The Anatomy of Power: European Constructions of the African Body [Hardcover]

Alexander Butchart (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 15, 1998 | ISBN-10: 1856495396 | ISBN-13: 978-1856495394

Using Foucault's thinking on the relationship between power and knowledge, the author of this extraordinary book analyzes the ways in which the body of "The African" has itself been analyzed in western thought from the Renaissance to the present. The book marshals an impressive array of documentary records--from the texts of Renaissance mythology and natural science in the Classificatory age to Bantu anatomy and "the African personality." As such it not only provides a critical edge to debates around colonialism and African identity, it is also an invaluable new reservoir of source materials for scholars with a passion for knowing the body politic and its anatomy of power.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Alexander Butchart is Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology, University of South Africa.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 250 pages
• Publisher: Zed Books (May 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1856495396
• ISBN-13: 978-1856495394
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,888,009 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inside Africa, March 18, 2000

By 

Daniel Kuhlmann (Sweden, Stockholm) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Anatomy of Power: European Constructions of the African Body (Paperback)

A disquieting and destabilising experience is what I was left with after reading Butchart's Anatomy of Power. On beginning the book, I at first thought that it was just another social history, albeit incredibly detailed in its probing of what doctors did in the name of science. But, as a I read on, the commanding thesis of the work took ever greater shape, and by the end I was as convinced as Butchart is of the argument that without the socio-medical sciences there can be no bodies at all. This leaves one with a real dilemma in terms of what to do in terms of liberation and the struggle against oppression. While the book doesn't answer this key question, it surely poses it with a greater degree of lucidity and insight than many other books about Africa, colonialism and liberation.

Highly recommended!

Daniel Kuhlmann, Stockholm

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Brilliant Book!, November 27, 2001

By 

David Belkom (Ferney-Voltaire, France) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Anatomy of Power: European Constructions of the African Body (Paperback)

A very sophisticated piece of work. With great insght into many medical/historical perceptions and social mechanisms!
Absolutely Stunning!

P.S: Looking forward to another one.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an excellent informative work, January 22, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Anatomy of Power: European Constructions of the African Body (Hardcover)

This book gives the reader an insight into a fresh and new yet contradictory view on EUROPEAN CONSTRUCTIONS of the AFRICAN BODY. A great read.