39Dominant Theories of the Body2

Having dealt with the centrifugal tendencies central to the rise of interest in the body, this moves us to the centripetal trend in this area. For all its
diversity, three theoretical approaches have emerged as dominant forms of
explanation within the field of body studies. While none of them manages
to hold onto the view of the body as a multi-dimensional medium for the
constitution of society, they do provide us with an unprecedented focus on
the body as the apparent object of study. Furthermore, despite their enormous differences, they each express a deep concern about the fate of the
embodied subject in the contemporary era that reinforces and builds on the
concerns of Marx, Durkheim and Simmel, and warrants further investigation. Social constructionist analyses of the ordered body, action or phenomenologically oriented approaches towards the lived body, and conceptions of
the body in structuration theory now represent the most influential ways in
which the social significance of the body has been conceptualized. They also
continue to set agendas which steer much writing in this area yet, ultimately, serve to increase still further the elusiveness of the body.