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This book uses a multidisciplinary approach to examine the relationship between the quality of domestic life and the home environment, in its material and relational dimension, with individual and social happiness, in the context of current changes.The theme of happiness and well-being is framed within two significant changes, themselves affected by the recent COVID-19 pandemic: the relationship between the individual's quality of life and engagement within the community, and the role of new technologies in everyday life. The authors highlight the relational nature of happiness and the centrality of the home environment in its promotion. Three dimensions of psychosocial well-being in the home are analysed: the personal one, consisting of a sense of stability, intimacy and sharing; the social one, which considers the domestic environment as a place for civic education and, in times of pandemic, the site of professional activity and the physical one, consisting of spaces, services and architectural styles.This book is ideal for readers who wish to cross disciplinary boundaries and explore the topic of domestic happiness in its different facets. The target audience is both professional researchers and advanced graduate and undergraduate students.Chapter 12 of this book is now OA on www.taylorfrancis.com under Creative Commons licens CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0.

This book is a unique study of the historical, theoretical, and cultural interpretations of ‘madness'including interviews with those who have experiences of ‘madness'. It takes a transdisciplinary approach, employing historical, psychological, and sociological perspectives through an intersectional lens. This work explains how the prioritization of thinking over feeling in Western thought means the transrational imagination has frequently been negated in tackling mental health with detrimental results. This book, therefore, examines creative media, especially film, as a transrational form of human expression for healing and wellbeing, along with television, theatre, social media, music, and computer games. ‘Madness'with regards to gender, sexuality, adolescence, and class in media and film is interrogated, as well as ‘madness'and race through a focus on colonialism, post-colonialism, and psychiatry. It analyses group psychosis, including celebrity culture, and the ‘madness'ofleaders and gurus. This book challenges the lasting influence of the Age of Reason by furthering our understanding of the value of transrationality and the diverse ways of being human.

This book synthesizes perspectives on how ‘place'is deeply intertwined with our spirituality and well-being. Split into three sections, this book brings together contributions from global scholars across a range of disciplines to unravel how the personal, social, and cultural spheres of place shape our spiritual experiences and overall well-being. It is an essential read for those interested in enriching their knowledge of the linkages between place, spirituality, and well-being, while also providing a foundation for future research on place and its intersections with both spirituality and well-being.

Social Healing draws on a transdisciplinary approach—bringing sociology, philosophy, psychology, and spirituality together—to understand health, social suffering and healing in our contemporary world. It shows how we can transform the present discourse and reality of social suffering by multi-dimensional movements of social healing. The author argues for the need for a new art of healing in place of the dominant and pervasive technology and politics of killing. It discusses manifold creative theories and practices of healing in self, society, and the world as well as new movements in social theory, philosophy, and social sciences which deploy creative methods of art and performance in healing our psychic and social wounds. It explores the spiritual, social, ethical, and political dimensions of health and healing. This pioneering work will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of social theory, sociology, politics, philosophy, and psychology.

This book shows educators why and how to put well-being in its rightful place beside learning at the very heart of schooling. A blend of practical activities and research-based approaches empowers Grade 7-12 teachers to cultivate positive wellness not just for themselves and their students, but for the entire school community. Classroom teachers will appreciate the over 100 ready-to-use cross-curricular wellness activities, spread across nine domains of well-being, in their Grades 7-12 classrooms Educational leaders can adopt the sharing strategies, including school-wide extensions, “lifeplay” and shareable activities, to spread wellness practices across schools, districts and into the community.

A self-help buzzword, a sociological concept, and a target for political institutions;'wellness'can be interpreted in different ways. It is viewed as a heterogeneous set of activities aimed at increasing both physical and mental individual well-being, including maintaining a healthy diet and lifestyle, being physically active and taking care of mental health. From a sociological perspective, ‘wellness'can raise problematic issues; the pursuit of wellness activities is inherently affected by social and economic factors and social determinants, and the individual nature of the pursuit of wellness means it is not strongly related to community empowerment, the production of social capital and social cohesion. Wellness, Social Policy and Public Health: Bridging Human Flourishing with Equity considers wellness as an ecosystem instead of an activity to be carried out by an individual. Case studies explore current welfare policy and its relationship with wellness activities, demonstrating that individual flourishing related to wellness is activated only in a context of solid welfare infrastructures.

