University of Kent

Research

General research interests

My interests concern social suffering, the politics of compassion, the sociology of health, the sociology of risk and social theory. I study the ways in which people struggle to make the experience of suffering productive for thought and action. I am particularly interested in occasions where problems of suffering amount to forces of cultural innovation and social change. I attempt to understand how traditional problems of theodicy manifest themselves in today’s world as problems of ‘sociodicy’. I aim to gather insights into the social and cultural constitution of human suffering and the character of events and experiences where too much suffering is perceived to take place. This involves me in the task of understanding how people come to understand that there is an excess of suffering in the world, and how this in turn shatters the bounds of normative expectation so as to create demands for social restitution. It draws analytical attention to the transformations that take place in cultural worldviews, social behaviours and institutional arrangements in contexts where people experience and/or respond to acute problems of suffering. The theoretical dimension of this project draws on elements of classical sociological theory and also engages with contemporary vistas of inquiry into the social character of emotions, the social dynamics of embodied experience and the political economy of health. In a more policy orientated and practical direction, it concerns the ways in which people’s collective imagination for the suffering of others has an incisive bearing upon moral, political and institutional responses to human affliction and social need.

Current Research Projects

I am Director of the Centre for the Study of Philanthropy, Humanitarianism and Social Justice (CPHSJ). In this capacity, I am involved in various funded projects relating to the social contexts and consequences of charitable giving. The  interrelationship between contemporary expressions of philanthropy, the politics of humanitarianism and the activities of international non-governmental organisations is of particular interest to me here.

I am updating and revising my work on ‘social suffering’. This involves a critical appraisal of the relevance of Max Weber’s studies of theodicy for understanding contemporary instances of ‘sociodicy’. I engage with debates concerning the standing of ‘critical humanism’ within contemporary sociology and wider domains of social science. I also analyse the forms of critical praxis that feature within research and writing on problems of social suffering.

Research Supervision

I am particularly keen to supervise research students with interests relating to any of the above. In recent years I have supervised projects on Norbert Elias’ theory of the civilizing process and social expressions compassion in everyday life. I am currently supervising projects on the sociology of utopia, the risk of culture loss in remote island communities, contemporary forms of ‘philanthrocapitalism’ and the impact of volunteering on young people’s notions of citizenship.

 

Teaching

I teach undergraduate courses on classical and contemporary sociological theory. I am also involved in teaching on the Sociology MA programme.

Recent Publications

Books:

• Wilkinson, I (2009) Risk, Vulnerability and Everyday Life, London: Routledge
• Wilkinson , I and Petersen, A. (eds) (2008) Health, Risk and Vulnerability, London: Routledge
• Wilkinson I. (2005) Suffering: A Sociological Introduction, Cambridge: Polity Press (Winner of the 2006 Sociology of Health and Illness Prize  - an annual award for the book making the most significant contribution to the sub-discipline of medical sociology / sociology of health and illness)
• Wilkinson, I. (2001) Anxiety in a Risk Society, London: Routledge

 

Articles:

• Wilkinson, I (2009) ‘Grasping the Point of Unfathomable Complexity: The New Media Research and Risk Analysis’, Journal of Risk Research 12(7)
• Wilkinson, I. (2006) 'The Problem of Suffering as a Problem for Sociology", Medical Sociology Online 1(1): 45-7
• Wilkinson, I (2006) 'Editorial: Social Suffering and Health Risk', Health
  Risk and Society, Special edition: Social Suffering & Health Risk, 8(1):1-8
• Wilkinson, I (2004) 'The Problem of Social Suffering: The Challenge to Social Science', Health Sociology Review Vol. 13(2): 1-15
• Wilkinson, I. and David, M (2002) 'Critical Theory of Society or Self-Critical Society?', Critical Horizons, Vol.3(1): 131-158
• Wilkinson, I. Anderson, A. Ettorre, E. and David, M. (2002) 'Editorial: Taking Genetics Seriously', Anderson, A. David, M Ettorre, E. and Wilkinson, I (eds) Special Issue: Taking Genetics Seriously, New Genetics and Society, Vol.21, No.3: 261-66
• Wilkinson, I (2001) 'Thinking with Suffering', Cultural Values, Vol.5(4):421-444
• Wilkinson, I (2001) 'Social Theories of Risk Perception: At Once Indispensable and Insufficient', Current Sociology, Vol.49(1):1-22
• Wilkinson I. and Morgan, D. G. (2001) 'The Problem of Suffering and the Sociological Task of Theodicy', European Journal of Social Theory, Vol.4(2):199-214
• Wilkinson, I. (1999) 'Where is the Novelty in our Current Age of Anxiety?', European Journal of Social Theory, Vol.2(4): 445-67
• Wilkinson, I. (1999) 'News Media Discourse and the State of Public Opinion on Risk', Risk Management: An International Journal, Vol.1(4): 21-31

 

Book Chapters:

• Wilkinson, I (2009) ‘ Emile Durkheim’, in  K. Hayward, S. Maruna and J. Mooney (eds) Fifty Key Thinkers in Criminology,  London: Routledge
• Wilkinson I. (2007) 'On Bauman's Sociology of Suffering: Questions for Thinking", in Elliott, A (ed) The Contemporary Bauman: A Critical Reader, London: Routledge
• Wilkinson I. (2006) 'The Psychology of Risk' in  G. Mythen,  and S. Walklate Beyond the Risk Society: Critical Reflections on Risk and Human Security, Open University press/Mcgraw Hill
• Wilkinson I. (2006)  'Ulrich Beck', in Scott, J. (ed) Key Sociologists, London: Routledge
• Wilkinson I. (2006) Entries on 'Ulrich Beck', 'Risk' and 'Reflexivity' in A. Harrington, B. Marshall and H. P. Muller (eds) The Routledge Encyclopedia of Social Theory, London: Routledge

Memberships

• I am a member of the British Sociological Association and served on the Executive Committee between 2003-7
• I have served on the editorial board of Sociology and I am on the editorial board of Health Risk and Society and  Sociology Compass  I am also a member a of the International Advisory Board of the European Journal of Social Theory