ABSTRACT
Defined as a global epidemic or crisis by the World Health Organization in 1998, obesity continues to attract considerable attention. Apparently necessitating aggressive interventions, societies have witnessed an ongoing ‘world war on obesity’ that has also been reinvigorated in recent years. Chapter 1 places such matters and ensuing critique in context. Discussion is divided into three main sections. The first section critically outlines dominant representations of the global obesity crisis in societies wherein an institutionalised war on fat or ‘excess’ weight tends to be strongest. The second section elaborates upon the signature elements of those ‘frames’ or discourses that define fatness or population weight gain as fatal. This section also opens up alternative spaces by outlining overlapping and competing frames, including those produced by the fashion and food industries and fat rights movement. The third section positions critique within studies of body politics and embodied sociology. This literature supports the authors’ goal of re-conceptualising the putative obesity crisis and their call for a broader rethink of health and society. The chapter ends with a summary and preliminary reflections, including on the influence of neoliberalism within obesity debates.
