Civilising recalcitrant boys' bodies: Pursuing social fitness through the anti-obesity offensive

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Obesity discourse provides a commonly recycled rationale for multiple, ostensibly well-intended, interventions. Formal educational settings sometimes operate as sites for these biopedagogies which putatively promote 'good health' among young people as they transition to 'responsible' adulthood. Yet, regulation and control, or the pursuit of social fitness, may be more pressing concerns. Drawing from an ethnography of a 'Health and Youth' college initiative in Northeast England, directed at recalcitrant boys who risked school exclusion, this article considers how the war on obesity provided a rationale for middle-class efforts to instil civility. Despite educators' best intentions, the initiative also provided a stage and props for cruder forms of bullying among the boys. This article critiques (un)civilised fat oppression in this setting as part of a larger interrogation of the state sponsored anti-obesity offensive. Connections are made with literature on the civilising process, obesity discourse, boys' bodies, health and education.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)691-711
Number of pages21
JournalSport, Education and Society
Volume19
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2014

Keywords

  • Boys' bodies
  • Civilising process
  • Elias
  • Obesity discourse
  • Oppression
  • Regulation

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