Sleep and society - Sociological ventures into the (un)known... - Grand Format

"This is a fascinating book which opens up a whole new area of investigation for sociology. Williams questions the relative neglect of sleep within even 'embodied' sociologies, making a strong case for a sociology of sleep. At the same time, however, he persuasively demonstrates that and how mainstream sociological traditions lend themselves to this uncharted domain, often with interesting and unusual results.
Sociologists of both medicine and the body need to engage with sleep. Williams provides us with a fascinating route in." -Dr Nick Crossley, University of Manchester, UK. We spend approximately a third of our lives sleeping, yet sleep remains one of those great mysteries in life : a weird and wonderful world we all return to on a daily or nightly basis, happily or otherwise. Sleep is a socially, culturally and historically variable matter.
It is only relatively recently, however, that sociologists and other researchers in the social sciences and humanities have begun to wake up to the social dimensions of sleep. Sleep and Society takes us on a rich and fascinating sociological journey through this largely uncharted terrain. Key themes and issues addressed include : changing theories and explanations of sleep through the ages, historical and cross-cultural variations in sleeping patterns and practices, sleep, embodiment and the lifeworld, sleep across the life course, the social patterning and social organisation of sleep, and the medicalisation and commercialisation of sleep in the current era.
Written in an accessible and engaging style, with impressive coverage and many timely, topical and original insights, Sleep and Society will appeal to a truly interdisciplinary audience, including students and researchers within the social sciences and humanities, sleep scientists, and other professionals, practitioners and policy makers with an interest in sleep-related matters.