The Body in Human Inquiry

The human body has recently emerged as a central concept of social theory. Social scientists, philosophers, and scholars in other disciplines now routinely argue that abstract concepts such as class and gender should be understood by examining how they are expressed in the body's everyday practices. Such an approach has humanized social theory by emphasizing the role that concretely situated human beings play in acting out or redefining social norms. How will this emphasis on human embodiment transform methods of social inquiry? The volume takes up this question by examining how the recognition of human embodiment entails reworking standard models of social research. Individual chapters focus on such topics as communication theory, ethics, policy science, globalization and cultural changes, gerontology, and pedagogical practice.