New book by Kate Henne explores how law, science and social inequalities shape the way brain injuries are understood and depicted

We are delighted to announce the release of Professor Kate Henne and Dr Matt Ventresca’s new book, Violent Impacts: How Power and Inequality Shape the Concussion Crisis, published by The University of California Press. 

About the book

Concerns regarding brain injury in sport have escalated into what is often termed a “concussion crisis,” fueled by high-profile lawsuits and deaths. Although athletes are central figures in this narrative, they comprise only a small proportion of the people who experience brain injuries, while other high-risk groups—including victims of domestic violence and police brutality—are all too often left out of the story. In Violent Impacts, Kathryn Henne and Matt Ventresca examine what is and what isn’t captured in popular discourse, scrutinizing how law, science, and social inequalities shape depictions and understandings of brain injury. Drawing on research carried out in Australia, Canada, and the United States, they illustrate how structural violence centers certain bodies as part of the concussion crisis while pushing others to the margins.

Reviews

"Kathryn Henne and Matt Ventresca have made a very important contribution to our understanding of what is increasingly recognized as the crisis of concussion. It's not only in sport: this well-argued, well-researched book broadens the field to include marginalized groups all too often left out of the conversation. Scholarly yet accessibly written, this is essential reading for anyone interested in structural violence and the social determinants of health."

—Kath Woodward, coauthor of Gender Studies: A Multidisciplinary Approach

“While concussions in professional sports garner headlines, brain injuries remain overlooked across many other realms of life. From the military to intimate partner violence, Henne and Ventresca offer an original, incisive, and much-needed analysis of the forces that shape how we talk—or fail to talk—about concussions and the people they affect.”

—Kathleen Bachynski, author of No Game for Boys to Play: The History of Youth Football and the Origins of a Public Health Crisis

“Violent Impacts is a fascinating and timely study of an undertheorized phenomenon. Through careful, intersectional, and accessible analysis, the authors show how traumatic brain injury is an assemblage of social, cultural, economic, and biological mattering that cannot be understood without attention to power relations. Violent Impacts deftly addresses the role of racial and gender inequalities in our understanding of brain injuries. Perhaps most importantly, the book draws needed attention to the powerful economic interests putting bodies and brains in harm’s way, as well as shaping our collective sense of the nature and acceptability of brain risks.”

—Victoria Pitts-Taylor, author of The Brain’s Body: Neuroscience and Corporeal Politics

An open-access version is available through the University of California Press’s Open Access publishing program.