Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Implications of World Suffering for Human Progress

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
World Suffering and Quality of Life

Part of the book series: Social Indicators Research Series ((SINS,volume 56))

Abstract

After reviewing definitions of suffering, this chapter offers a framework and typology of suffering that can accommodate the diversity of thought and research on suffering. Estimates of suffering prevalence follow. The remainder of the chapter summarizes the content of each of the first four parts of the volume: (I) suffering’s challenge to humanity, humanitarianism, and human rights; (II) caregivers and care receivers; (III) quality of life (QOL) and its measurement; (IV) QOL and community. The last part, Part V—on the future—is left for the last chapter.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 89.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    These demographic statistics were derived from the World Health Organization’s online data files, accessed 25 June 2014.

References

  • Alexander, J. C. (2012). Trauma: A social theory. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • ALNP. (2012). The state of the humanitarian system. http://www.alnap.org/what-we-do/sohs. Accessed 25 May 2014.

  • Anderson, R. E. (2014). Human suffering and quality of life – Conceptualizing stories and statistics. New York: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Barnett, M., & Weiss, T. G. (Eds.). (2008). Humanitarianism in question: Politics, power, ethics. Syracuse: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Black, H. K. (2005). Soul pain: The meaning of suffering in later life. Amityville: Baywood Publishing Co. Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bornstein, E., & Redfield, P. (2013). Forces of compassion: Humanitarianism between ethics and politics. Santa Fe: SAR Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borsook, D. (2012). A future without chronic pain: Neuroscience and clinical research. http://www.dana.org/news/cerebrum/detail.aspx?id=39160. Accessed 8 Mar 2013.

  • Bourdieu, P., et al. (2000). Understanding. In P. Bourdieu et al. (Eds.), The weight of the world: Social suffering in contemporary society. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Calhoun, C. (2004). A world of emergencies: Fear, intervention and the limits of cosmopolitan order. Canadian Review of Sociology, 41(4), 373–395.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Calhoun, C. (2008). The imperative to reduce suffering: Charity, progress and emergencies in the field of humanitarian action. In M. Barnett & T. G. Weiss (Eds.), Humanitarianism in question: Politics, power, ethics (pp. 73–92). Syracuse: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carr, D. B., Loeser, J. D., & Morris, D. B. (Eds.). (2005). Narrative, pain and suffering (Progress in pain research and management). Seattle: International Association for the Study of Pain Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cassell, E. J. (1991). Nature of suffering and the goals of medicine. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chouliaraki, L. (2013). The ironic spectator: Solidarity in the age of post-humanitarianism. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davidhizar, R., & Giger, J. N. (2004). A review of the literature on care of clients in pain who are culturally diverse. International Nursing Review, 51(1), 47–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farmer, P. (2013). To repair the world. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fast, L. (2014). Aid in danger: The perils and promise of humanitarianism. State College: University of Pennsylvania Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Francis, L. E. (2006). Emotions and health. In W. E. Stets & J. H. Turner (Eds.), Handbook of the sociology of emotions (pp. 591–610). New York: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Frankl, V. E. (1959). Man’s search for meaning. Boston: Beacon Press. (Originally published in 1959)

    Google Scholar 

  • Graaf, J., Wann, D., & Naylor, T. H. (2014). Affluenza – How overconsumption is killing us and how to fight back (1st ed.). New York: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harstall, C., & Ospina, M. (2003). How prevalent is chronic pain? Pain Clinical Updates. 11(2), 1–4. Seattle: International Association for the Study of Pain.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hemlow, J. (Ed.). (1975). The journals and letters of Fanny Burney. Oxford: Oxford University Press. http://www.segemi.de/files/kleinman_anthropology_cross-cultural_mental_health_6-2011_1_.pdf. Accessed 20 Jan 2013.

