![Uganda Cranes Football Fan](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Uganda_Cranes_Football_Fan.jpg)
Sociology of sport, alternately referred to as sports sociology, is a sub-discipline of
sociology
Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...
which focuses on sports as social phenomena. It is an area of study concerned with the relationship between sociology and
sports
Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...
, and also various socio-cultural structures, patterns, and organizations or groups involved with sport. This area of study discusses the positive impact sports have on individual people and
society
A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Socie ...
as a whole economically, financially, and socially. Sociology of sport attempts to view the actions and behavior of sports teams and their
players through the eyes of a sociologist.
Sport is regulated by
regulations
Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. For ...
and rules of behavior, spatial and time constraints, and has governing bodies. It is oriented towards a goal, which makes known both the winner and the loser. It is
competitive
Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indivi ...
, and ludic. All sports are culturally situated, intertwined with the
value systems
In ethics and social sciences, value denotes the degree of importance of something or action, with the aim of determining which actions are best to do or what way is best to live ( normative ethics in ethics), or to describe the significance of di ...
and power relations within the host society.
The emergence of the sociology of sport (though not the name itself) dates from the end of the 19th century, when first social psychological experiments dealing with group effects of competition and pace-making took place. Besides cultural anthropology and its interest in games in the human culture, one of the first efforts to think about sports in a more general way was Johan Huizinga's
Homo Ludens
''Homo Ludens'' is a book originally published in Dutch in 1938 by Dutch historian and cultural theorist Johan Huizinga.
It discusses the importance of the play element of culture and society. Huizinga suggests that play is primary to and a nece ...
or Thorstein Veblen's
Theory of the Leisure Class
''The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study of Institutions'' (1899), by Thorstein Veblen, is a treatise of economics and sociology, and a critique of conspicuous consumption as a function of social class and of consumerism, which are ...
. Homo Ludens discusses the importance of the element of play in culture and society. Huizinga suggests that
play
Play most commonly refers to:
* Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment
* Play (theatre), a work of drama
Play may refer also to:
Computers and technology
* Google Play, a digital content service
* Play Framework, a Java framework
* Pla ...
, specifically sport, is primary to and a necessary condition of the generation of
culture
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...
. These written works contributed to the rise of the study of sociology of sport. In 1970, sports sociology gained significant attention as an organized, legitimate field of study. The North American Society for the Sociology of Sport was formed in 1978 with the objective of studying the field. Its research outlet, the Sociology of Sport Journal, was formed in 1984.
Race and sports
1936 Berlin Games
When the 1936 Berlin Games was taking place there was a lot of controversy that was present during the time. This was due to the fact that the Nazis had a hatred for anyone who was not a Aryan, people with blonde hair, blue eyes, athletic and tall. So when the 1936 Berlin games came around people were very shocked that people of other races besides Aryans were able to participate. Moreover, the "Nazis were deeply offended by sporting contacts with "primitive" races and by competing against Negro athletes, in particular." Because of this, the leader of Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler, would go on to voice how he was in agreeance to the concept of segregation for interracial athletic competitions, because the people who had ancestors that "came from the jungle were seen as primitive because there physiques were stronger than those of civilized whites." Since the Nazis were unable to segregate the races they used their hatred for non Aryans ass fuel that allowed for them to use the 1936 Berlin Games as a way to assert dominance against the inferior races.
Historical racist theories
Sport has always been characterized by racial social relationships. The first scientific look at race came at the end of the 19th century, when count
Arthur de Gobineau
Joseph Arthur de Gobineau (; 14 July 1816 – 13 October 1882) was a French aristocrat who is best known for helping to legitimise racism by the use of scientific racist theory and "racial demography", and for developing the theory of the Ary ...
attempted to prove the physical and intellectual superiority of the white race. Darwin's theory of
natural selection
Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the heritable traits characteristic of a population over generations. Charle ...
was used in service of racism as well. After the athletic ability of black sportspeople was proven, the theory shifted toward physical ability at the expense of intellect.
