The political imperative of feminism

Physical cultural studies (PCS) scholars have been engaging in critical discussions about the ethics and politics of research, including special issues on these topics in Cultural Studies ↔ Critical Methodologies (2008) and Sociology of Sport Journal (2011). According to David Andrews and Michael Giardina (2008: 408), the goal of PCS is ‘the deployment and (re)-realization of a Cultural Studies that matters, one that aims to produce the types of knowledge through which it would be in a position to intervene in the (broader social) world and make a difference’ (emphasis original). Building on this, Michael Silk and David Andrews (2011: 14) argue that cultural research should be ‘about helping people to empower themselves, determining what research can do for them (not us), and placing knowledge at their disposal to use in whichever way they wish’. In this way, the work we produce has the capacity to contribute to cultural change and thus researchers need to consider how we do our work, what we publish, and what the potential effects and affects of this might be?