Bryan S. Turner is one of the world’s leading sociologists of religion; he has also devoted significant attention to sociological theory, the study of human rights, and the sociology of the body. In Vulnerability and Human Rights (Pennsylvania State University Press, 2006), he presents an interdisciplinary dialogue with the literature of economics, law, medicine, philosophy, political science, and religion. His current research involves the role of religion in contemporary Asia and the changing nature of citizenship in a globalizing world. Turner has written, coauthored, or edited more than seventy books and more than two hundred articles and chapters. The Body and Society: Explorations in Social Theory (Sage, 2008), first published in 1984, is in its third edition. He is also an author or editor of The Cambridge Dictionary of Sociology, The Blackwell Companion to Social Theory, and The Sage Handbook of Sociology. He is a founding editor of the journals Body & Society, Citizenship Studies, and Journal of Classical Sociology. Turner comes to the GC from Wellesley College, where he was Alona Evans Distinguished Visiting Professor; he is also professor of social and political thought at the University of Western Sydney, Australia. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Leeds and has been awarded the Doctor of Letters from both Flinders University in South Australia and the University of Cambridge.
"An interesting collection of essays which examines the relevance of the concept of citizenship for the current debates in social and political theory." --Political Studies Association The concept of citizenship is central to the relations between individual and nation, but citizenship has never had the body of systematic theory comparable to democratic or state theory. In this impressive volume, an international group of contributors identifies key strands in the theory of citizenship and its relations to contemporary social and political change. Among the issues explored are the historical roots of citizenship and its modern development with the nation state and urban society; the differing traditions of citizenship in democratic theory and civil society in marxist theory; the relation of citizenship to welfare and the market; and the implications of citizenship for the problems of belonging, identity, and personality in the modern world. This interdisciplinary volume will be of wide interest to scholars and students in sociology, political science, political philosophy, and social policy.
