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Allergy: the Body As Self-Evidence

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Allergy: the Body As Self-Evidence Allergy: the body as self-evidence Michelle Jamieson A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The University of New South Wales, 2011. ii Originality statement iii For my atopic family, and for all the individuals who shared their stories of allergy with me. iv Abstract In both the social and natural sciences, mind and body are conceptualised as distinct phenomena. Though viewed as closely connected, the body – the material substance of our biology – is understood to be separate from, and certainly prior to, those aspects of life typically deemed social, cultural, historical and psychical. This assumption, that biology and sociality are mutually exclusive, speaks to the disciplinary division between the social and natural sciences. The difficulty of thinking across this divide is evidenced in specific attempts to theorise their interface. For instance, social scientific studies of the embodiment of medical discourses and experiences of illness have yielded more sophisticated accounts of how biology and subjectivity, science and culture, life and knowledge, interact. However, the theorisation of this relation as an ‘interaction’ presumes that an essential, ontological difference underwrites the division of biology from sociality. Yet the authority and empirical purchase of medical discourses, to which these studies consistently draw attention, suggest that this idea of two discrete, communicating systems, is inadequate to account for life’s ontology. Focusing on the phenomenon of allergies, this thesis investigates the Cartesianism that grounds contemporary biomedical accounts of the immunological body. As a condition in which what is social and what is biological cannot be easily differentiated, allergies present a concrete example of the contagion that constitutes the reality of being an embodied subject. Composed of three lines of inquiry, this thesis is defined by a general concern with the question of identity. Through detailed analyses of Clemens von Pirquet’s original theory of allergy, Donna Haraway and Ed Cohen’s critiques of the politics of immunological discourse, and the biology of allergy, it critically interrogates the concept of identity that grounds a biology/sociality or nature/culture division: a given, bounded, autonomous self. Taking issue with the notion that the biological body pre-exists its social and cultural contextualisation, this thesis argues that allergies empirically evidence the originary ontological (or ecological) entanglement of these apparently separate spheres. v Acknowledgements This thesis was made possible by the assistance, advice and humour of so many colleagues, friends and family members. I owe particular thanks to my supervisor Vicki Kirby, whose guidance, critical feedback, support and interest have been invaluable to me as I’ve developed this research. Working with Vicki has taught me how to think, read and write all over again; she has helped me to discover the questions that motivate me and to work through these with patience and rigour. The energy she brings to academic work – her enthusiasm for critical inquiry – is inspirational and consistently reminds me of why this work is important and why I love doing it. I am also very grateful to my co-supervisor Elizabeth Wilson, whose sustained interest in my project (even across the Pacific) has continually given me confidence in my ideas. Her support and encouragement, especially through some of the more difficult periods of the PhD process, were extremely welcome. I would like to thank my friend Antje Kuenhast who, early in my candidature, generously volunteered to translate a number of German articles that became crucial to my thesis. I would also like to acknowledge the intellectual community at UNSW, and specifically, members of the reading and writing groups I participated in, for providing a stimulating environment to work in. Thanks go to Dom and Sue for hiring me as a peer writing assistant at The Learning Centre. Working with students at the centre has been by far one of the most rewarding learning experiences of my candidature, and contributed significantly to the development of my writing and teaching. I have benefitted greatly from a number of strong friendships. The advice, intelligence and good humour of Demelza Marlin, have been such good, steady company for the past four or five years. My many conversations and collaborations with Florence Chiew have brought a renewed sense of energy to my work, and remind me that in academic work, the experience of dialogue is what is to be most treasured. And I could not have done without the warmth and sagely wisdom of my good friend vi Patricia Morgan, whose clarity and presence always bring me back to where I am. I would also like to acknowledge Ash, Rebecca, Declan, Noela, Jen, Daniel, Craig, Anisha, Rhonda, Le, Ana, Emily, Claire and the all Redfern crew for their ongoing support, friendship and community. And to the lovely ladies of the casserole