Biopolitics and the 'Obesity Epidemic', the first edited collection of critical perspectives on the "obesity epidemic," provides a comprehensive discussion of current issues in the critical analysis of health, obesity and society, and the impact of obesity discourses on different individuals, social groups and institutions.

Part I: Biopolitics and the 'Obesity Epidemic' 1. Bio-power, Biopedagogies and the Obesity Epidemic Jan Wright 2. Theorizing Biopedagogies Valerie Harwood 3. Friends, Enemies and the Cultural Politics of Critical Obesity Research Michael Gard 4. Bio-Citizenship: Virtue Discourses and the Birth of the Bio-Citizen Christine Halse 5. Doctor's Orders: Diagnosis, Medical Authority and the Exploitation of the Fat Body Annemarie Jutel 6. Marked as 'Pathological': Fat Bodies as Virtual Confessors Samantha Murray Part II: Governing Young People: Schools Families and the 'Obesity Epidemic' 7. An Impossible Task? Preventing Disordered Eating in the Context of the Current Obesity Panic Natalie Beausoleil 8. Governing Healthy Family Lifestyles through Discourses of Risk and Responsibility Simone Fullagar 9. Pedagogizing Families through Obesity Discourse Lisette Burrows 10. Canadian Youth's Discursive Constructions of the Body and Health Genevieve Rail 11. Performative Health in Schools: Welfare Policy, Neoliberalism and Social Regulation? Emma Rich and John Evans 12. Disgusting Pedagogies Deana Leahy 13. The Rise of Corporate Curriculum: Fatness, Fitness, and Whiteness Laura Azzarito Part III: Commentary 14. Biopedagogies and Beyond Valerie Walkerdine

Valerie Harwood is a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Education at the University of Wollongong. Her recently published book Diagnosing 'Disorderly' Children (2006, Routledge) came runner-up in the prestigious National Association of Special Needs in Education/Times Educational Supplement Academic Book Award, 2006.

Jan Wright is Professor of Education and Associate Dean (Research) in the Faculty of Education at the University of Wollongong. She is co-editor of Body Knowledge and Control and Critical Inquiry and Problem Solving in Physical Education (Routledge 2004) and co-author with Michael Gard of The Obesity Epidemic: Science, Ideology and Morality (Routledge, 2005).