Permeable corporalities: Intersections between the environment and health. Introduction to the Special Issue

Abstract

Since the second half of the twentieth century, due to technological developments in various industrial fields, humans have had to coexist, to a greater or lesser extent, with various synthetic chemical compounds that can be found in air, water, land, and food. These com-pounds have affected, affect, and will continue to affect the health of many population groups in different ways. This Special Issue presents a space to think about the contemporary body through the multiple relationships between environment and health. First, this article introduces some anthropological literature around these issues, demonstrating its approach-es and concerns in the field of health, risk, culture, politics, science, and especially food. Next, the concept of “permeable corporalities” is suggested to designate the moment in which the toxicity coming from the environment impregnates human bodies and turns them into permeable, relational bodies, open to the world that surrounds them. Finally, the articles that are part of this Special Issue are presented. These include three ethnographic studies in areas with high levels of pollution: Ghana, Argentina, and Vietnam. The Special Issue also presents three other contributions that focus on food risk and that deal with functional foods in Argentina, food toxicity in pregnant and breastfeeding women in Spain, and food classi-fication and choices in Spanish society