Over the last twenty years the social sciences have witnessed a remarkable inter-disciplinary surge of interest in the body. The latter is now recognized as a core concept, and is the subject of intensive study at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. But how can we map this work? What are the contributions and differences of the various approaches? This lucid and authoritative text: provides a critical evaluation of the work of Elias, Aries, Foucault, Bourdieu, Mary Douglas, Kristeva, Butler, Haraway and Bordo; guides the reader through the inter-disciplinary influence of these ideas; gives a clear and compelling analysis of the significance of the 'turn' towards the body; helps to understand the complex way in which embodiment is formed across different social formations. Clearly organized and powerfully expressed "The Sociology of the Body" provides the best available guide to the 'turn to the body' in the social sciences.