The Spatial Practices series is premised on the observation that places are inscribed with cultural meaning, not least of all in terms of collective constructions of identity. Such space-based constructions can manifest in material and immaterial, explicit and implicit forms of heritage, and they are crucial factors in the promotion of a group's wellbeing. It is this intersection of spaces, heritage and wellbeing that the present volume takes at its object. It considers ways in which institutional spaces in their materiality as well as in their cultural inscriptions impact on the wellbeing of the subjects inhabiting them and explores how heritage comes to bear on these interrelations within specific institutions, such as prisons, hospitals or graveyards.

The social role of sport enterprises is being increasingly recognized at both local and global levels. Sport has the ability to influence community cohesion, physical and mental health, social inclusivity, and provides positive role models across society. More businesses in sport are incorporating these social aspects into their plans as a way of differentiating themselves from their competitors. This, in turn, has led to more social innovation in sport. Recently, there has been more emphasis on social entrepreneurship in sport due to the growing need to capture its societal impact. This book explores the non-profit role sport plays in society, and demonstrates how social enterprises can both address some of the negative social outcomes of sport and support businesses as they develop their social objectives. The over-arching aim of the book is to focus on how social entrepreneurship in sport is important in developing a better global society.

This textbook is a comprehensive guide for students interested in using participatory research to improve people's health and well-being. It is especially designed for those working in the fields of health and social welfare who are embarking on participatory research for the first time. It covers all phases in participatory research from “getting started,” to “acting for change,” “continuing the journey” and “articulating impact.” Its unique format helps readers understand the essence of participatory research as a comprehensive approach for doing research which is underpinned by a set of fundamental values.The many real life examples of participatory research projects from around the world inspire readers to find creative ways to manage their own research while opening up new horizons in their work.

There is a widespread interest in wellbeing, the healthy body and public health. However, there are also many simplistic and uncritical interpretations of what wellbeing or a healthy body should ‘look like'. By focusing upon wellbeing through examples taken from fitness-related activities, which are often considered unproblematic routes to achieving wellbeing and greater public health, this book explores contemporary understandings of the body and the conflicting ways in which it is considered, in different contexts, times and spaces, either as the possession of the individual or that of society (or both).Whose Body Is It Anyway? adopts an embodied approach, employing sociological theory along with examples drawn from empirical research collected through participation (by the author) in an intense period of physical training. The intention is to explore the embodied experiences of ‘doing'an intensive period of physical activity and, subsequently, attempt to understand, in more depth, the range of personal, social, psychological and physical factors that undoubtedly contribute to engaging in such an activity.The emerging story reveals much about the physical and emotional experience of a body being put through intensive exercise, not only in terms of contrasting forms of pleasure and pain, but also various socio-cultural ‘issues'relating to relationships of power, trust and the role of ‘expert'health advisor. Written in a clear and engaging style, the book provides an accessible introduction of more complex theoretical explanations which will appeal to academics and practitioners involved in broad aspects of sport, physical activity, health and wellbeing.

‘Regimes of Happiness'is a comparative and historical analysis of how human societies have articulated and enacted distinctive notions of human fulfillment, determining divergent moral, ethical and religious traditions and incommensurate and conflicting understanding of the meaning of the ‘good life'. Presented in two parts, ‘Regimes of Happiness'provides a historical view of the way in which Western societies, the descendants of the Latin Roman Empire, created languages and institutions that established specific and occasionally antithetical conceptions of a fulfilled human life or'happiness'in the first part. The second part explores how non-Western societies and non-Christian religions have conceived and established their own ideals of human perfection. ‘Regimes of Happiness'is a critical reflection on modern notions of happiness which are typically focused on individual feelings of pleasure.