drive, especially Ash, for feeding me so well during the last week of writing! A big thanks goes to my family – mum, dad, Andrew, Sue, Sophia and Dylan, for just being there, consistently. Finally, I would like to thank Cam. In addition to always expressing an interest in my work, engaging with me about my ideas, and proof reading this thesis, his presence has steadied me for the past four and a half years. It is with his patience and love that I have been able to complete this project. vii Contents Abstract v Acknowledgements vi Contents viii Introduction 1 I. Refiguring immunological identity Chapter One Imagining ‘reactivity’: allergy within the history of immunology 8 Chapter Two Allergy: Clemens von Pirquet’s ecological concept of immune responsiveness 38 II. Immunity and community Chapter Three Reiterations of the defended self: Donna Haraway’s critique of immune system discourse 84 Chapter Four Defending community: the politics of Ed Cohen’s genealogy of immunity 134 Coda Error: rereading the relation of knowledge and life 181 III. Rethinking reaction Chapter Five Allergic biographies: the problem of locating the symptom 198 Appendix Figure 1 256 Figure 2 257 Figure 3 258 References 259 viii Introduction My interest in allergies is a personal, biographical one. For as long as I can remember, I have always experienced allergies. As a child, I suffered chronic, and sometimes severe episodes of allergy-related asthma. I distinctly recall the anxiety that accompanied these attacks, as well as the stress that it caused in those around me, especially my parents. My experience as a young adult has confirmed that allergies (or asthma) and stress go hand in hand. In situations of great anxiety or pressure, my asthma and other allergic responses (such as skin reactions) are noticeably heightened – I am literally more sensitive physically and emotionally. Or rather, in these moments I am reminded that the emotional is physical. This correlation between social or emotional factors and the manifestation of allergic symptoms also holds for the opposite situation. On a number of occasions, I have been exposed to allergens that normally elicit a strong allergic response, but have failed to manifest any of the usual symptoms. For instance, I have always been quite allergic to dogs, and whenever I’m near one, within an hour my nose and throat itch, my nose and eyes stream, and I begin wheezing. The asthmatic symptoms often persist for a few days after being away from the dog. However curiously, whenever I visit a particular cousin of mine who has always had dogs, I never experience symptoms. In fact, I could sleep in the same bed with her dogs for a week and be almost symptom-free. The suspension of my allergies around this person is something I’ve always been genuinely puzzled by. Knowing that it has nothing to do with other factors, such as the breed of her dogs, the cleanliness of her home, or the city and climate she lives in, I can only attribute it to our relationship. But how could her presence or influence cause my body to respond differently to an allergen that routinely gives rise to the same allergic response? Or alternatively, if my exposure to dog dander doesn’t consistently produce allergic symptoms, what causes this allergen, under other circumstances, to give rise to allergy? This peculiar and inexplicable relation between the social/emotional and biological in allergic phenomena is by no means unique to my experience. Allergies 1 frequently carry with them stories of stress, anxiety, grief and other strong emotional states that are often connected with family relationships. Historically, they have been consistently related to emotions or ‘passions’ including anger, anxiety and fear (Jackson 2009, 139). Nowhere is this relationship more explicit than in the anecdotal evidence provided by individuals and their families about their experiences of allergy. For instance, my partner once recounted to me the story of his grandmother, who suffered chronic eczema. Born into a family of anxiety sufferers, she herself experienced anxiety from a young age. In her early forties, she began to develop eczema, an allergic skin condition that was accompanied by high blood pressure and migraines. Her eczema was quite bad and covered most of her body; to alleviate the intense itching that accompanied it, she was treated with cortisone and spent long periods immersed in salt baths. In her mid sixties she began to develop Alzheimer’s disease (a common form of dementia), and by her early seventies, the condition had become so advanced that she was moved into a care facility. According to her family, it was around this time, and with the fading of her memory, that both her eczema and anxiety disappeared. Since undertaking this research project, I have been inundated with stories of this kind. In doctor’s appointments and librarian consultations, at parties, barbeques and bus stops, the discussion of my thesis topic has prompted fascinating and sometimes sad accounts of allergies declared to be emotional, psychological, psychosomatic and familial in origin.
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