HANDBOOK

of
SPORTS STUDIES
 HANDBOOK
of
SPORTS STUDIES

Edited by
JAY COAKLEY AND ERIC DUNNING

SAGE Publications
London • Thousand Oaks • New Delhi
Editorial arrangement and Editors’ First published 2000
Introductions © Eric Dunning
and Jay Coakley 2000 Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of
Chapter 1 © John W. Loy research or private study, or criticism or review,
and Douglas Booth 2000 as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and
Chapter 2 © Bero Rigauer 2000 Patents Act, 1988, this publication may be
Chapter 3 © Jennifer Hargreaves reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form,
and Ian McDonald 2000 or by any means, only with the prior
Chapter 4 © Susan Birrell 2000 permission in writing of the publishers, or in
Chapter 5 © Peter Donnelly 2000 the case of reprographic reproduction, in
Chapter 6 © Patrick Murphy, accordance with the terms of licences issued by
Ken Sheard and Ivan Waddington 2000 the Copyright Licensing Agency. Inquiries
Chapter 7 © David L. Andrews 2000 concerning reproduction outside those terms
Chapter 8 © Kendall Blanchard 2000 should be sent to the publishers.
Chapter 9 © Marc Lavoie 2000
SAGE Publications Ltd
Chapter 10 © John Bale 2000
6 Bonhill Street
Chapter 11 © Nancy Struna 2000
London EC2A 4PU
Chapter 12 © William J. Morgan 2000
Chapter 13 © Barry Houlihan 2000 SAGE Publications Inc
Chapter 14 © Diane L. Gill 2000 2455 Teller Road
Chapter 15 © Allen Guttmann 2000 Thousand Oaks, California 91320
Chapter 16 © George Sage 2000
Chapter 17 © C. Roger Rees SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd
and Andrew W. Miracle, Jr. 2000 32, M-Block Market
Chapter 18 © Garry Whannel 2000 Greater Kailash - I
Chapter 19 © John Sugden New Delhi 110 048
and Alan Tomlinson 2000
Chapter 20 © Nancy Theberge 2000 British Library Cataloguing in Publication
Chapter 21 © Grant Jarvie 2000 data
Chapter 22 © Lincoln Allison 2000
A catalogue record for this book is available
Chapter 23 © Joseph Maguire 2000
from the British Library
Chapter 24 © D. Stanley Eitzen 2000
Chapter 25 © Kevin Young 2000 ISBN 0 8039 7552 X
Chapter 26 © Ivan Waddington 2000
Chapter 27 © Howard L. Nixon II 2000 Library of Congress catalog record available
Chapter 28 © Cheryl Cole 2000
Chapter 29 © Günther Lüschen 2000
Chapter 30 © Mary Duquin 2000
Chapter 31 © Ian Henry
and Eleni Theodoraki 2000
Chapter 32 © Robert Rinehart 2000
Chapter 33 © Denver J. Hendricks 2000
Chapter 34 © Chris Collins 2000
Chapter 35 © Gyöngyi S. Földesi 2000
Chapter 36 © Jacques DeFrance 2000
Chapter 37 © Klaus Heinemann 2000
Chapter 38 © Ian McDonald 2000
Chapter 39 © Koichi Kiku 2000
Chapter 40 © Burn-Jang Lim 2000
Chapter 41 © Joseph L. Arbena 2000
Chapter 42 © Kari Fasting
and Mari-Kristin Sisjord 2000
Chapter 43 © Salomé Marivoet Typeset by SIVA Math Setters, Chennai, India
and Claudia Pinheiro 2000 Printed in Great Britain by The Cromwell Press
Chapter 44 © Núria Puig 2000 Ltd, Trowbridge, Wiltshire
 CONTENTS

Contributors ix
Preface xix
General Introduction xxi

Part One Major Perspectives in the Sociology of Sport 1

Editors’ Introduction
1 Functionalism, Sport and Society 8
John W. Loy and Douglas Booth
2 Marxist Theories 28
Bero Rigauer
3 Cultural Studies and the Sociology of Sport 48
Jennifer Hargreaves and Ian McDonald
4 Feminist Theories for Sport 61
Susan Birrell
5 Interpretive Approaches to the Sociology of Sport 77
Peter Donnelly
6 Figurational Sociology and its Application to Sport 92
Patrick Murphy, Ken Sheard and Ivan Waddington
7 Posting up: French Post-structuralism and the Critical
Analysis of Contemporary Sporting Culture 106
David L. Andrews

Part Two Cross-Disciplinary Differences and Connections 139

Editors’ Introduction
8 The Anthropology of Sport 144
Kendall Blanchard
9 Economics and Sport 157
Marc Lavoie
10 Human Geography and the Study of Sport 171
John Bale
vi CONTENTS

11 Social History and Sport 187

Nancy L. Struna
12 The Philosophy of Sport: a Historical and Conceptual
Overview and a Conjecture Regarding its Future 204
William J. Morgan
13 Politics and Sport 213
Barrie Houlihan
14 Psychology and the Study of Sport 228
Diane L. Gill

Part Three Key Topics 241

Editors’ Introduction
15 The Development of Modern Sports 248
Allen Guttmann
16 Political Economy and Sport 260
George Sage
17 Education and Sport 277
C. Roger Rees and Andrew W. Miracle
18 Sport and the Media 291
Garry Whannel
19 Theorizing Sport, Social Class and Status 309
John Sugden and Alan Tomlinson
20 Gender and Sport 322
Nancy Theberge
21 Sport, Racism and Ethnicity 334
Grant Jarvie
22 Sport and Nationalism 344
Lincoln Allison
23 Sport and Globalization 356
Joseph Maguire
24 Social Control and Sport 370
D. Stanley Eitzen
25 Sport and Violence 382
Kevin Young
26 Sport and Health: a Sociological Perspective 408
Ivan Waddington
27 Sport and Disability 422
Howard L. Nixon II
 CONTENTS vii

28 Body Studies in the Sociology of Sport 439

Cheryl L. Cole
29 Doping in Sport as Deviant Behavior and its Social Control 461
Günther Lüschen
30 Sport and Emotions 477
Mary Duquin
31 Management, Organizations and Theory
in the Governance of Sport 490
Ian Henry and Eleni Theodoraki
32 Emerging Arriving Sport: Alternatives to Formal Sports 504
Robert E. Rinehart

Part Four Sport and Society Research around the Globe 521
Editors’ Introduction
33 Africa 522
Denver J. Hendricks
34 Australia and New Zealand 525
Chris Collins
35 Eastern Europe 530
Gyöngyi S. Földesi
36 France 534
Jacques DeFrance
37 Germany 536
Klaus Heinemann
38 India 539
Ian McDonald
39 Japan 542
Koichi Kiku
40 Korea (and South East Asia) 545
Burn-Jang Lim
41 Latin America 548
Joseph L. Arbena
42 Nordic Countries 551
Kari Fasting and Mari-Kristin Sisjord
43 Portugal 553
Salomé Marivoet and Claudia Pinheiro
44 Spain 555
Núria Puig
Index 559
 CONTRIBUTORS

Lincoln Allison is Reader in Politics and International Studies and Director of the
Warwick Centre for the Study of Sport in Society at the University of Warwick. He
was educated at Oxford University. He edited The Politics of Sport (1986), The
Changing Politics of Sport (1993) and Taking Sport Seriously (1998), and is the author
of other books and articles. His singly authored book Amateurism in Sport has gone
to press with the publisher Frank Cass.
David L. Andrews is an assistant professor of sport and leisure studies at the
University of Memphis, and a senior visiting research fellow at De Montfort
University. He received a PhD in Kinesiology from the University of Illinois at
Urbana–Champaign. He is an assistant editor of the Journal of Sport and Social
Issues, as well as being a member of the editorial board of the Sociology of Sport
Journal, International Sports Studies and Football Studies.
Joseph L. Arbena is a Professor of History at Clemson University, where he has
taught since 1965. He holds degrees in Latin American history and culture from
the George Washington University (1961) and the University of Virginia (1970).
He has compiled two annotated bibliographies of sports in Latin America
(Greenwood Press, 1989 and 1999), edited a collection of essays on Latin American
sports, and published some thirty articles on sports topics. He also served as edi-
tor of the Journal of Sport History (1993–6). Currently his research focuses on sport
and national identity in Latin America.
John Bale is Professor of Sports Geography at Keele University, UK. He received
his degrees from the University of London. During the past two decades he has
pioneered the geographical study of sports and has lectured in universities in
North America, Australia and Europe. His books include Sport, Space and the City
(1993), Landscapes of Modern Sport (1994), and Kenyan Running: Movement Culture,
Geography and Global Change (1996, co-authored with Joe Sang).
Susan Birrell is Chair of the Department of Health, Leisure, and Sport Studies at
the University of Iowa and is affiliated with both the American Studies Program
and the Women’s Studies Program. She is also co-editor, with Cheryl Cole, of
Women, Sport and Culture (1994). Her latest book, Reading Sport: Critical Essays on
Power and Representation, co-edited with Mary McDonald, is to be published by
Northeastern University Press (2000). Her current research focuses on the cultural
meanings of Mt Everest.
Kendall Blanchard is President and Professor of Anthropology at Fort Lewis
College in Colorado. He received a PhD in anthropology from Southern
Methodist University in 1971. He is a past president of the Association for the
x CONTRIBUTORS

Study of Play. He has co-authored (with Alyce Cheska) The Anthropology of Sport:
An Introduction (1984). He wrote a single-author version of that book that was
published in 1995. Other books that have sport and play themes include The
Serious Side of Leisure: The Mississippi Choctaws at Play (1981), and The Many Faces
of Play (1986).

Douglas Booth teaches courses in sports history and sports policy at the
University of Otago, New Zealand. He is the author of The Race Game: Sport and
Politics in South Africa (1998) and serves on the editorial boards of several journals,
including Sporting Traditions and the Journal of Sport History.

Jay Coakley is a Professor of Sociology at the University of Colorado in Colorado

Springs. He received his PhD in Sociology from the University of Notre Dame in
1972. He served as editor of the Sociology of Sport Journal (1984–9) and as President
of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport (1992) and the Sport
Sociology Academy of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education,
Recreation and Dance (1983–4). He is author of Sport in Society: Issues and
Controversies (2001, 7th edition) and co-editor (with P. Donnelly) of Inside Sports
(1999).

Cheryl Cole is an Associate Professor of Kinesiology, Sociology and Women’s

Studies at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She holds PhD degrees
in Sport Studies from USC and in the Sociology of Culture/Women’s Studies from
the University of Iowa. Her research focuses on the relations among sport, the
visualization of deviant bodies and national identity in post-war America. She co-
edited Women, Sport and Culture with S. Birrell (1994), is co-editor of the State
University of New York book series ‘Sport, Culture, and Social Relations’ and is
editor of the Journal of Sport and Social Issues.

Chris Collins is a Senior Fellow at Massey University, New Zealand, and under-
took his undergraduate and postgraduate studies at Otago and Victoria
Universities in New Zealand. At the time of writing he was Director of Sport and
Recreation at Massey University and headed the university’s academic pro-
gramme in Sport Management and Coaching, delivered from the Department of
Management Systems. His teaching responsibilites lie primarily in the area of
sport in society and, to a lesser extent, sport management. His research interests
are related to sport and religion, sport and politics and sport and social mobility.
He is co-editor of Sport Management in New Zealand (1994), and Sport Business
Management in New Zealand (1999) and is editor of Sport in New Zealand Society
(2000). He has recently moved into a senior management role in the University.

Jacques DeFrance was born in Paris in 1948 and prepared his ‘Doctorat’ (PhD) on
‘The Genesis of Modern Physical Education in France (1770–1914)’ under the
supervision of Pierre Bourdieu at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Paris. He
has studied alcohol and drug use, environmental conflicts and comparative water
policies in England, France and Germany. He is currently Professeur des
Universités at the University of Paris X-Nanterre in the Department of Sports
Sciences and director of the Laboratory on Sport and Culture. He has published
 CONTRIBUTORS xi

on the social history of gymnastics and sports, the divisions among organizations
in athletics in the 1980s, the role of the state in sports since the 1930s (with Jean
Harvey and Rob Beamish), and on the use of the sociologies of Pierre Bourdieu
and Norbert Elias in sports studies.

Peter Donnelly is a Professor in the Faculty of Physical Education and Health at

the University of Toronto. He received his PhD in Sport Studies from the
University of Massachusetts in 1980. He has served in various offices for profes-
sional organizations in the sociology of sport, and is currently Director of the
Centre for Sport Policy Studies at the University of Toronto. He edited the
Sociology of Sport Journal from 1990 to 1994, is co-editor (with N. Theberge) of Sport
and the Sociological Imagination, editor of Taking Sport Seriously, and co-editor (with
J. Coakley) of Inside Sports.

Eric Dunning is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Leicester

and Visiting Professor of Sociology at University College Dublin. He studied soci-
ology under Norbert Elias as an undergraduate and as a postgraduate student,
later coming to write two books and several articles with him. His main research
interest is in sport and violence, and his latest book, Sport Matters: Sociological
Studies of Sport, Violence and Civilization, was published by Routledge (1999).

Mary Duquin is an Associate Professor at the University of Pittsburgh. She

received a PhD in Education from Stanford University in 1975. She has served as
Chair of the Sport Sociology Academy and as President of the North American
Society for the Sociology of Sport. Her research interests include the psycho-
social and philosophical aspects of sport, health and the body in culture. She has
written numerous articles on the importance of implementing an ethic of care in
sport.

D. Stanley Eitzen is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Colorado State University.

He has an AB from Bethel College, an MS in social science from Emporia State
University, and an MA and PhD in sociology from the University of Kansas. He is
the author or editor of 16 books, including three on sport: Sociology of North
American Sport (6th edition) with G. H. Sage, Sport in Contemporary Society (5th edi-
tion), and Fair and Foul: Beyond the Myths and Paradoxes of Sport. He is a former
president of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport, former editor
of the Social Science Journal, and was recipient of the John N. Stern Distinguished
Professorship at Colorado State University.

