This working group explores the usefulness of the body as a focus or entry point for considering relations of asymmetrical dependency. As a group, we will explore various forms of dependency considered both from the perspective of labor relations, such as slavery or debt bondage, as well as from the perspective of hierarchical social orders based on gender, race, caste, etc. We hope to think through how bodies have been entangled with formations of social difference and coercion, serving not only as loci of violence, derogatory representation, and constraint, but also of agency, sensation, and experience. The conversation is open to interdisciplinary approaches to body history and dependency, with emphases ranging from the discursive to the material to the sensorial body to the body as an archive. Meetings comprise discussion of both secondary work including examples of the history of the body from different perspectives, as well as of some of the research being conducted by our members (on a voluntary basis).

Please write to us if you are interested in working together to explore this subject! We welcome both people working on subjects related to the body, as well as people interested in adjacent topics such as gender, sexuality, disability, race, etc.