Love and Intimacy in Contemporary Society

Love and Intimacy in Contemporary Society reflects on relationships in contemporary society and the role of love and intimacy in framing lives. The book draws on sociological perspectives, cultural sociology and gender theory perspectives.
It looks at how love and intimacy is experienced differently and intersected by gender, ethnicity, race and sexuality. This book aims to encourage people to understand theories of intimacy, emotions and desire by examining these concepts contemporaneously and cross-culturally. It also explores how love and intimacy is experienced by young people and how it is impacted by age. It looks at its representation in the media and film and focuses on how gender, ethnicity and sexuality offer different perspectives on love and intimacy.
The book shows how relationships are impacted by social networking and new technologies and the opportunities and challenges posed by these new platforms for building relationships. Finally, the book examines how intimacy has become commercialised in late capitalism and how that acts to change relationships. The book is written in an accessible way and explores a range of theoretical debates and contemporary research around emotions, which can be useful for undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral study.

Ann Brooks is a Visiting Professor at the Australian Catholic University in 2018-2020. She is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS). Her latest books are Genealogies of Emotions, Intimacy and Desire: Theories of Changes in Emotional Regimes from Medieval Society to Late Modernity (2017) and Women, Politics and the Public Sphere (2019).

Introduction; 1. Love in a Globalized World; 2. Diversity and Intimacy in Contemporary Society; 3. Being Young and in Love; 4. Modern Romance; 5. Love in the Movies; 6. Love and Intimacy in Marriage; 7. Adultery, Love and Social Networking; 8. New Technology, Intimacy and Work; 9. The Commercialization of Intimacy; Conclusion.