scholarly journals Social and Biological Context of Physical Culture and Sport

2010 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerzy Kosiewicz

Social and Biological Context of Physical Culture and SportAuthor underlines that biological sciences connected with the human being are traditionally - after MacFadden, among others - counted among physical culture sciences. Because of the bodily foundations of human physical activity, they perform - shortly speaking - a significant cognitive function: they describe natural foundations of particular forms of movement. In spite of the fact that knowledge in that respect is extremely important for multiform human activity in the field of physical culture, it is not knowledge of cultural character. From the formal (that is, institutional) viewpoint it is strictly connected with culture studies, but it has separate methodological and theoretical assumptions. Knowledge of that type is focused on the human organism and not on effects of mental, axiocreative, symbolic activity of the human being entangled in social relations. It includes auxiliary data which support practical - that is, in that case, physical, bodily - activity. Its reception of axiological (ethical and aesthetical), social (philosophical, sociological, pedagogical, historical {universal or strictly defined - referring e.g. to art and literature with the connected theories} or political) character is dealt with by the humanities (in other words: social sciences) constituting an immanent and the fundamental - and hence the most important - part of culture studies. Putting stress on alleged superiority and the dominating role of natural (biological in that case) sciences within physical culture sciences and the connected marginalization of the humanities - which constitute, after all, a necessary and hence an unquestionable foundation for culture studies, their essence and objectivisation - is, euphemistically speaking, a clear shortcoming in the field of science studies.The abovementioned exaltation and aspirations for superiority, as well as deepening and more and more aggressive marginalization of the humanities (understood in that paper as a synonym for social sciences) in the field of physical culture sciences may lead to the separation of biological sciences.

2019 ◽  
Vol 82 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-93
Author(s):  
Jerzy Kosiewicz

AbstractThe term “physical culture” is, first of all, associated (referring to the etymology of the word “culture” from the Latin “colo,-ere”, meaning “to cultivate”, “to inhabit” or “to honor”) with cultivation and taking care of the human “physis” – obviously in the context of social and natural environment. What matters in physical cultural reflection is not movement as such – as a purely physical phenomenon – but only such a form of movement which has been cultivated and attributed with conventionalized social values of symbolic and autotelic character. Biological sciences connected with the human being are traditionally – after MacFadden, among others – counted among physical cultural sciences. Because of the bodily foundations of human physical activity, they perform a significant cognitive function: they describe natural foundations of special forms of movement, but they are not offering knowledge of cultural character. As there are no values in the human being’s nature, the biological sciences within the institutional field of physical culture can with their separate methodological and theoretical assumptions only offer an auxiliary, supportive function. Physical cultural sciences are primarily dealing with the significant relations between humans in physical cultural practices, with knowledge of an axiological (ethical and aesthetical) and social (philosophical, sociological, pedagogical, historical or political) character. The alleged superiority of biological sciences within physical cultural sciences and the connected marginalization of the humanities – which constitute, after all, a necessary and hence an unquestionable foundation for cultural studies – is, therefore, a clear challenge in the institutional field of physical culture.


2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 341-344
Author(s):  
Rana Aytug ◽  
Lee Daly

On December 6, 2018, academics from across Europe and beyond gathered at London’s Freud Museum for a conference on the politics, policies and diplomacy of diaspora governance. This conference was organized by Senior Research Fellow Dr Bahar Baser from the Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations (CTPSR), Coventry University, UK and Dr Henio Hoyo, Research Professor from the Department of Social Sciences/School of Law and Social Sciences, Universidad de Monterrey (UDEM) Monterrey, Mexico.


2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-14
Author(s):  
Nenad Živanović ◽  
Petar Pavlović ◽  
Veroljub Stanković ◽  
Zoran Milošević ◽  
Nebojša Ranđelović ◽  
...  

Summary The end of the 20th and the first decade of the 21st century are characterized by a technological development which could be described as having revolutionary speed. If we were to look back on the revolutionary events during the 17th and 18th century, in the domain of great scientific changes, changes in industry, agriculture, economy, the organization of social relations (democracy and socialism), we could say that we are witnesses to this sixth technological revolution. All these civilizational leaps forward have conditioned, quite expectedly, big changes in our profession. This has been reflected in the goals which have been imposed by social changes initiated by numerous revolutionary changes. Even though man and his need for physical exercise, as the nourishing food necessary for his being, have remained the same, the circumstances which have imposed different living conditions have required changes in our profession. Naturally, this was reflected in our science as well (which we refer to by different names today). The time we live in, caught up in this new sixth technological revolution, requires a different approach to man and his personality. Now, the question is not only how to “drag” him out of a sedentary culture, but also how to fight the increasingly present physical and intellectual inactivity. Through perfectly guided marketing activities which have been made possible by the implementation of new technological aids, man has been drawn into the hedonistic waters of his own inactivity. And unfortunately, he cannot free himself from this skillfully set trap. That is why physical culture and science must be included in finding a means of helping man find his way out of this hedonistic labyrinth and return to his roots.


