Vanessa May

Examining the relationships between architecture, home and community in the Claremont Court housing scheme in Edinburgh, Home and Community provides a novel perspective on the enabling potential of architecture that encompasses physical, spatial, relational and temporal phenomena. Based on the AHRC funded project "Place and Belonging", the chapters draw on innovative spatial layouts amid Scottish policymakers' concerns of social change in the 1960s, to develop theoretical understandings between architecture, home, and community. By approaching the discourse on home, and by positioning the home at the confluence of a network of sociocultural identities bound by spatial awareness and design, the writers draw on sociological interpretations of cultural negotiation as well as theoretical underpinnings in architectural design. In so doing, they suggest a reinterpretation of the facilitating role of architecture as sensitive to physical and socio-cultural reconstruction. Drawn from interviews with residents, architectural surveys, contextual mapping and other visual methods, Home and Community explores home as a construct that is enmeshed with the architectural affordances that the housing scheme represents, that is useful to both architecture and sociology students, as well as practitioners and urban planners.

I denna introduktion till familjesociologi undersöker Vanessa May vad familj och nära relationer betyder i olika sociokulturella kontexter. Boken ger en bild av de huvudsakliga teoretiska utvecklingslinjerna inom fältet, skapar en förståelse av familj som samhällsinstitution och diskuterar centrala frågor som formar dagens familjer – som normförändringar och teknisk utveckling. I boken undersöks hur familjer har definierats, begreppsliggjorts och styrts runt om i världen och hur familjeliv levs i vardagen, med fokus på kroppslighet, materialitet, rum, tid och mobilitet. Boken är också en introduktion till hur familjer har förståtts, teoretiserats och analyserats inom familjesociologin, och författaren fäster där särskild uppmärksamhet vid ämnets blinda fläckar: framställningen präglas genomgående av en strävan att lyfta fram företeelser som hittills ställts i bakgrunden och att skifta fokus geografiskt och tematiskt – och därigenom erbjuda en mer inkluderande familjesociologi. Familjer ges här ut i svensk översättning med ett förord av Terese Anving och Sara Eldén. Boken vänder sig till studenter i sociologi, genusvetenskap och andra samhällsvetenskapliga ämnen, men är värdefull läsning för alla som intresserar sig för familjer i samhället.

In this accessible and engagingly written book, Vanessa May invites readers into the rich world of thought, research and study of the highly diverse phenomenon of families and family life. The book explores what is and has been understood by ‘family’ in different sociocultural contexts and how family life intersects with social spheres such as the state, the labour market and the economy. Alongside broad social developments such as (post)colonialism and austerity and their connections with changing family patterns, the book engages interdisciplinary work on time, embodiment and materiality in order to offer a multidimensional perspective on the day-to-day lives of families. Drawing from research in the Global North and the Global South, the text carefully considers how people approach the study of families and thus offers insight into the shape of mainstream family studies today. The book offers a timely intervention into current debates within family studies and suggests avenues of investigation that deserve further attention, and will be an invaluable resource to students and scholars alike.

In this accessible and engagingly written book, Vanessa May invites readers into the rich world of thought, research and study of the highly diverse phenomenon of families and family life. The book explores what is and has been understood by ‘family’ in different sociocultural contexts and how family life intersects with social spheres such as the state, the labour market and the economy. Alongside broad social developments such as (post)colonialism and austerity and their connections with changing family patterns, the book engages interdisciplinary work on time, embodiment and materiality in order to offer a multidimensional perspective on the day-to-day lives of families. Drawing from research in the Global North and the Global South, the text carefully considers how people approach the study of families and thus offers insight into the shape of mainstream family studies today. The book offers a timely intervention into current debates within family studies and suggests avenues of investigation that deserve further attention, and will be an invaluable resource to students and scholars alike.

