ESCALATION OF BODY STUDIES AND THE EMBODIMENT OF SOCIETY: A THEORETICAL REVIEW

Abstract

Within sociology and social theory, there has been a noticeable "turn to the body" over the past few decades. The Human Genome Project and a number of other programmes have led to developments in the "new" biology, which emphasizes how the human body may provide crucial insights into how societies function. For instance, the study of epigenetics has shown how the social interactions, disparities, and environmental factors that are a part of every person's environment influence the regulation and expression of genes. Thus, advancements in the physical and biological sciences imply that sociology and related disciplines might benefit from emphasizing embodiment, but recent social and cultural advancements have themselves emphasized the significance of body matters for comprehending what is happening in society today. Science, medicine, and technological advancements have rendered the body more pliable and subject to conflicts about what constitute normal, desirable, and even sacred aspects of embodied persons' bodily identities and capacities. This paper examines the context and parameters of this development, as well as how this emphasis on embodiment has been used to create new perspectives in social and cultural analysis. It also examines how this emphasis on embodiment can be seen as a crucial tool for avoiding the Cartesian bias prevalent in much Western thought. After reviewing the history of sociology, it points out key sources for this project in classical texts before examining why the body has come to be such a contentious issue in social analysis and society.