Customer Reviews

The Anatomy of Power: European Constructions of the African Body

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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

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.

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.