This text critically examines the notion of human embodiment in both classical and contemporary thought. The ideas of a range of thinkers from Marx to Freud, Foucault to Giddens, Deleuze and Guattari to Irigary and Grosz are assessed in terms of the bodily themes and issues they address. By using the notion of embodiment to transcend the dualist legacies of the past this book argues that the body is not simply a textual effect or discursive construct. Rather, embodiment is the active basis of being in the world and the foundation of self, meaning, culture and society. It is not therefore a...

The Lived Body takes a fresh look at the notion of human embodiment and provides an ideal textbook for undergraduates on the growing number of courses on the sociology of the body.
The authors propose a new approach - an 'Embodied Sociology' - one which makes embodiment central rather than peripheral. They critically examine the dualist legacies of the past, assessing the ideas of a range of key thinkers, from Marx to Freud, Foucault to Giddens, Deleuze to Guattari and Irigary to Grosz, in terms of the bodily themes and issues they address.
They also explore new areas of...