Bodies of law
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Bodies of law
Princeton University Press, 1997
- :hbk
- :pbk
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Note
Includes index: p. [269]-278
Description and Table of Contents
- Volume
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:pbk ISBN 9780691012285
Description
The most basic assertions about our bodies--that they are ours and distinguish us from each other, that they are private and have boundaries, races, and genders--are all political theories, constructed in legal texts for political purposes. So argues Alan Hyde in this first account of the body in legal thought. Hyde demonstrates that none of the constructions of the body in legal texts are universal truths that rest solely on body experience. Drawing on an array of fascinating case material, he shows that legal texts can construct all kinds of bodies, including those that are not owned at all, that are just like other bodies, that are public, open, and accessible to others. Further, the language, images, and metaphors of the body in legal texts can often convince us of positions to which we would not assent as a matter of political theory. Through analysis of legal texts, Hyde shows, for example, how law's words construct the vagina as the most searchable body part; the penis as entirely under mental control; the bone marrow that need not be shared with a half-sibling who will die without it; and urine that must be surrendered for drug testing in rituals of national purification.
This book will interest anyone concerned with cultural studies, gender studies, ethnic studies, and political theory, or anyone who has heard the phrase "body constructed in discourse" and wants to see, step by step, exactly how this is done.
Table of Contents
- PrefaceIntroduction3Ch. 1The Body as Machine: Hawkins v. McGee19Ch. 2The Fatigued Body: On the Progressive History of the Body as Machine34Ch. 3The Body as Property48Ch. 4Constructing the Autonomous Legal Body: Privacy, Property, Inviolability80Ch. 5Reproductive Capacity: Unsalable, Commodified, Compensable97Ch. 6Sandwich Man
- or, The Economic and Political History of Bodily Display109Ch. 7Suppressing Bodily Display: Legal Breasts, Sunbathing, Dance, Photographic Images131Ch. 8The Body's Narratives151Ch. 9The Legal Vagina165Ch. 10The Legal Penis173Ch. 11Tranquilizing the Prisoner187Ch. 12Body Wastes205Ch. 13The Racial Body222Ch. 14Diseased Bodies: Antibodies and Anti-Bodies241Ch. 15Offensive Bodies252Conclusion: A Body Fantasia258Table of Cases267Index269
- Volume
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:hbk ISBN 9780691012292
Description
Argues that the most basic assertions about our bodies, that they are ours and distinguish us from each other, that they are private and have boundaries, races and genders, are all political theories, constructed in legal texts for political purposes. The text asserts that none of the contructions of the body in legal texts are universal truths that rest solely on body experience. It shows that legal texts can construct all kinds of bodies, that are public, open and accessible to others. Further, the language, images amd metaphors of the body in legal texts can often convince us of positions to which we would not assent as a matter of political theory.
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