Body Knowledge And Control: Studies In The Sociology Of Education And Physical Culture

Body Knowledge and Control Contemporary westernised societies are besotted with the ‘body’, its size, shape and ‘health’. Governments, business and the popular media spend and earn fortunes encouraging populations to get healthy, eat properly, exercise daily and get thin. But how are contemporary social trends and attitudes towards the ‘body’ reflected in the curriculum of schools, in the teaching of physical education and health? How do teachers and health professionals influence young people’s experiences of their own and others’ bodies? Is health education liberating or merely another form of regulation and social control? Drawing together some of the latest research on the body and schooling, Body Knowledge and Control offers a sharp and challenging critique of (post) modern day attitudes toward obesity, health, childhood and the mainstream science and business interests that promote narrow body-centred ways of thinking. Includes: • • A critical history of notions of body, identity and health in schools. Analysis of the ‘obesity epidemic’, eating disorders and the influence of nurtured body image in racism, sexism, homophobia and body elitism in schools. John Evans is Professor of Sociology of Education and Physical Education in the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Loughborough University. Brian Davies is Professor of Education in the School of Social Sciences, University of Cardiff. Jan Wright is an Associate Professor and Associate Dean (Research) in the Graduate School of Education, University of Wollongong, Australia. Body Knowledge and Control Studies in the sociology of physical education and health Edited by John Evans, Brian Davies, Jan Wright First published 2004 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” © 2004 Selection and editorial matter John Evans, Brian Davies, Jan Wright; individual chapters, the contributors All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congres