Flexible Bodies

by Martin, Emily

• ISBN13: 9780807046272
• ISBN10: 0807046272
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 1995-10-30
• Publisher: Beacon Press

Summary

Emily Martin traces Americans' changing ideas about health and immunity since the 1940s. She explores the implications of our emphasis on 'flexibility' in contexts from medicine to the corporate world, warning that we may be approaching a new form of social Darwinism.

Table of Contents

Illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Problems and Methods	p. 1
Historical Overview	p. 21
Visions of the Immune System	p. 45
The Body at War: Media Views of the Immune System	p. 49
Immunology on the Street: How Nonscientists See the Immune System	p. 64
"Fix My Head": How Alternative Practitioners See the Immune System	p. 82
Immunophilosophy: How Scientists See the Immune System	p. 91
Configurations of Healthy Bodies	p. 113
Complex Systems	p. 115
System Breakdown: "Dying from Within"	p. 127
Flexible Systems	p. 143
Practicums	p. 161
Interpreting Electron Micrographs	p. 167
Saturation	p. 183
Educating and Training the Body: Vaccines and Tests	p. 193
Educating and Training at Work	p. 207
Post-Darwinism	p. 227
Appendix 1 The Neighborhoods	p. 251
Appendix 2 The People We Interviewed	p. 255
Appendix 3 Questions for Neighborhood Interviews	p. 263
Notes	p. 267
References	p. 285
Index	p. 311
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