Тематический план

  • KURZ SE PŘIPRAVUJE
  • BODY HEALTH AND SOCIETY

    Syllabus

    1.      Introduction of the Course and the Discipline of Anthropology/Sociology of the body

     

    Bodies and social (dis)order

    2.      Techniques of the body (Marcel Mauss)

    3.      The two bodies (Mary Douglas)

    4.      Embodied information in face-to-face interaction (Erwing Goffmann)

    5.      Habitus, body as both, the outcome and structuring principle (Pierre Bourdieu)

    6.      Body as a form of a capital (Loïc Wacquant)

    7.      Docile bodies (Michel Foucault)

    8.      Embodiment (Thomas Csordas)

     

    Exercising power, shaping bodies

    9.     Body as a discourse negotiation (Emily Martin)

    10.    Body as a locus of cultural resistance (Aihwa Ong)

    11.   Body – a central node in a symbolic and social structure (Nancy Scheper Hughes)

    12.5. university holiday

    12.   Bodies incommensurable and the menopause (Margaret Lock)

    How does culture shape our body on Reddit: 

    Requirements:

    Classes´attendance 70% minimum

    Class participation (20 % of the final grade)

    Synopsis (20 % of the final grade)

    ·         100 - 250 words

    ·         main argument

    ·         contextualization (paradigm: directs epistemological assumption, suitable methods, questions asked)

    ·         1 comment or question (did you find something interesting in particular in the text? Do you not agree with something in the text? Do you not understand something in the text?)     

    The final essay, 1250 - 1750 words (60 % of the final grade)

    ·         based on at least 3 titles from the field of social sciences (at least one from the course mandatory literature)

    ·         compulsory consultation of the topic via moodle

    Deadline of the topic definition: 27.04.2021

    ·         design: building upon literature - to discuss a selected topic, comparing different theoretical approaches to it (apply a theory/ concept on some phenomenon). The arguments have to be rooted in literature!!!

    Final assignment due: 20.06.2021

  • Second class - Techniques of the body

    Compulsory reading:

    •Mauss, Marcel (2006) [1935]. Techniques of the body. In Schlanger, N. ed. Marcel Mauss, Techniques, technology and civilization. Berghahn Books, pp. 77-95.
    Reccomended reading:
    •Fraser, M., Greco, M. (2005). Bodies and social disorder. In Fraser, M., Greco, M. The body: A reader. Routledge, Oxon, New York, pp. 67-71.
    Guiding question
    • What are techniques of the body?
    • How they are acquired?
    • Are all the ways of handling body techniques? Which are not and how are they acquired?
    • Are they conscious / unconscious?
    • What is habitus?
    Discussion questions
    • Why are people handling their bodies the way they are?
    • What is the relationship between individual bodies and the society?
    • Can you think about some competing theory explaining this phenomenon?
    • Can you find some other culturally specific techniques of the body among people present in class?

  • Third class - The two bodies

    Compulsory reading
    •Douglas, M. (2004) [1970]. The two bodies. In Douglas, M., Natural symbols, pp. 72-91. Taylor & Francis e-Library.
    Recommended reading
    •Douglas, M. (2007) [1970]. The two bodies, pp. 78-81. In Fraser, M., Greco, M., The body: A reader. Routledge, Oxon, New York.
    Guiding questions
    •Which two bodies are at stake?
    •What is the relationship between them?
    •What kind of role plays symbols in this relationship?
    •What kind of  role plays control in it?
    •What is the role of understanding and experience in this process?
    •What is the purity rule?
    Discussion questions
    •Can you think about more examples of these two bodies relationship expression?
    •In relation to gender, beauty, eating, illness, health, sexual behaviour, death?
    •What is the difference between the approaches to body-society relationships of Mauss and Douglas?

