Palombo, Carlo Federico (2025) Nudity and disorder : Adventures in posthumanist freedom. PhD thesis, Birkbeck, University of London.
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Palombo C, final thesis for library.pdf - Full Version Download (13MB) |
Abstract
This work is my autoethnographic meditation on ideas of freedom and critique – on the freedom to think differently, question the obviousness of the existing order, refuse to conform to societal standards, and explore practices which may seem ‘unthinkable’ from a normalized standpoint within Western society. In a world where everyone seems to think and act alike, what happens when I choose my own ethical practice of freedom? Am I free to experiment with difference within my conformist society and challenge the obviousness of the existing order of things? To address these questions, I recount my adventures disobeying the ‘obvious’ prohibition of public nudity underlying modern Western humanism. I reflect on what happened to me when I sought to embrace my naked body in contexts where this was ‘inappropriate’ or ‘unthinkable’: such as in my graduate seminars or in the streets of London. Relying on the legality of public nudity in England, I explore the range of affective responses I experienced in various locations and social situations. I examine these reactions in ongoing interdisciplinary conversations with philosophers, sociologists, and psychologists. I tell stories of fear, rage, panic, and shame. The stories, in their essential similarities, suggest a meaningful picture of society’s resistance against attempts to cross the limits that protect its order. My adventures in attempting to introduce my naked body into the everyday, clothed, ‘human’ world I exist in have allowed me to cross those limits and to experience what lies ‘beyond’. From that perspective, I observed the arbitrariness of the existing order. At the same time, however, the visceral, violent reactions I suffered from the self-appointed defenders of the order indicate that, even in the ‘free’ West, religious and ideological freedom comes at a price I am not sure I am willing to pay.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Thesis |
|---|---|
| Copyright Holders: | The copyright of this thesis rests with the author, who asserts his/her right to be known as such according to the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988. No dealing with the thesis contrary to the copyright or moral rights of the author is permitted. |
| Depositing User: | Acquisitions And Metadata |
| Date Deposited: | 19 May 2025 14:07 |
| Last Modified: | 05 Sep 2025 08:01 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/55610 |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.18743/PUB.00055610 |
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