Kari Fasting is a professor at the Department of Social Science of the Norwegian

University of Sport and Physical Education in Oslo, Norway. She lectures in soci-
ology of sport, feminist theory of science and research methods. Her area of
research is sociological and social psychological aspects of gender and sport. She
has held many administrative positions, nationally and internationally. She was
the first rector (president/vice-chancellor) of her university from 1989 to 1992, the
first president of the Norwegian Society for Sport Research (1983–9), president of
the International Sociology of Sport Association (1992–5), and is currently the
vice-president of the executive board of WomenSport International.
xii CONTRIBUTORS

Gyöngyi S. Földesi is Professor of Sociology at the Hungarian University of

Physical Education in Budapest. She received her PhD in Sociology from the
University of Physical Education in Warsaw in 1982 and in Physical Education
from the University of Physical Education in Budapest in 1983. She served as Vice
President of the International Committee for Sociology of Sport (now ISSA) from
1984 to 1992 and as Associate Editor of the International Review for the Sociology of
Sport from 1988 to 1996. She has held various offices in Sport Science bodies, and
she is the author of five books (1983, 1983, 1984, 1994, 1999) and the editor of three
others (1985, 1994, 1996).
Diane L. Gill is a professor and head of the Department of Exercise and Sport
Science at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She received her PhD
from the University of Illinois in 1976 and was on the faculty at the Universities of
Waterloo and Iowa before moving to UNCG in 1987. She is a past-president of the
North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity, and
has served as president of Division 47 (Exercise and Sport Psychology) of the
American Psychological Association. She is a past-editor of the Journal of Sport &
Exercise Psychology, author of several research articles and chapters, and is prepar-
ing a revised book, Psychological Dynamics of Sport and Exercise.
Allen Guttmann teaches at Amherst College and is President-Elect of the North
American Society for Sport History. Of the dozen books he has written or trans-
lated on the history of sports, the best known are From Ritual to Record (1978) and
Women’s Sports (1991). The most recent titles are Games and Empires (1994) and The
Erotic in Sports (1996). He is working on a history of Japanese sports and on a
forthcoming International Encyclopedia of Women’s Sports.

Jennifer Hargreaves is Professor of Sport Sociology at Brunel University. She

edited Sport, Culture and Ideology (1982), and is the author of Sporting Females:
Critical Issues in the History and Sociology of Women’s Sports (1994) and Heroines of
Sport: The Politics of Differance and Identity (2000). She has worked as a guest
professor in Germany and Hong Kong and is on the editorial boards of four inter-
national journals.
Klaus Heinemann is Professor of Sociology at the University of Hamburg, having
previously taught at the University of Trier. Besides having published, among
other things, studies of youth unemployment, he has researched and written
extensively on sports organizations and he is one of the pioneers of the study of
the economics of sport. He was Editor-in-Chief of the International Review for the
Sociology of Sport from 1988 to 1997 and is a leading figure in the comparative
study of sport in Western Europe.
Denver J. Hendricks was born in Cape Town, South Africa and completed most
of his schooling in the Port Elizabeth area of the Eastern Cape Province. He
obtained a BA(Honours) degree in Physical Education from Rhodes University,
majoring in the Sociology of Sport. He was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship and
proceeded to the University of California at Berkeley. He obtained a Masters
Degree from Berkeley, focusing on the sociology of sport and issues of race and
 CONTRIBUTORS xiii

sport in particular. Upon returning to South Africa, he took up a teaching position

at the University of the Western Cape, eventually becoming Professor and Head
of the Department of Human Movement Studies there. He was subsequently
appointed Deputy Dean in the Faculty of Arts at the University of the Western
Cape and later as Dean of Students at the University of Port Elizabeth.

Ian Henry is Professor of Recreation Management and Director of the Institute of

Sport and Leisure Policy at Loughborough University. His research interests focus
on the analysis of leisure policy at the urban, national and transnational levels. His
publications include The Politics of Leisure Policy (Macmillan) and a series of co-
edited books on European Leisure Studies and Policy (Routledge and CAB
International) including Leisure Policies in Europe and Leisure Research in Europe:
Methods and Traditions.

Barrie Houlihan is Professor of Sport Policy at Loughborough University. He

received his PhD from the University of Salford in 1984. He has written widely on
aspects of sport policy and politics and is the author of Sport and International
Politics (1994), Sport, Policy and Politics: a Comparative Analysis (1997) and Dying to
Win: Doping in Sport and the Development of Anti-Doping Policy (1999). His recent
research interests concern sports development activity and the development of
policy to counteract doping in sport.

Grant Jarvie is Professor of Sports Studies at the University of Stirling in Scotland.

He received his PhD in Sociology from the University of Leicester in 1988. He is
past convenor of the British Sociological Association’s Sport Study Group and has
served as President of the British Society of Sports History. He is author of Highland
Games: the Making of the Myth (1991); co-author (with J. Maguire) of Sport and Leisure
in Social Thought (1994); and editor of Scottish Sport in the Making of a Nation (1994),
Sport in the Making of Celtic Cultures (1999) and Sport, Scotland and the Scots (2000).

Koichi Kiku is Associate Professor of Sport Sociology and Sport Pedagogy at the
Nara Women’s University, Japan. He received his PhD in Pedagogy from the
Tsukuba University in 1988. He was Director of the Japanese Society of Sport
Sociology from 1995 to 1998. He is the author of The Historical Sociology of
Professional Sport in Modern Japan (1993), and the co-author of The Sociology of Life-
Long Sport (1997) and Changing Contemporary Society and Sport (1998).

Marc Lavoie is Professor of Economics at the University of Ottawa. He received

his PhD from the University of Paris-1 (Panthéon-Sorbonne) in 1979. A specialist
of growth theory and monetary theory, he has published articles on discrimina-
tion and salary determination in sport and two books on ice hockey, Avantage
numérique: l’argent et la Ligue Nationale de Hockey (1997) and Désavantage numérique:
les francophones dans la LNH (1998).

Burn-Jang Lim is Professor of Sport Sociology at the Department of Physical

Education, College of Education, Seoul National University, Korea. He received a
PhD in Educational Sociology from Hanyang University in 1986. He has served as
an Executive Board member of the International Sociology of Sport Association
xiv CONTRIBUTORS

(1992–5), President of the Korean Society for Sociology of Sport (1985–96),

President of the Korean Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and
Dance (1997–8), Executive Board member of the Korean Olympic Committee
(1990–4), and a Board member of the Korean Sport Council (1997–9). He has
edited the Bulletin of ISSA (1992–9), is the author of Sociology of Sport (1994),
Swimming (1979), Advanced Swimming (1982), Gymnastics (1982), and is co-author
of Hockey (1982) and Skiing (1998).

John Loy is Professor of Sport and Leisure Studies at the University of Otago,
New Zealand. He is past president of the North American Society for the
Sociology of Sport and past vice president of the International Sociology of Sport
Association. He is the co-author of 10 books, and has published more than 100
papers, including articles in the American Sociological Review, the British Journal of
Sociology, Sociology of Work and Occupations, Urban Life, Quest, Research Quarterly for
Exercise and Sport, and Sport Science Review.

Günther Lüschen, PhD, HonD, is Professor of Sociology, University of Alabama

at Birmingham. He is also Professor Emeritus of the Universities of Düsseldorf
and Illinois. In 1981 he edited (with George Sage) the Handbook of Social Science of
Sport. His most recent publications include Das Moralische in der Soziologie (1998),
Sport and Public Health in America and Europe (1998), Sportpolitik (1996 with
A. Rütten) and Health Systems in the European Union (1995).

Joseph Maguire is Professor of the Sociology of Sport at Loughborough Univer-

sity, England. He received a BEd (Hons) from the University of London (1979) and
a PhD in Sociology from Leicester University in 1985. He has served on the edi-
torial boards of the Sociology of Sport Journal and the International Review for the
Sociology of Sport, and is co-editor and author of several books including Sport and
Leisure in Social Thought (1994, with G. Jarvie) and Global Sport: Identities, Societies
and Civilizations (1999). He is currently President of the International Sociology of
Sport Association.

Salomé Marivoet is a Lecturer at the Technical University of Lisbon where she

teaches the Sociology of Sport. She graduated in 1985, earned a Masters Degree in
Sociology in 1994 at the Technical University of Lisbon and she is currently work-
ing on her PhD on ‘Sports Ethics: A Sociological Analysis of Value-Orientations
Towards Action in Portugal (1974–2000)’ under the supervision of Eric Dunning.
Her research has been on violence, performance and sports habits. In addition to
journal articles and reviews, she has published Aspectos Sociológicos do Desporto
(1998; Sociological Aspects of Sport).

Ian McDonald is based in the Chelsea School at the University of Brighton,

where he lectures and researches in sport and policy. He is co-author of Anyone
for Cricket? Equal Opportunities and Changing Cricket Cultures in Essex and East
London (1998), co-editor of The Production and Consumption of Sport Cultures (1999)
and Sport, Race and British Society (2000). He also studies the politics of sporting
nationalism in South Asia with particular reference to Hindu nationalism in
India.
 CONTRIBUTORS xv

Andrew Miracle is professor and chair of the Department of Health Sciences at

Cleveland State University. He received a PhD in Anthropology from the
University of Florida in 1976. He has served as president of the Association for
the Study of Play and of the Southern Anthropological Society. He has published
eight books, including Lessons of the Locker Room: the Myth of School Sport (1994,
with C. Roger Rees).

William Morgan is a professor of cultural studies at the University of Tennessee.

He received his PhD from the University of Minnesota in 1976. He has been edi-
tor of the Journal of the Philosophy of Sport since 1994, and is a long-standing mem-
ber of its editorial board. He is the author of Leftist Theories of Sport: a Critique and
Reconstruction (1994), and co-editor, with Klaus Meier, of Philosophic Inquiry in
Sport (1988). He has authored numerous articles in the philosophy and social
theory of sport.

Patrick Murphy graduated from the University of Leicester in 1972. He is cur-

rently a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Leicester and a Director of the University’s
Centre for Research into Sport and Society. His main research interests are football
hooliganism, the management and administration of association football, and
sports policy in general. He is co-author of The Roots of Football Hooliganism,
Hooligans Abroad and Football on Trial. He is also the editor of the Singer and
Friedlander Review.

Howard L. Nixon II is Professor of Sociology and Chair of the Department of

Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice at Towson University. He received
his PhD in Sociology from the University of Pittsburgh in 1971. He is the author
of a number of articles and three books related to sport: Sport and Social
Organization (1976), Sport and the American Dream (1984), and (with James Frey) A
Sociology of Sport (1996). He has also taught courses and published in other areas
of sociology, including organizations, organizational deviance, small groups, the
family, disability and society, and structural analysis.

Claudia Pinheiro is a Lecturer in the Faculty of Sports Sciences and Physical

Education, University of Coimbra where she teaches the Sociology of Sport. She
graduated in 1990 from the Faculty of Sports Sciences and Physical Education,
University of Porto, earned an MA in the Sociology of Sport at the University of
Leicester in 1993, and she is currently working on her PhD. Her main academic
interests are in women’s sports and gender relations.

Núria Puig is Professor of the Sociology of Sport at the Institut Nacional

d’Educació Fisica de Catalunya (INEF-Catalunya), of the Universitat de
Barcelona, in Spain. She earned her degree in Modern History at the Universitat
de Barcelona in 1973, her PhD in Sociology at the Université de Paris VII in 1980
and her PhD in the Philosophy and Science of Education at the Universitat de
Barcelona in 1993. Her main research areas related to sports are socialization,
sports policy, sport organizations and urban problems. Her last two books are
Joves i Esport (Youth and Sport; Barcelona, 1996) and Sociología del Deporte (Sociology
of Sport, Madrid, 1998; co-edited with M.G. Ferrando and F. Lagardera).
xvi CONTRIBUTORS

C. Roger Rees is a professor in the Department of Health Studies, Physical

Education and Human Performance Science at Adelphi University on Long
Island, NY. He received his PhD in the sociology of sport and physical education
from the University of Maryland in 1978. He has published several books includ-
ing (with A. Miracle) Sport and Social Theory (1986), and Lessons of the Locker Room:
the Myth of School Sports (1994), and numerous articles in sociology, sport and
physical education journals.

Bero Rigauer studied Sociology at the Main Institute for Social Research in
Frankfurt, Germany, and Sociology and Physical Education at the University of
Frankfurt. He is a Professor in the Department of Sportwissenschaft (Sports
Sciences) at the University of Oldenburg, Germany, where he teaches courses in
the Sociology of Sport, the Social and Cultural History of Sport, the General
Theory of Sport, and the Methodology of the Sciences. He is an ‘elder sportsman’
who enjoys skiing, basketball, volleyball and Chinese pa tuan chin.

Robert Rinehart is with California State University, San Bernardino. He earned

his PhD in sport sociology from the University of Illinois. His major research inter-
ests are in qualitative methods of enquiry, alternative sport forms and sport as
performance. He is the author of the book Players All: Performances in Contemporary
Sport (1998), and he has published articles in sport-related journals in history, soci-
ology, philosophy, and cultural studies. His most recent project is as co-editor
(with Synthia Sydnor) of To the Extreme: Alternative Sport, Inside and Out (State
University of New York Press).

George Sage is a professor emeritus of Sociology and Kinesiology at the Univer-

sity of Northern Colorado. He received BA and MA degrees from the University
of Northern Colorado, and an EdD from UCLA. He has served as President of the
North American Society for the Sociology of Sport and Vice President of the
Executive Board of the International Sociology of Sport Association. He edited
three editions of Sport and American Society, authored two editions of Power and
Ideology in American Sport: a Critical Perspective, and co-authored (with D.S. Eitzen)
six editions of Sociology of North American Sport.

Ken Sheard obtained his BA and MPhil degrees from the University of Leicester
and his PhD from the Council for National Academic Awards. Having taught at
the University of Evansville (English campus) and Anglia Polytechnic University,
he is now Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Leicester and a Director of the
University’s Centre for Research into Sport and Society. His main research areas
have been the development of rugby, the development of boxing and the emer-
gence of bird-watching as a sport-like activity.