  • Embodied information in face-to-face interaction

    Reading: 
    •Goffman, E. (1963). Introductory definitions, pp. 13-30. In Goffman, E., Behaviour in public places. New York, The Free Press.
    noncompulsory
    Goffman, E. (2007) [1963]. Embodied information in face-to-face interaction, pp. 82-86. In Fraser, M., Greco, M., The body: A reader. Routledge, Oxon, New York.
    Guiding questions
    ­•What kind of interactions are at stake?
    ­•What are crucial communication conditions for face-to-face interaction?
    •What is the difference between embodied and disembodied message?
    •In what ways is the communication under study mutual?
    •What makes people accessible?
    •What is the normative public regulation?
    •How and why are people disciplining their bodies?
    Discussion questions
    ­•What is the relationship between the individual (body) and society according to Goffman?
    ­•How is Goffman‘ s approach different from the approach of Douglas and Mauss?
    ­•How and why is the body disciplined? What does the absence of this discipline mean?
    ­•Can you think about more examples of this theory application?
    •In relation to gender, beauty, eating, illness, health, sexual behavior, death?

    Watch the video:


  • Habitus, body as both, the outcome and structuring principle 

    • Compulsory reading:
    • Wacquant, L. (1998): Pierre Bourdieu. In R. Stones, ed., Key sociological thinkers. London, Macmillan Press. Pp. 220-225
    • Bourdieu, P. (2007) [1984]. Belief and the Body. In Fraser, M., Greco, M., The body: A reader. Oxon, New York: Routledge. Pp. 87-91
    • Recommended reading:
    • Bourdieu, P. (1984). Belief and the Body. In P. Bourdieu, The Logic of Practice. Oxford: Blackwell.
    • Guiding questions:
    • What is habitus, social field, social structure, capital?
    • What is the relationship among these?
    • What role does the body have in Bourdieu's theory?
    • What is the main Bourdieu‘s focus? (in contrary to symbols in Mary Douglas ‘s approach)
    • What is symbolic capital, what role does it have for an individual and how it is created?
    • Discussion questions:
    • What is the relationship between the individual (body) and society?
    • How is Bourdieu‘ s approach different from the approach of Douglas and Mauss and Goffman? (Symbolic body/social body; body techniques; normative of social situation.
    • Can you think about more examples of this theory application? (In relation to gender, beauty, illness, eating, health, sexual behaviour, death)

  • Body as a form of a capital

    Compulsory reading: Wacquant, L. (1995). 'Pugs at Work: Bodily Capital and Bodily Labour Among Professional Boxers', in Body and Society, 1 (1), Pp. 65 – 93

    Recommended reading: Wacquant, L. (1998): Pierre Bourdieu. In R. Stones, ed., Key sociological thinkers. London, Macmillan Press. Pp. 220-225

    Guiding questions:
    •What is: habitus; capital; field in the ethnography of proffesional boxing field case?
    •Think about how is the social structure incorporated in the form of habitus? What is the structure here?
    • How are these related?
    Discussion questions:
    ­•What is the relationship between the individual (body) and society?
    ­•How is Wacquant‘ s (Bourdieu‘ s) approach different from the approach of Douglas and Mauss and Goffman?
    ­   - Symbolic body/social body; body techniques; normative of social situation…
    ­•Can you think about more examples of this theory application?
    ­   - In relation to gender, beauty, illness, eating, health, sexual behaviour, death
  • Docile bodies

     Compulsory reading:
    • Foucault, M. (1975). Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. Vintage Books. New York. Pp. 135-169 (Docile Bodies). 
     Guiding questions:
    • What is body politic?
    • What are docile bodies?
    • What is the relation between knowledge and power?
    • What is the relation between power and body? How does it work?
    • What is the main Foucault‘s focus? (in contrary to symbols in Mary Douglas‘s or practice in Bourdieu‘s approach)
     Discussion questions:
    • What is the relationship between the individual (body) and society?
    • How is Foucault‘ s approach different from the approach of Douglas and Mauss, Goffman or Bourdieu?
    • Symbolic body/social body; body techniques; normative of social situation; habitus-field…
    • Can you think about more examples of this theory application?
    • In relation to gender, beauty, illness, eating, health, sexual behaviour, death

