1st Edition
BrAsian Family Practices and Reflexivity Behind the Boxing Ropes
Contesting stereotypical and deterministic accounts of British South Asian Muslims (BrAsians), which have largely contributed towards the perpetuation of Islamophobia, this book analyses how the influence of parents, extended family, and community support and constrain the lives of a younger generation of amateur and professional boxers.
Through an analysis of several case studies involving men and women amateur and professional boxers, complemented with immersive ethnographic accounts, BrAsian Family Practices and Reflexivity: Behind the Boxing Ropes challenges stereotypical depictions of BrAsian parental practices. Offering an alternative perspective, this book considers how BrAsian parents engage in reflexive deliberation as opposed to passively adhering to religious edicts or cultural diktats prior to promoting or preventing their child’s personal projects. In the process Chaudry unearths how family relationship dynamics reflect their religious, cultured, gendered and classed beliefs.
This book will be of interest to students, academics, think tanks, policy makers and those studying sociology of family, family practices, multi-cultural societies, ethnography, and sports/leisure studies.
Acknowledgements
Foreword
1. Introduction
2. Relatedness
3. The ‘Archetypal Trajectory’: Family Expectations
4. The (Overly) Supportive Family
5. ‘Females Can Fight Too’: - Negotiating Gender, Culture and Religion
6. Conclusion
Biography
Izram Chaudry is a Lecturer in Sociology and Criminology at the University of Bradford. He has a PhD from the School of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Leeds.
“Artfully weaving the personal with the academic, Chaudry’s book develops a compelling sociological account of BrAsian experiences of the ‘sweet science’ of boxing in the wake of Amir Khan’s success. Through the lens of parental influence on their children and the navigation of intergenerational difference, this book offers an important account of how young BrAsians seek to forge alternative lifecourses through the sport.”
Anna Tarrant, Professor of Sociology, University of Lincoln
“This highly original book positions family relations at the centre of an insightful and engaging analysis of BrAsian boxers. Based on empirically grounded research and nuanced theorising, Chaudry beautifully conveys the structural and cultural complexities of family dynamics and the role that they play in shaping the trajectory of contenders in this demanding sport. BrAsian Family Practices and Reflexivity is a compelling work of sociology.”
Val Gillies, Professor of Social Policy and Criminology, University of Westminister
