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Self-defence as ideology: myth, masculinity, and the epistemology of ignorance

Bowman, Paul ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2264-7596 2025. Self-defence as ideology: myth, masculinity, and the epistemology of ignorance. Martial Arts Studies 18 , pp. 65-77. 10.18573/mas.284

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Abstract

This article poses the question of the relationship between self-defence and ideology. It situates self-defence in relation to several vignettes that seek to evoke salient aspects of contemporary masculinist ideology. In dialogue with Peter Katz’s recent work (especially his article published in this issue), I entertain Katz’s proposition that self-defence discourse may rest on an ‘epistemology of ignorance’ and may (like certain martial arts) tend towards fascism. Picking up this theme, I discuss two Hollywood ‘self-defence’ films, and propose that the proliferation of certain 'messages' about masculinity and self-defence constitutes a seam of ‘coercive mimeticism’, i.e., reiterated social ‘nudges’ that ‘tell us’ what we should ‘be like’. Connecting this back to Katz’s critique of the ever-present risk of emergent fascism, I problematise some of his worries, but conclude by reaffirming the need for critical vigilance about the ethics and politics that can emerge from (or ‘stick’ to) our practices.

Item Type: Article
Date Type: Published Online
Status: Published
Schools: Schools > Journalism, Media and Culture
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General)
B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BJ Ethics
G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GT Manners and customs
Publisher: Cardiff University Press
ISSN: 2057-5696
Related URLs:
Date of First Compliant Deposit: 23 September 2025
Date of Acceptance: 17 September 2025
Last Modified: 15 Oct 2025 12:45
URI: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/181296

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