Communists and Champions:the Politicization of Athletic Bodies in China

Communists and Champions: the Politicization of Chinese Athletic Bodies analyses the relationships between gender, power and politics in Chinese sport. It examines how athletes' bodies have become vehicles for Chinese national revival and international recognition. It challenges the simplistic gender stereotyping in some previous studies and explores the complexity of male and female relationships in sport in contemporary China. It considers how power is achieved through political exploitation of Chinese athletic bodies. Fan Hong (The Irish National Institute of Chinese Studies, University College Cork, Ireland)