18th Sociology of Health and Illness Monograph 'Sociology of Screening'

Reminder - Deadline: January 31st 2010.

Call for abstracts - 18th Sociology of Health and Illness Monograph 'Sociology of Screening'
Editors: Natalie Armstrong & Helen Eborall (University of Leicester)

For the 18th monograph in the series, the Sociology of Health and Illness invites submissions of proposals for papers on the sociology of medical screening. The reach of medical screening is ever-growing, and screening programmes are social interventions as much as they are medical interventions and as such they pose challenging ethical, legal and social dilemmas. This monograph will bring together papers which identify and refine the salient sociological questions around screening, reflect on and integrate the existing literature, and identify the key areas for future sociological work in this area.

We seek submissions that focus on large scale population-based screening programmes, and welcome abstracts covering a range of conditions and contexts (including different countries), and from a range of theoretical and methodological perspectives.

Possible questions papers might address include:

* What are the social and ethical implications of screening, and what might these mean?
        * Are current theories of surveillance, subjecthood and citizenship still relevant? How might a sociology of screening refine these?
        * What are the debates between different groups and social movements - for example: patient advocates; lobbyists; proponents of evidence-based medicine? How are these shaped and mobilised?
        * How has screening been represented in the media? What are the implications?

* What impact does screening have on relationships between patients and professionals, and what might this mean?

* What are/have been the implications of the development and implementation of new medical technologies for screening in relation to risk and uncertainty?

* Can the medicalisation thesis, and its counter-critiques, help us conceptualise screening?

The monograph will appear both as a regular issue of the journal and in book form. The planned publication date is February 2012. Potential contributors should send an abstract of 800-1,000 words by 31st Jan 2010 to shimonograph@le.ac.uk . Informal email enquiries to this address prior to submission are also welcome. Name and institutional affiliation of author(s) should also be supplied, including full contact details of the main author. Proposals will be reviewed by the editors and authors will be notified by 31 March 2010. Authors whose abstracts are short-listed will be invited to submit an article of 6,500-7,000 words by 31 July 2010. All submissions will be refereed in the usual way for Sociology of Health and Illness submissions and should follow the journal's style guidelines (http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/shil_enhanced/submit.asp ).


Dr Helen Eborall & Dr Natalie Armstrong
Department of Health Sciences
University of Leicester
shimonograph@le.ac.uk