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Immunitary Life: Biomedicine, Technology and the Body

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Abstract

The introduction to Immunitary Life outlines the intellectual terrain in which immunity has been subject to humanities and social science critique. It begins with the politics and history of immunity found in the work of Emily Martin, Donna Haraway, Ed Cohen, Alfred Tauber and others. It then moves on to explore the contributions of continental philosophy. This primarily focuses on Roberto Esposito’s efforts to etymologically trace communitas, immunitas and the ascendency of the ‘immunitary paradigm’. The chapter then explores Peter Sloterdijk’s writing on immunitary spheres, globes and foams. It finally turns towards Jacques Derrida’s reflections on the excesses of autoimmunity and the need for protection from protection.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of York, York, UK

    Nik Brown

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Brown, N. (2019). Immunitary Life: Biomedicine, Technology and the Body. In: Immunitary Life. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-55247-1_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-55247-1_1

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-55246-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-55247-1

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