Wieviel Technology ist im Laufschuh? – Ein Gespräch mit Karin Harrasser an der Schnittstelle von Kulturwissenschaft und Sportgeschichte

In this interview Karin Harrasser, author of a recently published book, entitled ‘The Body 2.0’, discusses the relationship between sports, technology, and notions of body enhancement. Focusing on how the Paralympic Games in London 2012 were staged and on the debate around the prostheses (cheetas) of sprinter Oscar Pistorius, Harrasser emphasizes her notion that sports produce ‘superhumans’ that challenge the established ideology of fairness which forms the base of classifying different bodies in sports. Moreover, Harrasser stresses the necessity of dialogue between Cultural Studies and Sports History when dealing with issues of bodies and technologies in sports.