The author, Bryan Turner, examines how macro processes like globalization, risk, economic deregulation, and technological change shape personal experiences of health and illness. Addressing key topics in contemporary sociology such as the body, power, and knowledge, Turner sets out to rethink medical sociology as an exciting perspective on the principal transformations of modern society.
In this broad historical and sociological work, Turner asks and answers how economic changes of recent decades have undermined both social cohesion and the conditions that promote good health. He explores the macro-level importance of social capital (people's involvement or investments in society), inequality, and citizenship rights in his explanation of health and illness in modern societies, and examines at the micro level embodiment (our relationship to our own bodies) in narratives of illness.
The New Medical Sociology is part of the Contemporary Societies series.

Bryan S. Turner is professor of Sociology in the Department of Sociology at Cambridge University in England and a professorial fellow of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. His previous publications include The Body and Society (1984), Medical Power and Social Knowledge (1987) and Regulating Bodies (1992). He is the joint editor with Mike Featherstone of the journal Body & Society. He teaches medical sociology and the sociology of human rights at Cambridge. He is currently editing the Cambridge Dictionary of Sociology (with Craig Calhoun and Chris Rojek) and the International Handbook of Sociology. He is also doing research on rights, learning disabilities, and social inclusion.