ABSTRACT
Women in Afghanistan face multiple competing forces and authorities at local and global levels aiming to represent, transform and control what constitutes the Afghan woman. While there is an important body of scholarship showcasing Afghan women’s resistances and agency in challenging these forces, none of this research examines these processes in relation to their participation in sports. This is even though Afghan women have been involved in different international sporting events and that Afghan women in sport and exercise have a local history and tradition. This chapter will address this gap in the research by examining the experiences of a group of Afghan women who have trained in karate. It traces how they entered karate, how it has shaped their sense of themselves, as well as how other aspects of their lives impact on their ability to maintain the practice of karate. The study examines: a) the role of karate in how these women negotiate socio-political, religious and gendered structures, producing alternative representations of Afghan women for themselves, as well as local and global communities; and b) the processes that facilitate and hinder these women’s agency in the practice of karate.
