Disability, Sport, and the Body in China

Abstract

The 1980s and 1990s witnessed the emergence of disability sport in China and a flurry of state-sanctioned propaganda on Chinese disabled people competing in national and international sporting events. This phenomenon and the discourses surrounding it warrant further inquiry. This paper analyzes a selection of state propaganda with a view to understanding dominant state constructions of disability and sport in contemporary China. This is done with reference to recent disability policy and legislation in China, the emergence of Western-style sport in China and the historical development of state discourses of body, nation, and sport.