In the final part of my three-part blog series, I consider performance in sport and the curious case of Caster Semenya – the female athlete who may have to take performance-reducing drugs in order to limit her performance. Continue reading
Category Archives: Comment
Success and the Olympic myth
In the second part of my three-part blog series, I discuss the Olympic myth, and the way we view nationhood and sporting success. Continue reading
Justin Gatlin and the ‘performance enhancing drugs’ debate
In the first instalment of a three-part blog series on the world of sport, I look at some of the issues surrounding the Olympic movement, and in particular the question of ‘performance enhancing drugs’. Continue reading
The biopolitics of warning signs
Every morning here at Lancaster I like to take a walk down to the lake to see the ducks.[1] I find it’s a great way to clear my head before I start my day of work.
But one morning last week my walk was disturbed by the appearance of a whole raft of new signs bolted on to the fences alongside the hockey pitches Continue reading
Dangerous dogs – animals condemned from birth
Following on from my last blog on humans, animals and the language of life and death, I thought I’d expand a little on the issues surrounding dangerous dogs, and that most outcast of all animals, the banned dangerous dog.
According to the UK government website, it is against the law to own certain types of dog. These are:
- Pit Bull Terrier
- Japanese Tosa
- Dogo Argentino
- Fila Brasiliero
It’s also against the law to:
- Sell a banned dog
- Abandon a banned dog
- Give away a banned dog
- Breed from a banned dog
If you are in possession of a banned dog, either knowingly or unknowingly, there is very little you can do. You cannot keep it, you cannot get rid of it – indeed the dog is condemned to death from its very birth. To explore the unique position held by the banned dangerous dog, we can conduct a simple thought experiment Continue reading