Abstract
This thesis addresses the sociology of the body and of governance, by
presenting empirical material, in the form of both textual and interview
data, drawn from a case study of cervical screening. This material is used to
examine women's experiences and their sense of embodiment in the context
of cervical screening participation. The thesis argues that cervical
screening, as a form of prevention, represents a new form of social
regulation in late modernity. This argument challenges current
understandings of the relationship between the body, gender and health.
First, the thesis poses a distinction between the body and the concept of
embodiment and argues that conflation of these two concepts obscures social
processes and experiences. Second, the thesis addresses tensions between
notions of citizenship and surveillance in literature which focuses on bodily
regulation and issues of health. Third, the thesis reveals previously
obscured aspects of this experience, such as risk, obligation, trust and
entitlement.
