Bibtex export
@article{ Heiskanen2006, title = {On the ground and off}, author = {Heiskanen, Benita}, journal = {European Journal of Cultural Studies}, number = {4}, pages = {481-496}, volume = {9}, year = {2006}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1177/1367549406069069}, urn = {https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-227001}, abstract = {In the United States, prizefighting carries deep-seated meanings as an ethnically and racially delineated, class-based and gendered practice. At present, the sport is characterized by its ongoing ‘latinization’ corresponding to Latinos’ integration endeavors in urban USA. This article examines boxing as a locus for identity formations. Based on four years of ethnographic fieldwork with a community of Latino prizefighters in Austin, TX between 2000 and 2004, the research draws on life-story interviews conducted with the boxers, while their experiences are situated within a theoretical framework of the body in space and place. The fieldwork brings the research ‘onto the ground’ to the actual sites-such as the boxing gym, the weigh-in and the competition venue-where the athletes conduct their occupation on a daily basis. As professional boxing determines these worker-athletes’ physical prowess, it also shapes their identities, day-to-day survival and their very mode of being in the world.}, }