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Extreme Sports, Extreme Bodies pp 3–23Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Introduction

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Abstract

In this chapter, we set out the agenda and basic ideas underlying the book. The chapter introduces the reader to the importance of exploring issues of extreme sports, extreme bodies, gender and identities in contemporary society. The aim of the study and the central research questions are also presented here. Methodologically, the book rests on three separate but interconnected research projects and case studies focusing on extreme sports and athletes (bodybuilding, the Ironman triathlon and mixed martial arts). In the chapter, we briefly explain the empirical material used and develop our line of argument regarding terminology and how we define and view the meaning of extreme sports. The purpose of the introductory chapter is to initiate a discussion that will make it possible to explore both the phenomenology of the body and the social body in the selected sports, a discussion that will continue throughout the book.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Linnaeus University, Kalmar, Sweden

    Jesper Andreasson

  2. University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Thomas Johansson

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  1. Jesper Andreasson
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  2. Thomas Johansson
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Correspondence to Jesper Andreasson .

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Andreasson, J., Johansson, T. (2019). Introduction. In: Extreme Sports, Extreme Bodies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97238-1_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97238-1_1

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-97237-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-97238-1

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

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