This book assumes an “everyday life” perspective towards masking in public spaces in the UK during the Covid-19 pandemic. Facemasks are perhaps one of the most tangible ways in which the changes wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic were made visible. In the space of a few months in 2020, masking in the UK went from being almost non-existent in public to becoming widespread, both before and after the UK government mandated masking in most enclosed public spaces in July 2020. In this context, the speed and scale of the introduction of masking in public settings offers sociologists a rare chance to document the (contested) emergence of a new social practice. The authors argue that the nature of masking during the pandemic means that masking practices need to be understood through the entwinement of material, interactional, and moral dimensions. By developing a relational perspective to explore the relationship between the materiality and moral significance of masking, and how this translated into the development of masking practices in public spaces, the authors argue further that the specific context of masking during the pandemic provides sociologists with a unique lens to think through the nature of material, interactional, and moral practices in general.

Live Courageously is for sensitive, intuitive women who are stuck at a crossroads in work or in life. Feeling stuck is something that takes a different shape in each of our lives. It might appear as self-doubt, imposter syndrome, people pleasing, second guessing, procrastination, emotional overwhelm or burnout. You question if you're on the right path and struggle to find your own answers. Getting unstuck is a process of unfolding and emerging, of becoming who you really are. It involves coming to the edge of your fears, reconnecting to your truth and discovering the potential already within you. Drawing on her own experiences and those of women she has coached, Vanessa shows you how to get unstuck, become present, simplify, find clarity, listen to your desires, make empowered decisions, and take the necessary action to create the life you really want. Using interactive self-assessments and a series of step-by-step courage processes, you will claim your space, rediscover your confidence and step into your own authority.

For most people, grief is an inevitable part of life and if you're a wellness practitioner, then the likelihood is that you will at some point work with a bereaved client. This may initially seem like a heavy responsibility and so this guide aims to help you feel prepared and confident in how you support your client. It will explain how loss and grief can place tremendous strain on the body and how it may manifest physically, mentally, and spiritually, whilst equipping you with the tools and resources you need to support your grieving client. Vanessa May draws from over 16 years' worth of experience as a registered nutritional therapist, wellbeing coach, and trauma-informed holistic grief coach. As a result, she is able to cover nutritional medicine support whilst also educating readers on grief models and theories versus the actual reality of grief through her own experiences of traumatic loss and various case studies. This is an invaluable book for all types of wellness practitioners and therapists who would like to understand how to approach and make space for their clients' bereavement.

Vanessa May gives a moving account of what she went through after the unexpected death of her son, demonstrating that it's possible to survive such a shattering and traumatic loss, even when that might feel impossible. By sharing her personal experience, the author enables others who have gone through a similar loss to feel less isolated in their grief. She also provides advice on supporting physical, emotional, mental and spiritual wellbeing using her experience - not just as a bereaved mother, but as a nutritional therapist, wellbeing coach and now holistic grief coach. She offers the reader various tools for withstanding a devastating loss and for navigating a particularly challenging path. Love Untethered is about holding on to hope when it feels like there isn’t any, and about finding purpose as a means of surviving a devastating and life-changing bereavement.

Examining the relationships between architecture, home and community in the Claremont Court housing scheme in Edinburgh, Home and Community provides a novel perspective on the enabling potential of architecture that encompasses physical, spatial, relational and temporal phenomena. Based on the AHRC funded project "Place and Belonging", the chapters draw on innovative spatial layouts amid Scottish policymakers' concerns of social change in the 1960s, to develop theoretical understandings between architecture, home, and community. By approaching the discourse on home, and by positioning the home at the confluence of a network of sociocultural identities bound by spatial awareness and design, the writers draw on sociological interpretations of cultural negotiation as well as theoretical underpinnings in architectural design. In so doing, they suggest a reinterpretation of the facilitating role of architecture as sensitive to physical and socio-cultural reconstruction. Drawn from interviews with residents, architectural surveys, contextual mapping and other visual methods, Home and Community explores home as a construct that is enmeshed with the architectural affordances that the housing scheme represents, that is useful to both architecture and sociology students, as well as practitioners and urban planners.

Belonging is often overlooked in its relationship to society and social change, and yet it forms the bedrock of how we relate to the world around us. Through the work of Marx, Giddens and Goffman, this book covers the familiar terrain of identity theory, while going beyond it to other sites of identification and social change.

Belonging is often overlooked in its relationship to society and social change, and yet it forms the bedrock of how we relate to the world around us. Through the work of Marx, Giddens and Goffman, this book covers the familiar terrain of identity theory, while going beyond it to other sites of identification and social change.