The Body

The body has become an increasingly significant concept in recent years and this Reader offers a stimulating overview of the main topics, perspectives and theories surrounding the issue. This broad consideration of the body presents an engagement with a range of social concerns, from the processes of racialization to the vagaries of fashion and performance art, enacted as surgery on the body. Individual sections cover issues such as: - the body and social (dis)order - bodies and identities - bodily norms - bodies in health and dis-ease - bodies and technologies. Containing an extensive critical introduction, contributions from key figures such as Butler, Sedgwick, Martin Scheper-Huges, Haraway and Gilroy, and a series of introductions summarizing each section, this Reader offers students a valuable practical guide and a thorough grounding in the fascinating topic of the body.

Mariam Fraser, Monica Greco

1. What is a Body? 2. The Body and Social (Dis)order 3. Bodies and Identities 4. Normal Bodies, or Not 5. Bodies in Health and Dis-ease 6. Bodies and Technologies 7. Bodies in Consumer Culture 8. Body Ethics