Newsletter No 36  November 2003

Call for Papers at CISH

 Body Politics/The Politics of the Body

  This round table will bring together historians of reproduction, medicine, fashion, women and gender, sexuality, and religion to explore the social construction of the body over time and in different societies. It considers the political meaning of the personal, indeed, the intimate: bodies, their shapes, looks, and uses. How do notions of "the body politic" relate to treatment of bodies of different groups within a given nation or culture? When does the body provide a terrain for struggle over questions of power and authority? What parts of the body are venerated or despised and why? How have attitudes and practices toward bodily functions changed over time and by place? What do histories of the regulation of the body, from diseased bodies to sexual bodies, tell us about the status of women, the young and old, sexual minorities, or racial or enthic minorities? What forms have struggles over the control of the body taken?

 Organizer: Eileen Boris. This was accepted for the main program, submitted by IFRWH
This roundtable can have 8 papers and I prefer to have presenters from different countries on a wide range of appropriate topics. Please send your proposal to me by December 15.  Thanks, Eileen