Sociology of Health and Illness

Available Open Access digitally under CC-BY-NC-ND licence.

This book analyses the clashes between evidence-based medicine and the dynamics of an increasingly privatised fertility care industry. With a unique focus on "add-on" treatments, it reveals how these controversial treatments are now widespread and can border on hopemongering.

ePUB and EPDF available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence.

Drawing from the Evidence for Equality National Survey (EVENS), this book presents new evidence of ethnic inequalities and sheds new light on underlying racisms, opening them up to debate as crucial social concerns.

It is often claimed that the UK is unusually attached to its National Health Service, and the last decade has seen increasingly visible displays of gratitude and love. This book offers a timely critique of both the potential, and the dysfunctions, of Britain’s complex love affair with its healthcare system.

EPUB and EPDF available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence.

This thought-provoking collection redefines the boundaries of moral responsibility. It shows how epigenetics reveals connections between our genetic make-up and our environment. The essays suggest a shift in focus from individual to collective responsibility.

This book provides accessible insights into pressing social problems in the United States in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and proposes public policy responses for victims and justice, precarious populations, employment dilemmas and health and well-being.

Published with SSSP, this book addresses the greatest social challenges facing the world as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors propose public policy solutions to help refugees, migrant workers, victims of human trafficking, indigenous populations and the invisible poor of the Global South.

An anthropologist visits the frontiers of genetics, medicine, and technology to ask: whose values are guiding gene-editing experiments, and what are the implications for humanity?

Re-examining health, healthcare and societal health using the latest data and research, this book addresses definitions of health, changes in health over time and the contribution of healthcare. It also suggests ways of effectively tackling obstacles to improving health and healthcare in 21st century Britain.

This book critiques the popular claim that ‘more information’ equates to ‘better health’ and explores the potential challenges related to people’s changing relationships with traditional health systems as access to, and control over data shifts.

This important book explores the dimensions, dynamics and implications of the emerging pandemic society, shedding new light on how pandemics are socially produced and, in turn, shape societies in governance, work and recreation, science and technology, education, and family life.

This topical and authoritative book examines how the regulation of doctors has been modernised by the introduction of the quality assurance process medical revalidation. In doing so, it questions if there indeed is evidence to support the argument that revalidation serves the public interest by ensuring individual doctors are fit to practice.

Based on ethnographic research conducted over a year, this book tells the story of twelve people, each living with illness. Focusing on everyday life, it explores ideas of care, vulnerability and choice. Juxtaposing text with illustrations, the book highlights the intimacies of visual sociology and demonstrates the value of sensuous scholarship.