Chapter Introduction

Abstract

This volume introduction sets out the concept of ‘everyday health’ and its relation to embodiment and selfhood. It charts how and why ‘everyday health’ has assumed such importance since 1950, including: the rise of welfare states; the reshaping of citizenship; the transformation of life trajectories; dramatic shifts in sexuality and family life; the proliferation of psychological discourses; and access to new technologies. It provides a rationale for and overview of each part of the volume, making links between chapters within each part and across the volume as a whole. It discusses three cross-cutting themes that inform the volume: agency, power, and resistance; visibility, invisibility, and hypervisibility; and the local, national, and global. Finally, it considers the different methods that historians pursue to make sense of diverse experiences of ‘everyday health’, embodiment, and selfhood.