" 'Political Economy' of the Body"

“[T]he body is . . . directly involved in a political field; power relations have an immediate hold upon it; they invest it, mark it, train it, torture it, force it to carry out tasks, to perform ceremonies, to emit signs.” (25)

This quote brings representation to slavery. The way I see it is that the quote represents the way slaves were treated by their owners. It describes different things owners did to their slaves, like torture and violence. I believe that the "Body" is the slave(s) and the quote is explaining what they went through and how they were treated.


“[I]t is largely as a force of production that the body is invested with relations of power and domination; but, on the other hand, its constitution as labor power is possible only if it is caught up in a system of subjection . . . the body becomes a useful."

I believe that this quote is illustrating how hard the slaves worked; the harder they worked, depending on if they were an indentured servant or slave, you could eventually be a rightful citizen. Also, the mass consumption of tobacco would not of happened unless slaves and servants worked to produce tobacco, as hard as they did. Without their extremely hard work, crops and production would of suffered.