Being Left in a Right-Handed World: Theorizing the Position of the Left Hand in Contemporary Western Societies

Samantha Wauthier

Being Left in a Right-Handed World: Theorizing the Position of the Left Hand in Contemporary Western Societies

Samantha Wauthier

Author Biography

Samantha Wauthier

This paper will argue that 1) historically, various religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and corresponding religious interpretations have contributed to the demonization and de-naturalization of the left hand, and 2) express, due to an epistemological shift from religion to science, how institutional and disciplinary power has shaped the semi-marginalization of the left hand in contemporary Western societies.

Published

2020-09-26

Issue

Vol. 17 (2019)

Section

Part 1: Abject Analyses

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Authors contributing to PlatForum agree to release their articles under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International license. This licence allows anyone to share their work (copy, distribute, transmit) and to adapt it for non-commercial purposes provided that appropriate attribution is given, and that in the event of reuse or distribution, the terms of this license are made clear.

Authors retain copyright of their work and grant the journal right of first publication.

Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.