The body of the diplomat

Over the past two decades, the body has emerged as an increasingly important focus of study in the social sciences generally, but little work has been done on it in International Relations. Drawing on a disparate yet voluminous literature on gender, as well as on Bourdieu's analysis of class, this article demonstrates the importance of gendered and classed bodies within the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). Part one, which is based on archival work and interviews, details the emergence of women within the diplomatic service. In part two, which is based on interviews and ethnographic data, I postulate the existence of three masculinity scripts and three femininity scripts within MFA discourse. I conclude that the gendering and classing of diplomats' bodies is a constitutive factor of the MFA hierarchic order and so differentiates diplomats' life chances. It follows that the body is of crucial importance to social life in at least one traditional site of IR study.