Abstract
This study is framed by the writings of the French philosopher, Michel Foucault
on power and the body, particularly his Discipline and Punish (1979) and The
History ofSexuality (1979-1990). It seeks to fill the void that these texts are said to
have left as to the way we understand our bodies and their significance for our
society. Our bodies are, according to Foucault, the ultimate and most important loci
of the establishment and exercise of power. Power - identified in Foucault's work
with changing social conditions, relations and rules - influences our attitudes
towards, and the ways we treat, our bodies. Yet, Foucault is often accused of not
always convincingly showing how our bodies - as affected by power - are felt by us
and how they live the world. The same failing that characterises the work of Foucault
seems to characterise also the field of sociology of the body; an area of knowledge
that is about the body as caught up in the social order and which Foucault is credited
with having founded in some way. This study seeks to redress this failing through an
empirical investigation of the embodied experiences of regular gym users, using
participant observation and interviews.
The main contribution of this study is twofold: First, by identifying the wide
number of forces that bring people to the gym, it confirms the social character of
power as presented by Foucault and further illuminates the idea of the social shaping
of our bodies. But by exploring people's experiences of exercise, the study further
reveals the materiality of the body, of how gym users live their bodies and how their
bodies themselves live the world. Second, by looking at the variety of pains and
pleasures associated with exercise and also at the knowledges that people gain
through training, the study highlights the correctness of Foucault's argument that
power should not only be seen as a repressive force but also as a productive one.
