Contagion and the National Body

Gerald V. O’Brien is Professor and Department Chair of Social Work at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, USA, and author of Framing the Moron: The Social Construction of Feeble-Mindedness in the American Eugenic Era.

• 1. Introduction to Metaphor Theory: Its Use in Public Policy2. Overview of the Organism Metaphor3. Brief Overview of Relevant Alarm Periods4. Diagnosis and Categorization of "Otherness"5. Metaphoric Disease-making6. Penetration of the Social Body7. Decay of the Social Body8. Metaphorical Public Health ResponsesConclusion

Through analyzing the pairing of “disease-maker,” “social body,” and other prevalent metaphors in the anti-immigrant, racial, and eugenic discourses in the twentieth century, O’Brien expands our knowledge of the interaction between the concepts of disability and nativism, and makes a noteworthy combination of the two fields for further research. O’Brien’s book bridges several major social issues of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century American society. Examining the use of various metaphors in oppression of subgroups, the author reveals the underlying discursive models in the reactions of US governments and the general public. - Shu Wan, H-Net Reviews, Humanities & Social Sciences Online.