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Essential to any collection of work on the body, health and illness, or social theory' - "Choice

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Sophisticated and acutely perceptive of the importance of the complex dialectic between social institutions, culture and biological conditions' - "Times Higher Education Supplement

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Chris Shilling has done us all a splendid service in bringing together and illustrating the tremendous diversity and richness of sociological thinking on the topic of human embodiment and its implications' - " Sociological Review

"This updated edition of the bestselling text retains all the strengths of the first edition. Chris Shilling: provides a critical survey of the field; demonstrates how developments in diet, sexuality, reproductive technology, genetic engineering and sports science have made the body a site for social alternatives and individual choices; and elucidates the practical uses of theory in striking and accessible ways.

In addition, new, original material: explores the latest feminist, phenomenological and action-oriented approaches to the body; examines the latest work on body projects' and the relationship between the body and self-identity; and outlines a compelling theoretical framework that provides a radical basis for the consolidation of body studies.