Jessica W. Chin

Jessica W. Chin is a professor in the Department of Kinesiology at San José State University (USA). She is a physical cultural studies scholar whose interdisciplinary research centers on the ways socio-cultural, political, and historical contexts intersect with participation experiences and the construction of identity through sports and physical activity. She critically interrogates questions of gender and racial ideology, power, and representation in physical culture, focusing in particular on the meanings and experiences of Asian-American sports participation, sports hazing and initiation rituals, sports in communist and post-communist settings, and Bike Party movements. She is a physical activity enthusiast and an amateur practitioner of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ).

Posts by Jessica W. Chin

Page by Page: Book Reviews, Reviews

Getting Fighters to Pick the Right Battles to Fight

McClearen argues that the marketing and branding success of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was in great part made possible by sociocultural, technological, and political conditions that provided an ideal landscape for realizing success in building the promotion. Fighting Visibilityis McClearen’s assessment of these conditions, showing how the UFC aligned itself with dominant ideological messages and neoliberal logic, as well as movements of identity activism, to create a powerful sports business enterprise.