Mari-Kristin Sisjord holds a PhD in Sport Sociology from the Norwegian

University of Sport and Physical Education. The title of her thesis was ‘Sport and
Youth Culture’. She is currently an Associate Professor in Sport Sociology at the
same university and a Member of the Executive Board of the International
Sociology of Sport Association. Her main research fields are youth sports and
gender.
 CONTRIBUTORS xvii

Nancy Struna is a professor of American Studies at the University of Maryland,

College Park. She has published widely on the social history of sport and leisure
in early America, including People of Prowess: Sport, Leisure and Labor in Early
Anglo-America (1996). Dr Struna is currently doing research on the social history
of taverns and tavern life and on the transformation of ordinary life in the United
States during the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. She is also a past-
president of the North American Society for Sport History.

John Sugden is Professor of the Sociology of Sport, Chelsea School Research

Centre, University of Brighton, England. He studied politics and sociology for his
BA and took MA and PhD degrees in the Sociology of Sport at the University of
Connecticut. He has written on sport politics and comparative aspects of sport
cultures. His most recent books, both co-authored with A. Tomlinson, are FIFA and
the Contest for World Football – Who Rules the Peoples’ Game (1998) and Great Balls of
Fire – How Big Money is Hijacking World Football (1999). He also wrote Boxing and
Society (1996) and, with Alan Bairner, Sport, Sectarianism and Society in a Divided
Ireland (1993).

Nancy Theberge is a professor at the University of Waterloo in Canada, where she

holds a joint appointment in the Departments of Kinesiology and Sociology. She
received a PhD in Sociology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in
1977. She has served on the editorial board of the Sociology of Sport Journal and has
published articles in a variety of journals, including the Sociology of Sport Journal,
Gender and Society and Social Problems. She is co-editor (with Peter Donnelly) of
Sport and the Sociological Imagination and author of Higher Goals: Women’s Ice Hockey
and the Politics of Gender.

Eleni Theodoraki is Lecturer in Sport Management and a member of the Institute

of Sport and Leisure Policy at Loughborough University, England. Her publica-
tions include chapters on organizational analysis of sport-governing bodies in
edited books by K. Heinemann and A. Rütten, and the Greek Association of Sport
Managers. Her current research interests focus on managerial rationality and the
decision-making process.

Alan Tomlinson is Professor of Sport and Leisure Studies, Chelsea School

Research Centre, University of Brighton, England. He studied Humanities and
Sociology for his BA at the University of Kent, and took Masters and Doctoral
degrees in Sociological Studies at the University of Sussex. He has written on the
social history and sociology of sport, leisure and consumption. His most recent
books include (both co-authored with J. Sugden) FIFA and the Contest for World
Football – Who Rules the Peoples’ Game (1998) and Great Balls of Fire – How Big Money
is Hijacking World Football (1999). He wrote The Game’s Up – Essays in the Cultural
Analysis of Sport, Leisure and Popular Culture (1999) and Sport and Leisure Cultures –
Local and Global Dimensions is due to appear in 2001. He is Editor of the
International Review for the Sociology of Sport.

Ivan Waddington is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Leicester

and a Director of the University’s Centre for Research into Sport and Society. His
xviii CONTRIBUTORS

major research interests concern the relationships between sport and health, and
he authored Sport, Health and Drugs (2000). He has also studied the roles of club
doctor and club physiotherapist in English professional football (soccer) for the
Professional Footballers Association.

Garry Whannel is Professor of Television Cultures at the University of Luton and

was a Co-Director of the Centre for Sport Development Research. He has a BA in
Media Studies and a PhD in Cultural Studies. He serves on the editorial boards of
Leisure Studies and The Journal of Sport and Social Issues. He is the author of Fields in
Vision: Television Sport and Cultural Transformation (1992), Blowing the Whistle: the
Politics of Sport (1983) and co-author (with J. Horne and A. Tomlinson) of
Understanding Sport (1999).

Kevin Young is Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Physical Education,

Sport Science and Recreation Management at Loughborough University, UK.
Kevin has published on a variety of sports-related issues and is the co-editor (with
Philip White) of Sport and Gender in Canada (1999). He has served terms on the edi-
torial boards of the Sociology of Sport Journal and Avante, and on the Executive
Board of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport. He is currently
Vice President of the International Sociology of Sport Association.
 PREFACE

We intend this Handbook to be a ‘user-friendly’ collection that will meet the

interests of a diverse set of readers from many countries. We expect that most
readers will have a background in sociology but others will have backgrounds pri-
marily in psychology, social and economic history, politics, philosophy, or the
geography of sport. The content of the chapters has been aimed at undergraduate
and postgraduate students as well as their teachers. We asked the authors to
define fully and clearly technical and philosophical terms so as to make their
meanings accessible to a diverse readership.
Although the content of many chapters draws heavily on research done in
Western Europe and North America, the authors were careful to avoid ethnocen-
trism in their chapters, and they made concerted attempts, when possible, to draw
on materials from non-North American and non-West European parts of the
world.
We have divided the book into four parts:

1 Major perspectives in the sociology of sport

2 Cross-disciplinary differences and connections
3 Key topics
4 Sport and society research around the globe.

The chapters in the first section outline key features of seven major theoretical per-
spectives used in the sociology of sport. The authors pay special attention to the
emergence and development of the perspectives, especially in terms of how they
have been used in sociological analyses of sport. The authors also include com-
prehensive bibliographies of general sources and relevant work that provide
insights into the perspectives and examples of how they have been used in the
sociology of sport.
The chapters in Part Two provide state-of-the-art summaries of the disciplines
in which analyses of sport are most closely related to work in the sociology of
sport. The authors outline the major claims about the special value of their fields
and then show how their disciplines have linked with, or failed to link with, other
disciplines in connection with work on sport and society. The bibliographies pre-
sented in the chapters are designed to enable readers to have immediate access to
key work in the seven disciplines.
Part Three contains discussions of theory and research on 18 key topics in the
sociology of sport. We selected topics on the basis of three criteria: first, the
amount of interest and attention received since the publication of the last (1981)
Handbook; secondly, the centrality of the topic in the sociology of sport; and
thirdly, our sense that the topic will become increasingly important in future work
xx PREFACE

in the field. Authors outline the major issues and controversies related to the
topics, and then provide bibliographies that enable readers to identify the range
of research that deals with the topics.
Finally, the 12 chapters in Part Four provide brief summaries of sport and
society research in those countries or regions of the world where sociological work
is being done. These chapters are intended as overviews rather than detailed
accounts of the history, focus and current status of the field. They are meant to
provide a general sense of the global scope of the sociology of sport and the range
of scholars, programmes and research that is included in the field. It is also our
hope that they may play a small part in reducing the North American and Western
European dominance that has characterized sport and society research and
writing up to now.
The overall goal of the Handbook is to enable new as well as experienced
scholars to grasp the scope and importance of theory and research on sport and
society.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We thank each of the contributors to this volume. We asked for, received and
appreciated their patience as we pulled together this collection of 44 chapters. We
also thank the Sociology Department at the University of Colorado at Colorado
Springs and the Centre for Research into Sport and Society at the University of
Leicester, especially Sue Smith and Lisa Heggs, for their support as we called,
faxed, mailed and e-mailed back and forth between Colorado Springs and
Leicester. Dominic Malcolm of the CRSS was also very helpful regarding biblio-
graphic matters and even more so in helping Eric Dunning begin to come to grips
with computers and information technology.
Finally, we note that, where possible, our names appear side-by-side to denote
equal roles and effort in editing this volume. Although Eric Dunning and Chris
Rojek originally conceived and proposed the idea of the Handbook, both editors
shaped its table of contents, recruited authors, edited chapter manuscripts, wrote
introductions, checked the page proofs word by word, and handled all the other
administrative chores associated with such an undertaking. Therefore, we have
chosen to have our names appear in alphabetical order to emphasize our shared
effort.

J.C. E.D.
 GENERAL INTRODUCTION

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, that can be used readily as a teaching and
the study of sport and society in various forms research resource.
and from various perspectives has become a 5 Serve as a guide for teachers who wish to
rapidly expanding field of scholarly endeavour establish new curricula and develop
across the world. Our aim in editing this courses and programmes in the area of
Handbook of Sports Studies is to mark and cele- sport and society studies.
brate that fact. We have done so at this histori-
cal moment, the dawning of the third Christian A brief overview of the history and develop-
millennium, because we think that the chal- ment of the field will help us to assess the
lenge of living in a new time frame creates an advances that have been made in our under-
apposite moment for taking stock. standing of sport and society.
There is, we think, also a need at this Among the subdisciplines concerned with
moment for a comprehensive, up-to-date and the study of sport as a social phenomenon, the
authoritative reference book for scholars work- sociology of sport was the first to emerge in an
ing in the broad field of ‘sport and society’ institutionalized form. For example, it was the
studies. We include under this rubric all those first to be named as such, to have a named pro-
who study sports as social phenomena, namely fessional body (The International Committee
anthropologists, economists, geographers, for Sport Sociology – ICSS) and its own ‘house’
historians, philosophers, psychologists, politi- journal (The International Review of Sport
cal scientists as well as sociologists. However, Sociology – IRSS), and to be researched and
because the sociology of sport is the largest taught in universities and other centres of
and best established of the subdisciplines in higher education in specifically named and
this area and because it is the field that we as dedicated courses. The ICSS, recently renamed
sociologists know best, the majority of our con- the International Sociology of Sport Asso-
tributors are sociologists or have written from ciation (ISSA), was and remains dedicated to
one or more of the sociological perspectives organizing conferences and promoting the
that are currently on offer. To have attempted at field. At the same time, the IRSS has continu-
the present juncture to secure greater equality ously published research and a range of
in the representation of the different subdis- conceptual and theoretical discussions.
ciplines of sport and society studies would, we This process of institutionalization began in
feel, have resulted in a distorted representation the mid-1960s, largely in conjunction with five
of the current state of the literature. main interrelated and interacting develop-
As a stocktaking exercise, it is our hope that ments. The first was a dawning recognition
this handbook will: among university teachers of physical educa-
tion that sport and physical education are
1 Mark any advances of knowledge that have social practices and that they are culturally and
been made in the field during the second historically relative. This, in turn, led them to
half of the twentieth century. see traditional teacher training curricula –
2 Provide a guide to the principal conflicts emphasizing sports, athletics and gymnastics
and difficulties that have arisen in this con- practice, together with biomechanics and
nection. exercise physiology – as unnecessarily restric-
3 Alert readers to some of the mistakes that tive and lacking the benefits associated with
have been made and some of the strategies locating and looking at a subject sociologically.
that have been advocated for avoiding The second development was that a few
them. university teachers of sociology (including
4 Recruit new scholars to the field by provid- Theodor Adorno, Norbert Elias, Max
ing an accessible and comprehensive text Horkheimer, Charles H. Page and Gregory P.
xxii GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Stone) realized that sport was an increasingly and Montague Shearman’s (1887, 1889) studies
visible and important social practice, and that of the history and development of soccer,
a sociology in which this was not clearly rugby and athletics – although they were not
recognized would represent and foster an produced in academic institutions or intended
impoverished, perhaps distorted, view of the for the instruction of students – marked the
social world. inception of the serious study of sport in that
The third development was the general nation. Later, these works became rich research
process of university expansion that took place resources for twentieth-century scholars. Then,
in the 1960s. This expansion was accompanied at the end of the nineteenth century, Thorstein
by increased competition both within and Veblen wrote about American college sports in
between disciplines, and it both intensified the his Theory of the Leisure Class (1899). Shortly
pressure on university teachers to publish and thereafter, Max Weber, widely identified as one
expanded the need for publication outlets. The of the ‘founders’ of sociology (see Giddens,
International Review of Sport Sociology was one 1971), discussed the opposition of the English
of the new journals that met this need. At the Puritans to sport in his famous book The
same time, it encouraged the formulation of Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
research and theory related to sport and (Weber, 1958). His analyses were published in
society. two parts in 1904 and 1905 respectively, and
The fourth development associated with the made available in English translation in 1930.1
institutionalization of the sociology of sport In 1906 William Graham Sumner devoted part
was the advent of what might be called of a chapter to ‘popular sports’ in his Folkways,
the ‘permissive revolution’. This has been and somewhat later, Willard Waller wrote
described by Norbert Elias (1996) and others about the integrating functions of sport in US
(Wouters, 1986) as a process of ‘informaliza- high schools in The Sociology of Teaching (1932).
tion’, the origins of which were grounded However, despite their historical significance
in significant equalizing shifts in the balance in sociology, none of these texts was devoted to
of class, racial/ethnic, gender and inter- the sociological study of sport per se. Rather,
generational power largely in favour of sport was discussed in them in the context of a
hitherto subordinate groups. Permissiveness/ sociological analysis of some wider issue.
informalization was conducive to the expan- Accordingly, they can be regarded as contain-
sion of sociology and the spread of sociological ing, at best, proto-sociological studies of sport.
ways of thinking, especially left-orientated, To our knowledge, the sociology of sport
‘radical’ forms of thinking, into areas such as first emerged as a named endeavour and the
the study of science, religion, law, the arts, subject of a book-length study in 1921, when
medicine, education and sport. In its turn, the Heinz Risse, a student of Theodor Adorno,
expansion of left-orientated, ‘radical’ forms of published his Soziologie des Sports. Along with
sociology reciprocally fuelled the process Max Horkheimer, Adorno founded the
of informalization and the associated ‘per- Frankfurter Institut für Sozialforschung (the
missive’ ways of behaving which gathered Frankfurt Institute of Social Research) which
momentum through the 1960s and early 1970s. was the location of the earliest productions in
The fifth development was the East–West ‘critical theory’ of the so-called ‘Frankfurt
struggle or ‘Cold War’ which started in the School’.2 However, after 1921 Risse seems to
1940s and lasted through the 1980s. This global have disappeared from the academic scene and
polarization and nuclear stand-off between the the sociological study of sport did not become
‘first’ or ‘capitalist’ and the ‘second’ or ‘com- firmly established in that context. This is not
munist’ worlds created a context in which surprising given what happened in Germany
there was a perceived need to increase under- between the 1920s and the 1940s when a major-
standing of global power relations and the ity of sociologists were forced into silence, con-
prominent and complex part that came to be formity with Nazi dogma, or exile. In fact,
played by sport in those relations. Adorno, Elias and Horkheimer were among
However, the institutionalization of the soci- those forced into exile. At any rate, it was not
ology of sport during the 1960s is perhaps best until 1969, at the height of the worldwide stu-
understood as one of the key moments in a dent protest movement, that the second piece
long-term ongoing process, the roots of which of ‘critical theory’ dealing with sport, Bero
can be traced back as far as the eighteenth and Rigauer’s Sport und Arbeit (Sport and Work),
nineteenth centuries and the initial emergence was published. By that time, the sociology of
of modern sport. In Britain, for example, works sport was well on the way towards becoming a
such as Peter Beckford’s Thoughts on Hare and recognized and institutionalized, if not a high
Foxhunting (1796), Pierce Egan’s Boxiana (1812) status, area of academic endeavour.
 GENERAL INTRODUCTION xxiii

