Be More Human - An Anthropological Analysis of Subject Formation in a Late Modern Crossfit Community
(2017) SANK02 20171Social Anthropology
- Abstract
- This article explores the ideals and motivations behind the increasingly popular physical practice of Crossfit. Through an analysis of data collected through interviews, observation and deep hanging out (and working out) this article attempts to thicken the conventional analysis of lifestyle practices sin late modern capitalism. A product of the contemporary Culture of the Self —that illusive thing in the centre of the matrix of consumerism— Crossfit cultivates a Culture of the self best understood through Nietzsche and Foucualt's de-essentialised notion of the subject, as explored in the concept of the Übermensch and, respectively, the Care of Self and Aesthetics of Existence. This article, in its tentative contribution to the... (More)
- This article explores the ideals and motivations behind the increasingly popular physical practice of Crossfit. Through an analysis of data collected through interviews, observation and deep hanging out (and working out) this article attempts to thicken the conventional analysis of lifestyle practices sin late modern capitalism. A product of the contemporary Culture of the Self —that illusive thing in the centre of the matrix of consumerism— Crossfit cultivates a Culture of the self best understood through Nietzsche and Foucualt's de-essentialised notion of the subject, as explored in the concept of the Übermensch and, respectively, the Care of Self and Aesthetics of Existence. This article, in its tentative contribution to the anthropology of the self, shares with mentioned authors, an underlying criticism of the present. We learn that the dynamic mix of rules and openness in Crossfit, situates the Crossfitter in an oppositional stance to the discourse on the self of late modern capitalism, in that she, through continuous inventory into her thoughts, actions and decisions, questions her shaping of herself and that which has shaped the conception of Her in turn. The Crossfitter’s critical self-mastery though means of ascetic practices, in combination with visceral ruptures of collective self-surrender, cultivates a radical intimacy with her body as a sentient, living subject. It forms a somatic philosophy which transcends the Cartesian separation of body and mind, but also subject and object. Through joyful affirmation of the progressive abilities of a continuously developing, affective, materially embedded and collaborative subjectivity, the Crossfitter forms a confident yet critical relation to what it means to be more human. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/8922123
- author
- Hansson, Wiktor LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- SANK02 20171
- year
- 2017
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- Social Anthropology, Crossfit, Body, Pain, Material Anthropology
- language
- English
- id
- 8922123
- date added to LUP
- 2017-07-27 16:20:33
- date last changed
- 2017-08-12 20:39:33
@misc{8922123,
abstract = {{This article explores the ideals and motivations behind the increasingly popular physical practice of Crossfit. Through an analysis of data collected through interviews, observation and deep hanging out (and working out) this article attempts to thicken the conventional analysis of lifestyle practices sin late modern capitalism. A product of the contemporary Culture of the Self —that illusive thing in the centre of the matrix of consumerism— Crossfit cultivates a Culture of the self best understood through Nietzsche and Foucualt's de-essentialised notion of the subject, as explored in the concept of the Übermensch and, respectively, the Care of Self and Aesthetics of Existence. This article, in its tentative contribution to the anthropology of the self, shares with mentioned authors, an underlying criticism of the present. We learn that the dynamic mix of rules and openness in Crossfit, situates the Crossfitter in an oppositional stance to the discourse on the self of late modern capitalism, in that she, through continuous inventory into her thoughts, actions and decisions, questions her shaping of herself and that which has shaped the conception of Her in turn. The Crossfitter’s critical self-mastery though means of ascetic practices, in combination with visceral ruptures of collective self-surrender, cultivates a radical intimacy with her body as a sentient, living subject. It forms a somatic philosophy which transcends the Cartesian separation of body and mind, but also subject and object. Through joyful affirmation of the progressive abilities of a continuously developing, affective, materially embedded and collaborative subjectivity, the Crossfitter forms a confident yet critical relation to what it means to be more human.}},
author = {{Hansson, Wiktor}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Be More Human - An Anthropological Analysis of Subject Formation in a Late Modern Crossfit Community}},
year = {{2017}},
}