‘Governmentality’ in the origins of European female PE and sport: the Spanish case study (1883–1936)

Abstract

The purpose of the paper is twofold: (1) to contribute to the analysis of the origins of modern European female PE and sports from a power perspective, inspired by Foucault's work; and (2) to present a detailed analysis of female PE and sport in Spain (1883Spain ( -1936 as a specific European case study. It is argued that these physical activities could be conceived in the Spanish case as part of a specific kind of 'governmentality' with a dual nature. On the one hand they represented disciplinary 'technologies of power' over the female body. Selected physical activities-dictated mainly from the hygienic-moral position of the Regeneracionistas ('Regenerationists')-were exerted as a kind of 'bio-power' for the control of the female population. On the other hand, such kind of activities (especially sports) represented certain 'technologies of the self for middle and upper class women. Through participation in sports, women gained a more active and public role in the Spanish society of the era, obtaining some degree of autonomy in self-governance over their bodies and their lives.

Fight the biopower! Mixed martial arts as resistance

“…Sport participation has potential in this regard, in its freedom from the hegemonies of everyday life, allowing for transformation and a more authentic self-actualisation. In this respect, speaking in reference to the biopower frame but in the context of women’s empowerment, Sánchez-García and Rivero-Herraiz (2013) argue that sport allows for the formation of a ‘special kind of technologies of the self’ that allow for freedom and resistance to germinate.…”