Embodied Selves

"T his interdisciplinary collection explores the role the body plays in constituting our sense of self, signalling the interplay between material embodiment, social meaning, and material and social conditions. Collectively the papers draw attention to aspects of embodiment which are not always centre stage in other debates, particularly issues of bodily vulnerability. They make clear, in considering the relation of bodies and selves, that more is at stake than social identity categories; but that what is at stake is, nonetheless, an inter-subjective making of the self. Utilizing theoretical and biographical material, key strands of contemporary thought are brought into conversation: the new materialism, poststructuralism and, importantly, phenomenology. The consequences for an embodied ethics and a corporeal political theory are considered. There is a substantial and accessible introduction placing the papers in the context of contemporary debates. Collectively, the volume marks a major development in philosophical and critical accounts of embodiment."--Publisher's website.