Dr Amelia Morris will present her new book, 'The Politics of Weight: Feminist Dichotomies of Power in Dieting', which speaks to the politics of weight through an interrogation of dieting, power and the body.

In feminist theory, there is no greater site of contestation than that of the body, and Morris explores how these debates often become centred upon a dichotomy between oppression and liberation. Through in-depth analysis of interviews with women who seemingly sit on either side of the ‘oppression’ and ‘liberation’ debate, members of dieting clubs and fat activists, the book highlights the complexities that surround women’s relationship to weight and the body.

Likewise it draws upon the wealth of black feminist scholarship to explore the discourses surrounding Oprah Winfrey’s dieting ‘journey,’ seeking to demonstrate how discipline and race interact and how this plays out in dieting and weight.

Amelia Morris is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Politics, International Relations and Philosophy at Royal Holloway University.