Introduction - Body Workers and Body Work - Lecture Slides, Slides of Sociology

Download Introduction - Body Workers and Body Work - Lecture Slides and more Slides Sociology in PDF only on Docsity! Body Work and Body Workers Lecture 1: The Body in Sociology docsity.com First things first… • Tutorials • Course guide • Readings • Lecture outlines: email option?? docsity.com The Body in Sociology • An ‘absent presence’ in early sociology – Concerns of the early ‘sociologists’ • Character of industrial urban societies • Social order • Rational action • Social structure (rather than nature) docsity.com The Body in Sociology • The body was still relevant to early sociological analyses – The ascetic body of Puritanism (Weber) • Warns against the move towards rationalisation – Human bodily labour in industrial capitalism (Marx) • Capitalism requires the continual production and reproduction of human bodies docsity.com The Body in Anthropology • The body is an key concern for this discipline – Focus on human universals – Importance of body in rites of passage – Debate concerning social Darwinism • e.g., emotional expression docsity.com Body Work • Running: 90 mins • Bathing: 20 mins • Hair: 20 mins • Food prep: 90 mins • Eating: 90 mins • Teeth: 10 mins • Other: 30 mins ~ 6 hours docsity.com Body Work and Body Workers • Focus on the work done to make ‘natural’ bodies into social products • Attention to social structure (without ignoring culture)  Also to individual agency • Theoretical perspectives • Bodily development and social location • The commodified body • The body as physical capital docsity.com Body Work and Body Workers • The body as ‘project’: reflects an individual identity – Related to conditions of high modernity • Decline in traditional sources of identity • Generalised sense of ‘risk’ • Increasing ability to rationalise the body • Intensified focus on consumption – The body remains ‘open’ to control • Also an individual responsibility • But that control is far from absolute – Ethical questions: biotechnology, genetic engineering, sports medicine docsity.com