Body Politics

The politics of the body is often highly contested, culturally specific, and controlled, and this book calls our attention to how bodies are included or excluded in the polity.

With governments regulating bodies in ways that mark the political boundaries of who is a citizen, worthy of protection and rights, as well as those who transgress socially proscribed norms, the contributors to this volume offer a systematic investigation of both theoretical and empirical account of bodily differences broadly defined. These chapters, diverse in both the populations and the political behaviours examined, as well as the methodological approaches employed, showcase the significance of body politics in a way few edited works in political science currently do.

Arguing that the body is an important site to understand power relations, this book will be of interest to those studying the unequal application of rights to women, racial and ethnic minorities, the LGBTQ community, and people with disabilities. This book was originally published as a special issue of Politics, Groups, and Identities.

Nadia E. Brown is a University Scholar and Associate Professor of Political Science and African American Studies at Purdue University, USA. She specializes in Black women’s politics and holds a graduate certificate in Women's and Gender Studies. Her research interests lie broadly in identity politics, legislative studies, and Black women's studies. While trained as a political scientist, her scholarship on intersectionality seeks to push beyond disciplinary constraints to think more holistically about the politics of identity.

Sarah Allen Gershon is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Georgia State University, USA. Her research focuses primarily on the incorporation of traditionally underrepresented groups (including women, and racial and ethnic minorities) into the American political system. In seeking to explain the challenges faced by these groups, her work emphasizes the role of communication, campaigns and political attitudes.