A Passion for Society ─ How We Think About Human Suffering

What is the meaning of human suffering for society? How has this meaning changed from the past to the present? In what ways does the problem of suffering” serve to inspire us to act with care for others? How does our response to suffering reveal the moral state of our humanity and our social condition? In this trenchant work, Arthur Kleinmana renowned figure in medical anthropologyand Iain Wilkinson, an award-winning sociologist, team up to offer some answers to these profound questions.

A Passion for Society investigates the historical development and current condition of social science with a focus on how this development has been shaped in response to problems of social suffering. Following a line of criticism offered by key social theorists and cultural commentators who themselves were unhappy with the professionalization of social science, Wilkinson and Kleinman provide a critical commentary on how studies of human social life have moved from an original concern with social suffering and its amelioration to dispassionate inquiries. The authors demonstrate how social care is revitalizing and remaking the discipline of social science, and they examine the potential for achieving social understanding though a moral commitment to the practice of care. In this deeply considered work, Wilkinson and Kleinman argue for an engaged social science that connects critical thought with social action, that seeks to learn through caregiving, and that operates with a commitment to establish and sustain humane forms of society.

Iain Wilkinson is Reader in Sociology at the School of Social Policy, Sociology, and Social Research at the University of Kent. He is author ofRisk Vulnerability and Everyday Life, Suffering: A Sociological Introduction, and Anxiety in a Risk Society.

Arthur Kleinman is a psychiatrist and Esther and Sidney Rabb Professor of Medical Anthropology and Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard University. He currently serves as Director of the Harvard University Asia Center. He is author ofThe Illness Narratives and What Really Matters, coauthor of Reimagining Global Health,and coeditor of Social Suffering, to name a few of the other books he has written or edited.