Rad Fatties and 'The Obese': Activism, Fat Studies and Paradigm Shifts in the UK Charlotte Cooper

What I'm going to do today How I got into fat What I mean by fat activism How straight obesity research cannot recognise the richness of (my) fat experience How Fat Studies and HAES offer a different paradigm that can Possible challenges Some comments about the seminar series

This is how it started…

What fat activism means to me Interpretive framework Citizenship Structural change great, but not essential Survival Wellbeing Radical potential of hope Fun …

Dominant obesity discourse Out of touch Reductionist Methodologically suspect Stale model Abstracts, absents and abjects 'the obese' Stifles dissent Utterly ill-equipped to understand me and my kind Does not contribute to my quality of life as a fat person, it diminishes it

Shifting the paradigm Fat people are central as protagonists and producers of the discourse Fat people are people with agency, context, community, resources, etc Fat people are less likely to be abjected There is a relationship between activism and scholarship Fat people are more likely to be regarded as people rather than objects for intervention Multi-disciplinary: includes health and medicalisation but also moves far beyond it Values fat experience Critical, celebratory, questioning …

Possible challenges Needs broader/international research networks Managing criticism Bunker mentality, bullying and demonising Same old same old Recognising broader historical and cultural contexts

Thanks

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