This episode delves into the racialised logic of physical education in twentieth-century South Africa and its entanglement with whiteness, nationalism and citizenship. Dr Anell Stacey Daries examines the history of the Physical Training Battalion (PTB), a state-led initiative aimed at rehabilitating impoverished white boys and men through militarised physical and moral training. Drawing on archival material and historical analysis, she explores how ideals of whiteness were inscribed onto the body through physical education, creating a template for the ideal citizen and reinforcing social separation and racial hierarchies. The conversation further reflects on the legacy of these practices and their continued resonance in institutions and masculinities today.
Dr Anell Stacey Daries is an NIHSS/SU Prestigious Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for the Study of the Afterlife of Violence and the Reparative Quest (AVReQ), Stellenbosch University. Her research explores the origins, trajectories, and social implications of sciences to do with the human body within the context of South African pedagogical histories. As an extension of her interests in the histories of education in South Africa, her research seeks to explore how notions of citizenship have been constituted and reinforced by educational institutions. Apart from her ongoing research interest, Dr Daries is the postgraduate programmes convenor at AVReQ and has experience as a lecturer, academic administrator and mentor. Through her role, she seeks to facilitate innovative ways of student engagement that foreground the student in the knowledge-building process.