The body’s vulnerability in birth and death. A matter of resonance

In the contemporary world, birth and death have not escaped the continual medicalization of life whereby bodies are treated as instruments and governed through rational actions aimed at intervening in and shaping organic processes. Drawing on empirical data from two separate qualitative data set, we will apply Hartmut Rosa’s concept of resonance to interpret birth and death awareness movements. We argue that these social initiatives are just two of the many contemporary attempts to reappropriate human vulnerability by establishing resonant relationships between the body, the subject and the world.