Abject Relations: Everyday Worlds of Anorexia

Studies in Medical Anthropology

by Megan Warin

Abject Relations presents an alternative approach to anorexia, long considered the epitome of a Western obsession with individualism, beauty, self-control, and autonomy. Through detailed ethnographic investigations, Megan Warin looks at the heart of what it means to live with anorexia on a daily basis. Participants describe difficulties with social relatedness, not being at home in their body, and feeling disgusting and worthless. For them, anorexia becomes a seductive and empowering practice that cleanses bodies of shame and guilt, becomes a friend and support, and allows them to forge new social relations. Unraveling anorexia's complex relationships and contradictions, Warin provides a new theoretical perspective rooted in a socio-cultural context of bodies and gender. Abject Relations departs from conventional psychotherapy approaches and offers a different "logic," one that involves the shifting forces of power, disgust, and desire and provides new ways of thinking that may have implications for future treatment regimes.

Genres: Nonfiction, Anthropology, Ethnography

248 pages, Hardcover

First published October 12, 2009

Reviews

[Stine Algart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hun uncovers så meget i den her bog og jeg er imponeret over hvor voldsomt noget af det er
Uanset hvordan eksamen i analytical approaches går er jeg sygt glad for, at faget har givet mig lov til at læse den her

[a.p. · Rating 5 out of 5]

With the growing emphasis on quantitative research as the only avenue for generating legitimate and useful information on eating disorders, Warin's ethnographic approach is a breath of fresh air. Her prioritization of the stories and perspectives of those affected creates a strong theory, with the force of loved experience behind it.

[Amjad.Sameengmail.Com · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting account of the daily struggle of disorders.