Ageing, The Body and Social Change: Agency and Indentity Among Ageing Athletes

This book explores the relationship between embodiment and the production of the key structures which frame agency to map out potential for social change. It uses modalities of ageing embodiment in the context of sport participation in later life, specifically Master athletics, including barriers, opportunities and physiological dimensions. The book explores the relationship between embodiment and the production of the key structures which frame agency to map out potential for social change. It uses modalities of ageing embodiment in the context of sport participation in later life, specifically Master athletics, including barriers, opportunities and physiological dimensions. Can we really change the world by running? Or, can the way we use our bodies reflect or even initiate significant social change? How do we know that any changes observed are really significant? These are key questions which are now at the heart of sociological endeavour, but they have not been asked in the context of ageing and old age, as it is often assumed that ageing bodies are devoid of capital of any kind. This book discusses the potential presented through examining ageing, the body and sports, to restore agency and cultural capital to ageing embodiment. It does so not by denying biological ageing but by reframing the position of mind/body fluctuations, inspired by the experiences of ageing runners Contents......Page 6 List of Abbreviations......Page 7 Introduction......Page 8 1 Embodying Ageing......Page 16 2 Debates in the Sociology of the Body......Page 33 3 Social Fields as Spaces of Disruption......Page 55 4 Capturing Ageing Embodiment......Page 76 5 Disrupted Biographies......Page 92 6 The Embodiment of Athletic Mastery......Page 109 7 Managing Ageing......Page 129 8 Mapping an Embodied Sociology of Ageing......Page 155 Conclusion......Page 176 Notes......Page 182 References......Page 183 B......Page 193 H......Page 194 R......Page 195 W......Page 196 "This book explores the relationship between embodiment and the production of the key structures which frame agency to map out potential for social change. It uses modalities of ageing embodiment in the context of sport participation in later life, specifically Master athletics, including barriers, opportunities and physiological dimensions."--Publisher description