![Arthur_de_Gobineau](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/Arthur_de_Gobineau.jpg)
Several racist theories were advanced. Black people were athletically able because animals ate all the slow ones. The myth of "
middle passage
The Middle Passage was the stage of the Atlantic slave trade in which millions of enslaved Africans were transported to the Americas as part of the triangular slave trade. Ships departed Europe for African markets with manufactured goods (first ...
" posited only the most athletically able of black people were able to survive the
slave trade
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
and
plantation
A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
work. The matriarchal theory suggested that
absent fathers made black people channel their anger into sports, with coaches becoming father figures. The mandigo theory assumed that the most physically potent black men were bred with the most physically potent black women. The psychological theory claimed that black athletes didn't have the intellectual capacity to assume leadership positions in sports. The "
dumb jock theory" saw black people enrolling on sport
scholarships
A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need.
Scholarshi ...
as they were unable to find success in academia. Lastly, the genetic theory suggested that black sportspeople had more of certain
muscle
Skeletal muscles (commonly referred to as muscles) are organs of the vertebrate muscular system and typically are attached by tendons to bones of a skeleton. The muscle cells of skeletal muscles are much longer than in the other types of muscl ...
fibers.
Current sociology
Young
African-Americans
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...
see sports as means of upward social mobility, which is denied to them through conventional employment. Race often interplays with
class
Class or The Class may refer to:
Common uses not otherwise categorized
* Class (biology), a taxonomic rank
* Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects
* Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...
,
gender
Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most cultures u ...
and
ethnicity
An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
to determine how accessible certain sports are, and how the athlete is perceived. For example,
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
is inaccessible to African-Americans less because of race, and more because of the high economic and
social capital
Social capital is "the networks of relationships among people who live and work in a particular society, enabling that society to function effectively". It involves the effective functioning of social groups through interpersonal relationships ...
needed.
Race is often connected to gender, with women having less opportunities to access and succeed in sports. Once a woman does succeed, her race is downplayed and her
sexuality
Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...
is accentuated. In certain cultures, especially Muslim ones, women are denied access to sports all-together.
In team sports, white players are often placed in central positions which demand
intelligence
Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can b ...
, decisiveness,
leadership
Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets view ...
, calmness and reliability. Black players are in turn place in positions that demand athletic ability,
physical strength
Physical strength is the measure of a human's exertion of force on physical objects. Increasing physical strength is the goal of strength training.
Overview
An individual's physical strength is determined by two factors: the cross-sectional are ...
,
speed
In everyday use and in kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a scalar quanti ...
and explosiveness. For example, white players in the role of
central midfielders and black players as
wingers.
Gender in Sports
Female participation in sports is influenced by
patriarchal ideologies surrounding the body, as well as ideas of
femininity
Femininity (also called womanliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with women and girls. Femininity can be understood as socially constructed, and there is also some evidence that some behaviors considered fe ...
and sexuality. Physical exertion inevitably leads to development of muscle, which is connected to
masculinity
Masculinity (also called manhood or manliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles associated with men and boys. Masculinity can be theoretically understood as socially constructed, and there is also evidence that some behaviors con ...
, which is in contrast to the idea of women as presented by modern
consumer culture. Women who enter sports early are more likely to challenge these stereotypes.
Television networks
A television network or television broadcaster is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay television providers. Until the mid-1 ...
and corporations focus on showcasing female athlete which are considered as attractive, which trivializes the achievements of these sportswomen. Women's sports are less covered by news than male sports. During sporting events, the camera focuses on specifically on attractive women. Allen Guttman argues that erotic component of sports cannot be rooted out, and as such remains one of its key components. Further, attractive male and female athletes will always be more sought after. The erotic component of sports should be researched, instead of being outright rejected.
Jennifer Hargreaves sees three political strategies for women in sports:
*
Co-option
Co-option (also co-optation, sometimes spelt coöption or coöptation) has two common meanings.
It may refer to the process of adding members to an elite group at the discretion of members of the body, usually to manage opposition and so maintai ...
: this strategy rejects conservative claims of biological differences and traditional gender values.
Liberal feminists believe women will gradually take over more roles within sport created and controlled by men.
*
Separatism
Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seeking greate ...
