1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910154629703321

Autore

Cieslik Mark

Titolo

The Happiness Riddle and the Quest for a Good Life / / by Mark Cieslik

Pubbl/distr/stampa

London : , : Palgrave Macmillan UK : , : Imprint : Palgrave Macmillan, , 2017

ISBN

9781137318824

1137318821

Edizione

[1st ed. 2017.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (X, 235 p.)

Classificazione

77.60

Disciplina

305

Soggetti

Sociology

Social groups

Social service

Emotions

Aging

Quality of life

Sociology of Family, Youth and Aging

Social Care

Emotion

Ageing

Quality of Life Research

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

1. Making Sense of Happiness -- 2. A History of Happiness -- 3. Happiness in Contemporary Societies -- 4. Happiness and the Individual: Positive Psychology and Subjective Wellbeing -- 5. Happiness and Psychoanalysis -- 6. Happiness and the Self-Help Industry -- 7. The Rainbow of Happiness: Sociology and Happiness Research -- 8. Sociological Tools for Understanding Happiness Today -- 9. Growing up with happiness -- 10. Young Adults and happiness? -- 11. A mid life crisis? -- 12. Happiness in later life? -- 13. Lessons from Life: How Sociology Can Help Us To Be Happy Today -- 14. The Politics of Happiness.

Sommario/riassunto

This book examines the meaning of happiness in Britain today, and



observes that although we face challenges such as austerity, climate change and disenchantment with politics, we continue to be interested in happiness and living well. The author illustrates how happiness is a far more contested, social process than is often portrayed by economists and psychologists, and takes issue with sociologists who often regard wellbeing and the happiness industry with suspicion, whilst neglecting one of the key features of being human - the quest for a good life. Exploring themes that question what it means to be happy and live a good life in Britain today, such as the challenges young people face making their way through education and into their first jobs; work life-balance; mid-life crises; and old age, the book presents nineteen life stories that call for a far more critical and ambitious approach to happiness research that marries the radicalism of sociology, with recent advances in psychology and economics. .