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Why Love Hurts

Duration:
28 minutes
First broadcast:
Wednesday 16 May 2012

The agony of love is a classic trope of romantic literature and popular journalism. The suffering caused by failures in our personal lives seems timeless. But the sociologist, Eva Illouz, argues that the nature of romantic suffering has changed radically in the modern era. Her book 'Why Love Hurts' argues that the individual misery of the 'broken hearted' should be subjected to scrutiny by social scientists. Failures in our private lives are shaped by social forces much larger than ourselves; they can't be explained by our individual psyches and histories alone. Stephen Frosh, Professor of Psychosocial studies, also joins the discussion. Laurie Taylor puts love under the sociological microscope.
Producer: Jayne Egerton.

  • Eva Illouz

    Professor of Sociology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

    Why Love Hurts: A Sociological Explanation
    Publisher: Polity Press
    ISBN-10: 0745661521
    ISBN-13: 978-0745661520

    Find out more about Eva Illouz
  • Stephen Frosh

    Professor of Psychosocial studies at Birkbeck College, University of London

    Feelings
    Publisher: Routledge
    ISBN-10: 0415574846
    ISBN-13: 978-0415574846

    Find out more about Stephen Frosh

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