Simon J. Williams,

FAcSS The Fellowship of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS) is an award granted by the Academy of Social Sciences to leading academics, policy-makers, and practitioners of the social sciences. Fellows were previously known as Academicians and used the ...

(born 1961) is a British sociologist. He is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded i ...

Biography

Simon Williams completed his doctoral thesis on the sociological dimensions of chronic respiratory illness and disability in 1990 at

Royal Holloway Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public research university and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It has six schools, 21 academic departm ...

and Bedford New College,

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. He then worked as a Research Fellow at the

University of Kent , motto_lang = , mottoeng = Literal translation: 'Whom to serve is to reign'(Book of Common Prayer translation: 'whose service is perfect freedom')Graham Martin, ''From Vision to Reality: the Making of the University of Kent at Canterbury'' ...

in the Centre for Health Services Studies from 1990 to 1992 before moving to a full-time lectureship in Sociology at the University of Warwick in 1992, where he has been ever since, becoming a ful
Professor of Sociology in 2006 and Emeritus Professor in October 2019.

Research

Williams' has researched a wide range of sociological topics and interdisciplinary issues during his career, including the body, emotion/affect, health and illness, pain, sleep,

pharmaceuticals A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field and rel ...

, and the

neuroscience Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, development ...

s—with particular reference to issues of

cognitive enhancement Neuroenhancement or cognitive enhancement refers to the targeted enhancement and extension of cognitive and affective abilities based on an understanding of their underlying neurobiology in healthy persons who do not have any mental illness. As su ...

. He also has newly emerging research interests in new digital health technologies, including AI assisted technologies in health and medicine.

The sociology and politics of sleep

Perhaps the most innovative aspect of Williams' work to date has been his contribution to the newly emerging sociology of

sleep Sleep is a sedentary state of mind and body. It is characterized by altered consciousness, relatively inhibited sensory activity, reduced muscle activity and reduced interactions with surroundings. It is distinguished from wakefulness by a de ...

: a topic which until quite recently has received relatively little attention within sociology or the

social science Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soc ...

s and

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...

in general. His book ''Sleep and Society'', for example, may be read as an early attempt to sketch the sociological dimensions and dynamics of sleep, including socio-cultural and historical variability in ''how, when, where'' and ''with whom'' we sleep; changing ''ideas'', ''meanings'' and ''values'' associated with sleep through time, culture and context; the contested nature and status of sleep ''rights'' and sleep ''roles'' in the 24/7 society; the embodied and embedded nature of sleep in everyday/night life; the social patterning and social organisation of sleep; and the

medicalisation Medicalization is the process by which human conditions and problems come to be defined and treated as medical conditions, and thus become the subject of medical study, diagnosis, prevention, or treatment. Medicalization can be driven by new evi ...

of sleep. Further collaborative research has also been conducted on the social construction of sleep in the news, and

sleep deprivation Sleep deprivation, also known as sleep insufficiency or sleeplessness, is the condition of not having adequate duration and/or quality of sleep to support decent alertness, performance, and health. It can be either chronic or acute and may vary ...

as a hidden dimension of

domestic violence Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner ...

. His latest book, ''The Politics of Sleep'', examines the increasingly 'politicised' nature of sleep today as a matter of

controversy Controversy is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin ''controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an opposite d ...

, contestation and concern, thereby linking sleep to prevailing socio-political discourses and debates concerning rights, risks and responsibilities in the late modern age and associated questions of

citizenship Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...

, enterprise and enhancement in

neo-liberal Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...

times. Sleep indeed, Williams argues, is another vital part of the 'politics of life' and the 'governance of bodies' today. The social sciences and humanities too, Williams suggests, are implicated in these very processes and dynamics, thereby further profiling, promoting or problematising and hence politicising sleep, both inside and outside the academy, the laboratory and the clinic. This for example, includes recent sociological research on:

gender Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most cultures u ...

, sleep and the life course; the social and health patterning of sleep quality and duration, and; the medicalisation of sleep. Comparative historical and cross-cultural research is also now shedding further valuable new light on a range of sleep-related matters such as the transformation of sleep science; sleep in (pre)industrial times, and; sleep and night-time in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

and the West. This research in turn raises important questions as to what 'normal' sleep is, for whom, when and where, thereby further problematising and politicising sleep, past, present and future. All in all this adds up to a rich and vibrant new interdisciplinary area of research on 'sleep, culture and society' that complements and extends existing work in sleep science,

sleep medicine Sleep medicine is a medical specialty or subspecialty devoted to the diagnosis and therapy of sleep disturbances and sleep disorder, disorders. From the middle of the 20th century, research has provided increasing knowledge and answered many ...

and cognate fields of inquiry. These issues have recently been further discussed and debated online in 'Somatosphere' with the American medical anthropologist Matthew Wolf-Meyer. Williams' continues to write on these matters, including a forthcoming (co-authored) book on ''"TechnoSleep: Frontiers, Fictions, Futures."'' He is also now beginning to write on the social, cultural and political life of chronobiology ''in'' society, which includes but extends beyond just sleep matters.

Honours

In September 2014, Williams was elected a

Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences The Fellowship of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS) is an award granted by the Academy of Social Sciences to leading academics, policy-makers, and practitioners of the social sciences. Fellows were previously known as Academicians and used th ...

Selected bibliography

Books

* * * * * * * * * * * *
Preview.
* Meloni, M, Williams, S.J. and Martin P. (eds) (2016) ''Biosocial Matters: Rethinking Sociology-Biology Relations in the Twenty-First Century.'' Oxford: Wiley.Blackwell.

Articles

* Article for the School of Life series.

References

External links

Profile page: Simon J. Williams
Warwick University
Amazon profile

'Sleep Cultures'
website.
Debate in 'Somatosphere'
on the future of sleep research in the social sciences {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Simon British sociologists Living people 1961 births Fellows of the Academy of Social Sciences Academics of the University of Warwick