Author(s):  
Xiaorong Gu

This essay explores the theory of intersectionality in the study of youths’ lives and social inequality in the Global South. It begins with an overview of the concept of intersectionality and its wide applications in social sciences, followed by a proposal for regrounding the concept in the political economic systems in particular contexts (without assuming the universality of capitalist social relations in Northern societies), rather than positional identities. These systems lay material foundations, shaping the multiple forms of deprivation and precarity in which Southern youth are embedded. A case study of rural migrant youths’ ‘mobility trap’ in urban China is used to illustrate how layers of social institutions and structures in the country’s transition to a mixed economy intersect to influence migrant youths’ aspirations and life chances. The essay concludes with ruminations on the theoretical and social implications of the political-economy-grounded intersectionality approach for youth studies.


Author(s):  
Robert N. Spengler

AbstractOver the past decade, niche construction theory (NCT) has been one of the fastest-growing theories or scholarly approaches in the social sciences, especially within archaeology. It was proposed in the biological sciences 25 years ago and is often referred to as a neglected evolutionary mechanism. Given its rapid acceptance by the archaeological community, it is important that scholars consider how it is being applied and look for discrepancies between applications of the concept. Many critical discussions of NCT have already been published, but most of them are in biology journals and may be overlooked by scholars in the social sciences. In this manuscript, my goal is to synthesis the criticisms of NCT, better allowing archaeologists to independently evaluate its usefulness. I focus on the claims of novelty and differences between NCT and other approaches to conceptualizing anthropogenic ecosystem impacts and culture-evolution feedbacks. I argue that the diverse concepts currently included in the wide-reaching purview of NCT are not new, but the terminology is and may be useful to some scholars. If proponents of the concept are able to unify their ideas, it may serve a descriptive function, but given that lack of a testable explanatory mechanism, it does not have a clear heuristic function.


2020 ◽  
pp. 52-57
Author(s):  
Эдиль Канатбеков

В статье рассматривается политическая культура Кыргызстана как одна из важных основ политической жизни общества. Уделяется внимание на необходимость развития политической культуры общества, как фундаментальной основы цивилизации, основ существования общества и общественных отношений. В работе анализируется сущность политической культуры. Описывается проблема формирования политической культуры Кыргызстана как одной из актуальных тем, на протяжении многих лет. Рассматривается формирование и становление политической культуры Кыргызстана, как очень трудоёмкий и долговременный процесс, обусловленный определенными аспектами политико-культурологического характера. Политическая культура конкретной общности состоит из представлений индивидов, их взглядов, политических ценностей, политической идеологии и символики, политических норм, стандартов, стереотипов. Каждый субъект страны являясь гражданином так или иначе становиться свидетелем и даже участником политической реальности, тем самым на основе этих элементов и опыта человек формирует собственный взгляд и определяет для себя систему ценностей и линию поведения. Макалада Кыргызстандын саясий маданияты коомдун саясий турмушунун маанилүү негиздеринин бири катары каралат. Цивилизациянын фундаменталдык негизи, коомдун жана коомдук мамилелердин негиздеринин маңызы катары коомдун саясий маданиятын өнүктүрүү зарылдыгына көңүл бурулган. Изилдөө ишинде саясий маданияттын маани-маңызына анализ жүргүзүлгөн. Кыргызстанда саясий маданияттын калыптануу көйгөйү көп жылдардан бери актуалдуу темалардын бири катары эсептелинет. Кыргызстандын саясий маданиятынын калыптанышы жана калыптануусу саясий жана маданий мүнөздүн айрым аспектилерине байланыштуу өтө эмгекчил жана узак мөөнөттүү процесс катары каралат. Белгилүү бир коомдун саясий маданияты жеке адамдардын идеяларынан, алардын көз караштарынан, саясий баалуулуктарынан, саясий идеологиясынан жана символдорунан, саясий нормаларынан, стандарттарынан, стереотиптеринен турат. Өлкөнүн ар бир субъектиси, ошол өлкөнүн жараны болуп туруп, кандайдыр бир жол менен саясий чындыктын интригасынын күбөсү, ал тургай, катышуучусу болуп калат, ошентип, адам ушул элементтердин жана тажрыйбанын негизинде өзүнүн көз карашын калыптандырат жана өзү үчүн баалуулуктар системасын жана жүрүм-турум линиясын аныктайт. Тhe article considers the political culture of Kyrgyzstan as one of the important foundations of the political life of society. Attention paid to the need to develop the political culture of society as the fundamental basis of civilization, the foundations of the existence of society and social relations. The paper analyzes the essence of political culture. The article describes the problem of forming the political culture of Kyrgyzstan as one of the topical issues for many years. The article considers the formation and formation of the political culture of Kyrgyzstan as a very labor-intensive and long-term process, due to certain aspects of political and cultural character. Тhe Political culture of a particular community consists of individual representations, their views, political values, political ideology and symbols, political norms, standards, and stereotypes. Each subject of the country, being a citizen, in one way or another becomes a witness and even a participant in the intrigue of political reality, thereby the basis of these elements and experience, a person forms his own view and defines for himself a system of values and a line of behavior.