  • Johannes, C. B., Le, T. K., Zhou, X., Johnston, J. A., & Dworkinin, R. H. (2010). The prevalence of chronic pain in United States adults: Results of an internet-based survey. Journal of Pain, 11(11), 1230–1239.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jordan, T. E. (2012). Quality of life and mortality among children. New York: SpringerBriefs.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy, D. (2011). The dark sides of virtue: Reassessing international humanitarianism. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kierkegaard, S. (1941). The sickness unto death. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kleinman, A., Das, V., & Lock, M. (Eds.). (1997). Social suffering. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Land, K. C., Michalos, A. C., & Sirgy, M. J. (2012). The development and evolution of research on social indicators and quality of life. In K. C. Land et al. (Eds.), Handbook of social indicators and quality of life research (pp. 1–22). New York: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Lelkes, O. (2013). Minimising misery: A new strategy for public policies instead of maximising happiness? Social Indicators Research, 114, 121–137.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Livingston, W. K. (1998). Pain and suffering. Seattle: International Association for the Study of Pain Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayeroff, M. (1971). On caring. New York: HarperCollins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morris, D. B. (2002). The culture of pain. Berkley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mukherjee, R. (1989). The quality of life—Valuation in social research. Newbury Park: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nagappan, R. (2005). Speaking havoc: Social suffering & South Asian narratives. Seattle: University of Washington Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Narayan, M. C. (2010). Culture’s effects on pain assessment and management. American Journal of Nursing, 110(4), 38–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nussbaum, M. (2011). Creating capabilities: The human development approach. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Nussbaum, M., & Sen, A. (1993). The quality of life. Oxford: Clarendon.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Pruett, G. E. (1987). The meaning and end of suffering for Freud and the Buddhist tradition. Lanham: University Press of America.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rummel, R. J. (1994). Death by government. Piscataway: Transaction.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saunders, C. (2006). Cicely Saunders: Selected writings 1958–2004. New York: Oxford University Press USA.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Singer, M. (2006). The face of social suffering – The life history of a street drug addict. Long Grove: Waveland Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thernstrom, M. (2010). The pain chronicles: Cures, myths, mysteries, prayers, diaries, brain scans, healing, and the science of suffering. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, LLC – MacMillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trnka, S. (2008). State of suffering: Political violence and community survival in Fiji. Syracuse: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tronto, J. C. (2013). Caring democracy: Markets, equality and justice. New York: NYU Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tsang, A., Von Korff, M., Lee, S., Alonso, J., Karam, E., et al. (2008). Common chronic pain conditions in developed and developing countries: Gender and age differences and comorbidity with depression-anxiety disorders. The Journal of Pain, 9(10), 883–891.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weiss, T. G. (2007). Humanitarian intervention – Ideas in action. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • White, M. (2011). Atrocities: The 100 deadliest episodes in human history. New York: Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkinson, I. (2005). Suffering: A sociological introduction. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkinson, I. (2012). Social suffering and the problem of re-making sociology for caregiving. http://www.academia.edu/1812508/Social_Suffering_and_the_Problem_of_Re-making_Sociology_for_Caregiving. Accessed 27 Jan 2013. (Published online at Academia.edu)

  • Wilkinson, I. (2013). The problem of suffering as a driving force of rationalization and social change. The British Journal of Sociology, 64(1), 123–141.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, R. A., & Brown, R. D. (Eds.). (2009). Humanitarianism and suffering—The mobilization of empathy. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, K. G., Chochinov, H. M., Allard, P., Chary, S., Gagnon, P. R., Macmillan, K., De Luca, M., O’Shea, F., Kuhl, D., & Fainsinger, R. L. (2009). Prevalence and correlates of pain in the Canadian National Palliative Care Survey. Pain Research and Management, 14(5), 366–379.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wronka, J. (2008). Human rights and social justice. Los Angeles: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Young, J. (2010). Friedrich Nietzsche: A philosophical biography. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Emeritus Faculty of Sociology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA

    Ronald E. Anderson

Authors
  1. Ronald E. Anderson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ronald E. Anderson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Emeritus Faculty of Sociology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

    Ronald E. Anderson

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Anderson, R.E. (2015). Implications of World Suffering for Human Progress. In: Anderson, R. (eds) World Suffering and Quality of Life. Social Indicators Research Series, vol 56. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9670-5_1

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation