Introduction

Abstract

This volume represents a collection of diverse perspectives on the problem of the body in the study of International Relations (IR) and International Political Economy (IPE)¹ or should I say the problem of the missing body. The range of the subjects covered by the contributors indicates the degree to which this is a collective endeavour. Each of the chapters offers a different piece of the jigsaw towards a detailed understanding of embodied political economy. As this is a new area of study there is no claim to comprehensive coverage. This would be an impossible task given the space available. The aim is rather to indicate the extent of conceptual, theoretical and substantive areas that can be addressed in this field of investigation and to provide detailed analysis of a number of them.