We have already noted how the early (France); Norbert Elias, Eric Dunning and
institutionalization of the sociology of sport as Barbara Knapp (UK); Kalevi Heinila (Finland);
a university subject took place as part of the Gerald S. Kenyon (Canada); John W. Loy, John
expansion of higher education that occurred in C. Phillips and Walter Schafer (USA); and Brian
most Western countries during the 1950s and Sutton-Smith (New Zealand/USA). It was
1960s. Sociology was one of the subjects that characteristic both of the early development of
expanded most rapidly in that context, and the field and of sport per se that, at that stage, all
public awareness of its existence spread – but one of the participants were male and, with
although this awareness did not always take the exception of a few Japanese scholars such as
the form of accurate knowledge of the ways in Takaaki Niwa of Nara Women’s University, all
which specialists defined and understood soci- were white.
ology. It was during this time that the insight- A further mark of the early institutionaliza-
ful and original essay ‘American Sports: Play tion of the sociology of sport as a subject
and Display’ was published by the University researched and taught in universities was the
of Chicago-educated, symbolic interactionist appearance in the 1960s and early 1970s of the
Gregory P. Stone (1955). If we are right, this first textbooks. With the exception of George
was the first sustained and unambiguously Magnane’s Sociologie du sport, published in
sociological piece of work on sport to appear 1964 (little known in the English-speaking
after Risse’s text was published in 1921. Then, world),6 edited collections or ‘readers’ were the
in Britain in 1961, Anthony Giddens at the first to appear. Loy and Kenyon’s Sport, Culture
London School of Economics, and Eric and Society (1969) was the first major collection
Dunning at the University of Leicester, suc- to be published, followed by Dunning’s The
cessfully defended sociological Masters theses Sociology of Sport: a Selection of Readings (1971).
on sport-related topics (Dunning, 1961; German ‘readers’, Texte zur Soziologie des Sports
Giddens, 1961). Their theses drew on the edited by Kurt Hammerich and Klaus
‘proto-sociological’ work on sport done by Heinemann and Die Soziologie des Sports edited
physical education scholars such as Peter by Günther Lüschen and Kurt Weis, followed
McIntosh, A.D. Munro, Bill Slater and Barbara in 1975 and 1976 respectively.
Knapp of Birmingham University.3 Perhaps Other signs that the field was beginning to
not surprisingly, one of the central concerns of mature appeared around the same time. For
these physical education scholars during that example, in the United States Harry Edwards’s
period was to combat what they saw as the text, The Sociology of Sport, was published in
deleterious effects of the professionalization 1973, and three additional texts were pub-
and commercialization of sports. In some lished in 1978 – Sport in Society: Issues and
ways, the work they did anticipated the later Controversies by Jay Coakley; Sociology of
Marxist critiques of the commercialization and American Sport by D. Stanley Eitzen and
commodification of sports but they did so in a George Sage; and Social Aspects of Sport by
context of research which was empiricist and Eldon Snyder and Elmer Spreitzer. Since that
lacking in the rigour and penetration charac- time, confining the discussion for present pur-
teristic of Marxist studies at their best. poses to the English-speaking world, many
It was not until 1965, however, when the introductory-type ‘readers’ and textbooks have
ICSS was formed and the IRSS was first pub- been published in Australia, Canada and the
lished, that the sociology of sport ‘came of age’. United Kingdom as well as the USA.7
Centrally involved in this formalization and Beginning in the 1970s and 1980s publication
institutionalization of the subject were German outlets continued to expand with the publica-
(later substantially American-based) scholar tion of new journals devoted to social analyses
Günther Lüschen, the First General Secretary of of sports. These journals represented many dis-
the ICSS, and Andrzej Wohl from Poland, the ciplines in addition to sociology (see Table I).
first ICSS President and first Editor of the IRSS, Furthermore, many mainstream journals in
together with Peter McIntosh and Gregory P. both sociology and physical education began
Stone. It was Günther Lüschen who, in 1966, to accept and publish research using sociologi-
organized the first ICSS Symposium. Its theme cal perspectives to study sports. Further
was small groups in sport and it was convened growth in the field was fuelled as national and
in Cologne.4 Subsequent ICSS Symposia were regional professional associations in both soci-
held in Champaign–Urbana (1967), Leicester ology and physical education in many coun-
(1968), and Magglingen/Macolin (1969).5 In tries began to sponsor regular sessions in the
addition to the ICSS officials listed above, other sociology of sport at annual conferences. Such
participants in these early meetings included conferences have also been sponsored regu-
Rolf Albonico (Switzerland); Michel Bouet larly by national and regional sociology of
xxiv GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Table I Some major English-language sport and society journals

Subject Journal title First published
Anthropology Play and Culture 1988
Economics Journal of Sports Economics 2000
Geography Sport and Place 1987
History British Journal of Sport History 1984
Canadian Journal of the History of Sport 19801
Journal of Sport History 1974
International Journal of Sport History 1984
Soccer and Society 1999
Sporting Traditions 1985
The European Sports History Review 1999
The Sports Historian 1981
Philosophy Journal of the Philosophy of Sport 1974
Political science no journal
Psychology International Journal of Sport Psychology 1970
Journal of Applied Sport Psychology 1989
Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology 1979
The Sport Psychologist 1988
Sociology International Review for the Sociology of Sport 1966
Journal of Sport and Social Issues 1976
Leisure Studies 1982
Society and Leisure 1968
Sport, Culture, Society 1998
Sociology of Sport Journal 1986
Interdisciplinary Journal of Sport Behavior 1978
1
Founded in 1970 as The Canadian Journal of the History of Sport and Physical Education.

sport associations around the world, including alone there were about 580 instructors in all
those in Japan, Korea and Brazil, as well as the disciplines who taught such courses.
countries of North America and Europe. The existence of organizational endorsement
Attendance at most of these conferences has and support along with the continued growth
been consistent, and the quality of conference in the pervasiveness, visibility and significance
programmes generally has been impressive. of sports in society supports our thesis that the
An indication of the growing public aware- study of sport and society is a growing field.
ness of the value of research on sport and But at the same time, even in countries where
society is provided by the fact that scholars scholars have been using sociology to research
who use sociology and other related discipli- sports, mainstream sociology has been slow at
nary perspectives to study sports have become the institutional level to acknowledge the
recognized widely as ‘public intellectuals’ by growing social and cultural significance of
journalists and reporters associated with the sports and sports participation. The tendency
media. Quotes from and references to the among most sociologists to give priority to
research of these scholars appear increasingly studies of work and other ‘serious’ subjects
in the popular print and electronic media. (politics, for example) over studies of play,
Another indicator of widespread interest in sports, or leisure has accounted for much of
sports as social phenomena is the fact that this inertia in the parent discipline. Many soci-
‘Amazon.com’, the major Internet bookseller in ologists around the world have seen sports
the world, listed over 490 books in its as trivial, non-productive dimensions of society
‘Sociology of Sport’ reference category as of and culture that do not merit scholarly atten-
June 2000. Additionally, according to an tion relative to more ‘serious’ issues and
organization that tracks the number of stu- concerns. Furthermore, they have not identified
dents taking various courses in the United sports as sites for the existence of the issues and
States, there were nearly 30,000 students problems deemed by many as important in the
around the world expected to take ‘sport in field. Consequently, the sociology of sport
society’ courses during the 1998–9 academic has continued to exist on the fringe of sociology
year (CMG College Mailing List). This organi- as a whole, and studying sports has not
zation also reported that in the United States contributed generally to scholars’ career
 GENERAL INTRODUCTION xxv

enhancement in many sociology departments. can be inferred through an analysis of the

For example, data from the American respective tables of contents (see Figure I for
Sociological Association (ASA) indicate that the Table of Contents of the 1981 volume, and
during 1999 only 149 (1.3 per cent) of 11,247 Table II for a comparison of chapter titles in the
members declared ‘Leisure/Sport/Recreation’ 1981 volume with titles of Chapters in the Key
as one of their three major areas of interest, and Topics Section of this volume). With the excep-
over half of those scholars focused primarily on tion of two chapters dedicated to anthropolog-
leisure rather than sports. Only 37 ASA ical and social psychological analyses, the
members, 0.3 per cent of the Association’s total contents of the 1981 Handbook focused almost
membership, identified ‘Leisure/Sports/ exclusively on the sociology of sport – a fact
Recreation’ as their primary research and/or implied by their title. The table of contents in
teaching topic, and according to the 1999 Guide the present volume is considerably broader in
to Graduate Departments of Sociology, only two scope because, as editors, we have been able to
Canadian and two US sociology departments draw on expanding contributions from schol-
offered a graduate emphasis in the sociology of ars in the disciplines of economics, geography,
sport. Furthermore, at the 1998 annual ASA history, philosophy and political science as
meeting there were approximately 3,800 pre- well as sociology. The expansion of the study
senters and co-presenters, and just 20 dealt of sport and society is also seen in the fact that
with sport-related topics in their presentations; the 1981 Handbook contained 24 chapters, while
two of the 525 sessions were devoted to the the present volume contains 44. Of course, it
sociology of sport. Patterns in the late 1990s is important to note that the 1981 volume
were similar in Canada, Britain and Australia devoted over 200 pages, nearly 30 per cent of
(Rowe et al., 1997). The number of scholars its content, to an international bibliography
doing research and teaching in the sociology of and cross-listed index of sport and society
sport in each of these countries has increased. publications.
However, they do not constitute a critical mass Contributors to the 1981 volume represented
large enough to present themselves as formal five countries, while contributors for this vol-
subsections in the major professional sociology ume represent 13. Table III shows that 16 of 26
associations in their countries. contributors to the 1981 Handbook were born in
Patterns have been slightly different in phys- the United States and an additional five lived
ical education where professional associations in the USA for some time. Only two of the con-
have incorporated the sociology of sport in a tributors, one from England and one from
formal manner and often designated an orga- Germany, lived entirely outside the United
nizational subsection to represent those doing States. The fact that the majority of contributors
research and teaching related to sport and to the present volume come from the United
society. This is not to say that these subsections Kingdom and that contributors represent 13
assume prominent positions within the organi- countries in total provides a measure of the
zations, but they do exist and they do provide increasingly international scope of the sociol-
institutional support for the field in ways that ogy of sport and the global reach of research on
have not been characteristic in professional sport and society. This trend is further docu-
sociology associations. In large part this is mented by the membership of the International
because those who have figured prominently Sociology of Sport Association (the former
in the institutionalization of the field have ICSS) which, in the year 2000, included 170
backgrounds in departments of physical edu- paid-up members representing 34 countries.
cation or departments that have grown out of In saying this, we do not wish to exaggerate
the field of physical education. The develop- the degree to which sport and society studies,
ment of the field and the backgrounds of those and particularly the sociology of sport, have
who claim a professional attachment to the spread internationally. The continuing pre-
sociology of sport reflect this history. dominance in this volume of contributions
In addition to an expansion of the field from scholars living in the UK and the USA
during the last half of the twentieth century, inevitably reflects our own national back-
there have also been significant changes in the grounds and professional networks as editors.
study of sport and society. There are many However, it also reflects, we think, the tradition
ways to highlight this but we will identify that the field is more clearly identified and
some of these changes by comparing the con- developed through research and academic cur-
tents of the present volume with the contents ricula in the English-speaking countries than it
of the 1981 Handbook of Social Science of Sport is elsewhere, at least in terms of the number of
edited by Günther Lüschen and George Sage.8 scholars and students. The exceptions to this
The most obvious contrasts between the two would be Germany and France, where Bero
xxvi GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Table of Contents

Introduction: Sport in Sociological Perspective by Günther Lüschen and George H. Sage

I. Cross-Cultural and Cross-National Analysis of Sport and Games

• The sociology of sport in the Ancient World by Peter C. McIntosh
• Games of the Native North Americans by Alyce T. Cheska
• Life and Games of the Traditional Canadian Eskimo by R. Gerald Glassford
• Olympic Success: a cross-cultural perspective by Paavo Seppanen

II. Social Institutions and Sport in Modern Society

• Sport, education and schools by Eldon E. Snyder and Elmer Spreitzer

• Sport and religion by George H. Sage
• Sport and the mass media by Susan H. Greendorfer
• Leisure and sport by John R. Kelly

III. Social Structure, Social Processes and Sport

• The System of Sport: Problems of methodology, conflict and social stratification by Günther Lüschen
• Sport as a Community Representation by Gregory P. Stone
• Socialization Into and Through Sport by Barry D. McPherson
• Femininity and Athleticism by Dorothy V. Harris

IV. Sport Groups, Organizations and Spectatorship

• Group Performance, Interaction and Leadership by Daniel M. Landers, Lawrence R. Brawley and
Donna M. Landers
• The Analysis of Sport Organizations by Günther Lüschen
• Alternatives in American Sport Policy by Roger G. Noll
• Fandom and the Functions of Spectator Sport by William Spinrad

