Challenging Choice

Choice pervades our society, and for good reason: we live in a society founded on political rights to choose and in an economy based on market choices and consumerism. But we have now reached a position in which choice is extended almost everywhere. Choice has become an ideology: more is invariably seen as beneficial, and it is often used as a solution to challenging policy issues. But choice is not the panacea we are led to believe. There are areas in life which would be much simpler if we simply had good quality provision enabling us to focus on the more challenging choices that we face across the life course.

Michael Clarke held posts in the departments of Sociology at the Universities of Birmingham and of Liverpool, where his research was mainly on business crime and regulation. He is now retired and lives in Herefordshire, where he cultivates his garden.

Contents Part one: Choice and society: Introduction; What is choice?; Making choices; Choice and the consumer society; When does choice not work; Part two: Choice and the life cycle: Introduction; Jobs and careers; Lovers, partners, spouses; Fertility; Retirement; Death; Choice and meaning.