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Feminist New Materialisms, Sport and Fitness

A Lively Entanglement

Palgrave Macmillan
  • Takes up some of the central questions driving debate in feminist theory concerning how to engage with matter and materiality as a political concer
  • Sits at the intersection of three key bodies of scholarship: feminist studies of sport, fitness and the moving body; feminist new materialisms; sport sociology
  • Includes empirical case studies and pedagogic features for ease of understanding and application

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Table of contents (8 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xv
  2. A Lively Introduction: New Materialisms, Feminisms, and Moving Bodies

    • Holly Thorpe, Julie Brice, Marianne Clark
    Pages 1-27
  3. New Materialist Methods and the Research Process

    • Holly Thorpe, Julie Brice, Marianne Clark
    Pages 29-59
  4. Sporting Matter and Living with Objects of Fitness

    • Holly Thorpe, Julie Brice, Marianne Clark
    Pages 61-90
  5. Digital Intimacies, Assemblages, and Fit Femininities

    • Holly Thorpe, Julie Brice, Marianne Clark
    Pages 91-118
  6. The Biocultural Possibilities of Sportswomen’s Health

    • Holly Thorpe, Julie Brice, Marianne Clark
    Pages 119-144
  7. Apparatus and the Boundaries of Transdisciplinary Research

    • Holly Thorpe, Julie Brice, Marianne Clark
    Pages 145-175
  8. Feminist Ethics, the Environment, and Vital Respondings

    • Holly Thorpe, Julie Brice, Marianne Clark
    Pages 177-207
  9. Epilogue: Feminist New Materialisms and Lively Collaborations

    • Holly Thorpe, Julie Brice, Marianne Clark
    Pages 209-215
  10. Back Matter

    Pages 217-268

About this book

This book offers the first critical examination of the contributions of feminist new materialist thought to the study of sport, fitness, and physical culture. 


Bringing feminist new materialist theory into a lively dialogue with sport studies, it highlights the possibilities and challenges of engaging with posthumanist and new materialist theories. With empirical examples and pedagogical offerings woven throughout, the book makes complex new materialist concepts and theories highly accessible. It vividly illustrates sporting matter as lively, vital, and agentic. Engaging specifically with the methodological, theoretical, ethical and political challenges of feminist new materialisms, it elaborates understandings of moving bodies and their entanglements with human, non-human, technological, biological, cultural, and environmental forces in contemporary society. 


This book extends humanist, representationalist, and discursive approaches that have characterized the landscape of critical research on active bodies, and invites new imaginings and articulations for sport and moving bodies in uncertain times and unknown futures.



View the video abstracts for each of the book's chapter here: 

Chapter 1  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UQy7aq1k20&list=PLdbxSLlj0ri04cOHxK37TfaQg0IAv6Znf&index=1

Chapter 2  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yM-Q4FmW6h8&list=PLdbxSLlj0ri04cOHxK37TfaQg0IAv6Znf&index=2

Chapter 3  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0VxosyyrKg&list=PLdbxSLlj0ri04cOHxK37TfaQg0IAv6Znf&index=3

Chapter 4  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eN9b58fPISA&list=PLdbxSLlj0ri04cOHxK37TfaQg0IAv6Znf&index=4

Chapter 5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GM3Ss_Tz0ZY&list=PLdbxSLlj0ri04cOHxK37TfaQg0IAv6Znf&index=5

Chapter 6 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNbSBThlR6s&list=PLdbxSLlj0ri04cOHxK37TfaQg0IAv6Znf&index=6

Chapter 7 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFRAGwH8UOY&list=PLdbxSLlj0ri04cOHxK37TfaQg0IAv6Znf&index=7

 






Reviews

“Their aim of rendering the concepts more accessible to students and academics not already well-versed in the literature. And the structure of the chapters does contribute to this goal … . the authors refer to an impressive number of feminist scholars and cover a broad expanse of literature. … The book will be a good addition to discussions in the area.” (Pam R. Sailors, idrottsforum.org, October 19, 2021)



“The survey of the literature is extensive and impressive. The Reference section … is rewarding and stimulating. Each chapter sent my mind racing. There are clearly many other applications and possibilities for feminist new materialisms, including in archival research. … It is worth noting that the book is also physically rewarding to hold and admire. … Materially, theoretically, and empirically the book offers a rich resource and a rewarding read.” (Jane E. Hunt, Leisure Studies, October 14, 2021)

“This book provides a highly informative contribution to the new materialist turn within studies of sport and physical culture. It is the book many of us have wanted, and needed, and is a necessary addition to the collections of any of those interested in ensuring the continued vitality and relevance of sport and physical cultural studies.” (David L. Andrews, Professor, University of Maryland, USA)

“What I love about this volume is how it is both respectful of older research traditions and distinctive disciplinary approaches, and leaping into the futures of inter- and trans-disciplinary feminist research at the same time. The feminist new materialisms are activated for the phenomenon of sports in all of its breadth and depth. The result is fascinating for scholars and practitioners not only of sports but also of creative research methods. I therefore recommend the book for a wide and varied audience.” (Iris van der Tuin, Professor, Utrecht University, The Netherlands) 

“Feminist New Materialisms, Sport and Fitness is a wonderful book that offers a timely intellectual map for navigating the political and visceral changes in physical activity, fitness, sport, and physical culture. The authors explore a fascinating range of sport experiences and objects through their engagement with feminist new materialisms. Offering theoretical and methodological insights into the entangled process of researching moving bodies, this book asks compelling questions about how gender matters in practices of knowing and ‘doing’ sport.” (Simone Fullagar, Professor, Griffith University, Australia)

“Feminist New Materialisms, Sport and Fitness seeks to open new materialisms to a wide range of readers. Embedded in their own experiences as physically active women, the authors entangle the works of Karen Barad, Jane Bennett, Rosi Braidotti, Elizabeth Grosz, Donna Haraway, and Elizabeth Wilson with their innovative feminist collaborative process. Enticingly written and clearly argued, each chapter makes a compelling case for feminist new materialist research to explore the vital connections between technology, physically active humans, and non-humans, particularly in the face of current health and environmental crises. As such, Feminist New Materialisms and Sport is an essential read for researchers interested in feminist, new materialist, post qualitative approach(es) to the physically active body.” (Pirkko Markula, Professor, University of Alberta, Canada)



Authors and Affiliations

  • University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand

    Holly Thorpe, Julie Brice

  • University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

    Marianne Clark

About the authors

Holly Thorpe is a Professor in Te Huataki Waiora School of Health at the University of Waikato, Aotearoa New Zealand.

 

Julie Brice is a Doctoral Candidate in Te Huataki Waiora School of Health at the University of Waikato, Aotearoa New Zealand.

 

Marianne Clark is Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Research Centre at the University of New South Wales, Australia.





      

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Feminist New Materialisms, Sport and Fitness

  • Book Subtitle: A Lively Entanglement

  • Authors: Holly Thorpe, Julie Brice, Marianne Clark

  • Series Title: New Femininities in Digital, Physical and Sporting Cultures

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56581-7

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: Social Sciences, Social Sciences (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-56580-0Published: 18 December 2020

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-56583-1Published: 19 December 2021

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-56581-7Published: 17 December 2020

  • Series ISSN: 2522-0330

  • Series E-ISSN: 2522-0349

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XV, 268

  • Number of Illustrations: 3 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Gender Studies, Sociology of Sport and Leisure, Social Theory

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access