The Position of the Body in Sociology: From Marginality to Centrality

The body’s position in sociology has evolved from being an obscured and marginal topic to becoming an independent and central focus for understanding social and cultural transformations. This evolution began in the 1970s in the Francophone and Anglo-Saxon worlds and gradually expanded to include the Maghreb in the 1990s. Today, the body has emerged as one of the most prominent subjects for scholarly writing and reading, particularly in discussions related to sexuality, veiling, homosexuality, tattooing, cosmetic traditions, marriage, and the sexualization of bodies. The meanings associated with the body have shifted from a biological deterministic perspective to one that emphasizes its interactive dimensions and its integral role in theories of individualization. This chapter stands as both a historical and a geographical map of the body in sociology. It delves into the interconnectedness between the body and the self, sexuality, and identity across different periods of time. Beginning with Mead’s study of sexuality in primitive societies, it traces the development of the sociology of the body to contemporary issues surrounding the body such as the Hijab and Jihad. Simultaneously, it acts as a geographical map of the body’s study, encompassing perspectives from the Western world to the Eastern world.