V. Social Problems and Deviance in Sport

• Sport, Achievement and Social Criticism by Hans Lenk
• Authority, Power and Inter-group Stratification by Race and Sex in American Sport and Society by
Harry Edwards
• Sport and Deviance by D. Stanley Eitzen
• Riotous Outbursts in Sport Events by Gladys E. Lang

VI. Play, Sport and Personality

• Play and Seriousness by Kurt Riezler
• The Social Psychology and Anthropology of Play and Games by Brian Sutton-Smith
• Motivational Theories of Play: definitions and explanations by Michael J. Ellis
• Sport personology by Rainer Martens

VII. International Classified Bibliography

Index
Author
Subject

Appendix

Figure I Contents and contributors to the Handbook of Social Science of Sport, editors
G. Lüschen and G. H. Sage, Stipes Publishing Co., 1981
 GENERAL INTRODUCTION xxvii

Table II Handbook content comparison

The 24 chapter titles from the 1981 Handbook are listed below. On the right, we have listed the 18
chapter titles from the Key Topics section in the present Handbook; in parentheses are listed disci-
plinary chapters that parallel titles from the 1981 Handbook. When there is at least partial overlap
in content we have matched the titles from the two Handbooks. The purpose of this comparison is
to illustrate differences and similarities in focus and content as a means of indicating changes and
developments in the sports studies field.
Lüschen and Sage (1981) Coakley and Dunning (2000)
• The sociology of sport in the ancient world • The development of modern sports
• Games of the native North Americans • (Anthropology)
• Life and games of the traditional Canadian Eskimo • (Anthropology)
• Olympic success: a cross-cultural perspective
• Sport, education & the schools • Sport and education
• Sport and religion
• Sport and the mass media • Sport and the media
• Leisure and sport • Alternatives to formal sports
• The system of sport: problems of methodology, • Theorizing sport, social place & status
conflict and social stratification
• Sport as a community representation • Sport and nationalism
• Socialization into and through sport • Social control and sport
• Femininity and athleticism • Gender and sport
• Group performance, interaction and leadership • (Psychology)
• The analysis of sport organizations • Management, organizations and theory in
the governance of sport
• Alternatives in American sports policy • (Politics and sports)
• Fandom & functions of spectator sports
• Sport, achievement and social criticism • (Philosophy)
• Authority, power and intergroup stratification by • Sport, racism and ethnicity
race and sex in American sport and society
• Sport and deviance • Doping in sport as deviant behavior and its
social control
• Riotous outbursts in sport events • Sport and violence
• Play and seriousness
• The social psychology and anthropology of • (Psychology & Anthropology)
play and games
• Motivational theories of play: definitions and • Emotions and sports
explanations
• Sport personology • (Psychology)
• Political economy and sport
• Sport and globalization
• Sport and health: a sociological perspective
• Sport and disability
• Body studies in the sociology of sport

Rigauer, Klaus Heinemann, Pierre Bourdieu The proportions of male and female contrib-
and their colleagues have made important con- utors in each of the volumes highlights one of
tributions to the field. And we should add that the most significant changes in the field in the
notable developments and contributions from two decades separating the two publications.
various regions and countries around the globe Men constituted 21 of 26 contributors to the
are summarized in the 12 short chapters that earlier volume, a male–female ratio of roughly
make up Part Four of this volume. Part of our 4:1. Men constitute 37 of 51 contributors to the
intent in including this section is to stimulate present volume, a male–female ratio of around
further research in the countries represented by 2.5:1. We believe that the 1981 ratio was a
the chapters and in other countries and regions reflection primarily of patriarchal structures
where the study of sport and society is just now and values in the world at large and in the
being initiated. The ultimate goal is to promote social sciences at that time. That these struc-
greater global representation in this regard. tures and values persist both in the sociology
xxviii GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Table III Countries of birth of contributors to Lüschen and Sage (1981) and Coakley and Dunning
(2000)
Lüschen and Sage (1981) Coakley and Dunning (2000)
Country Number Country Number
Canada 2 Canada 3
Finland 1 France 2
Germany 41 Germany 3
New Zealand 11 Hungary 1
United Kingdom 21 Japan 1
United States 16 Norway 2
New Zealand 3
Portugal 2
South Africa 1
South Korea 1
United Kingdom 16
United States 14
1
The New Zealand contributor, one of the UK contributors and three of the contributors who were German-born,
were US residents at the time of writing.

of sport and the wider social world is indicated 1970s. However, that structural-functionalist
by the continuing, although lesser, predomi- assumptions continue to be implicit even in the
nance of male contributors in this present work of its critics is demonstrated by Loy and
volume. However, it is important to stress that Booth in their chapter (Chapter 1).
the greater number of female contributors to At the beginning of the twenty-first century
this handbook also represents a clear increase scholars in the field are more likely to take the
in the number of women scholars who have following positions:
made contributions to sport and society stud-
1 Societies are fluid and interpenetrating
ies. It also reflects the impact of feminism on
products of human interaction and interde-
the field and the associated – and at least
pendence which change and develop over
embryonic – transformations in taken-for-
time.
granted patriarchal assumptions that have tra-
2 Sports and societies are most accurately
ditionally influenced research as well as
conceptualized as the unplanned products
relationships between colleagues.
of the interaction over time of pluralities of
Sociological contributions predominate in
conscious, interdependent, differentially
this volume as they also did in the 1981
powerful, emotional as well as rational
Handbook. However, apart from Gregory
‘embodied’ human beings who make
Stone’s symbolic interactionist discussion of
choices.
‘Sport as a Community Representation’, a
3 Social life is more open-ended and less
majority of contributions in the earlier volume
determined than previously assumed by
were implicitly and in some cases explicitly
structural functionalists and some kinds of
grounded in empiricist (that is, data-based
Marxists (although to say this is not to
analyses that lacked an explicit theoretical
claim that it is chaotic, contingent and
focus) and structural-functionalist assump-
entirely undetermined).
tions. This emphasis did not represent the
4 Social processes are best understood in
Marxist, critical and figurational theoretical
connection with various forms of power
perspectives which were emerging at the time.
relations that are inter-societal as well as
But it did highlight the extent to which early
intra-societal.
work on sport and society was grounded in
5 The balance and tension that exists between
and influenced by the notion that societies are
continuity and change in social life has been
most accurately conceptualized as ‘social sys-
shifting in favour of change at an accelerat-
tems’ possessing ‘needs’ and ‘goals’ and
ing rate at least since the seventeenth and
delimited by clear-cut, impermeable and easily
eighteenth centuries.
determinable boundaries. Of course, these
assumptions have been criticized to the point Overall, it has been widely recognized
that structural functionalism has been used that there are serious difficulties associated
less and less often to guide research and analy- with attempts to understand social life
sis in sport and society studies since the early within a framework of essentially static,
 GENERAL INTRODUCTION xxix

process-reducing assumptions such as those struggle surfaced in the sociology of sport in the
underlying the Parsonian version of different paradigms advocated by Kenyon
structural functionalism. (1969), Loy (1968), and Lüschen (1967) on the
Despite the priority given to structural func- one hand, and by Elias (Elias and Dunning,
tionalism in the 1981 Handbook, there was, 1986) and Dunning (1971) on the other. Para-
beginning in the 1960s, considerable conflict phrasing Ralf Dahrendorf’s description (1959)
over theoretical paradigms.9 This conflict of the new middle class in capitalist societies,
heated up during the late 1970s and early 1980s sociology and the sociology of sport can be said,
when Marxist/neo-Marxist, feminist and like the new middle class, to have been ‘born
Marxist–feminist scholars became increasingly decomposed’, that is, with differences, conflicts
vocal and powerful, if not hegemonic, figures and tensions built into their very core.10
in the sociology of sport. As they grew more Other early conflicts in sociology were
influential there was an associated change in also noteworthy as we try to put current con-
the dominant professional self-image among flicts in perspective. In late nineteenth-early
sociologists of sport. Rather than seeing them- twentieth-century France there were heated
selves as technocratic servants of sport-forms differences between ‘realist’, Emile Durkheim
which they uncritically accepted as ‘good’, and ‘nominalist’, Gabriel Tarde. Around the
many began to see themselves as critics whose same time in Germany there took place what
principal goal was to use research and action to they called the Methodenstreit, the not dissimi-
‘purify’ the ‘pathological’ sport-forms pro- lar ‘fight over method’, between the ‘posi-
duced under capitalism. The ultimate goal was tivists’ (in Comte’s sense, they were wrongly
to secure more egalitarian articulations of named)11 and the ‘historicists’. Max Weber
sports into more egalitarian social frameworks. sought to resolve this conflict through the sug-
Sociologists of sport today continue to have gestion that sociologists should seek explana-
variants of both these self-images but, if we are tions that are both ‘causally adequate’ and
right, the ‘critics’ have come to outnumber the ‘adequate at the level of meaning’. Interest-
‘technocrats’. ingly, Weber advocated the establishment of
We suggest that the paradigm conflicts that causal relations, not by means of statistical
intensified during the 1960s and 1970s in soci- analyses, but by means of counterfactual
ology remain today. These conflicts raise com- reasoning.
plex issues that are perhaps best addressed in These early sociological conflicts were
this context by means of an historical detour. fiercely fought. However, the conflicts between
The first thing worthy of note is that sociology proponents of opposing paradigms that began
was named as a subject in a conflict-situation, in the 1960s and continue through today are
more particularly when Auguste Comte more intense than past conflicts. For 20 or
reacted critically to a book published in 1835 by so years following the end of the Second
Belgian statistician Adolphe Quetelet. The sub- World War, advocates of functionalist and
title of Quetelet’s book was An Essay on Social non-Comtean (that is, ahistorical and even
Physics and, although Comte himself had used anti-historical) ‘positivist’ sociology, most
the term ‘social physics’ up until that time, he of them from the United States, reigned
ceased from then on to use it. He did so for two supreme. Then, for various sociological and
main reasons: first, he objected to Quetelet’s extra-sociological reasons, the functionalist-
vision of ‘social physics’ as a primarily statisti- empiricist hegemony collapsed and the sub-
cal subject; and secondly, he objected to what ject, which had been ‘born decomposed’,
he regarded as Quetelet’s scientifically unwar- became multiply fractured. The sociological
ranted egalitarianism. Comte’s alternative term reasons for this process of decomposition
was ‘sociology’ (Coser, 1971). included, among other things, the difficulties
Another term coined by Comte was ‘posi- encountered by Parsonian functionalism in
tivism’, and the chief positive method that he dealing with issues such as conflict, power and
recommended for use in sociology was the change.12 The extra-sociological reasons
method of historical comparison. In a word, included the effects on a younger generation of
even though the meaning of ‘positivism’ has sociologists whose subject-identities and iden-
been changed so that it now refers to the tifications were being forged in a context that
inappropriate advocacy and use of natural was influenced by powerful events and forces
science methods in studies of the social field, a which included: (a) the Vietnam war and the
struggle between sociologists who advocate protest against it, (b) the civil rights struggle,
comparative-historical methods and those who (c) the rise of second-wave feminism, (d) the
advocate statistics has been built into our campus rebellions which broke out in North
subject since its early days. In the 1960s, this America and many countries in Western
xxx GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Europe, (e) the growth of ‘permissiveness’/ sense based on statistics and equivalents to
’informalization’ and (f) the power shift experimentation.
towards the younger generation. The latter 3 Whether they see the purpose of sociologi-
centrally underlay and was reciprocally cal knowledge as an ‘end in itself’ (that is,
fuelled by many of these other changes. as something that is interesting and valu-
If we are right, the fact that Canadian schol- able for its own sake), as a tool for improv-
ars and others who had not been born in the ing human performance (in our case in the
United States were centrally involved in the field of sport), or as a means to identify and
left-radicalization of the sociology of sport achieve political goals.
which took place during the 1970s and 1980s
correlatively with these powerful events and Among the ontological/factual issues are
forces was no accident. Processes of radicaliza- where their advocates stand in relation to such
tion are more likely to occur in dependencies dualisms as ‘materialism’ versus ‘idealism’,
than in centres of imperial power such as the ‘agency’ versus ‘structure’, ‘social statics’ ver-
USA. But more to the point for present pur- sus ‘social dynamics’, and ‘synchronic’ studies
poses, it seems that sociologists of sport who versus ‘diachronic’ studies (that is, whether
received their sociological training in the 1960s they see sociology as concerned solely with
and early 1970s differed from their predeces- the present day or whether they see it as an
sors. The former worried less about the dan- historical subject).
gers of the ‘Cold War’ and focused more on Approached in these terms, the abundance of
struggling against capitalism which, for most paradigms listed above can be categorized into
Marxists or near-Marxists, was seen as the five basic types: functionalist paradigms, con-
principal cause of inequities and global con- flict paradigms, action paradigms, feminist par-
flict. Perhaps because fewer of them had adigms and attempted syntheses, such as
directly experienced the Second World War, structuration theory and figurational sociology.
they were more inclined to take peace for Mention of these last two suggests another
granted? Be that as it may, what is certain is the source of basic differences: the way that advo-
fact that it was precisely when the conflict over cates of each sociological paradigm deal with
paradigms was especially intense that the soci- the sociology–philosophy relationship. Thus
ology of sport began to come of age. Like the while Anthony Giddens, the primary architect
parent discipline, having been ‘born decom- of structuration theory, advocates a heavy
posed’ it, too, became multiply fractured.13 dependency of sociology on philosophy, Elias,
Since the 1960s, there have been on offer in the principal originator of figurational sociol-
sociology and the sociology of sport a variety of ogy, urged sociologists to maximize their
named paradigms. They include various forms autonomy in this and other regards. In a word,
of functionalism (for example, ‘soft’ and while Giddens recommends the continuing
‘hard’), Marxism (for example, ‘humanist’ and relevance for sociology of philosophy, a subject
‘structuralist’) and feminism (for example, ‘lib- based on metaphysical, armchair speculation
eral’, ‘socialist’, ‘Marxist’ and ‘cultural’), and reading other people’s books, Elias advo-
together with conflict theory, Weberian theory, cated the constant cross-fertilization of theory
rational choice theory, action theory, symbolic and research as the only secure means of
interactionism, exchange theory, ethnometh- advancing knowledge.14 Of course, he stressed
odology, structuralism, post-structuralism, comparative-historical research on balance in
postmodernism, structuration theory and figu- this connection, rather than research of a statis-
rational sociology. Among other things, these tical kind. Most of the paradigms discussed
paradigms differ regarding the positions taken above are now well represented in the sociol-
by their advocates in relation to epistemologi- ogy of sport and, up to a point, the conflict and
cal/methodological issues and ontological/ competition between their proponents could be
factual issues. Among the epistemological/ said to provide empirical confirmation of
methodological issues are the following: Marx’s dictum ‘without conflict, no progress’.
That is, the conflict and competition have con-
1 Where they see sociology located on the tributed to the advancement of knowledge in
continuum between the humanities and the the field. For example, much of the work of
sciences. ‘male feminists’ owes its insights and accep-
2 If they see sociology as a science, whether tance to the sustained and highly effective
they see it as a science in a ‘soft’, for feminist critique of the hitherto hegemonic
example, comparative-historical or partici- status of patriarchal assumptions in the sociol-
pant observational orientated, sense or in a ogy of sport (Klein, 1993; Messner, 1992;
‘hard’, that is, non-Comtean ‘positivist’ Messner and Sabo, 1990, 1994). Seen solely
 GENERAL INTRODUCTION xxxi

