On Boats and Bodies: Some Books and Blogs

Associate Professor of International Relations at the University, Dr Kandida Purnell, has tackled two news stories which have made headlines around the world in recent days in her blog.

Entitled ‘On Boats and Bodies: Some Books and Blogs’, Dr Purnell’s blog (kandidapurnell.me) links the overcrowded fishing boat which sank off the Greek coast recently with the tourist submarine which went missing during a dive to the wreck of the Titanic.

Dr Purnell says,

“As a scholar of body politics and grievability (amongst other things) I am guilty of having had an initial half-formed opinion on the ‘two boats’ (yes I know the second one was technically a submarine) being scrutinised world-over this week and since then and as the noise around these vessels grew louder have not been able to stop myself reading and thinking back over some particular texts encountered over the years thinking through the politics and (in)visibilities of life and death in the 21st Century.“

Dr Purnell has recommended some books and blogs, “In case you too may want to pause for thought as we grapple with questions about bodies that matter, and matter differently to different bodies, and possibly don’t matter at all to others.“