The cyborgification of paralympic sport

Howe, PD and Silva, CF ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3643-8293, 2017. The cyborgification of paralympic sport. Movement & Sport Sciences (97), pp. 17-25. ISSN 2118-5735

Preview

Text PubSub9014_Silva.pdf - Published version Download (190kB) | Preview

Abstract

Since the turn of the century, the Paralympic movement has gained a high public profile. We will argue that this new high profile is a direct result of the focus of media attention upon new technologies of prosthetic medicine that have helped to create a legion of cyborg bodies that is manifest in the image of the contemporary sporting supercrip. This paper highlights the development of a technocentric ideology that has been embraced within the Paralympic movement. In embracing this ideology, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) began to celebrate the cyborgification of Paralympic bodies. Ultimately, this paper questions whether the advances in technology are actually empowering all disabled athletes or simply those who have the potential to be cyborgs.

Depuis le début du siècle, le mouvement paralympique a acquis un profil grand public. Nous allons faire valoir, qu’il résulte directement de l’attention médiatique portée aux nouvelles technologies de la prothétique qui ont contribué à créer une légion de corps cyborg qui se manifeste à l’image du supermarché sportif contemporain. Cet article souligne le développement d’une idéologie technocentrique qui a été adoptée dans le mouvement paralympique. En adoptant cette idéologie, le Comité international paralympique (IPC) a commencé à célébrer la cyborgification des organes paralympiques. En fin de compte, cet article se demande si les progrès de la technologie habilitent actuellement tous les athlètes handicapés ou simplement ceux qui ont le potentiel d’être cyborgs.

Item Type:	Journal article
Alternative Title:	La cyborgification du sport paralympique Journal title in French: Science & Motricité.
Publication Title:	Movement & Sport Sciences
Creators:	Howe, P.D. and Silva, C.F.
Publisher:	EDP Sciences on behalf of the French Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (ACAPS)
Date:	2017
Number:	97
ISSN:	2118-5735
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1051/sm/2017014 DOI
Rights:	© ACAPS, EDP Sciences, 2017.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Science and Technology
Record created by:	Jill Tomkinson
Date Added:	12 Sep 2017 10:41
Last Modified:	22 Feb 2021 13:02
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/31581

Actions (login required)

Edit View

Statistics

Views

Downloads