ABSTRACT
The aim of this chapter is to outline some of the existing sociological analyses and critiques of health promotion in order to identify the main parameters of the literature and to provide some pointers towards a more developed sociology of health promotion. To this end the chapter will, first, distinguish between a sociology of and a sociology for health promotion and distinguish between social and public policy approaches and sociological approaches to the analysis of health promotion. Second, it will examine three categories of sociological critique: structural, surveillance and consumption. Third, it will attempt to construct a conceptual map which relates these critiques to some key substantive areas of analysis within health promotion-populations, identities, risk and the environment.
