Iain Wilkinson
My interests concern social suffering, the politics of compassion, the sociology of health, the sociology of risk and social theory. I study the ways in which people struggle to make the experience of suffering productive for thought and action. I am particularly interested in occasions where problems of suffering amount to forces of cultural innovation and social change. I attempt to understand how traditional problems of theodicy manifest themselves in today’s world as problems of ‘sociodicy’. I aim to gather insights into the social and cultural constitution of human suffering and the character of events and experiences where too much suffering is perceived to take place. This involves me in the task of understanding how people come to understand that there is an excess of suffering in the world, and how this in turn shatters the bounds of normative expectation so as to create demands for social restitution. It draws analytical attention to the transformations that take place in cultural worldviews, social behaviours and institutional arrangements in contexts where people experience and/or respond to acute problems of suffering. The theoretical dimension of this project draws on elements of classical sociological theory and also engages with contemporary vistas of inquiry into the social character of emotions, the social dynamics of embodied experience and the political economy of health. In a more policy orientated and practical direction, it concerns the ways in which people’s collective imagination for the suffering of others has an incisive bearing upon moral, political and institutional responses to human affliction and social need.
Address: School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research (SSPSSR),
University of Kent,
Canterbury,
Kent,
CT2 7NF
Address: School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research (SSPSSR),
University of Kent,
Canterbury,
Kent,
CT2 7NF
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Books by Iain Wilkinson
“This is a wonderful book on an extremely important subject. The social causes of individual suffering—in company or in isolation—get the attention and probing investigation they demand, both as a contribution to epistemology and as pointers to ways and means of remedial action. This is a much awaited—and beautifully written—book which should make a huge difference to the sad and unjust world in which we live.”—Amartya Sen, Professor of Economics and Philosophy at Harvard University
“A Passion for Society is a stirring rejection of the cult of dispassion in modern anthropology and sociology and a brisk rehabilitation of attempts to link fellow feeling to pragmatic (and, yes, humanitarian) efforts to lessen the suffering of others. This defense of caring and caregiving revives old lessons and offers new ones, burnishing the example of great social theorists and of almost forgotten ones. Wilkinson and Kleinman are not trying to win an argument, although they do, but rather to offer a hopeful and humane intellectual basis for what is, fundamentally and unapologetically, a moral stance: against indifference and cynicism and inaction, and for their opposites. This fierce book is both balm and compass.”—Paul Farmer, MD, PhD, Harvard Medical School, Partners In Health, The Brigham and Women’s Hospital
“The world is stuffed full of unbearable human misery. Every day billions of people in the world find themselves living in tragic desperation. What is to be done? How can a social science deal with this best? In this challenging, committed and original study, Iain Wilkinson and Arthur Kleinman provide a history and appreciation of the study of social suffering and urge us to place this at the heart of understanding society by putting compassion and practical care at its core. Critical of the formalism, distance, and coldness of both academic life and social science, the book creates new dialogues. It deserves to become a landmark in redirecting social science to work more passionately to make the world a kinder place.”—Ken Plummer, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, Essex University
“In their analysis of ‘the problem of suffering,’ Wilkinson and Kleinman provide a thoroughly convincing argument for a new approach to social theory and social research practice—one that is compassionate, interventionist, and globally oriented, and thus better able to address the pressing issues that define our age.” —Alan Petersen, Professor of Sociology, Monash University
Designed to equip readers not only with the sociological means to debate the human consequences of our contemporary culture of risk, but also, with the critical resources to evaluate the significance this holds for current sociology, this book provides a perfectly pitched undergraduate introduction to the topic.
looks at the problem of contemporary anxiety from a sociological perspective;
highlights its significance for the ways we make sense of risk and uncertainty;
argues that the relationship between anxiety and risk hinges on the nature of anxiety.
Iain Wilkinson believes that there is much for sociologists to learn from those who have made the condition of anxiety the focus of their life's work. By making anxiety the focus of sociological inquiry, a critical vantage point can be gained from which to attempt an answer to the question: Are we more anxious because we are more risk conscious? This is an original and thought-provoking contribution to the understanding of late modernity as a risk society.