This book discusses how human wellbeing is constructed and transferred intergenerationally in the context of international migration. Research on intergenerational transmission (IGT) has tended to focus on material asset transfers prompting calls to balance material asset analysis with that of psychosocial assets – including norms, values attitudes and behaviors. Drawing on empirical research undertaken with Latin American migrants in London, Katie Wright sets out to redress the balance by examining how far psychosocial transfers may be used as a buffer to mediate the material deprivations that migrants face via adoption of a gender, life course and human wellbeing perspective.

The totalising effect of consumerism, well-being and satisfaction is a discourse which may negate the value of struggle and mastery of complex subjects and a realization of personal potentiality. Why Universities Should Seek Happiness and Contentment considers the consequences of a hedonistic and well-being centred model of student education as one of the goals of higher education and proposes an alternative goal for higher education. In a globalised consumer society where the anxiety for an identity leads to the fear of not reaching the standard, Paul Gibbs shows how anxiety can be harnessed to secure contentment with one's own future without the fear of consumer-induced emptiness. He conceptualises higher education in a counter-valued way to the current dominant discourse of higher education institutions and educational policy while placing students at the centre of their own educational activity. In doing so, Gibbs proposes contentment as a guiding principle of higher education.

A tour de force in understanding the failure of democracy in providing human well-being. Has democracy ended human suffering, a task that the political system set out for itself? Or is democracy incompatible with modernity and, therefore, fails to achieve human well-being? If so, are we left with any option? The book asks these acutely political questions and states emphatically that democracy has failed to ensure the well-being of humanity as a whole. Further, it tries to answer this by exploring the Gandhian alternative to modernism and democracy in contemporary times. In the words of the authors themselves, ‘We are aware that in a world divided into a number of ideological camps, the way out suggested in this book will invite ridicule and accusation of orthodoxy. However, the truth has to be told, no matter what the reaction′.

What was a Buddhist monk doing at the 2014 World Economic Forum in Davos lecturing the world's leaders on mindfulness? Why do many successful corporations have a'chief happiness officer'? What can the chemical composition of your brain tell a potential employer about you? In the past decade, governments and corporations have become increasingly interested in measuring the way people feel:'the Happiness index','Gross National Happiness','well-being'and positive psychology have come to dominate the way we live our lives. As a result, our emotions have become a new resource to be bought and sold. In a fascinating investigation combining history, science and ideas, William Davies shows how well-being influences all aspects of our lives: business, finance, marketing and smart technology. This book will make you rethink everything from the way you work, the power of the'Nudge', the ever-expanding definitions of depression, and the commercialization of your most private feelings. The Happiness Industry is a shocking and brilliantly argued warning about the new religion of the age: our emotions.

“Deeply researched and pithily argued.” —New York Magazine “A brilliant, and sometimes eerie, dissection” of ‘the science of happiness'and the modern-day commercialization of our most private emotions (Vice) Why are we so obsessed with measuring happiness? In winter 2014, a Tibetan monk lectured the world leaders gathered at Davos on the importance of Happiness. The recent DSM-5, the manual of all diagnosable mental illnesses, for the first time included shyness and grief as treatable diseases. Happiness has become the biggest idea of our age, a new religion dedicated to well-being. Here, political economist William Davies shows how this philosophy, first pronounced by Jeremy Bentham in the 1780s, has dominated the political debates that have delivered neoliberalism. From a history of business strategies of how to get the best out of employees, to the increased level of surveillance measuring every aspect of our lives; from why experts prefer to measure the chemical in the brain than ask you how you are feeling, to why Freakonomics tells us less about the way people behave than expected, The Happiness Industry is an essential guide to the marketization of modern life. Davies shows that the science of happiness is less a science than an extension of hyper-capitalism.

