The Body, Movement and Culture (BMC) Research Group was founded in 2009 by Pirkko Markula and Jim Denison as part of Norman Denzin’s international network of collaborative qualitative research sites associated with the International Association of Qualitative Inquiry (IAQI). The BMC has since grown into an international group of scholars who research across several continents including Australia, Europe, and North America.
The BMC is currently co-led by an international group of scholars: Allison Jeffrey (University of Bath, UK); Pirkko Markula (University of Alberta, Canada); and Joseph Mills (University of Denver, United States).
Members of the BMC draw on a range of research approaches to examine movement practices when assembled with multiple, diverse material and non-material cultural elements.
From multiple theoretical and performance perspectives we aim to understand the complex ways that the moving body is shaped and is shaping contemporary society and its potential to act towards positive change.
We analyze sport, exercise, dance, and physical activity through qualitative approaches such as text analyses, interviews, case studies, ethnographies and also embrace the potential for postqualitative inquiry. We also examine the actual knowledges and practices of a number of movement forms in collaboration with instructors, coaches, and choreographers.
In addition, we support alternative ways of representing research such as autoethnography, arts-based research, and performance ethnography.
The settings where members conduct their research include health clubs, fitness studios, dance classes and performances, sports clubs, teams, competitive settings, media sites, outdoors, and other places where (in)active bodies engage with physical culture.
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Allison, Pirkko, and Joe