When physiotherapists refer to the body, they're often referring to the body that's defined by biomedicine: organised into systems; physical; patho-anatomical; cellular; the place where injury and illness can be located; biological. But this only accounts for a small group of 'bodies' that we encounter in practice every day. A recent conference announcement highlighted some of the bodies that Victorians were interested in, and many of these still interest physiotherapists: busy bodies body markings disabled bodies prosthetics bodies behaving badly the body as spectacle fragmented bodies queer bodies raced bodies disciplined bodies animal bodies … [Read more...] about There was always more than one body in physiotherapy
Work for it – fitness, female and fascism
Physiotherapists are well known for confident physicality. A friend of mine used to say that you could always tell the physiotherapy students at university because they'd be the ones walking around with hardly any clothes on. Happy are we it seems, to betray our confidence in our understanding of the body and how to 'work' it, taking every opportunity to thrust our bodily ideals on others. Often, physiotherapists' projections of the idealised normal and able body cause little offense, but their approach can also cause a great deal of hurt and frustration in the very people they claim to be helping. It would be nice to think that physiotherapists would be united in their opposition to … [Read more...] about Work for it – fitness, female and fascism
beyond the machine: a panel debate hosted by the Institute of Art & Ideas
The Insitute of Art & Ideas is a not-for-profit organisation that was founded in 2008 to put philosophy & critical thinking into the heart of public life (follow this link to find more about the organisation & the exciting things they're doing). One way the IAI achieves this is by hosting cutting edge debates & talks from thought leaders from a wide range of disciplines & backgrounds. Beyond the Machine - metaphors of the body From Descartes’ view of the heart as a pump to Dennett’s conception of the brain as a computer, our understanding of the body is permeated with mechanical metaphors. Is it an error to believe that the body is a machine? Should we find a new … [Read more...] about beyond the machine: a panel debate hosted by the Institute of Art & Ideas
Critical things to do this week
Firstly, some of you will notice that things have been a bit quiet on the site this last 10 days. That's because we've migrated the whole shooting match over to a new paid site. We have a new look, new functions, and a much more stable site that, we hope, will be much nicer for you to use, and easier for us to manage. Huge thanks once again go to our good friend Sofia Woods from Shortie Designs for helping us with all the technical things. Our own Jo Bloggs will be posting more about the upgrade soon. Since we've been away for a few days, I thought it might be nice to recommend a few things to make your week a little bit more critical, because everyone should make time for at least … [Read more...] about Critical things to do this week
Member Profile: Pia Kontos
From time to time we profile a member of the Critical Physiotherapy Network to find out more about them and their work. In this profile we talk to Pia Kontos who is a Senior Scientist at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute and an Associate Professor in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, at the University of Toronto, Canada. Pia is one of our non-physiotherapist members whose work closely aligns with the goals of the CPN. She is a prolific and creative researcher who uses critical social theory and arts-based approaches to examine and address the norms and assumptions underpinning care practices in long-term care and rehabilitation settings. We asked Pia to tell us more about her … [Read more...] about Member Profile: Pia Kontos
Sociology of bio-knowledge at the limits of life
The March special issue of the Journal of Sociology has a special issue edited by Emma Kowal and the ever-excellent Alan Petersen, from Deakin and Monash Universities in Australia exploring the sociology of 'bio-knowledge,' and so may be of real interest to physiotherapists. Kowal and Petersen's editorial offers a potted history of sociology's interest in the field and provides some very useful references. The editorial is reproduced below, and an index of the full edition of the journal can be found here (link). Sociology of bio-knowledge at the limits of life In what has been called ‘the century of biology’ (Venter and Cohen, 2004), the reach of the ‘bio’ seems limitless. This prefix … [Read more...] about Sociology of bio-knowledge at the limits of life
The truth of movement in sculpture
An except from Virilio, P. (1994). The Vision Machine. (Trans. Julie Rose). Bloomington, Il; Indiana University Press, pp. 1-2. 'The arts require witnesses,' Marmontel once said. A century later Auguste Rodin asserted that it is the visible world that demands to be revealed by means other than the latent images of the phototype. In the course of his famous conversations with the sculptor, Paul Gsell remarked, apropos Rodin's 'The Age of Bronze' [available to view here] and 'St John the Baptist' [available to view here] , 'I am still left wondering how those great lumps of bronze or stone actually seem to move, how obviously immobile figures appear to act and even to be making pretty … [Read more...] about The truth of movement in sculpture