De/constructing the body: ancient and modern dynamics

Can the body be construed as one entity or is it really a combination of its constituent parts? If the latter, how does the body relate to the parts? Who determines and controls knowledge about bodies, body parts and their relational dynamics? 

Our project emphasises bodily fragmentation and fusion. We argue that there is a greater fluidity than has often been realised in the signification processes and the signifying agents that define physical and imagined frontiers in the human body – such as patients, bodies, body parts, dead bodies, medical scientists, nurses, religious professionals and entrepreneurs, medical insurance policies, medical technology and biopolitics. 

The aim of the project is to create a robust network of collaborators who will challenge the compartmentalisation of bodily knowledge and disputes.