Routledge Handbook of Body Studies

In the last three decades, the human body has gained increasing prominence in contemporary political debates, and it has become a central topic of modern social sciences and humanities. Modern technologies '¬ ; such as organ transplants, stem-cell research, nanotechnology, cosmetic surgery and cryonics '¬ ; have changed how we think about the body. In this collection of thirty original essays, these issues are explored across a number of theoretical perspectives '¬ ; pragmatism, feminism, queer theory, post-modernism, post-humanism, cultural sociology and anthropology '¬ ; and through a wide range of case studies '¬ ; cosmetics, diet, organ transplants, racial bodies, masculinity and sexuality, the colonial body, eating disorders, religion and the sacred body, tattoos and piercing, disability, technology and old age, monstrosity and conjoined twins. This volume explores a range of theoretical traditions, various epistemological approaches to the basic question '¬ ; what is a body? '¬ ; and others a range of chapters on empirical topics that are organized around religion, medicine, gender, technology and consumption. It concludes with a discussion of the globalization of the body through military technology, modern medicine, sport and consumption.