Physical Culture, Power, and the Body

During the past decade, there has been an outpouring of books on 'the body' in society, but none has focused specifically on physical culture - that is, cultural practices such as sport and dance within which the moving physical body is central.This book 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. Essays in the collection emphasise the connection between empirical material and theory.Contributors raise questions about the character of the body - specifically the relation between the 'natural' body, the 'constructed' body and the 'alien' or 'virtual' body. Includes:· Racial 'difference' and aptitude in physical culture· The medicalised body in sport· Disability and sport· Physical culture and female power in Islam· Athletics, Gymnastics, Boxing, College Sport, Dance, Kalari, Striptease and more.Physical Culture, Power, and the Body aims to break down disciplinary boundaries in terms of its theoretical approaches and its readership. The authors themselves come from different disciplinary backgrounds, demonstrating the widespread topicality of physical culture and the body, and the book will appeal to scholars from different disciplines.