An ethnography of the tattoo community, tracing the practice's transformation from a mostly male, working-class phenomenon to one adapted and propagated by a more middle-class movement in the period from the 1970s to the present.

The essays collected in Tattooed Bodies draw on a range of theoretical paradigms and empirical knowledge to investigate tattoos, tattooing, and our complex relations with marks on skin. Engaging with diverse disciplinary perspectives in art history, continental philosophy, media studies, psychoanalysis, critical theory, literary studies, biopolitics, and cultural anthropology, the volume reflects the sheer diversity of meanings attributed to tattoos throughout history and across cultures. Essays explore conceptualizations of tattoos and tattooing in Derrida, Deleuze and Guattari, Lacan, Agamben, and Jean-Luc Nancy, while utilizing theoretical perspectives to interpret tattoos in literary works by Melville, Beckett, Kafka, Genet, and Jeff VanderMeer, among others. Tattooed Bodies prompts readers to explore a few significant questions: Are tattoos unique phenomena or an art medium in need of special theoretical exploration? If so, what conceptual paradigms and theories might best shape our understanding of tattoos and their complex ubiquity in world cultures and histories?

At the turn of the twenty-first century, American media abound with images and narratives of bodily transformations. At the crossroads of American, cultural, literary, media, gender, queer, disability and governmentality studies, the book presents a timely intervention into critical debates on body transformations and contemporary makeover culture.

A wide-ranging collection of essays centred on readings of the body in contemporary literary and socio-anthropological discourse, from slavery and rape to female genital mutilation, from clothing, ocular pornography, voice, deformation and transmutation to the imprisoned, dismembered, remembered, abducted or ghostly body, in Africa, Australasia and the Pacific, Canada, the Caribbean, Great Britain and Eire

This fascinating collection explores the growing range of body modification practices such as piercing, tattooing, branding, cutting and inserting implants, which have sprung up recently in the West. It asks whether this implies that we are returning to traditional tribal practices of inscribing identities onto bodies on the part of 'modern primitives', or is body modification better understood as purely cosmetic and decorative with body markings merely temporary signs of transferable loyalties? Contributors address the question of the permanence of body transformation through fitness regimes and body building; look at the French performance artist Orlan and the Australian performance artist Stelarc who explored Western standard o

The Bloomsbury Handbook of 21st-Century Feminist Theory was a PROSE Award finalist. The Bloomsbury Handbook of 21st-Century Feminist Theory is the most comprehensive available survey of the state of the art of contemporary feminist thought. With chapters written by world-leading scholars from a range of disciplines, the book explores the latest thinking on key topics in current feminist discourse, including: · Feminist subjectivity – from identity, difference, and intersectionality to affect, sex and the body · Feminist texts – writing, reading, genre and critique · Feminism and the world – from power, trauma and value to technology, migration and community Including insights from literary and cultural studies, philosophy, political science and sociology, The Bloomsbury Handbook of 21st-Century Feminist Theory is an essential overview of current feminist thinking and future directions for scholarship, debate and activism.

`The book is easy to use and its layout demonstrates some skill in constructing volumes that `work' as study guides and reference tools. The merit of this book goes well beyond its suitability for course applications. Contemporary ideas on identity provide new meanings for an old concept' - Multilingual and Multicultura In recent years, identity and difference have been the focus of key debates in cultural studies. This broad-ranging book examines the challenge of these debates and outlines their applications to central questions of gender, sexuality, embodiment, health, `race' and nation. The text renders accessible some of the most exciting and controversial issues in recent cultural studies. It comb

This book provides a comprehensive overview of international cultural heritage law from the perspectives of non-state actors (NSAs). In keeping with the significant developments concerning the status and roles of NSAs in international law over the last century, NSAs such as communities, experts, NGOs, and international organizations have become important participants in the implementation of international cultural heritage conventions. Indeed, due to the emergence of new ideas on common heritage and cultural rights in the 20th century, international cultural heritage law has become inconsistent with States’ claim to sole authority regarding the protection of cultural heritage. The author analyzes the texts of international cultural heritage conventions, as well as their operational texts, to track essential changes in the rights, obligations, and roles of NSAs since the mid-20th century. Practical cases on the status and roles of NSAs are introduced to glean empirical ideas and facilitate an in-depth understanding of their effectiveness. The analysis reveals that NSAs do have certain rights and responsibilities concerning the implementation of cultural heritage conventions, and their roles have been increasingly recognized. At the same time, however, discrepancies between text and practice can be observed when it comes to the status and roles of NSAs. They have emerged for various reasons, one of which is the politicization of conventions’ governance. Adopting the standpoint of the NSAs, the book emphasizes the need to explore innovative and practical mechanisms that will allow NSAs to attain their proper status and take on practical roles under international cultural heritage law, which will in turn ensure the sustainable protection of cultural heritage. This message becomes more pertinent to the current conflicts where various tensions between states and NSAs have arisen and the roles of NSAs have become more important.Given its scope, the book will be of special interest to students, researchers and professionals at government and non-government organizations in the fields of heritage, the arts, law, administration, and development.

Issues that are drawn from, and bear on, disciplines including philosophy, law and legal studies, feminist studies, social and political theory, communication studies, critical theory and cultural studies.

A Companion to Feminist Geography captures the breadth anddiversity of this vibrant and substantive field. Shows how feminist geography has changed the landscape ofgeographical inquiry and knowledge since the 1970s. Explores the diverse literatures that comprise feministgeography today. Showcases cutting-edge research by feminist geographers. Charts emerging areas of scholarship, such as the body and thenation. Contributions from 50 leading international scholars in thefield. Each chapter can be read for its own distinctivecontribution.