Punching Back

“[Punching Back!] contributes significantly to our understanding of intersectionality in sports and specifically how Muslim women challenge the image of sport as a secular practice. [I]n elevating the experiences of Muslim girls and women by centering their voices doesn’t just create cracks in the discourse – it shatters the monolithic perceptions, allowing for the emergence of more authentic and diverse narratives.”• Tijdsschrift voor Genderstudies

“The book makes a vital contribution to anthropology, broadening the scope of the anthropology of sports by demonstrating how combat sports intersect with issues of piety, gender, and integration, and enriching the anthropology of Islam by focusing on the embodied practices and secular-religious negotiations of Muslim women. In doing so, Rana effectively bridges these fields, illustrating the transformative potential of interdisciplinary scholarship in capturing the lived realities of marginalized communities.”• Anthropology Book Forum

“Jasmijn Rana has written an engaging, well-crafted and long-anticipated ethnography of the intersectionally gendered and racialized experience of Muslim Dutch women, drawn from her own apprenticeship in women-only kickboxing venues in the southern neighbourhoods of The Hague.”• Paul Silverstein, Reed College

“I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and feel that it makes a very important contribution to the fields of sport studies, martial arts studies, migration studies and the anthropology of Islam in Europe.”• Alex Channon, University of Brighton