Physical Culture, Ethnography and the Body

"Giardina and Donnelly have compiled and crafted a superb collection of essays, which illuminate, probe and critique the place and role of the body in contemporary sport and physical culture. Utilising embodied ethnographic approaches – and offering nuanced expositions of the methodologies, epistemologies, positionalities and politics that underpin them – this book will become required reading for scholars and students in the field. The body, the editors remind us, still matters – critically, these essays identify precisely which bodies matter, and how, where and why."– Daniel Burdsey, Head of Research, School of Sport and Service Management, University of Brighton, UK

"Physical Culture, Ethnography and the Body provides an invaluable resource for ethnographically oriented and interested researchers, and not only those interested in the empirical realm of physical culture. Bringing together a comprehensive collection of key works and discussions written by the leading exponents of their respective ethnographic approaches, this collection elucidates the complexities, contradictions, and concerns implicit within ethnographic practice in general, and focuses on those particularly pertaining to the study of physical culture. Furthermore, Giardina and Donnelly’s considered and insightful curation of this collection brings to light the empirical, methodological, and theoretical diversity of approaches utilized in examining the embodied experiences of physical culture. As such, this book is destined to inform and inspire the next generation of ethnographers of physical culture."– Professor David L. Andrews, Department of Kinesiology, University of Maryland, USA