Simon Williams is a Professor in Sociology. His research to date falls into three main interrelated areas: (i) health, emotion and the body; (ii) the politics of science and medicine at the bio/neuro-social interface; (iii) popular culture and everyday life. Current theoretical and empirical projects include:
1. The biopolitics of sleep, with particular reference to pharmaceuticals and the governance of alert/sleepy bodies
2. Neuroscience, neurocultures and neurofutures in the making, particularly the rise of social neuroscience/neurosociology, the politics of cognitive enhancement, and the intersections between memory, medicine and the brain in later life.
To date he has published six (single/co-authored) books, six co-edited international volumes, nearly 40 book chapters and over 70 papers in key international peer reviewed journals. His latest book, published in April 2011, is 'The Politics of Sleep: Governing (Un)Consciousness in the Late Modern Age' (Palgrave Macmillan 2011). A co-edited (Cromby, Newton, Williams) special issue of the new interdisciplinary journal 'Subjectivities' on 'Neuroscience and Subjectivity' has also just been published (September 2011 issue), and three further (single and co-authored) books are now in the early stages of discussion and development. Simon also co-edits (Bendelow & Williams) the international 'Critical Studies in Health' book series (Routledge/Taylor & Francis).
Research awards to date include grants (as PI, CI or Collaborator) from the ESRC, British Academy, Nuffield, Wellcome and the NHS Executive, as well as a number of successfully completed ESRC doctoral studentships. His latest ESRC funded project, which commenced in April 2011, is on 'Medicated Sleep and Wakefulness: A Social Scientific Investigation of Stakeholder Interests, Policies and Practices' -- details of which can be found by clicking the 'ESRC Medicated Sleep and Wakefulness' tab on the right hand side of this webpage.
Simon is an active member of the sociological community, including past/present membership of various editorial boards (e.g. Sociology of Health & Illness; Health; Social Theory and Health), reviews for funding bodies such as the ESRC, participation in national and international workshops, seminars, symposia and conferences, as well as past/present visiting professorships (e.g. Univeristy of Linkoping, Sweden) associate fellowships (e.g. Centre for Biomedicine and Society, formerly King's College London, now at Brunel) and regional fellowships (e.g. Royal Society of Medicine). He is also strongly committed to the dissemination of sociological and social scientific knowledge to wider professional, public and popular audiences, including: past/present media profiling of his research; a recent keynote on 'Neuroculture, active ageing and cognitive decline' at the British Library; participation in a public debate on 'The Future of Sleep' to coincide with the Wellcome History of Sleep and Dreaming exhibition, and; involvement in other recent interdisciplinary symposia and panels at the British Neuroscience Association (BNA) and most recently the European Biological Rhythms Society conference (see links on the right hand side of this page, for example).
Simon is happy to discuss the prospects of postgraduate or post-doctoral research in any areas of sociology, particularly those mentioned above.
RESEARCH GROUPS
CURRENT RESEARCH PROJECTS
The pharmaceuticalisation of sleep and wakefulness: A social scientific investigation of stakeholder interests, policies and practices, Funded by: ESRC,
Project Start Date:
01/05/2010
Project End Date:
31/10/2012
Williams, S.J.,P. Higgs and S. Katz, (2012) 'Neuoculture, Active Ageing and the Older Brain'
Sociology Of Health And Illness
(0141-9889)
Williams, S. J., Martin, P. and Gabe, J.(2011) 'Evolving sociological analyses of ?pharmaceuticalisation? : a reply to Abraham'
Sociology Of Health And Illness
33
(5), 729 - 730 (0141-9889)
[article]
Williams, S. J., Martin, P. and Gabe, J.(2011) 'The pharmaceuticalisation of society? A framework for analysis'
Sociology Of Health And Illness
33
(5), 710 - 725 (0141-9889)
[article]
Williams, S. J.(2011)
The politics of sleep: governing (un)consciousness in the late modern age
(9780230223660) Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
Williams, S. J., Katz, S., Martin, P.(2011) 'Beyond medicalisation? Memory, medicine and the brain'
in
Sociological reflections on the neurosciences,
Editors:
Pickersgill, M. D. and Van Keulen, I., Bingley: Emerald
