Embodiment and social structure: a response to Howson and Inglis.

In the article, the author presents a response to the article "The body in Sociology," by Alexandra Howson and David Inglis, published in this issue of the journal "The Sociological Review." According to the author, Howson and Inglis' paper is both timely and thought provoking. However, the author's contention is that their argument, made through five claims, is fundamentally flawed. The first two concern the emergence of sociological interest in "the body," which, according to the author, are sound. The third is that the work of M. Merleau-Ponty, which has been central to many forms of "corporeal sociology," lacks an account of social structure and is insufficiently sociological in focus to be of use to sociology. The fourth suggests that the work of Pierre Bourdieu, which might be deemed a corrective to Merleau-Ponty, cannot serve this purpose without generating a form of social structural determinism which would undermine the benefits of Merleau-Ponty's contribution. The fifth speculates on whether cultural studies might not provide a more fruitful avenue for those who wish either to avoid determinism or to rejoin Merleau-Ponty. The author's contention is with the third and fourth of these claims, though his view also necessarily has implications for the fifth.