modernity have returned to this subject in recent years. This article exam-ines the revival of interest in morality and ...
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... http://soc.sagepub.com/content/39/4/761 The online version of this article can be found at: DOI: 10.1177/0038038505056034 2005 39: 761 Sociology Chris Shilling The Rise of the Body and the Development of Sociology ... of Sociology s... more
... http://soc.sagepub.com/content/39/4/761 The online version of this article can be found at: DOI: 10.1177/0038038505056034 2005 39: 761 Sociology Chris Shilling The Rise of the Body and the Development of Sociology ... of Sociology s Chris Shilling University of Portsmouth ...