Neoliberalism, public health, and the moral perils of fatness

This article examines attempts by the state – via body mass index (BMI) bills, obesity report cards, curtailment of custody, and more – to enlist individual citizens in the war on obesity as they rehearse a reductive collapse between weight and health that may actually undermine human wellness. The article considers such efforts to responsibilize the individual citizen in light of recent arguments by concerned scholars that the collective citizenry must revolt against the oppressiveness of our so-called ‘obesogenic environment’ if we are to preserve our good health. Finally, the article offers alternatives to neoliberal governmentality and the obesogenic environment approach in an effort to rethink fatness.