Health and Fitness

Discipline and distinction in the age of the Internet: a sociological study of the fitness practice

J. Tang and Z. Xie

Explore the revolutionary insights of Jun Tang and Zilong Xie as they delve into how fitness practices in China shape self-discipline through consumer behavior. This study unveils new disciplinary mechanisms influenced by the digital age, promising a transformative understanding of fitness in society.

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Playback language: English

Index

Abstract

This article examines popular fitness sports and home fitness software in China. Drawing on Michel Foucault's theory of discipline, Norbert Elias' study on civilization, and Jean Baudrillard's study on the consumer society, the authors reveal the formation of a new body discipline mechanism against the background of the Internet society and the consumer society. The study reveals both upgraded external disciplinary strategies (liquidity and visibility of space, linear and rhythmic time, and knowledge strategies) and a unique form of positive self-discipline. Fitness practices, as a consumption practice, promote self-discipline among practitioners who also pursue distinctive social positions. This self-discipline involves code manipulation, time consumption, moral display, and self-writing. Internet technologies blur the space-time boundaries of physical discipline, changing power distribution into a daily form.

Publisher

The Journal of Chinese Sociology

Published On

Mar 01, 2021

Authors

Jun Tang, Zilong Xie

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