: position held by
radical feminists
Radical feminism is a perspective within feminism that calls for a radical re-ordering of society in which male supremacy is eliminated in all social and economic contexts, while recognizing that women's experiences are also affected by other ...
, which advocates
self-realization
Self-realization is an expression used in Western psychology, philosophy, and spirituality; and in Indian religions. In the Western understanding, it is the "fulfillment by oneself of the possibilities of one's character or personality" (see ...
through organization of sport events and
governing bodies independent of men. It would further increase the number of women competing in various sports.
*
Cooperation
Cooperation (written as co-operation in British English) is the process of groups of organisms working or acting together for common, mutual, or some underlying benefit, as opposed to working in competition for selfish benefit. Many animal a ...
: advocated by
socialist feminists
Socialist feminism rose in the 1960s and 1970s as an offshoot of the feminist movement and New Left that focuses upon the interconnectivity of the patriarchy and capitalism. However, the ways in which women's private, domestic, and public roles ...
who believe that cooperation between men and women would help to establish new sporting models that would negate gender differences. They recognize the diversity of struggles within modern capitalist societies, and aims at liberation from them. Unlike separatism it engages with men, and is more extensive than co-option. Co-operation posits that men aren't inherently oppressive, but are socialized into reproducing oppressive roles.
Theories in Sociology of Sport
Functionalism
Structural functionalist theories see society as a
complex system
A complex system is a system composed of many components which may interact with each other. Examples of complex systems are Earth's global climate, organisms, the human brain, infrastructure such as power grid, transportation or communication ...
whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability. Sport itself developed from religious ceremonies, which served to promote social and moral solidarity of the community.
Bromberger saw similarities between religious ceremonies and football matches. Matches are held in a particular spatial configuration, pitches are sacred and may not be polluted by pitch invaders, and lead to intense emotional states in fans. As with religious ceremonies, spectators are spatially distributed according to social distribution of power. Football seasons have a fixed calendar. Group roles on match day are ceremonial, with specially robed people performing intense ritual acts. As a church, football has an organizational network, from local to global levels. Matches have a sequential order that guides the actions of participants, from pre-match to post-match actions. Lastly, football rituals create a sense of
communitas
''Communitas'' is a Latin noun commonly referring either to an unstructured community in which people are equal, or to the very spirit of community. It also has special significance as a loanword in cultural anthropology and the social sciences. V ...
. Songs and choreography can be seen as an
immanent ceremony through which spectators transfer their strength to the team.
Accounting for the fact that not all actions support the existing societal structure,
Robert K. Merton
Robert King Merton (born Meyer Robert Schkolnick; July 4, 1910 – February 23, 2003) was an American sociologist who is considered a founding father of modern sociology, and a major contributor to the subfield of criminology. He served as th ...
saw five ways a person could react to the existing structure, which can be applied to sports as well: conformism, innovation, ritualism, withdrawal, and rebellion.
Erving Goffman
Erving Goffman (11 June 1922 – 19 November 1982) was a Canadian-born sociology, sociologist, Social psychology (sociology), social psychologist, and writer, considered by some "the most influential American sociologist of the twentieth ...
drew on Durkheim's conception of positive rituals, emphasizing the sacred status of an individual's "
face
The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may aff ...
". Positive (compliments, greetings, etc.) and negative (avoiding confrontation, apologies, etc.) rituals all serve to protect one's face. Sport journalists, for example, utilize both the positive and negative rituals to protect the face of the athlete they wish to maintain good relations with. Birrell furthermore posits sport events are ritual competitions in which athletes show their character through a mix of bravery, good play and integrity. A good showing serves to reinforce the good face of the athlete.
Interpretative sociology
Interpretative sociology explores the interrelations of social action to status, subjectivity, meaning, motives, identities and social change. It avoids explaining human groups through general laws and generalizations, preferring what
Max Weber
Maximilian Karl Emil Weber (; ; 21 April 186414 June 1920) was a German sociologist, historian, jurist and political economist, who is regarded as among the most important theorists of the development of modern Western society. His ideas profo ...
called ''verstehen'' - understanding and explaining individual motivations. It allows for a more complete understanding of diverse social meanings, symbols and roles within sport. Sport allows for creation of various social identities within the framework of a single game or match, which may change during it or throughout the course of multiple matches. Ones role as a sportsperson further affects how they act outside of a game or a match, i.e. acting out the role of a student athlete.
