At a time when body matters and controversies related to social control, reproductive rights, discrimination and the future of organic life are key issues across the globe, SSPSSR’s Professor Chris Shilling has just had published an Iranian edition of his influential monograph The Body and Social Theory.
The book was translated by Hassan Shahraki – an Iranian university professor, social critic, and essayist – who is presently Head of the Department of Agriculture Extension and Education, University of Zabol, Iran.
The Body and Social Theory provides chapter-by-chapter coverage of the major theories, approaches and studies conducted in the field of body matters in sociology. Topics discussed include ‘action network theory’, bodywork, pragmatism, the global resurgence of religious identities, ‘new genetics’, biological citizenship, and figurations of the living and dead. Offering full critical analysis and relevant empirical studies, the book engages with the major classical and contemporary theories within body studies including the: Naturalistic; Constructionist; Structuralist; Realist; Interactionist; Feminist; and Phenomenological.
Professor Shilling teaches about the body in culture and society, in sociological theory, and in the sociology of religion. His research revolves around a concern to embody sociology and social/cultural theory, and to understand the social and cultural implications of what it is to be an embodied being. At SSPSSR, Professor Shilling teaches undergraduate modules on the cultures of embodiment and sociology of religion. At postgraduate level, he teaches the foundations of sociology. He also supervises PhD students.