Health, Risk and Vulnerability investigates the personal and political dimensions of health risk that structure everyday thought and action. In this innovative book, international contributors reflect upon the meaning and significance of risk across a broad range of social and institutional contexts, exploring current issues such as:
the ‘escalation of the medicalization of life’, involving the pathologization of normality and blurring of the divide between clinical and preventive medicine
the tendency for mental health service users to be regarded as representing a risk to others rather than being ‘at risk’ and vulnerable themselves
the development of health care systems to identify risk and prevent harm
women’s reactions to ‘high risk’ screening results during pregnancy and how they communicate with other women about risk
men and the use the internet to reconstruct their social and sexual identities
Charting new terrain in the sociology of health and risk, and focusing on the connections between them, Health, Risk and Vulnerability offers new perspectives on an important field of contemporary debate and provides an invaluable resource for students, teachers, researchers, and policy makers.
Papers by Iain Wilkinson
“This is a wonderful book on an extremely important subject. The social causes of individual suffering—in company or in isolation—get the attention and probing investigation they demand, both as a contribution to epistemology and as pointers to ways and means of remedial action. This is a much awaited—and beautifully written—book which should make a huge difference to the sad and unjust world in which we live.”—Amartya Sen, Professor of Economics and Philosophy at Harvard University
“A Passion for Society is a stirring rejection of the cult of dispassion in modern anthropology and sociology and a brisk rehabilitation of attempts to link fellow feeling to pragmatic (and, yes, humanitarian) efforts to lessen the suffering of others. This defense of caring and caregiving revives old lessons and offers new ones, burnishing the example of great social theorists and of almost forgotten ones. Wilkinson and Kleinman are not trying to win an argument, although they do, but rather to offer a hopeful and humane intellectual basis for what is, fundamentally and unapologetically, a moral stance: against indifference and cynicism and inaction, and for their opposites. This fierce book is both balm and compass.”—Paul Farmer, MD, PhD, Harvard Medical School, Partners In Health, The Brigham and Women’s Hospital
“The world is stuffed full of unbearable human misery. Every day billions of people in the world find themselves living in tragic desperation. What is to be done? How can a social science deal with this best? In this challenging, committed and original study, Iain Wilkinson and Arthur Kleinman provide a history and appreciation of the study of social suffering and urge us to place this at the heart of understanding society by putting compassion and practical care at its core. Critical of the formalism, distance, and coldness of both academic life and social science, the book creates new dialogues. It deserves to become a landmark in redirecting social science to work more passionately to make the world a kinder place.”—Ken Plummer, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, Essex University
“In their analysis of ‘the problem of suffering,’ Wilkinson and Kleinman provide a thoroughly convincing argument for a new approach to social theory and social research practice—one that is compassionate, interventionist, and globally oriented, and thus better able to address the pressing issues that define our age.” —Alan Petersen, Professor of Sociology, Monash University
Designed to equip readers not only with the sociological means to debate the human consequences of our contemporary culture of risk, but also, with the critical resources to evaluate the significance this holds for current sociology, this book provides a perfectly pitched undergraduate introduction to the topic.
looks at the problem of contemporary anxiety from a sociological perspective;
highlights its significance for the ways we make sense of risk and uncertainty;
argues that the relationship between anxiety and risk hinges on the nature of anxiety.
Iain Wilkinson believes that there is much for sociologists to learn from those who have made the condition of anxiety the focus of their life's work. By making anxiety the focus of sociological inquiry, a critical vantage point can be gained from which to attempt an answer to the question: Are we more anxious because we are more risk conscious? This is an original and thought-provoking contribution to the understanding of late modernity as a risk society.
Health, Risk and Vulnerability investigates the personal and political dimensions of health risk that structure everyday thought and action. In this innovative book, international contributors reflect upon the meaning and significance of risk across a broad range of social and institutional contexts, exploring current issues such as:
the ‘escalation of the medicalization of life’, involving the pathologization of normality and blurring of the divide between clinical and preventive medicine
the tendency for mental health service users to be regarded as representing a risk to others rather than being ‘at risk’ and vulnerable themselves
the development of health care systems to identify risk and prevent harm
women’s reactions to ‘high risk’ screening results during pregnancy and how they communicate with other women about risk
men and the use the internet to reconstruct their social and sexual identities
Charting new terrain in the sociology of health and risk, and focusing on the connections between them, Health, Risk and Vulnerability offers new perspectives on an important field of contemporary debate and provides an invaluable resource for students, teachers, researchers, and policy makers.