Weber introduced the notion of
rationalization. In modern society, relationship are organized to be as efficient as possible, based on technical knowledge, instead of moral and political principles. This creates bureaucracies that are efficient, impersonal and homogeneous. Allen Guttmann identified several key aspects of rationalization, which can likewise be applied to sports:
*
Secularization
In sociology, secularization (or secularisation) is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions. The ''secularization thesis'' expresses the ...
: modern sports have become independent of the
religious institutions
Religious activities generally need some infrastructure to be conducted. For this reason, there generally exist religion-supporting organizations, which are some form of organization that manages:
* the upkeep of places of worship, such as ...
from which they've evolved. In the pre-modern societies, sport and religious festivities were interconnected.
Religion
Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...
does hold some importance in sports, which can be seen in the pre-match rituals,
superstitions
A superstition is any belief or practice considered by non-practitioners to be irrational or supernatural, attributed to fate or magic, perceived supernatural influence, or fear of that which is unknown. It is commonly applied to beliefs and ...
and
prayer
Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified a ...
.
*
Meritocracy
Meritocracy (''merit'', from Latin , and ''-cracy'', from Ancient Greek 'strength, power') is the notion of a political system in which economic goods and/or political power are vested in individual people based on talent, effort, and achiev ...
: Sports promote fair competition, while pre-modern sports were exclusive. For example, the ancient
Olympics
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
excluded women and non-citizens. In contrast, modern sports offer opportunities to the disadvantaged, while fair judging/refereeing offer a
level playing field
In commerce, a level playing field is a concept about fairness, not that each player has an equal chance to succeed, but that they all play by the same set of rules.
In a game played on a playing field, such as rugby, one team would have an unfai ...
.
Social status
Social status is the level of social value a person is considered to possess. More specifically, it refers to the relative level of respect, honour, assumed competence, and deference accorded to people, groups, and organizations in a society. Stat ...
still plays a role in sport access and success. Richer countries will have more numerous and successful athletes, while the higher class will have access to better training and preparation.
* Specialization: modern sports, just like industry, has a complex division of labor. Athletes have a very specialized role inside of a team, which they must learn and perform, i.e. the kicker in
american football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
. This does not apply to all sports, as some value the ability to cover a number of roles as necessary.
* Rationalization: modern sports identify the most efficient way to achieve the desired goal. On the other hand, Giulianotti points out that sports are dominated by irrational actions.
* Bureaucratization: sports are controlled by organizations, committees and supervisory boards on local, continental and global levels. Leading positions are supposed to be given based on qualifications and experience, instead of charisma and nepotism. This isn't always the case, as powerful and charismatic personage are often put in charge of said organizations and committees.
* Quantification:
Statistics
Statistics (from German language, German: ''wikt:Statistik#German, Statistik'', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of ...
measure and compare modern sport events, often throughout multiple generations, reducing complex events to understandable information which can be easily grasped by the mass public. Statistics aren't the dominant factor in sport culture, with the socio-psychological and aesthetically pleasing factors still being the most important.
Neo Marxism
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
saw sports as rooted in its economic context, subject to
commodification
Within a capitalist economic system, commodification is the transformation of things such as goods, services, ideas, nature, personal information, people or animals into objects of trade or commodities.For animals"United Nations Commodity Trad ...
and
alienation. Neo Marxism sees sport as an ideological tool of the
bourgeoisie
The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...
, used to deceive the masses, in order to maintain control. As laborers, athletes give up their
labour power
Labour power (in german: Arbeitskraft; in french: force de travail) is a key concept used by Karl Marx in his critique of capitalist political economy. Marx distinguished between the capacity to do work, labour power, from the physical act of w ...
, and suffer the same fate as the alienated worker. Aside from supporting
industrial capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, private ...
, sport propagates heavy physical exertion and overworking as something positive.
