Physical culture, power, and the body (2007)

During the past decade, there has been an outpouring of books on ’the body’ in society, but none has focused as specifically as this one on physical culture – that is, cultural practices such as sport and dance within which the moving physical body is central. The way in which bodies are emblematic of the social, mediate biological and social processes, are invested with power, and create social and cultural power are themes running throughout the book. It is intended to challenge old certainties about the body and physical culture and to investigate changing knowledge about the body and the ways in which the body has been, and is, experienced, understood and transformed. Every essay in the collection throws light on how the body in physical culture is assigned meaning and influences identity. Throughout the book, questions are raised about the character of the body, specifically the relations between the ‘natural’ body, the ‘constructed’ body and the ‘alien’ or ‘virtual’ body.