The specialist responsible for providing prescribed exercise as a form of medicine to the South African population is the biokineticist. Biokinetics is a relatively new profession developed in response to empirical research supporting exercise as medicine. Although the role of the biokineticist is clearly defined by the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA), there is still confusion concerning this profession and its services. At present, the dominant medicalscientific and capitalist-economic discourses offer a narrowly mechanistic and instrumental understanding of the human body and its treatment, which contributes to this confusion. This dissertation proposes a new point of departure, enriched by historical and philosophical understandings of the human body, from which the biokineticist can begin to redefine him/herself. The study aims to shift biokinetics as a practice away from the reductionist and dehumanising influences of instrumentalist, scientific and neoliberal capitalist-economic discourses, and to restore to biokineticists, and their clients, the ability they need to interact as relatively autonomous individuals. The study draws on the ideas of Michel Foucault, specifically on his notions for ‘discipline’, ‘docility’, and ‘the care of the self’ (1991; 2005), as well as Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari and their ideas of ‘becoming’ and ‘rhizomatic thinking’ (1983; 1987); ultimately presenting a philosophically enriched, holistic representation of the human body. From here recommendations for best practice in contemporary biokinetics are suggested that encourage interactions and connections between the professional and his/her patients, which move beyond the mere physiological interpretations currently dominating health discourse.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nmmu/vital:26743 |
| Date | January 2016 |
| Creators | Greene, Mark A |
| Publisher | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Faculty of Arts |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, Masters, MA |
| Format | iv, 119 leaves, pdf |
| Rights | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University |
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