Physical Culture and Sport in Soviet Society

From its very inception the Soviet state valued the merits and benefits of physical culture, which included not only sport but also health, hygiene, education, labour and defence. Physical culture propaganda was directed at the Soviet population, and even more particularly at young people, women and peasants, with the aim of transforming them into ideal citizens. By using physical culture and sport to assess social, cultural and political developments within the Soviet Union, this book provides a new addition to the historiography of the 1920s and 1930s as well as to general sports history studies.

Susan Grant is an Irish Research Council CARA Postdoctoral Mobility Fellow, University College Dublin and University of Toronto, and Alice Fisher Fellow, Barbara Bates Center for the History of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania.

1. Culture of the Body 2. The Genesis and Organization of Soviet Fizkul'tura 3. The Creation of an Ideal Young Citizen 4. The Quest for an Enlightened Female Citizen 5. The Pursuit of a Rural Civilized Citizen 6. Visualizing the New Soviet Citizenry 7. The New Soviet Citizen in Reality Conclusion Appendix 1: Biographical Index Appendix 2: Organizational and Institutional Index