Julia Twigg (2006). The Body in Health and Social Care. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 198 pp. ISBN 0-333-77620-8 (pbk)

During the last two decades, the body as a subject and research field has become the object for a massive theorising and exploration in scientific writing.Julia Twigg has for some years now made important contributions on the body in social care and social policy.With her new textbook, The Body in Health and Social Care, Julia Twigg further adds to this area.From a quick glance at the table of content it becomes clear that Julia Twigg, in her ambition to map the field of health and social care, has an intention to grasp and embrace various subjects within this territory that goes beyond body and ageing, disability and the body, the body in medicine and health care, and home care, to name a few.Headings such as 'Diet, Health and the Body: Obesity and Eating Disorder' and 'The Body in Public Space: Breastfeeding and Toilets' reveal her ambition to also include topics such as food, diet, and the divide between public and private space which are highly relevant, but less analysed and theoretically connected with social policy and health and social care.However, to a large extent this book emanates from her earlier work, such as the book Bathing: Body and Community Care (2000).In her first chapters, Julia Twigg gives an introduction to the extensive but also elusive work on the body and an overview over some of the most influential currents of theories and debates about the body: e.g. the early work of Bryan Turner, various feminist influences, and the work of Foucault.She puts great emphasis on the benefits of using these cultural analyses in the field of health and social care, but also calls attention to their limitations.Moreover, she explores the significance of a number of dimensions of differences such as gender, race, class, age, and

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