Abstract
This chapter is concerned with how human bodies are conceptualised in theories of practice. It stems from two contentions. The first is that many dynamic aspects of bodies appear underplayed in work drawing on theories of practice. This is an issue when it comes to understanding topics like health and wellbeing and how bodies (human and non-human) are made, impacted by, and implicated in, social practices. The second contention is that where bodies are considered, a focus on humans as the carriers of practices can discount the role of non-human bodies and materialities, maintaining boundaries between biological and social thought. In discussing these points, I introduce two different ways bodies could be foregrounded in social practices: as vibrant and dynamic materials and as more-than-human assemblages.
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Notes
- 1.
In discussing performance in this chapter, I refer to the doing, or carrying out, of practices. Although I do not address it, I acknowledge there is an important difference between performance and performativity, as argued by Butler (1990).
- 2.
My interest is constrained to living rather than non-living bodies.
- 3.
Post-humanism has many definitions. I consider post-humanism to be thinking and theories that move beyond human subjectivity and human centrism, as explained by Schatzki (2010).
- 4.
See Oppermann and Walker this collection, Chapter 7.
- 5.
‘Bodies’ therefore refers to body/minds (Reckwitz 2002a).
- 6.
For discussions of the concept of intersectionality, see Crenshaw (1991).
- 7.
Bennett (2010) argues that all matter, whether living or dead, is vibrant after philosophers Spinoza and Bergson.
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Acknowledgements
These ideas were first explored during the symposium ‘Animals, Automated Devices and Ecosystems’ held at RMIT Europe in October 2015. Further refinement has occurred writing them up here, and I sincerely thank Gay Hawkins, Stanley Blue, and Yolande Strengers for their incisive and insightful suggestions for improvements and for being constructively critical.
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Maller, C. (2019). Dynamic Bodies in Theories of Social Practice: Vibrant Materials and More-than-Human Assemblages. In: Maller, C., Strengers, Y. (eds) Social Practices and Dynamic Non-Humans. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92189-1_5
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