Sensible Prothesen. Medien der Wiederherstellung von Produktivität

The paper discusses to what extent prosthetic research in the 1920s can be interpreted as being related to specific modes of body politics: What are the concepts of the body and its movements in prosthetic research and engineering? How did pros-thetic research itself contribute to the reworking of body-concepts, and does this involve a shift from disciplinary towards regulative and cybernetic approaches that include psy-chological considerations? The argument is developed with reference to contemporary examples that outline the astounding compatibility of economic and military body re-gimes. The article argues that biopolitical, governmental, and economic concerns are crucial features of the epistemology and the design of prostheses.