Physical Culture, Power, and the Body

This book explores meanings and representations of body in relation to our physical cultures - our traditions of cultural practices such as sport and dance within which the moving physical body is central.

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During the past decade, there has been an outpouring of books on 'the body' in society, but none has focused as specifically on physical culture - that is, cultural practices such as sport and dance within which the moving physical body is central.

Questions are raised about the character of the body, specifically the relation between the ‘natural’ body, the ‘constructed’ body and the ‘alien’ or ‘virtual’ body. The themes of the book are wide in scope, including:



physical culture and the fascist body
sport and the racialised body
sport medicine, health and the culture of risk
the female Muslim sporting body, power, and politics
experiencing the disabled sporting body
embodied exhibitions of striptease and sport
the social logic of sparring
sport, girls and the neoliberal body.

Physical Culture, Power, and the Body aims to break down disciplinary boundaries in its theoretical approaches and its readership. The author’s muli-disciplinary backgrounds, demonstrate the widespread topicality of physical culture and the body.