This book offers an original account of the good life in late modernity through a uniquely sociological lens. It considers the various ways that social and cultural factors can encourage or impede genuine efforts to live a good life by deconstructing the concepts of happiness and contentment within cultural narratives of the good life. While empirical studies have dominated the discourse on happiness in recent decades, the emphasis on finding causal and correlational relationships has led to a field of research that arguably lacks a reliable theoretical foundation. Deconstructing Happiness offers a step toward developing that foundation by offering characteristically sociological perspectives on the contemporary fascination with happiness and well-being. In doing so, it seeks to understand the good life as a socially mediated experience rather than a purely personal or individually defined way of living. The outcome is a book on happiness, contentment and the good life that considers the influence of democracy, capitalism and progress, while also focusing on the more theoretical challenges of self-knowledge, reason and interaction.
By:
Jordan McKenzie
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Volume: 109
Dimensions:
Height: 229mm,
Width: 152mm,
Spine: 15mm
Weight: 362g
ISBN: 9781138832602
ISBN 10: 113883260X
Series: Routledge Studies in Social and Political Thought
Pages: 170
Publication Date: 04 April 2016
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Primary
,
A / AS level
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Introduction: Thinking Critically About Happiness 1. An Introduction to the Sociology of Happiness: Revisiting the Classics 2. Happiness, Sadness, and Contentment in the Sociology of Emotion 3. Reason, Self-Understanding and Autonomy in the Pursuit of Happiness 4. From Freud to Bauman: A Modern History of Discontentment 5. Democracy, Economics and the Public Sphere: If Money Won’t Buy Happiness, Who Should We Vote For? 6. Knowing Happiness and Contentment: The Good Life as a Hermeneutic Exercise. Conclusion.
Jordan McKenzie is a lecturer in Sociology at the University of New England in New South Wales, Australia.
