Doctoral Dissertation: Performing Able-Bodiedness: Amputees and Prosthetics in the USA

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This dissertation project explores how amputees use prosthetic technology to perform able-bodiedness, and how they collaborate with bioengineers and prosthetists to develop this technology. American culture values the physical appearance of able-bodiedness and the capacity to perform activities such as standing and walking. Amputees' uses of prosthetic technology to perform such activities are revealing of American conceptions of bodies and bodily movement. An examination of the social collaborations involved in reconstructing amputees' bodies offers an opportunity to study concepts of able-bodiedness and physical disability, and the relationship between bodies and technology in American culture. This project will enable the investigator to do a cross-cultural comparison by supporting travel to India and Cambodia to study the Jaipur ankle-foot prosthesis. The Jaipur foot is a form of Third World appropriate prosthetic technology, and offers an opportunity to develop a cross-cultural perspective on materials, methods of technology manufacture, and the cultural context of consumer use of prosthetic technology. This project will be conducted in two field sites: Sawai Man Singh Hospital in Jaipur, India, and a prosthetics workshop near Phnom Penh, Cambodia. f8 Û-ª þ ; + + Ûª▓ ÑOh ª' +'ª▒0 Ý + Õ $ H l + ¢ ╗ D h + ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ R:\WWUSER\TEMPLATE\NORMAL.DOT SBR-9617049 -jperhon S u m m a r y I n f o r m a t i o n ( ++++++++++++ # Û ++++++++++++ ++++++++++++ ++++++++++++ is -jperhonis @ +³─‗{▀ @ @ +³─‗{▀ @ Microsoft Word 6.0 2 f8 Û-ª þ ; + ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Õªe =- e % j j j j j j j ` ` ` ` ` ` n ` m 1 ╝ ╝ ╝ ╝ ╝ ╝ ╝ ╝ j l l l + d µ d O n T   3 m j ╝ ╝ ╝ ╝ ╝ m ╝ j j ╝ ╝ ╝ ╝ ╝ ╝ j ╝ j ╝ j + j j j j ╝ j ╝ s ╝