from a present-centred perspective, these dissensus, cooperation and rivalry. This

advances may not appear particularly great, tension-balance has fostered creativity in the
but seen from the standpoint of those who subdiscipline and this creativity has defused
knew what the sociology of sport was like in the centrifugal potential that is inherent in the
the 1960s and 1970s, they are substantial. As paradigmatic fragmentation of post-1960s
another example, there has been a definitive sociology. That is to say, in highly differenti-
shift from a ‘sociology of women’ to a ‘sociol- ated and individualized societies such as the
ogy of gender relations’ perspective as repre- ‘advanced’ or ‘complex’ societies of today,
sented in a wide range of ‘female feminist’ tension in the relations between people who
work (Birrell and Cole, 1994; Hall, 1996; pursue different specializations within a com-
Hargreaves, 1994; see Chapters 4 and 20 by mon field is less likely to produce hostility and
Birrell and Theberge respectively in this a spirit of perversity when relationships are
volume). The clash over interpretations of relatively equal than when the power and
the globalization of sport has also given status gap is wide. Relative equality is also
rise to fruitful and creative analyses. Inter- more likely to foster greater mutual recogni-
pretations informed by Marxism have consis- tion of what such groups can offer each other.
tently emphasized that strong elements of That is to say, lawyers, doctors, and natural
‘Americanization’ have been involved in the scientists are more likely than physical
worldwide spread of sports (Donnelly, 1996; educators to ignore or deny the possibility
Kidd, 1991), while interpretations guided by that sociological investigation can be valuable
figurational theory have shown, equally and add to understanding in their fields of
persuasively, that globalization is best under- endeavour.
stood as a trend or social process that is both In a related sense, the relative fruitfulness
homogenizing and heterogenizing (Maguire, and high creativity of the sociology of sport
1994, 1999). may also be fostered by the relative equality
In fact, we would suggest that, with the pos- between the people in the field employed in
sible exception of the sociology of education sociology departments and physical education
which is in certain respects structurally similar, departments. This equality within the context
the sociology of sport has been one of the of universities has enabled an open dialogue to
liveliest and most fruitful of the parent sub- be maintained between scholars whose princi-
ject’s subdisciplines since the late 1970s. We pal aim in their work is the advancement of
realize that such a judgement may reflect knowledge and scholars whose principal aim
our greater familiarity with our own subdisci- is securing socio-political or ‘practical’ sport-
pline and our relative ignorance of others. related goals. An effective balance has been
Nevertheless, it seems to us – and we hasten to struck, in other words, between socio-political
add that this has not yet been established and ‘practical’ detachment and socio-political
empirically – that recent output in the sociol- and ‘practical’ involvement. On no side have
ogy of sport has outstripped output in the soci- people allowed the search for ‘pure’ knowl-
ology of law, the sociology of medicine, the edge, for ‘practical interventions’ or for ideal-
sociology of science and probably the sociol- ized political goals to become paramount and
ogy of religion. This is almost certainly the case exclusive. As a result, the search for knowledge
in terms of quantity and probably in terms of has been aimed at the real world of sports and
quality as well. games, and at increasing our ability to make
Assuming the validity of this judgement, we practical interventions in that world. Finally,
hypothesize that the putative fruitfulness of the bonds between different specialists in the
our field relative to others can, in part, be sociology of sport are further consolidated
explained structurally. That is, the power and through a widely shared fondness for sports
status gap between sociologists and physical and a common belief in the value of sociology
educators, like the gap between sociologists as a means of enhancing our understanding of
and school teachers, is considerably more nar- sports and society and as a means of informing
row than it is in the relations between sociolo- our involvement in related practical and polit-
gists and lawyers, sociologists and doctors, ical issues.
sociologists and natural scientists, and even This discussion of fruitfulness and creativity
sociologists and the clergy. This relative equal- in the sociology of sport is not meant to imply
ity has been centrally involved in constituting that we think there are no challenges or prob-
sociologists of sport as a figuration and the lems facing the field as we begin the new mil-
sociology of sport as a social field both of lennium. In fact, we are facing a series of
which are characterized by a tension-balance serious interrelated challenges that seem to us
between the polarities of consensus and to revolve around the following.
xxxii GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1 Dealing with the Consequences of claims’ or, perhaps better, claims about the
Paradigmatic Fragmentation in Sociology ‘reality-congruence’ of our propositions and
as a Whole This fragmentation has nega- findings. In the absence of such an agreement,
tively affected our subdiscipline in at least two we cannot share and criticize each other’s
ways. First, it has on more than one occasion ideas and research in a manner that produces
been accompanied by potentially dangerous general understanding as well as a foundation
caricatures of the work of others. When these of knowledge that can be used to inform inter-
caricatures become deeply embedded in seg- vention and transformational efforts.
ments of disciplinary discourse, they are not We would argue that there are indeed
only difficult to dislodge, but they become sub- circumstances when the need to take assertive
versive of the mutual respect that is required action must take precedence over the need for
for relationships in the field that are simultane- understanding, but we would also argue that
ously critical and supportive. Secondly, frag- the identification of such circumstances
mentation has weakened sociologists relative requires a thorough and thoughtful assess-
to specialists in other subjects, thus making it ment. We remember Karl Marx’s observation
difficult collectively to resist the intrusion into that ‘philosophers have interpreted the world
the field of the representatives of higher status in various ways; the point, however, is to
subjects such as philosophy. The prestige that change it’. But we also remember that he
has been or is recurrently heaped on abstract devoted his life to laying the foundations for
theorizers such as Parsons and Giddens, who a ‘scientific socialism’ through a detailed,
are nominally sociologists but really types of empirically based understanding of social rela-
philosophers, is one example. Another exam- tionships and social dynamics. In fact, if he
ple is the overly positive reaction of some were alive today, he might even look back at
scholars in our field to ‘postmodernist’ history and say that ‘Marxists have tried to
philosophers, primarily those from France, change the world in various ways, the point,
who advocate approaches to the social world however, is to understand it’. At any rate, it is
parts of which verge on solipsism. Although it important to balance understanding and
is crucial for us to interrogate what is know- action.
able about the social world, the existence of
that world, although it may be complex, is a 3 Engaging in Critical Self-reflection as a
precondition for sociology itself. The challenge Field This challenge should be self-evident in
for sociology and the sociology of sport is to any academic discipline or subdiscipline.
utilize that which is of value in what the post- However, it is important for scholars to engage
modernists have said and continue to say and in constructively critical self-reflection while
to abandon the rest. The high status of philos- avoiding forms of self-deconstruction and
ophy should not allow what philosophers deconstruction of the work of others that can
argue to go unchallenged. jeopardize the political and intellectual foun-
dations of the field. For example, while it is
2 Maintaining a Balance between Under- extremely important for the sociology of sport
standing and Action in the Sociology of to serve as a site for integrating a range of dis-
Sport When scholars in our field place the senting voices concerned with sport and
need for action above the need for understand- society, without a basis for identifying a unity
ing, there is a possibility that ‘truth claims’ will of focus and for making ‘truth claims’ that will
come to rest primarily on normative commit- be respected and seen as legitimate by others it
ments rather than theory-guided empirical is possible that the field will lack the status
research. Although it is important for scholars required to elicit and maintain funding within
in any of the social sciences or humanities to the institutional structure of contemporary
discuss what ought to be in a critically reflective universities.
and morally reasoned manner, it should not It is also important for scholars in sociology
supplant systematic and replicable attempts to and the sociology of sport to interrogate the
understand what is and how it has come to be. assumptions of cultural neutrality that have
This means that while we recognize that soci- traditionally informed theory and research, the
ologists are not morally or culturally neutral organization of the field including professional
analysts who stand apart from the societies in networks and relationships, the evaluation of
which we participate and, indeed that our colleagues, and the identity development of
socio-political involvements are a source of scholars themselves. Although sociologists in
motivation and knowledge, the viability of our the past have dealt with this challenge from a
field depends on our ability to develop collec- distance through the sociologies of knowledge
tive agreement about rules for making ‘truth and sociology, the growth of various forms of
 GENERAL INTRODUCTION xxxiii

feminist theory, especially cultural feminism 4 Maintaining Professional Commitment

(Tong, 1998), has presented this challenge to us in the Clash over ‘Modernism’ and ‘Post-
in a close-up, face-to-face manner. This has modernism’ One of the central struggles in
caused considerable discomfort among some sociology and related disciplines today is over
men in the field, a few of whom have made what one might call the validity and value of
considerable contributions to sociology and/or the promise of ‘modernism’ and whether we
the sociology of sport. During their profes- have entered or are currently entering a ‘post-
sional socialization these men learned and modern’ era. Centrally at issue in this connec-
accepted at least to some degree that being a tion is the belief that the success of sociology
good sociologist called for and valorized objec- rests in the promise of its theories and methods
tivity in research, and for competition and in delivering the tools necessary for contribut-
individualism in their professional relation- ing to the creation of a future that will be bet-
ships. Then certain feminist theorists made a ter than the past and present. In short, what is
convincing case that this way of being a sociol- at issue is whether sociology can make a con-
ogist was part of a gendered system through tribution to human ‘progress’. The seeds of
which the values and experiences of men were such a belief can be traced, for example, to
used as the basis for making ‘truth claims’, Condorcet and Turgot in the eighteenth cen-
assessing the quality of research, evaluating tury. However, it first began to be given an
colleagues and defining oneself as a scientist. explicitly sociological form by thinkers such as
Joining the feminist theories were racial August Comte and Herbert Spencer in the
theories and queer theories that critically nineteenth century. Although he considered
interrogated ‘whiteness’ and heterosexuality in himself to be a ‘political economist’, it has
the same way that feminists had interrogated come to be customary to include Karl Marx
masculinity in connection with the field. As a among the earliest contributors to this socio-
result, some white, male, heterosexual sociolo- logical way of thinking. Despite the often con-
gists with records of achievement and partici- siderable political and scientific differences
pation in the parent discipline and our between them, all these thinkers were united
subdiscipline were faced with the accusation in their belief that history and social develop-
that all their ‘truth claims’ were contentious, ment equal ‘progress’, and that social scientific
and that their theories and research were research and theory can be of help in bringing
tainted by various combinations of sexism and this ‘better future’ into being.15
patriarchy, racism and colonial privilege, Turn-of-the-century sociologists such as
and/or heterosexism and homophobia. In the Durkheim and Weber were among the first to
same context there was and continues to be a be involved in the institutionalization of
tendency among some younger scholars to sociology as a university subject and they were
reject previously identified classical scholars also among the first to entertain doubts about
and theories as a matter of course. Thus, we are the ‘inevitability of progress’. Durkheim, for
faced with a two-sided challenge. One side example, claimed to have demonstrated that
involves acknowledging and dealing with the nineteenth-century social developments in
pervasive consequences of longstanding sys- Europe were leading to increasing rates of
tems of privilege within sociology in general suicide, social disintegration and anomie,
and the sociology of sport in particular. The while Weber hypothesized that the processes
other side involves coming to terms with the of rationalization, which he showed were
value of past theory and research in the field as occurring correlatively with the development
a form of data and with the value of those who of capitalism, were likely in the future to lead
have done this work as colleagues (Loy and to growing ‘disenchantment’ with and of the
Booth, in press). An inability to face and deal world (Entzaüberung) and an increase in irra-
with this dual challenge could leave the field tional behaviour.16 There was an attack on
hopelessly decomposed (see Risman and ‘progress theories’ in anthropology, too, for
Tomaskovic-Devey, 1999). It is our suspicion as example, by Franz Boas and his students,17
sociologists who no longer consider themselves and, whilst at the end of his career he became
to be young that forms of ‘ageism’ on the part involved in a revival of ‘evolutionary’ sociol-
of both older and younger generations of schol- ogy, Talcott Parsons began his elaboration of
ars – a mutual inability or unwillingness to rec- what he called ‘the theory of social action’ with
ognize common problems of humanity, for an attack on the ‘evolutionary individualism’
example, the old forgetting they were once of Herbert Spencer (see Parsons, 1937).
young and the young being unwilling to enter- Nevertheless, whether he was writing in his
tain the fact that they will age – may be among earlier ahistorical and static mode or in
the contributories to this problem. his latter mode which was diachronic and
xxxiv GENERAL INTRODUCTION

