Skin Theory : Visual Culture and the Postwar Prison Laboratory
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| Title: | Skin Theory : Visual Culture and the Postwar Prison Laboratory |
|---|---|
| Description: | Honorable Mention, Rachel Carson Prize, given by the Society for the Social Studies of ScienceFinalist, 2023 ASAP Book Award, given by the Association for the Study of the Arts of the PresentStudies the intersections of incarceration, medical science, and race in postwar AmericaIn February 1966, a local newspaper described the medical science program at Holmesburg Prison, Philadelphia, a “golden opportunity to conduct widespread medical tests under perfect control conditions.” Helmed by Albert M. Kligman, a University of Pennsylvania professor, these tests enrolled hundreds of the prison's predominantly Black population in studies determining the efficacy and safety of a wide variety of substances, from common household products to chemical warfare agents. These experiments at Holmesburg were hardly unique; in the postwar United States, the use of incarcerated test subjects was standard practice among many research institutions and pharmaceutical companies. Skin Theory examines the prison as this space for scientific knowledge production, showing how the “perfect control conditions” of the prison dovetailed into the visual regimes of laboratory work. To that end, Skin Theory offers an important reframing of visual approaches to race in histories of science, medicine, and technology, shifting from issues of scientific racism to the scientific rationality of racism itself. In this highly original work, Cristina Mejia Visperas approaches science as a fundamentally racial project by analyzing the privileged object and instrument of Kligman's experiments: the skin. She theorizes the skin as visual technology, as built environment, and as official discourse, developing a compelling framework for understanding the intersections of race, incarceration, and medical science in postwar America. |
| Authors: | Cristina Mejia Visperas |
| Resource Type: | eBook. |
| Subjects: | Dermatology--Research--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--History--20th century, Prisoners--Health and hygiene--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--History--20th century, Human experimentation in medicine--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--History--20th century, Racism in medicine--United States--History--20th century, Racism in criminal justice administration--United States--History--20th century |
| Categories: | SCIENCE / History, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Cultural & Ethnic Studies / American / African American & Black Studies, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Race & Ethnic Relations |
| Database: | eBook Collection (EBSCOhost) |
| FullText | Links: – Type: ebook-pdf – Type: ebook-epub Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Header | DbId: nlebk DbLabel: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost) An: 3063559 RelevancyScore: 1110 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: eBook PubTypeId: ebook PreciseRelevancyScore: 1109.74133300781 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Skin Theory : Visual Culture and the Postwar Prison Laboratory – Name: Abstract Label: Description Group: Ab Data: Honorable Mention, Rachel Carson Prize, given by the Society for the Social Studies of ScienceFinalist, 2023 ASAP Book Award, given by the Association for the Study of the Arts of the PresentStudies the intersections of incarceration, medical science, and race in postwar AmericaIn February 1966, a local newspaper described the medical science program at Holmesburg Prison, Philadelphia, a “golden opportunity to conduct widespread medical tests under perfect control conditions.” Helmed by Albert M. Kligman, a University of Pennsylvania professor, these tests enrolled hundreds of the prison's predominantly Black population in studies determining the efficacy and safety of a wide variety of substances, from common household products to chemical warfare agents. These experiments at Holmesburg were hardly unique; in the postwar United States, the use of incarcerated test subjects was standard practice among many research institutions and pharmaceutical companies. Skin Theory examines the prison as this space for scientific knowledge production, showing how the “perfect control conditions” of the prison dovetailed into the visual regimes of laboratory work. To that end, Skin Theory offers an important reframing of visual approaches to race in histories of science, medicine, and technology, shifting from issues of scientific racism to the scientific rationality of racism itself. In this highly original work, Cristina Mejia Visperas approaches science as a fundamentally racial project by analyzing the privileged object and instrument of Kligman's experiments: the skin. She theorizes the skin as visual technology, as built environment, and as official discourse, developing a compelling framework for understanding the intersections of race, incarceration, and medical science in postwar America. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Cristina+Mejia+Visperas%22">Cristina Mejia Visperas</searchLink> – Name: TypePub Label: Resource Type Group: TypPub Data: eBook. – Name: Subject Label: Subjects Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Dermatology--Research--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--History--20th+century%22">Dermatology--Research--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--History--20th century</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Prisoners--Health+and+hygiene--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--History--20th+century%22">Prisoners--Health and hygiene--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--History--20th century</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Human+experimentation+in+medicine--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--History--20th+century%22">Human experimentation in medicine--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--History--20th century</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Racism+in+medicine--United+States--History--20th+century%22">Racism in medicine--United States--History--20th century</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Racism+in+criminal+justice+administration--United+States--History--20th+century%22">Racism in criminal justice administration--United States--History--20th century</searchLink> – Name: SubjectBISAC Label: Categories Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="ZK" term="%22SCIENCE+%2F+History%22">SCIENCE / History</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="ZK" term="%22SOCIAL+SCIENCE+%2F+Cultural+%26+Ethnic+Studies+%2F+American+%2F+African+American+%26+Black+Studies%22">SOCIAL SCIENCE / Cultural & Ethnic Studies / American / African American & Black Studies</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="ZK" term="%22SOCIAL+SCIENCE+%2F+Race+%26+Ethnic+Relations%22">SOCIAL SCIENCE / Race & Ethnic Relations</searchLink> |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Classifications: – Code: 616.027 Scheme: ddc Type: prePub Languages: – Code: eng Text: English Subjects: – SubjectFull: Dermatology--Research--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--History--20th century Type: general – SubjectFull: Prisoners--Health and hygiene--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--History--20th century Type: general – SubjectFull: Human experimentation in medicine--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--History--20th century Type: general – SubjectFull: Racism in medicine--United States--History--20th century Type: general – SubjectFull: Racism in criminal justice administration--United States--History--20th century Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Skin Theory : Visual Culture and the Postwar Prison Laboratory Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Cristina Mejia Visperas – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Cristina Mejia Visperas IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 01 Type: published Y: 2022 – D: 26 M: 08 Type: profile Y: 2022 Identifiers: – Type: isbn-print Value: 9781479810772 – Type: isbn-electronic Value: 9781479810819 Titles: – TitleFull: Skin Theory : Visual Culture and the Postwar Prison Laboratory Type: main |
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