Specialized division of labor force athletes to constantly perform the same movements, instead of playing creatively, experimentally and freely. The athlete if often under the illusion of being free, unaware of losing control over his labor power. Spectators themselves support the alienation of athletes' labor through their support and participation.
Marxist theories have been used to research the commodification of sport, for example, how players themselves become goods or promote them, the hyper-commercialization of sports during the 20th century, how clubs become like traditional firms, and how sport organizations become brands.
This approach has been criticized for their tendency toward raw
economism
Economism, sometimes spelled economicism, is a term referring to the distraction of working class political activism from a global political project to purely economic demands. The concept encompasses rewarding workers in socialism with money inc ...
, and supposing that all current social structures function to maintain the existing capitalist order. Supporting sport teams doesn't necessarily contradict the development of
class consciousness
In Marxism, class consciousness is the set of beliefs that a person holds regarding their social class or economic rank in society, the structure of their class, and their class interests. According to Karl Marx, it is an awareness that is key to ...
and participating in the
class struggle
Class conflict, also referred to as class struggle and class warfare, is the political tension and economic antagonism that exists in society because of socio-economic competition among the social classes or between rich and poor.
The forms ...
. Sport events have a number of examples of political protest. Neo Marxist analysis of sports often underestimate the aesthetic side of sport as well.
Cultural studies
Hegemony research describes the relations of power, as well as methods and techniques used by dominant groups to achieve ideological consent, without resorting to physical coercion. This ideological consent aims to make the exploratory social order seem natural, guaranteeing that the subordinate groups live out their subordination. A hegemony is always open to contestation, and thus counter-hegemonic movements may emerge.
The dominant groups may use sports to steer the use of the subordinate classes in the desired direction, or towards consumerism. However, the history of sport shows that colonized aren't necessarily manipulated through sport, while sport professionalization, and their own popular culture, helped the working class avoid mass subordination to bourgeois values.
Resistance is a key concept in cultural studies, which describes how subordinate groups engage in particular cultural practices to resist their domination. Resistance can be overt and deliberate or latent and unconscious, but always counters the norms and conventions of the dominant groups.
John Fiske differentiated between confrontational semiotics and avoidance.
Body and sports
Body became a subject of research in the 80s, with the work of
Michel Foucault
Paul-Michel Foucault (, ; ; 15 October 192625 June 1984) was a French philosopher, historian of ideas, writer, political activist, and literary critic. Foucault's theories primarily address the relationship between power and knowledge, and how ...
. For him, power is exercise in two different ways - through
biopower
Biopower (or ''biopouvoir'' in French) is a term coined by French scholar, philosopher, historian, and social theorist Michel Foucault. It relates to the practice of modern nation states and their regulation of their subjects through "an expl ...
and disciplinary power. Biopower centers on the political control of key biological aspects of the human body and whole populations, such as birth, reproduction, death, etc. Disciplinary power is exercised by means of the everyday disciplining of bodies, particularly through controlling time and space.
Eichberg sees three different types of bodies as highlighting the difference between disciplined and undisciplined bodies in sport: the
dialogic
Dialogic refers to the use of conversation or shared dialogue to explore the meaning of something. (This is as opposed to monologic which refers to one entity with all the information simply giving it to others without exploration and clarificatio ...
body, of different shapes and sizes, which are given to freeing oneself from control, and were the main type in pre-modern festivals and carnivals. The streamlined, improved body for sports accomplishment and competition. The healthy, straight body, which is shaped through disciplined regimes of
fitness. The grotesque body could be seen in pre-modern festivals and carnivals, i.e.
folk wrestling
A folk wrestling style is any traditional style of wrestling, which may or may not be codified as a modern sport. Most cultures have developed regional forms of grappling.
Europe
Britain
Traditionally wrestling has two main centres in Great ...
or
three-legged race
A three-legged race is a running event involving pairs of participants running with the left leg of one runner strapped to the right leg of another runner. The objective is for the partners to beat the other contestant pairs to the finish line.
T ...
. Modern sport pedagogy fluctuates between strictness and freedom, discipline and control, but the hierarchical relations of power and knowledge between the coach and athlete remain.