evolutionary, Talcott Parsons can be said to to what they think of as critical analyses of the
have played a central role after the Second dynamics of power, denial, marginalization
World War in spreading and consolidating the and exclusion that have been at the core of the
idea that the promise of ‘modernism’ and self-same economic, political, academic and
‘modernity’ has to be grounded in an under- scientific structures in and through which the
standing of the properties of social systems ‘promise of modernism’ was first formulated
(see Parsons, 1951). Such an idea grew during and through which it has subsequently been
the 1960s and 1970s as a number of more ‘rad- sustained (cf. Lemert, 1995).
ical’ sociologies, including most importantly As one might expect, heated debates occur
varieties of Marxism, were fuelled by the belief when mainstream sociologists encounter these
that the promise of ‘modernism’ could only be analysts and their analyses that are not
fulfilled through various revolutionary move- premised on the modernist quest for a norma-
ments and transformations. However, a major- tively ‘centred’ social world. We have seen this
ity of the proponents of these more radical in the sociology of sport as well as in sociology
sociologies continued alongside their more as a whole. The futures of the organized disci-
‘liberal’ (for example, Parsonian) colleagues to pline of sociology and subdisciplines such as
stress that more adequate sociological knowl- the sociology of sport, rest in the extent to
edge is a necessary prerequisite for effective which these debates foster a culture of critical
social revolution and reform. self-reflection and mutual tolerance and
What might be called ‘mainstream sociol- respect among dissenting sociological voices
ogy’ as we enter the third Christian millen- and a recognition that the vitality of sociology
nium continues to be organized by and large should not be measured simply by the stan-
around the pursuit of social possibilities dards of modern progress. The purpose of
grounded in the ‘modernist’ notion that it is these debates should not be to dismiss what
possible to discover a body of sociological ‘classical’ and ‘mainstream’ sociology have to
theory which will enable us ‘scientifically’ to offer in our attempts to understand the social
establish a ‘normative centre’ or ‘consensus’, world and the many varieties of lived experi-
that is, a set of normative propositions or prin- ences that constitute that world. Nor should
ciples around which work for a better future the purpose be to arrive at a single, general
might be organized. At least since the writings explanation of the world and how we might
of the German philosophers, Nietzsche and use that explanation to make the world unified
Heidegger and more recently of French through a particular normative consensus.
philosophers such as Foucault and Baudrillard Instead, the purpose, if we wish to continue
who were more or less heavily influenced by coming together in formal gatherings to share
their reading of their German predecessors,18 our experiences and understandings, should
there has been a growing number of social be to give voice to a range of experience-based
observers and analysts, many with a literary descriptions and explanations of the world. If
rather than social scientific background, who these descriptions and explanations contain
have concluded in various and what are the necessary particular details, we should be
widely regarded as ‘compelling’ ways that the able to use them to acknowledge and come to
social world is comprised of unstructured and terms with our own differences and then deal
unstructurable differences (Lemert, 1995: with the dilemmas associated with social
209–11). The goal of their social and cultural factors and forces that constrain people’s lives,
analyses has been and continues to be that of including our own. If we can manage this, soci-
understanding that world in as many of its ology can become a means for a critically
particular and differential details as possible informed body of knowledge that can serve as
(Rail, 1998). Apparently forgetting or being a basis for engaging an ever-changing collec-
unaware of earlier sociologists who attacked tion of social relationships and the unantici-
‘grand theories’ (such as C. Wright Mills, pated problems and issues often associated
Norbert Elias, Robert K. Merton, Barney Glaser with them.
and Anselm Strauss19), such ‘postmodernist’
writers also proclaim the ‘impossibility’ of
‘grand narratives’ or ‘universal theories’ (itself
a kind of ‘grand narrative’ or universal law-
like statement, it seems to us!). However, be CONCLUDING COMMENT
that as it may, their work has served to disrupt
the mainstream search for ‘the normal’. These Our sense is that in practical terms the sociol-
individuals are describing what they regard as ogy of sport consists of a collection of scholars
a variety of social worlds in ways that give rise most of whom claim to do ‘science’, agree on
 GENERAL INTRODUCTION xxxv

the rules we use to make ‘truth claims’, and in the World of Sport: An Examination of the
then share our claims and how we have Factors Involved in Participation in
arrived at them through publications and dis- Competitive International Sport (University
cussions. If our ‘truth claims’ are based on of Birmingham, 1956). Perhaps the best-
empirical data, if there is general agreement on known member of the Birmingham group,
what constitutes data, and if we are committed and certainly the one most influential
to a rigorous pursuit of understanding, the in the sociology of sport, was Peter
diversity and dynamism of the field will enrich McIntosh. See, above all, his Sport in Society
our awareness of sport and society and (1960).
enhance our potential to transform both. The 4 The proceedings were published by
chapters in this handbook represent a version Günther Lüschen (1966).
of the ‘state of our understanding’ of sport and 5 See Lüschen (1970) for the proceedings
society at this point in time – along with where of the Champaign–Urbana Conference,
we have been and where we might go in the and Albonico and Pfister-Binz (1972) for
immediate future. the proceedings of the Magglingen
As we anticipate that future from our per- Conference (the French-Swiss name for
spective as editors of this volume, we wonder Magglingen is Macolin).
about the connection between this present 6 Rather surprisingly, M. Magnane never
Handbook of Sports Studies and the next similar took part in the affairs of the ICSS.
volume that might be published (probably 7 A sample of these includes the following:
electronically) in 2020. If the editors of the 2020 Bryant and McElroy, 1997; Cashmore, 1996;
volume are a Latin American woman and a Coakley, 1998; Coakley and Donnelly, 1999;
black man from postcolonial Africa, how might Donnelly, 1997; Eitzen, 1996; Eitzen and
they select authors and chapter topics? Might Sage, 1997; Figler and Whitaker, 1991; Hall
they look back at this volume and wonder et al., 1991; Hart and Birrell, 1981; Harvey
about our naivety as editors and ask why we and Cantelon, 1988; Horne et al., 1987;
did not select other authors or foresee issues Horne et al., 1999; Lawrence and Rowe,
related to sport and the law, sport and the envi- 1986; Leonard, 1998; McPherson et al.,
ronment, sport and postcolonial development, 1989; Nixon and Frey, 1996; Phillips, 1993;
and other topics that should have been dis- Sage, 1980; Vogler and Schwartz, 1993;
cussed at the turn of the millennium? We Yiannakis et al., 1993.
expect so. And for the sake of the vitality of our 8 It is difficult to compare the 1981 Handbook
field, we hope so. with the present volume because each was
edited under different circumstances. The
1981 volume was originally conceived as
NOTES part of a larger project that was to take the
form of an Encyclopaedia of Physical
1 As Loy and Kenyon (1969) note, Weber also Education. The Lüschen and Sage contribu-
discussed the knightly games of feudal tion was to be one volume in the series that
Europe. would make up the encyclopaedia. This is
2 The Frankfurt Institut für Sozialforschung partly why over 200 pages of the 1981 vol-
was founded in 1923 at the University of ume consisted of a detailed bibliography
Frankfurt by Felix Weil, the son of a rich and cross-listed index of sources that could
businessman. Its first Director was Max be considered a foundation for the field at
Horkheimer and among its prominent early that time. Also, contributors to the volume
members were Theodor Adorno, Walter were chosen in part because of their con-
Benjamin and Erich Fromm. More recently, nection with physical education as it had
its members have included Herbert developed primarily in the United States.
Marcuse and Jürgen Habermas. The In fact, the series editor was an exercise
Frankfurt School (or ‘critical theorists’ as physiologist who had reservations about
they are also called) are Marxists but it the critical nature of some of the work done
is characteristic of their approach that they in the sociology of sport during the 1970s.
concentrate in their work on elements of 9 Related to this observation on our part, it
‘the superstructure’, that is, on aspects of should be noted that a handbook, or any
‘culture’. similar volume, is often a more or less con-
3 Together with their colleagues M. servative representation of a field or body
Baument, M.A. Madders and Beryl of literature. Authors are selected on the
Sanders, these four scholars were the basis of their past work and the extent to
authors of an influential pamphlet, Britain which it has been accepted by established
xxxvi GENERAL INTRODUCTION

publication outlets and incorporated always outstrip food supply, constituted

into the mainstream literature of the an exception in this context.
discipline or subdiscipline. Although we, 16 See Durkheim (1952) for his arguments,
too, may be guilty of this charge, we have and see Gerth and Mills (1946, especially
tried in this volume, within the limits of p. 139ff) for a discussion of Weber’s theory
our own professional experiences, to of ‘disenchantment’. Weber took this term
stretch the understanding of what the from poet and playwright Friedrich
sociology of sport comprises by includ- Schiller.
ing new ideas and perspectives along 17 German-born Franz Boas (1858–1942) was
with those that are widely recognized Professor of Anthropology at Columbia
and discussed. University, New York, from 1899 to 1936.
10 Dahrendorf’s (1959) point was that the Probably the most famous of his students
new middle class of the twentieth century were Margaret Mead and Ruth Benedict.
had consisted of white-collar workers and Whilst accepting the reality of biological
bureaucrats, differentiated groups with evolution, Boas and his followers denied
few, if any, common interests. the reality of its socio-cultural equivalents,
11 Towards the end of the nineteenth century, that is, social or cultural ‘evolution’ or
German academics became sharply ‘development’.
divided over the status of the ‘human’ or 18 For a clear and insightful sociological
‘social sciences’. The ‘positivists’ in this diagnosis of the relationships between
debate (for example, the psychologist sociology and philosophy, see Kilminster
Wundt) argued that the social sciences can (1998).
use the same methods as the natural 19 Already in the 1950s, C. Wright Mills
sciences, whilst the ‘historicists’ (for exam- (1959) developed a sharp critique of what
ple, the philosophers Dilthey, Rickert and he called ‘grand theory’. Around the same
Windelband) argued that the human time, R.K. Merton (1957) argued for
‘mind’ or Geist (spirit) constitutes an ‘theories of the middle range’. Somewhat
autonomous sphere of reality which is not later, Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss
subject to law-like regularities similar to in lectures and private discussions sug-
those which are studied by the natural gested that sociology needed ‘grounded
sciences. It is reasonable to hypothesize theories’. Norbert Elias’s favoured term in
that, like Weber, Comte would not have this connection was ‘central theory’ of
identified with either side in this dispute which he considered his own theory of
but would have sought a higher level res- civilizing processes to be an exemplar.
olution. What is certain, though, is that the
main ‘positive’ method recommended for
sociology by Comte was the method of
historical comparison (see Andreski, 1974:
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 PART ONE

MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN
THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

EDITORS’ INTRODUCTION

In the General Introduction, we introduced the types: the first involves explanation by
reader to the currently divided and multi- reference to the socio-cultural satisfaction of
paradigmatic character of sociology in general individual needs, the second by reference to
and the sociology of sport in particular. This recurring relationships, and the third by refer-
in many ways fruitful but not in all respects ence to the meeting of ‘system needs’.1
satisfactory state of affairs is illustrated in the Towards the end of their chapter, Loy and
present section by means of a series of ‘state-of- Booth discuss the emergence of a fourth type,
the-art’ summaries by leading scholars of: ‘neofunctionalism’, a type which emerged in
1 what seven of these competing paradigms/ the 1980s and 1990s as part of what has some-
perspectives entail; times been referred to as ‘the functionalist
2 how the different paradigms have been used revival’.
sociologically to illuminate aspects of sport; Taking care to provide judicious illustrations
3 how their advocates view and characterize from the sociology of sport, Loy and Booth
work in paradigms other than their own undertake an original, insightful, thorough
and which they often perceive, or at least and scholarly survey of their field. Function-
publicly represent, as inferior rivals. alism, they suggest, gave the early sociologists
of sport ‘a powerful weapon’ to counter charges
The seven paradigms, some of them overlap- that they were engaging in a ‘trivial scholarly
ping to a certain degree, are: functionalism, pursuit’. More particularly, functional theories
Marxism, cultural studies, feminism, interpre- guided them towards the investigation of
tive sociology, figurational sociology and post- the relationships between sport and institu-
structuralism. tions of acknowledged importance such as
the economy, the polity and education, in that
way helping to confer legitimacy and a degree
CHAPTER OVERVIEWS of prestige on the fledgling field. Loy and
Booth go on to suggest that early North
Part one opens with ‘Functionalism, Sport and American work in the sociology of sport was
Society’ by John W. Loy and Douglas Booth, characterized by ‘instrumental positivism’,
both from the University of Otago, New that is, it involved an emphasis on ‘value-
Zealand. Functionalist theories, they suggest, freedom, objective measurement and statistical
are holistic, that is, concerned with societies as data’. However, they are not so sure whether
‘systems’ or ‘wholes’. They have their roots in instrumental positivism was as closely con-
the use of organic analogies by pioneering nected with structural-functionalism as has
sociologists such as Comte, Spencer and sometimes been alleged, and they plausibly –
Durkheim. However, Loy and Booth note that and provocatively! – identify functionalist ele-
functionalist theories do not constitute a single, ments even in the writings of anti-functionalist
undifferentiated category. That is, there are sociologists such as Elias and Dunning. (On
different types of functionalism, and in order to this, see also Chapter 6 by Murphy et al.) This
make sense of them, Loy and Booth opt for is an argument which points to elements of
Abrahamson’s (1978) distinction between common ground and possible synthesis
‘individualistic’, ‘interpersonal’ and ‘societal’ between paradigms which their advocates see
2 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

as contradictory. As such, it deserves to be towards ‘bourgeois’ sport-forms was also

