A. Sociology of the Body

 1.  emphasize the body and physical experiences of central importance. Concern for physical health and well-being.

 2.  health, shape and appearance of body as expression of individual identity

 3.  Michel Foucault - History of Sexuality - Discipline and Punishment: the Birth of the Prison - physical activities and underlying structures of power.

 4.  Bryan Turner - relationship between physical, organic and cultural aspects. Issues of diet, aging, tanning, beauty, obesity

 5.  mental illness - socially constructed - deviation from the social norm.

 6. regulation and control of the body - restraint, bulimia, anorexia.

 7.  feminism, consumerism and the body  - social control of women, relation of body to inequality. - genetics
 

B. Sociobiology

 1.  Edward Wilson  - biological basis of all social behavior

 2.  Humans are the product of evolution and information passed on by our genes.  Product of natural selection.

 3.  Biological factors set limits to the range of possible behaviors.

 4.  issues: gender, intelligence, homosexuality,

 5.  Do biological factors explain the degree of cultural diversity found among humans?

 6.  humans are a kind of primate that has produced culture.

 7.  Selfish genes - genes that lead to successful adaptation and survival will be reproduced in the next generation.

 8.  kin selection - favoring relatives over non-relatives. - altruism and self sacrifice

 9. reproductive strategies - investment

 10.  Donald Campbell - cultural evolution

 11.  Alice Rossi - humans are not infinitely plastic.  Biology implies constraints

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