Abstract

PEREIRA, Ana Luísa. The gym: a Bentham’s panopticon for personal care?. Sociologia, Problemas e Práticas [online]. 2006, n.51, pp.117-138. ISSN 0873-6529.

Starting out from the Foucault’s idea of the panopticon and his later work relating to technologies of the self, we have operationalized a thick description of the fitness gym. To this end we sought to analyse the way in which the gym space affects learners/clients in their bodily exercises. As the description shows, there are several structural factors in the gym which turn it almost into a panopticon. We might describe it as a panopticon which is situated in a particular place, but which is part of a whole social and cultural conjecture prevalent in many of the social domains in which individuals are required to move. For that very reason, they need to take care of themselves in a disciplined manner.

Keywords : Foucault; panopticon; technologies of the self; fitness academies; exercise.

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