Self-care: Embodiment, Personal Autonomy and the Shaping of Health Consciousness

by Christopher Ziguras

Overview

This book examines the widespread cultural and political consequences of the proliferation of popular health advice. It provides a key theoretical contribution to the sociological study of health and embodiment by illuminating the processes of social change that have transformed how individuals care for themselves and the ways in which power and desire now shape health behaviour.
Self-Care will be of essential interest to students and academics working within the fields of sociology, health and social welfare.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781134419685
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	06/02/2004
Series:	Routledge Advances in Sociology
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	208
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Christopher Ziguras is Research Fellow and Deputy Director of the Globalism Institute at RMIT University. He is editor of The International Publishing Services Market (with Bill Cope, 2002) and has published numerous articles examining the impact of rationalization, commodification and electronic mediation on the constitution of identity, particularly in international education and health promotion.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction. You are Your Own Saviour and Your Own Worst Enemy 2. Learning to Care for One's Self 3. Sending the Health Message 4. Natural Alternatives 5. Self-Care and Anti-Institutional Politics 6. The Nagging State 7. Narcissism and Self-Care: Theorising America's Obsession with Mundane Health Behaviour 8. Governing One's Self 9. Reflexivity, Rationalisation and Health Risks 10. Technological Salvation or More Human Solutions 11. Conclusions: Towards a Social-Ecological Approach to Self-Care Promotion