Stigma Revisited

Stigma Revisited: Implications of the Mark is a collection of qualitative, empirical studies of populations who experience stigma. Discrimination, marginality and social injustice are recognized as indelibly tied to the phenomena of stigma. This volume builds on the work of Erving Goffman and integrates a larger, structural understanding of stigma based in Michel Foucault's governmentality writings. Contemporary notions of risk, riskiness and danger are linked to the labelling of "deviant" populations in the name of social control and risk management; these labels result in the institutional and systemic perpetuation of stereotypes and stigmatic attitudes. The research presented in this book addresses the individual experience of symbolic stigma as well as the collective impact of structural stigma. With unique, personal vignettes that position each of the academic contributors in relation to their subjects, this collection of essays challenges social science researchers to understand their own role in reproducing and contesting hegemonic discourses that stigmatize and marginalize.