  • Embodiment

    Suggested Reading: pick selected pgs/ whole paper to be able to answer guiding questions
    •Csordas, T. (1990) Embodiment as a Paradigm for Anthropology. Ethos, 18 (1), pp. 5, 7-12/ 5-47. (whichever variant to be able to answer guiding questions.)
    Guiding questions
    •What is embodiment?
    •What is the relationship between the body and culture?
    •How embodiment works in terms of perception?
    •How embodiment works it terms of practice?
    •What are the methodological implication of embodiment paradigm?
    Discussion questions
    •How is Csordas‘ s approach different from the approach of Douglas and Mauss, Goffman, Bourdieu or Foucault?
    •Symbolic body/social body; body techniques; normative of social situation; habitus-field; docile bodies…
    • Can you think about more examples of this theory application?
    •In relation to gender, beauty, illness, eating, health, sexual behaviour, death
  • Body as a negotiation of a discourse

    • Reading
    • Martin, E. (1991) The Egg and the Sperm: How Science Has Constructed a Romance Based on Stereotypical Male-Female Roles, Signs 16 (3), pp 485-501.
    • Guiding question
    • What is a discourse in the case of Martin‘s approach?
    • What is the relationship between cultural notions and scientific discourse as introduced by Martin?
    • Is the scientific discourse of gender influenced/influencing the unequal distribution of power in society? How?
    • How the nature-culture dichotomy in relation to body works in Martin‘s example?
    • Discussion question
    •  Relation to the Goffman‘s, Foucault‘s and phenomenological approach to the body?



  • Body as a locus of cultural resistance

    reading
    • Ong, Aihwa (1988): The Production of Possession: Spirits and the Multinational Corporation in Malaysia.  American Ethnologist 15/1: 28-42
    guiding questions
    • What is medicalization?
    • How is spirit possesion interpreted by:
    • Psychologists, medical doctors, managers (policy makers), anthropologists?
    • What is the aim of these people in relation to spirit possesions under the study?
    • How should be dealt with it according to these people?
    • How the nature-culture relation could be interpreted on the basis of this study?
    • What is the relation between body, culture, and power in the example described?
    discussion questions
    •Relate the paper to the Douglas‘, Foucault‘s and Merleau-Ponty‘ approach to the body.
    •i.e. apply the theory of social body, docile bodies and embodiment on the example analyzed by Ong.

  • Body – a central nod in a symbolic and social structure

    reading
    • Scheper-Hughes, N. ([1989] 2006): Mother’s Love: Death without Weeping. In: Spradley, James P. & McCurdy, David W. (Eds.): Conformity & conflict: Readings in cultural anthropology. 14th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson, 156-162.
    guiding questions
    • What is an angel child?
    • What factors are causing high child morbidity in the environment described?
    • What is the relation between high child morbidity and mothers‘ love (kinship system) there?
    • What meaning is ascribed to and social mechanisms relate to childs‘ death in the study?
    • In summary: what causes the phenomenon of common childs‘ death and what this phenomenon further causes in the environment under study?
    discussion questions
    • Explain, how the power, social system, culture, and nature are entangled on the example of this case.
    • Relate the paper to the Douglas‘, Bourdieu‘s and Murphy‘s/ Merleau-Ponty‘s approach to the body.
     •i.e. apply the theory of social body, habitus, and embodiment on the example analyzed by Scheper-Hughes

  • Bodies incommensurable and menopause

    reading
    Lock, M., Kaufert, P. (2001). Menopause, local biologies, and cultures of aging. American Journal of Human Biology, 13(4), 494.   
    Or
    Lock, M., Nguyen, V. K. (2010). An Anthropology of Biomedicine Oxford. The end of menstruation: 84-89.
    guiding questions

    What is menopause?

    - when and how did the concept emerge?

    - how is it defined by medical discourse?

    - how it is experienced by people?

    What is kônenki?

    - how medicalization of the transformation labeled as menopause happened?

    - what has it changed in Japanese society?

  • Summarizing topics; connecting concepts

    Homework
    •Choose one of the following topics:
    •Gender
    •Beauty
    •Illness
    •Eating
    •Health
    •Sexual behavior
    •Death
    •Explain (/ give an example) them using all of the discussed concepts
    •Body techniques
    •Social body
    •Body interaction
    •Habitus
    •Docile bodies
    •Embodiment