Segel claimed that the cultural raise of sports reflected the wider turn of modern society toward physical expression, which revived
militarism
Militarism is the belief or the desire of a government or a people that a state should maintain a strong military capability and to use it aggressively to expand national interests and/or values. It may also imply the glorification of the mili ...
,
war
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
and
fascism
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...
. Some representatives of the Frankfurt school, saw sport as a cult of the fascistic idea of the body. Tännsjö claimed that overly complimenting sport prowess reflects the fascistic elements in society, as it normalizes the ridicule of the weak and defeated.
Sports and injury
Prizefighting
Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...
allows research into the violent body. Prizefighters transform their bodily capital into prizefighting capital, for the purpose of winning fame, status and wealth. Their bodies are exploited by managers, of which they are aware, describing themselves alternatively as
prostitutes
Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...
,
slaves
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
and
stallions
A stallion is a male horse that has not been gelded (castrated).
Stallions follow the conformation and phenotype of their breed, but within that standard, the presence of hormones such as testosterone may give stallions a thicker, "cresty" neck ...
. Prizefighters accept the routine damage their bodies sustain, while at the same time fearing the effects of such damage. A frequent response to this is attempting to turn themselves into heroic
personalities
Personality psychology is a branch of psychology that examines personality and its variation among individuals. It aims to show how people are individually different due to psychological forces. Its areas of focus include:
* construction of a ...
. All contact sports have violence as part of strategy to a certain extent. Sports violence isn't individual, but is a product of socialization. Finn see
footballers
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...
as socializing into a culture of quasi-violence, which accentuates different values than those in regular life. It accepts violence as central to the game.
Physical injury
An injury is any physiological damage to living tissue caused by immediate physical stress. An injury can occur intentionally or unintentionally and may be caused by blunt trauma, penetrating trauma, burning, toxic exposure, asphyxiation, or o ...
of sportspeople can be seen through Beck's theory of a "
risk society
Risk society is the manner in which modern society organizes in response to risk. The term is closely associated with several key writers on modernity, in particular Ulrich Beck and Anthony Giddens. The term was coined in the 1980s and its popul ...
". A risk society is characterized by reflexive modernity, where members of society are well informed, critical and participate in the shaping of social structures. Unlike the routine risk of
traditional society In sociology, traditional society refers to a society characterized by an orientation to the past, not the future, with a predominant role for custom and habit. Such societies are marked by a lack of distinction between family and business, with the ...
, modern societies identify and minimize risks. Reflexive modernity in sports is evinced in isolation, minimizing and removal of causes of physical injury, while at the same time keeping the techniques and strategies particular to those sports. The lower classes have lower access to risk assessment and avoidance, and as such have a higher rate of participation in riskier sports.
Despite this, athletes are still thought to ignore and attempt to overcome pain, as overcoming pain is seen as brave and heroic. The capacity of the athlete to make the body seem invincible is an integral part of sports professionalism. This ignoring of pain is often a key part of some sport subcultures. Children are also often exposed to acute pain and injuries, i.e. gymnastics.
Emotion in Sports
Emotion has always been a huge part of sports as it can affect both athletes and the spectators themselves. Theorists and sociologists who study the impact of emotions in sports try to classify emotions into categories. Controversial, debated, and discussed intensely, these classifications are not definitive or set in stone. Emotion is very important in sports; athletes can use them to convey specific and significant information to their teammates and coaches and they can use emotion to send false signals to confuse their opponents. In addition to athletes using emotion to their advantage, emotion can also have a negative impact on athletes and their performances. For example, "stage fright," or nervousness and apprehension, can impact their performance in their sport, be it in a positive or negative way.
Depending on the level of sports, the level of emotion differs. In professional sports, emotions can be extremely intense because there are many more people in many distinct roles who are involved. There are the professional athletes, the coaching staff, the referees, the television crew, the commentators, and last but not least, the fans and spectators. There is much more public press, pressure, and self-pressure. It is extremely difficult to not get emotionally invested in sports; sports are very good at bringing out the worst qualities in people. There have been violent brawls when one team beats another in an intense game, loud fighting and yelling, and intense verbal arguments as well. Emotion is also highly contagious, especially if there are many emotional people in one space.
