Emotion and Social Theory

Simon Williams is Senior Lecturer in the Dept. of Sociology, University of Warwick

Introduction Why Emotions, Why Now? Modernity and Its Discontents Reason Versus Emotion? Biology Versus Society? Experiencing Emotions The Lived Body Desire, Excess and the Transgression of Corporeal Boundaries Gender and the Transformation of Intimacy A 'Stalled Revolution'? `Manufactured' Emotions? The '(un)managed Heart' Revisited Conclusions

`Well written, richly documented, and carefully argued, Emotion and Social Theory takes the sociological understanding of emotions to significant new levels. It will set the standard for work - theoretical and empirical -for some time to come. A must read for seasoned scholars and newcomers to the field' - Virginia Olesen, Professor Emerita of Sociology, University of California `At millennium's end, emotions have moved to the very centre of social theory. Williams lucidly analyses the writings of philosophers, sociologists, psychologists and psychoanalysts who, though often at odds about everything else, are agreed on that at least' - Stephen Mennell, Professor of Sociology, University College Dublin