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Self-improvement

Self-improvement: Laurie Taylor explores the imperatives of 'wellness' and 'confidence' cultures. Are they enhancing our lives?

SELF IMPROVEMENT: Laurie Taylor explores the 'wellness' and 'confidence' cultures that injunct us to be better versions of ourselves. He talks to Shani Orgad, a Professor in the Department of Media and Communications at the LSE and co-author of a new study arguing that imperatives directed at women to 鈥渓ove your body鈥 and 鈥渂elieve in yourself鈥 imply that psychological blocks rather than entrenched social injustices hold women back. Why is there now such an emphasis on confidence in contemporary discourse about body image, workplace, relationships, motherhood, and even international development? They鈥檙e joined by Stephanie Alice Baker, a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at City, University of London, whose latest work traces the emergence of 'wellness culture' from a fringe countercultural pursuit to a trillion-dollar industry. Wellness has become synonymous with yoga, meditation, and other forms of self-care and is no longer simply an alternative to mainstream medicine. As it's coalesced with consumer culture, it's become synonymous with an industry of exclusive products and services. In addition, in the Covid moment, it's become associated with harmful conspiracy theories. So is 'wellness' culture delivering on its myriad promises, or does it have a darker side?

Producer: Jayne Egerton

Available now

29 minutes

Last on

Mon 9 Jan 2023 00:15

Guests and Further Reading



Confidence Culture by Shani Orgad and Rosalind Gill (Duke University Press)




Wellness Culture: How the Wellness Movement has been used to Empower, Profit and Misinform (Emerald Publishing Ltd)

Broadcasts

  • Wed 4 Jan 2023 16:00
  • Mon 9 Jan 2023 00:15

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