Binary Divisions Within Sports
There are many perspectives through which sport can be viewed. Therefore, very often some binary divisions are stressed, and many sports sociologists have shown that those divisions can create constructs within the ideologies of gender and affect the relationships between genders, as well as advocate or challenge social and racial class structures. Some of these binary divisions include: professional vs. amateur, mass vs. top-level, active vs. passive/spectator, men vs. women, sports vs. play (as an antithesis to organized and institutionalized activity).
Not only can binary divisions be seen within sports themselves, but they are also seen in the research of sports. The field of research has mainly been dominated by men because many believe that women's input or research is inauthentic compared to men's research. Some women researchers also feel as though they have to "earn" their place within the sports research field whereas men, for the most part, do not. While women researchers in this field do have to deal with gender-related issues when it comes to their research, it does not prevent them from being able to gather and understand the data they are collecting. Sports sociologists believe that women can have a unique perspective when gathering research on sports since they are able to more closely look at and understand the female fan side of sporting events.
Following feminist or other reflexive and tradition-breaking paradigms, sports are sometimes studied as contested activities, i.e. as activities in the center of various people/groups interests (connection of sports and gender, mass media, or state-politics). These perspectives provide people with different ways to think about sports and figure out the differences between the binary divisions. Sports have always been of tremendous impact to the world as a whole, as well as individual societies and the people within them. There are so many positive aspects to the world of sport, specifically, organized sport. Sports involve community values, attempting to establish and exercise good morals and ethics. Spectator sports provide watchers with an enlivenment through key societal values displayed in the "game". Becoming a fan teaches you a large variety of skills as well that are a very important part of everyday life in the office, at home, and on the go. Some of these skills include teamwork, leadership, creativity, and individuality.
See also
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History of sport
The history of sports extends back to the Ancient world. The physical activity that developed into sports had early links with ritual, warfare and entertainment.
Study of the history of sport can teach lessons about social changes and about the ...
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Women's sport
The participation of women and girls in sports, physical fitness and exercise, has been recorded to have existed throughout history. However, participation rates and activities vary in accordance with nation, era, geography, and stage of econ ...
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Anti-jock Movement
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Physical Cultural Studies {{no footnotes, date=September 2012
Physical cultural studies (PCS) encompasses the diversely focused field of scholarly work which is united by a commitment toward engaging varied dimensions or expressions of (in)active bodies or physical culture ( ...
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Harry Edwards
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Physical culture
Physical culture, also known as Body culture, is a health and strength training movement that originated during the 19th century in Germany, the UK and the US.
Origins
The physical culture movement in the United States during the 19th century ...
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Fitness culture
Fitness culture is a sociocultural phenomenon surrounding exercise and physical fitness. It is usually associated with ''gym culture'', as doing physical exercises in locations such as gyms, wellness centres and health clubs is a popular activity ...
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Sociology of the Body
Sociology of the body is a branch of sociology studying the representations and social uses of the human body in modern societies.
Early theories
According to Thomas Laqueur, prior to the eighteenth century the predominant model for a social un ...
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Fitness fashion
Fitness culture is a sociocultural phenomenon surrounding exercise and physical fitness. It is usually associated with ''gym culture'', as doing physical exercises in locations such as gyms, wellness centres and health clubs is a popular activity ...
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The Outsourced Self
''The Outsourced Self: Intimate Life in Market Times'', by Arlie Russell Hochschild
Arlie Russell Hochschild (; born January 15, 1940) is an American professor emeritus of sociology at the University of California, Berkeley and writer. Hochs ...
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Quantified self
The quantified self refers both to the cultural phenomenon of self-tracking with technology and to a community of users and makers of self-tracking tools who share an interest in "self-knowledge through numbers". Quantified self practices overlap ...
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Exercise trends
Worldwide there has been a large shift towards less physically demanding work and a more sedentary lifestyle. This has been accompanied by increasing use of mechanized transportation, automobile dependency, a greater prevalence of labor saving tec ...
References
Further reading
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External links
International Sociology of Sport AssociationNorth American Society for the Sociology of Sport''Sociology of Sport Journal''
{{Sport
Politics and sports
Sports culture