ABSTRACT
The introduction serves to provide a general overview of the construction and content of the text. A brief description of the organism metaphor is provided as well as a description of the organization of the book by chapter. The introduction briefly takes up the relationship between the organism metaphor and the underlying pervasive fears of bodily penetration and contamination that are a part of day-to-day life. These fears are described in relation to Zygmunt Bauman’s writings surrounding the “liquid” life which we are all attempting to navigate; a rapidly changing world with few anchor points. In such a world societal boundaries become diffuse, and we have difficulty maintaining the integrity of either the national or bodily organism.
