Pierre Bourdieu and Physical Culture is the first book to focus on the significance of Bourdieu's work for, and in, physical culture. Bringing together the work of leading and emerging international researchers, it introduces the core concepts in Bourdieu's thought and work, and presents a series of fascinating case studies of the application of his theory to physical culture studies. A concluding section discusses the inherent difficulties of choosing and using theory to understand the world around us. By providing an in-depth and multi-layered example of how theory can be used across the many and varied components of sport, leisure, physical education and human movement, this book should help all serious students and researchers in physical culture to better understand the importance of social theory in their work.

Foreword Preface Part A: An Introduction To Pierre Bourdieu's Concepts Chapter 1. Pierre Bourdieu and his conceptual tools Part B: Bourdieu In Practice: Using Theory To Understand Physical Cultures Chapter 2. 'I'll go back next week - it's complicated': Returning to dance with the help of Bourdieu Chapter 3. Bourdieu, physical culture and universities Chapter 4. 'Stop: No'. Exploring social suffering in practices of surfing as opportunities for change Chapter 5. Bourdieu in the Changing Room Chapter 6. Putting habitus to work in research on how coaches learn through experience: Identifying a coaching habitus Chapter 7. Challenging the economy of gendered practices in PE using Bourdieu's embodied reflexive sociology Chapter 8. Skirting the issue: Women boxers, liminality and change Chapter 9. Entering the field as a sports coordinator: negotiating the micropolitics of the profession Chapter 10. Bourdieu, young people and physical activity: Intersecting fields of social class and family Chapter 11. The paradox of physical activity for Qatari women: Researcher hysteresis and reflexivity Chapter 12. Understanding dis/ability in Physical Education through the lens of Bourdieu Chapter 13. Symbolic capital and the hetero norm as doxa in Physical Education Chapter 14. Understanding snowboarding bodies with Bourdieu: Some reflections from the snow field Chapter 15. Bourdieu and Body Part C: Issues And Tensions Using Bourdieu Chapter 16. Thinking with and outside Bourdieu Chapter 17. Does my research look good in that? Problems, politics and processes when choosing social theory in research in physical culture Chapter 18. Bourdieu comes off the bench: a reflexive analysis of the circulation of ideas within the sociology of sport field Chapter 19. Continuing to work with, against and beyond Bourdieu