ABSTRACT
The presence and history of fat is deeply embodied and deeply emotional but is also bound up in other structural zones of oppression and privilege. The academic sister of fat activism, Fat Studies has grown more robust in the last 15 to 20 years, creating a body of literature that interrogates the experiences of fat people and the nuances of fat stigma in a range of times and spaces. Thickening Fat responds to the call for thickening fat identities, thickening Fat Studies, and thickening fat itself. Thickening Fat seeks to advance inter- and even trans-disciplinary thinking by tying together social scientific and (post)humanities approaches, and by cross-pollinating the fields of fat and intersectionality studies in ways that grow conversations with potential to transform both. Critical responses to fat discrimination flourish outside the academy, in a rich history of community organizing efforts.
