MSU Sociology Chair publishes new book on "Fat Studies and Fat Social Justice"
October 23, 2025 - Karessa Weir
MSU Sociology Chair Dr. Carla Pfeffer has published a compilation of research relating to work on the social justice of fatness.
Originally planned as a special issue of the journal Fat Studies, the book brings together “various pathways by which fat studies and activism have sought to create social change to better the lives of fat people and communities over time and across contexts, and the new directions that we might consider as we engage in the project of working toward fat social justice today,” she wrote.
“I often find myself talking about social justice for fat people,” Pfeffer said. “There is an ethos that it is just about eating too much and moving too little. It’s seen as a problem with easy personal solution.”
But Pfeffer and other researchers work to show how fatness is not that simple.
The book includes chapters on radical empathy and self love, intersections between Black and fat studies, and tackling the taboo subject of intentional weight loss through newer technologies.
Pfeffer’s own research touches on some of the more current themes in fat studies.
“Inside fat studies, it is about acceptance, body positivity and the focus on healthy at any size,” she said. “But I wasn’t convinced that you don’t have to accept your body as it is. In the trans community, choices made should be respected and people should have access to treatment. That made me realize that maybe not everyone has to love their body.”
She also found that the downside of the “healthy at any size” movement is the notion that you have to be “healthy” to be accepted in society.
The publication is meant to be a way to start a conversation about where the field of fat studies is today and where it will go to next.
“Fat Studies and Fat Social Justice” is available at https://www.routledge.com/Fat-Studies-and-Fat-Social-Justice/Pfeffer/p/book/9781041011576
Dr. Pfeffer discusses her new book in this video: