Regulation of diversity through discipline: Practices of inclusion and exclusion in boxing

Abstract

Boxing gyms in the Netherlands, which were traditionally bastions of ‘white’ men, have become more and more diverse. Since boxers with different ethnic backgrounds and women have joined boxing clubs, trainers need to manage this emerging diversity in their gyms. This empirical study of a gym in the Netherlands, where full participation of women is the norm, attempts to gain insights about practices of and experiences in the regulation of social inclusion and exclusion. We explore points of connection between Foucault’s conceptualization of regulation and disciplinary techniques and the regulatory and embodied practices of boxing. In this case study, observations and interviews were conducted to explore how trainers address diversity of members in training sessions and at matches. The results show how the participation of male and female boxers with different ethnic backgrounds was normalized by trainers. The gym, with a traditional hierarchical and patriarchal culture, enabled trainers to use disciplinary techniques to normalize their construction of what is normal in the gym. These trainers are not all-powerful, however, and had to negotiate their construction of boxers in interaction with others. The use of disciplinary techniques produced both uniformity and differentiation and, through an on-going process of negotiation, they defined who would be included or excluded.

‘I don’t think they realise how good we are’: Innovation, inclusion and exclusion in women’s Olympic boxing

“…Scholarly work has also recognised how race, class and sexuality shape women’s experiences of boxing (Heiskanen, 2012). Traditionally, boxing gyms have been bastions of white men, but now have a much more diverse membership (Dortants and Knoppers, 2012). Woodward (2007) describes boxing as filled with contradictions between racism and opportunity, and highlights the fact that the negotiation and presentation of raced and gendered identities have a strong presence in boxing.…”

A Situational Analysis of Boxing

“…The settings vary and a mix of boxing activities has been considered: amateur, professional, and the emerging middle class involvement, or so-called "white-collar boxing." While taking very different perspectives, the studies all explore masculinity either implicitly or explicitly (De Garis 2000;Woodward 2006;Lafferty and McKay 2004;Fulton 2011;Paradis 2012;Dortants and Knoppers 2013;Trimbur 2011Trimbur , 2013Beauchez 2016Heiskanen 2014Matthews 2015;Jump 2016;Sacha 2015).…”

“…Examples include an examination of the archaeology of fitness (Markula-Denison and Pringle 2007), and the use of bio-techniques in modern dance (Green 2002). An example in boxing is the examination of the discursive practices in a boxing gym (Dortants and Knoppers 2013). Trimbur (2011) explored the ways in which coaches buy into wider anti-racist and inclusive discourses and how their practice is often guided by self-help, neo-liberal discourses around perseverance, and the belief that determination will get one ahead.…”

“‘No Tough Guys Here?’: Hybrid Masculinity in a Boxing Gym”

“…Discourses are wide-ranging and central to analyses of boxing and other combat sport gyms (Cooley 2010; Paradis 2012; Matthews 2014; Sacha 2017; Trimbur 2008, 2013). The body is also a significant unit of analysis as it is crafted and disciplined (Dortants and Knoppers 2013; Paradis 2012; Wacquant 1995, 2004). Wacquant (2004, 2005, 442) explores the “bodily craft and its practical logics.” He argues that boxing is more than sport; it is a craft that functions as a way of seeing and interacting with the world.…”