2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 325-341
Author(s):  
Penelope Ironstone

The human microbiome has become one of the dominant biomedical frameworks of the contemporary moment that may be understood to be post-Pasteurian. The recognitions the human microbiome opens up for thinking about the biological self and the individual have ontological and epistemological ramifications for considering what and who the human being is. As this article illustrates, the microbiopolitics of the human microbiome challenges the immunitarian Pasteurian model in which the organismic self shores itself up and defends itself against a microbial non-self or other. Instead, this theory presents the human organism as comprised of multiple ecosystems and as a multitude, suggesting that the thanatopolitical attempts to wipe out microbial others (evident in the overuse and misuse of antibiotics, for example) are giving way to an affirmative microbiopolitics grounded in generative multispecies relationality. This article sets out to make the case for this affirmative microbiopolitics.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. xix-xxvi
Author(s):  
Nassim Balestrini ◽  
Klaus Rieser ◽  
Katharina Fackler

What happens when we imagine the sonic worlds of literary texts, when we focus on voice in film, or when we study the sound of social protest? How can we integrate sound studies into our academic practices? How does sound relate to space and place? How can American studies scholars understand the link between sonic and social relations? Music, voices, noise, and silence are constitutive elements of phenomena that we as American studies scholars regularly investigate. However, in contrast to the well-established prominence of visual culture studies, sound features less prominently in our field's research—an oversight (pardon the pun!) this issue of JAAAS seeks to remedy.


2017 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Eldred

There is a critique of capitalist market economy that consists in claiming not only that capitalist social relations are uncaring and alienating, nor only exploitative of the working class, but that the process of capitalist economy as a whole is a way of living, today globalized, that has gotten out of hand. Its essential nature is unmasked as a senseless circular movement that, besides ruthlessly exploiting natural resources, demeans human being itself and alienates it from the historical alternative of a purportedly authentic mode of human being rooted in collective, solidaric subjectivity. The present article offers an alternative hermeneutic cast for understanding capitalism as the gainful game that can serve as philosophical orientation in fighting for a free and fair social interplay in which the powers and abilities of free individuals are appropriately and reciprocally estimated and esteemed. This requires, first and foremost, seeing through the fetishisms inherent in the valorization of reified value that the mature Marx identified in his critiques of political economy as the essential nature of capitalism. Such critical insight is necessary for orientation also in today’s predicament of the ever more encroaching and ensnaring cyberworld.


2009 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zbigniew Krawczyk

Theoretical Conceptions in Sport Social SciencesIn the presented study we assume, after Piotr Sztompka that a sociological theory is every set of ontological, epistemological and methodological assumptions, abstract notions and general propositions concerning social reality which is to provide with explanation of existing descriptive knowledge about it and orient future research (Sztompka 1985, p. 12). In the discussed theory there have developed hitherto the following orientations: the systemic-functional one, the ethnomethodological one, symbolic interactionism, theory of conflict, socio-historical theory and positivist theory. They have together shaped theoretical conceptions in sociology of sport and — indirectly — in other social physical culture sciences.Interpreting the issue in a prospective way, it can be assumed that in the future there will appear other theories, such as the theory of behaviour, the theory of rational choice, the sociobiological theory, the theory of power, the theory of neo-institutionalism and others.Sociology, however, need not to be the only source of inspiration for sociohumane sports sciences. An equally important role can be played there by philosophy and psychology. Moreover, that thesis can be referred to other humanities, especially to history and pedagogy, as well as to philosophical, sociological and pedagogical versions of theory of physical culture — or to multidisciplinary theories, as e.g. postmodernist and globalist ones.


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