Making the Model Body: Disability, War, and the Technopolitics of Repair.

This paper presents a comparative discourse analysis of prosthetic technology between humanitarian organizations operating in contemporary Middle Eastern conflict zones and the American tech industry. It analyzes who is presented as deserving and successful recipients of prosthetics and the broader narratives of disability and technology constructed through these bodies. For humanitarian organizations, prosthetics exist as one piece of a continuum of rehabilitative care interrupted by destruction of healthcare systems. American technojournalism often focused on human enhancement through aesthetic prosthetics and prosthetics that could improve athletic or combat performance. The imagined prosthetic futures of the tech industry contrast with the present realities and ongoing embodied trauma of those living with prosthetics in conflict zones.