Philosophy has long wondered about relations between a happy and an honest, moral life. This book includes chapters on the relationship between the satisfaction with life (the cognitive component of subjective well-being) and happiness. Furthermore, the economics of happiness and subjective well-being (SWB) has been the focus of considerable attention among social scientists recently. All individuals want to be happy, but not everybody is happy. The authors examine the micro and macroeconomic influences on enhancing happiness and SWB. Other chapters aim to help the reader understand 1. Whether job satisfaction is a key predictor of overall life satisfaction 2. The relationship between human capital and subjective well-being in several countries 3. The advantages of proactive coping for expectant mothers'mental health during pregnancy and postpartum 4. Components of well-being in older adults, including socioeconomic status (SES) and multiple psychological and social factors (including the impact of religion on subjective well-being); 5. The correlation between gratitude and subjective well-being; 6. The effect of quality of governance on subjective well-being 7. The levels of psychic well-being (PWB) and the differences between individuals'PWB according to their gender, working position and years of service and finally, the study included in the last chapter of the book explores the associations between subjective well-being (happiness, health and self-esteem)religiosity and depression in adolescents.

Developmental risk refers to conditions, characteristics, experiences, or situations with potentially deleterious effects that lead to outcomes later in life that do not meet societal expectations. While risk is typically framed as the statistical probability of a problematic outcome in relation to the general population, the converse notion of well-being is considered in relation to the level of functioning at a given developmental stage. The contributors to this volume provide insight into developmental well-being by examining the ways that culture and context affect outcomes associated with various types of risk, such as those related to oppression, academic performance, family background, life history, physical health, and psychiatric conditions. Even though certain outcomes may seem inevitable in cases involving harmful environments, diseases, and disorders, they are virtually all influenced by complex interactions among individuals, their families, communities, and societies.

Although most traditional economic theory puts the individual at the centre of analysis, more recent approaches have acknowledged the importance of a wider sense of identity as a determinant of individual behaviour. Whether it is ethnicity, religion or gender, group membership is a central part of human life. This book presents new advances in areas which consider both the individual and the group when measuring inequalities and well-being.The first part of the book covers topics such as relative deprivation and happiness, domains where even economists have now recognized the importance of reference groups in the assessment of individuals'well-being. The second part is devoted to the concept of polarization, a growing field of inquiry among economists. The third part looks at income and wage intra-generational mobility, while the fourth part reports on recent advances in measuring the significant differences between and within groups. The book concludes with several chapters devoted to poverty and social exclusion, stressing in particular the need for a multidimensional approach to these topics.This collection offers a fresh look at the way individual well-being should be measured, by emphasizing the role of reference groups and the idea of polarization, as well as stressing the impact on well-being of changes over time to the relative position of individuals. This book should be of interest to graduate students and researchers working in the field of development economics, inequality and poverty.

Khader offers a deliberative perfectionist approach to identifying and responding to adaptive preferences-- deprived people's preferences that perpetuate their deprivation. She argues that adaptive preferences are deficits in flourishing that are causally related to deprivation and claims that intervention aimed at transforming them is compatible with respect for persons and cultures.

Packaging Life: Cultures of the Everyday is a study of the cultural politics of four aspects of everyday life-health, comfort, risk and mobility-as manifest in public culture. The book explores the commodification of these aspects, arguing that our experience and perception of these are mediated by discourses circulating in the mass media. The author explores how notions of ′good′ health, ′cosmopolitan′ identities, and ′luxurious′ lifestyles are constructed, arguing that such constructions, or what this book calls ′packaging′, encourage us to buy particular commodities, adopt certain lifestyles, assimilate specific political beliefs and develop significant anxieties. Discourses, he suggests, morph into consumer practices, where particular kinds of bodies, objects, and practices are established as the norm-safe, stylish and cosmopolitan-so that they appear natural, legitimate and desirable and lead us, consumers, to buy, practice, believe in and adopt them. He also analyzes or tries to ′unpack′ this underlying discourse within images, rhetoric, narratives and representations so that we understand the politics behind them. ′Unpacking′ cultural politics, this book demonstrates, is the disentangling of the insidious regulatory frames of representation so that we generate dissident reading practices for public culture. The book is an essential reading for those who want to understand modern urban cultural rhetorics. Scholars and practitioners working in the fields of media and communication, consumer behaviour studies and cultural studies will find it highly engaging as well as provocative.