Description
Book SynopsisArgues 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. This book presents an account of the body in legal thought.
Trade Review"Full of provocative insights... "--Booklist
Table of ContentsPrefaceIntroduction3Ch. 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