Anthropological perspectives about socio-cultural dimensions of the body: A contribution to the debate Physical Education / Corporal Education

Abstract

The intention of this paper is to present some concepts and perspectives from Anthropology and particularly from the Anthropology of the Body, focusing specifically on the concept of culture, on the articulation between nature and culture, and on the body as it is inseparable of socio-cultural contexts. Considering the perspectives of Corporal Education about the body and the practices around its education, we will explore the application of the analytical proposals of the Anthropology of the Body on the current debate between Physical Education and Corporal Education. It will be demonstrated that notions of culture and body are useful to comprehend the specificity of the Corporal Education perspective. As an example, we will refer to Marcel Maussï pioneer conception of "body techniques"