The Cultural Politics of the Paralympic Movement: Through an Anthropological Lens (Routledge Critical Studies in Sport) - Hardcover

Howe, P. David

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 041528886X ISBN 13: 9780415288866

Publisher: Routledge, 2008

Synopsis

Do the Paralympic Games empower the disability sport community?

Like many other contemporary sporting institutions, the Paralympic Games have made the transition from pastime to spectacle, and the profile of athletes with disabilities has been increased as a result. This book reviews the current status of the Paralympics and challenges the mainstream assumption that the Games are a vehicle for empowerment of the disabled community.

Using ethnographic methods unique in this area of study, P. David Howe has undertaken an innovative and critical examination of the social, political and economic processes shaping the Paralympic Movement. In The Cultural Politics of the Paralympic Movement he presents his findings and offers a new insight into the relationship between sport, the body and the culture of disability. In doing so he has produced the most comprehensive and radical text about high performance sport for the disabled yet published.

P. David Howe is Lecturer in the Sociology of Sport at Loughborough University. He is also a four-time Paralympian and former Athlete’s Representative to the International Paralympic Committee.

About this title

About the Author

P. David Howe

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 041528886X
• ISBN 13: 9780415288866
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 200
• Editor: Hargreaves Jennifer, McDonald Ian