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Bourdieu and an Update of Health Lifestyle Theory

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Medical Sociology on the Move

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to update health lifestyle theory and in the process illustrate the importance of Pierre Bourdieu’s contributions to sociological research on this topic. Bourdieu never published work on health or medical sociology, yet many of his ideas, especially his concepts of habitus and various forms of capital (e.g., social, cultural), are increasingly utilized to provide theoretical models in health-related research (see, for example, Abel and Frohlich 2011; Carpiano 2006; Christensen 2011; Cockerham 2005, 2007, 2010; Williams 1995). The merit of his perspective is that it fully (perhaps overly in some instances) acknowledges the important role structure has in shaping and often determining human social behavior, including lifestyles. This return to a more structurally-aware approach comes decades after the demise of structural-functionalism and the ascendancy of agency-oriented theories in health sociology and sociology generally (Cockerham 2013; Mouzelis 2008; Smelser 1997).

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  1. Department of Sociology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1401 University Blvd, Birmingham, 35294-1152, Alabama, USA

    William C. Cockerham

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    William C. Cockerham

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Cockerham, W.C. (2013). Bourdieu and an Update of Health Lifestyle Theory. In: Cockerham, W. (eds) Medical Sociology on the Move. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6193-3_7

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