Kieran Keohane - The Social Pathologies of Contemporary Civilization

THE SOCIAL PATHOLOGIES OF CONTEMPORARY CIVILIZATION

Series Editor: Stjepan G. Mestrovic, Texas A&M University, USA

Classical and Contemporary Social Theory publishes rigorous scholarly work that re-discovers the relevance of social theory for contemporary times, demonstrating the enduring importance of theory for modern social issues. The series covers social theory in a broad sense, inviting contributions on both classical and modern theory, thus encompassing sociology, without being confined to a single discipline. As such, work from across the social sciences is welcome, provided that volumes address the social context of particular issues, subjects, or figures and offer new understandings of social reality and the contribution of a theorist or school to our understanding of it. The series considers significant new appraisals of established thinkers or schools, comparative works or contributions that discuss a particular social issue or phenomenon in relation to the work of specific theorists or theoretical approaches. Contributions are welcome that assess broad strands of thought within certain schools or across the work of a number of thinkers, but always with an eye toward contributing to contemporary understandings of social issues and contexts.

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Edited by

KIERAN KEOHANE

University College Cork, Ireland

ANDERS PETERSEN

Aalborg University, Denmark

ASHGATE

Kieran Keohane and Anders Petersen 2013

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.

Kieran Keohane and Anders Petersen have asserted their right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the editors of this work.

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

The social pathologies of contemporary civilization. -- (Classical and contemporary social theory)
1. Civilization, Modern--21st century--Health aspects. 2. Sociology of disability.
I. Series II. Keohane, Kieran. III. Petersen, Anders.
306.4'61-dc23

The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows

The social pathologies of contemporary civilization / [edited] by Kieran Keohane and Anders Petersen.

p. cm. -- (Classical and contemporary social theory)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-4094-4505-0 (hbk) -- ISBN 978-1-4094-4506-7 (ebook) 1. Sociology--Philosophy. 2. Sociology--Psychological aspects. 3. Pathology--Social aspects. 4. Diseases--Social aspects. 5. Civilization, Modern. I. Keohane, Kieran. II. Petersen, Anders, 1973

HM585.S566 2013

301--dc23

2012030840

ISBN 9781409445050 (hbk)

ISBN 9781409445067 (ebk-PDF)

ISBN 9781409472865 (ebk-ePUB)

Printed and bound in Great Britain by the MPG Books Group, UK.

Kieran Keohane and Anders Petersen

Alain Ehrenberg

Arpad Szakolczai

Bjrn Thomassen

Kieran Keohane

Bert van den Bergh

Svend Brinkmann

Annalisa Porfilio

Margrethe Nielsen and Gunnar Scott Reinbacher

Pia Ring

Anders Petersen and Rasmus Willig

Agnes Horvath

Bert van den Bergh is Senior Lecturer at The Hague University and is completing his PhD at Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Svend Brinkmann is Professor of General Psychology and Qualitative Methods at Aalborg University, Denmark. His recent books include Psychology as a Moral Science: Perspectives on Normativity and Qualitative Inquiry in Everyday Life: Working with Everyday Life Materials.

Alain Ehrenberg is Senior Research Scientist at the CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique). He is author of La Socit du Malaise and The Weariness of the Self: Diagnosis the History of Depression in the Contemporary Age.

Agnes Horvath is a sociologist and political scientist with interests in anthropological aspects of modern society. An affiliated scholar at Cambridge University and co-founder of the journal International Political Anthropology, she is co-author of Senkifoldjn (On the No Mans Land) and The Dissolution of Communist Power, and co-editor of Reclaiming Beauty: Collected Essays in Political Anthropology.

Kieran Keohane is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the School of Sociology and Philosophy, University College Cork, Ireland. He is the author of Symptoms of Canada and co-author of Cosmopolitan Ireland: Globalisation and Quality of Life and Collision Culture: Transformations in Everyday Life in Ireland.

Margrethe Nielsen is Lecturer in Midwifery at Metropolitan University College, Denmark, where she is currently completing her doctoral dissertation.

Anders Petersen is Associate Professor of Sociology at Aalborg University, Denmark and President of the Danish Sociological Association. He is editor of Selvet: Sociologiske Perspektiver (The Self: Sociological Perspectives).

Annalisa Porfilio is Associate Lecturer in Sociology at the National Distance Education Centre of Dublin City University, Ireland. She is currently completing her doctoral dissertation at the School of Sociology and Philosophy at University College Cork, where she has been investigating the question of theory with the financial support of the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and the Social Sciences.

Gunnar Scott Reinbacher is an associate professor in the Department of Culture and Global Studies at Aalborg University, Denmark. He is Chair of Research Network 16 at the European Sociological Association on The Sociology of Health and Illness and co-editor of Research Design: Validation in the Social Sciences.

Pia Ring is completing her PhD at the Department of Sociology and Social Work, Aalborg University, Denmark, focusing on the connection between political, managerial and regulative forms of governance and the scientific character, transformation, understanding and practice of psychiatry.

Arpad Szakolczai is Professor of Sociology at University College Cork, Ireland. He is the author of Max Weber and Michel Foucault: Parallel Life-Works; Reflexive Historical Sociology; The Genesis of Modernity; Sociology, Religion and Grace; and Comedy and the Public Sphere.

Bjrn Thomassen is Associate Professor of Sociology at the Department of Society and Globalisation, Roskilde University, Denmark and co-founder of the journal