taken seriously.2 demanded but, given the dominance of the
The second chapter is on ‘Marxist Theories’ latter in the world at large, this was necessarily
and is written by German sociologist Bero ambivalent and many aspects of these ‘bour-
Rigauer. Rigauer was a student of Theodor geois’ forms were adopted in order to facilitate
Adorno at the University of Frankfurt, and his effective competition with the countries of the
early work was in the tradition of ‘critical ‘decadent’ West.
theory’, that is, the philosophical Marxism of Rigauer ends by discussing academic/
the ‘Frankfurt School’. More recently, Rigauer scientific (and mainly Western) interpretations
has been trying to synthesize aspects of critical of Marx and Marxism under the headings of
theory and figurational sociology. (It is per- ‘reproduction theory’, ‘critical theory’ and
haps worth noting parenthetically that the ‘hegemony theory’ (that is, work based on
roots of the latter lay partly in the Sociology Antonio Gramsci’s interpretation – revision? –
Department at the University of Frankfurt of Marx).3 He concludes that hegemony theory
where Norbert Elias was Assistant to Karl has been the most fruitful of these approaches
Mannheim, the founder of the sociology of but suggests that there is considerable scope
knowledge. Although they shared the same for further development within the Marxist
building – often referred to as the ‘Marxburg’ – sociology of sport more generally. This will be
the Sociology Department was separate from most effectively realized, Rigauer suggests,
the Institute for Social Research.) through the adoption by Marxist sociologists
‘Marxism’, suggests Rigauer, is a complex, of an open-minded and non-dogmatic attitude
differentiated and multidisciplinary approach towards other paradigms. If such an attitude is
to human societies which incorporates philo- reciprocated by the advocates of non-Marxist
sophical, anthropological, historical and eco- approaches, a sociological synthesis will be
nomic as well as sociological elements. It is more quickly arrived at.
also susceptible to a variety of interpretations, The third chapter in this section – ‘Cultural
some more scientific, others more ideological. Studies and the Sociology of Sport’ by Jennifer
It is Rigauer’s contention that a distinction has Hargreaves and Ian McDonald – is also con-
to be drawn between Marx’s own work, which cerned with a perspective influenced by
Rigauer calls ‘Marxian’, and the use and inter- Marxism, in this case the hegemony theory of
pretation of Marx’s theories by others which he Antonio Gramsci. Cultural studies, Hargreaves
labels ‘Marxism’. Further to this it is necessary, and McDonald maintain, is difficult to anchor
Rigauer suggests, to distinguish between within the corpus of sociological traditions
Marxism as a ‘distinctive political ideology’ because ‘it is cross-disciplinary in nature,
and academic/scientific interpretations of drawing on such diverse academic discourses
Marx. as communication studies, film theory, history,
Rigauer shows how, as Marx himself literacy criticism, philosophy, politics and
intended, the political/ideological use and semiology, as well as sociology’. It originated,
interpretation of his theory preceded its they note, in England, especially at the Centre
academic/scientific use. More particularly it for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS),
was used before the First World War by which was founded at the University of
members of left-wing/working-class political Birmingham in 1964. Besides Gramsci, it
parties. Political/ideological elements con- includes among its founding figures Richard
tinue to colour even the academic/scientific Hoggart, Raymond Williams, E.P. Thompson
interpretations of Marx and Marxism but they and later, Stuart Hall. According to Hargreaves
were at their strongest and most dogmatic, and McDonald, up until the intervention of
Rigauer notes, in the former Soviet Union and these scholars, the term ‘culture’ had been pre-
its ‘satellites’ where Marxism, or more cor- dominantly understood as synonymous with
rectly ‘Marxism–Leninism’, became a kind of ‘high’ culture, a definition which contributed
secular religion which was propagated by the to making the study of sport a low-status aca-
state as a body of supposedly proven knowl- demic endeavour.4 From a cultural studies
edge. This had deleterious consequences for standpoint, however, ‘culture’ came to mean
the development of sociology in those coun- all the ways in which people think, feel and
tries, including for the sociology of sport. It act, in that way legitimizing sport as ‘culture’
implied, for example, the state diktat that sport and the academic study of it. As Hargreaves
could only be used for the pursuit of such col- and McDonald tell us, these scholars also
lective goals as the socialization of people into ‘pointed towards a form of intellectual engage-
a ‘socialist personality’. A critical attitude ment that was openly interventionist’.
 EDITORS’ INTRODUCTION 3

It was Gramsci, however, who was the main Hargreaves and McDonald’s provocative
source of inspiration for ‘cultural studies’. As chapter is followed by ‘Feminist Theories for
Hargreaves and McDonald express it, he Sport’, a scholarly yet engaged account by
rejected Marxist ‘economism’ and the crude Susan Birrell of the University of Iowa of soci-
positing by ‘economistic’ Marxists of culture ‘as ological work on sport and gender. Birrell
a mere reflection of the economic base’. Such an starts by stating that the main purpose behind
approach, they imply, is too deterministic, so feminist theories in the sociology of sport is to
Gramsci opted instead for a view of history as ‘theorize about gender relations within our
actively produced by individuals and groups patriarchal society as they are evidenced by,
yet under determinate conditions. His key con- played out in, and reproduced through sport
cept was that of ‘hegemony’, that is, the estab- and other body practices’. According to Birrell,
lishment of political and cultural leadership by all feminists share the assumption that human
a dominant group or class. According to societies are ‘patriarchal’, that is, ruled by men,
Hargreaves and McDonald, hegemony is ‘a tool and that women are oppressed in patriarchal
for explaining how ideas and practices which contexts. Feminist theory, Birrell suggests, is a
seem against the interests of subordinate ‘self-reflexive theoretical practice’ and, accord-
groups are believed in and carried out by them ingly, open to criticism from outsiders as well
so as to become “commonsense”’. As Gramsci as insiders. Birrell begins by discussing ‘the
conceived it, the achievement of hegemony is view from outside’.
an unstable process in which control is not sim- It is Birrell’s contention that ‘outsider’ criti-
ply imposed but based on ‘the winning of con- cisms of feminist theories tend to be conserva-
sent from subordinate groups’. A dialectical tive and founded in a belief that the
understanding of the relationship between differences between men and women are
individuals and societies is involved which, as either ‘divinely ordained’ or ‘genetically
Hargreaves and McDonald put it, ‘allows for determined’. The protagonists of such beliefs
cultural experiences such as sports to be under- tend to view sport as a ‘masculine activity’
stood as both exploitative and worthwhile’. which is ‘not meant for women’. As an exam-
Through this perspective, sport is perceived as ple, Birrell cites a 1986 essay by Australian
‘an aspect of culture embodying struggle and John Carroll in which it is asserted that
contestation’ and the focus is on ‘the processes ‘women spoil sport’ and ‘sport spoils women’.
through which cultural practices and the ide- Other critics have labelled feminist theories as
ologies and beliefs underlying those practices ‘pseudo-science’ and Birrell notes that it has
are created, reproduced, and changed through even been argued that the balance of power
human agency and interaction’. between the sexes has recently shifted so
Hargreaves and McDonald provide lucid much in favour of women that it is now men
summaries of the major work on sport carried who are the oppressed and exploited sex!
out from a cultural studies perspective in As far as feminist theories of sport per se are
Britain and the United States. They show how, concerned, Birrell shows how these have
in the 1980s and 1990s, this work was subjected developed through three broad but overlap-
to a searching feminist critique, an intervention ping stages: a stage involving an atheoretical
which, as Hargreaves and McDonald express focus on ‘women in sport’; a stage involving a
it, ‘re-enlivened the politicization of theory’ self-conscious search for theoretical homes;
and played an important part in leading and finally a stage influenced by postmod-
increasing attention to be paid to such cate- ernist conceptions.
gories as race, age, disability and sexuality as The first, atheoretical stage lasted from the
well as class and gender in cultural studies mid-1960s to the late 1970s and, in it, research
research on sport. Nevertheless, Hargreaves was dominated by a focus on psychological
and McDonald contend, an unreflecting male topics. Sociologically, most attention was
dominance continues to characterize the devoted to sex role socialization in and
field, and women’s contributions are neither through sport. Above all, as Birrell succinctly
adequately recognized nor adequately inte- puts it, at this stage gender was ‘conceived of
grated into the field overall. Hargreaves and as a variable or distributive category rather
McDonald conclude their chapter by discussing than as a set of relations sustained through
what they call the ‘paradigm wars’. In that human agency and cultural practice’.
context, they respond to criticisms of cultural The second stage identified by Birrell took
studies work on sport offered by writers such place primarily in the 1980s and principally
as Rojek, Dunning, MacAloon, Jarvie and involved theorizing in terms of what she
Maguire, and Loy and Andrews. calls the ur or ‘originating categories’ (ur is a
4 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

German prefix meaning ‘age-old’, ‘primitive’ approaches to the subject, Donnelly tells us,
or ‘originating’), namely ‘liberal feminism’ and which use methods akin to those of anthro-
‘radical feminism’. ‘Liberal feminism’ is a pology, namely ethnography and in-depth
humanist perspective which involves a stress interviewing. In sum, whatever differences
on securing equality for women within the there may be between them, these approaches
context of an overall social structure and struc- all share in common a concern with ‘the way
ture of sporting organization which remain in which the social world is not just some-
unchanged. ‘Radical feminism’ is revolutionary thing to be confronted by individuals, but is
and based on the idea that, in order to secure a continually constructed and reinvented by the
more equitable integration of females into participants’.
sport and society at large, patriarchal struc- Donnelly then goes on to note that the forms
tures will have to be dismantled. of interpretive sociology that have been most
Birrell goes on to show how liberal and rad- prominently used in the sociology of sport are
ical feminist theories stressed gender to the symbolic interactionism and dramaturgical
exclusion of other categories of differentiation sociology,5 approaches that grew partly out of
such as class, age, race and sexual orientation. the Chicago School of urban sociology that
It was in an attempt to develop more all- flourished between the two World Wars, and
inclusive theories, she suggests, that the syn- partly out of the influence on Chicago sociol-
thesizing theories of ‘Marxist feminism’ and ogy in that period of philosopher George
‘socialist feminism’ were constructed. The Herbert Mead. However, it is only fairly
former saw class as the primary category of recently that these approaches have begun to
social differentiation, exclusion and oppression; have a major impact on the sociology of sport
the latter was more open-ended and involved and Donnelly singles out for special mention in
a focus on the ‘interacting impacts of gender, this connection the work of Charles Page,
class and race’. Gregory Stone, John Loy and Donald Ball.
According to Birrell, the third stage in the According to Donnelly, other influences on
development of feminist theories of sport took interpretive studies work in the sociology of
place in the 1990s. It depended, as she puts it, sport include Birmingham University’s CCCS
on the ‘emergence of cultural studies as the (see Chapter 3 by Hargreaves and McDonald),
dominant paradigm for feminist analysis in the anthropologist Clifford Geertz and French
80s’ (see Chapter 3 by Hargreaves and sociologist Pierre Bourdieu and his students.
McDonald). More particularly, cultural studies Donnelly next proceeds to examine the
served, says Birrell, as a bridge to ‘more inter- major criticisms that have been levelled at
disciplinary, postmodern sensibilities’; that is, the interpretive sociologies, for example, the
it took sociology and the sociology of sport alleged tendency towards extreme relativism in
‘beyond the boundaries of social science into the work of their advocates, the subjectivity/
the relatively unbounded territory occupied lack of objectivity of the latter, their tendency
by Lacan, Derrida, Foucault and Gramsci ‘to go native’, that is, to over-identify with their
where the languages spoken include discourse subjects, and the ‘journalistic’ character of
analysis, hegemony theory, post-structuralism, much of their work. After that, in his balanced
deconstruction and postmodernism’ (see the account Donnelly examines the responses of
chapter by David Andrews). Finally, Susan interpretivists and their defenders, for exam-
Birrell examines ‘queer theory’ and what she ple, Manford Kuhn of the University of Iowa’s
calls the ‘transgender challenge’, paying atten- quantification of symbolic interactionism and
tion to their implications for the sociological Anthony Giddens’s elaboration of the key dif-
theorization of sport. ferences between ‘natural facts’ and ‘social
In his erudite chapter on the use of ‘interpre- facts’, for example, that, ‘whilst atoms cannot
tive sociology’ in the sociology of sport, get to know what scientists say about them,
Canada-based, British-born sociologist Peter human beings can and do, thus implying that
Donnelly of the University of Toronto begins the relations between sociologists and their
by noting that his chapter title refers to ‘a par- subjects are necessarily different from those
ticular group of sociologies which have as their between natural scientists and theirs’.
basis the interpretation and understanding of After reviewing interpretive work dealing
human meaning and action’. Included under with the analysis of media texts, Donnelly
this rubric are: Weberian sociology, symbolic turns to research into the related issues of sport
interactionism, dramaturgical sociology, phe- subcultures and socialization into sports and
nomenological sociology, ethnomethodology through them. As far as the study of sport
and existential sociology. These are all subcultures is concerned, he shows how
 EDITORS’ INTRODUCTION 5

changes occurred in the 1980s as a result, first, is of central relevance for understanding the
of the application of Geertz’s method of ‘thick development of specifically modern forms of
description’ and, secondly, of the influence of sport has been a change in the societies of
British subculture theory which became more Western Europe since their Middle Ages in
radical and critical in that decade. Donnelly the direction of a ‘taming of peoples’ conscious
goes on to note that, although a concern with desire and capacity for obtaining pleasure
sport and socialization has been a focus since from attacking others’. Murphy, Sheard and
the early days of the sociology of sport, the ini- Waddington go on to describe Elias’s hypothe-
tial work tended to be quantitative in character sis that modern sport-forms first began to
and that it is only since those involved in the emerge in England in the eighteenth century on
interpretive sociology of sport have turned account of the correlative occurrence of what he
their attention to socialization that a number of called ‘the parliamentarization of political
rich insights have been made into the process’. conflict’ and ‘the sportization of pastimes’, a
As Donnelly graphically and perceptively ‘civilizing spurt’ in the habitus of England’s
expresses it, ‘perhaps the major impact of inter- ruling groups which was manifested in both
pretive sociology has been the way in which it their political and their leisure lives.
hangs flesh on the skeletons of survey data’. The ‘Leicester trio’ next go on to discuss Elias
The sixth chapter in this ‘Major Perspectives’ and Dunning’s early work on the development
section is ‘Figurational Sociology and its of football and Dunning and Sheard’s work on
Application to Sport’ by British sociologists the development of rugby. After that, they pro-
Patrick Murphy, Ken Sheard and Ivan vide an account of ‘the Leicester School’s’ work
Waddington of the University of Leicester. on football hooliganism, going on to discuss the
They begin by noting that ‘figurational’ or contributions of Jarvie and Maguire to the figu-
‘process sociology’ has grown out of the foun- rational ‘oeuvre’, paying special attention in this
dational work of Norbert Elias and that its key connection to Maguire’s ground-breaking work
concept is that of ‘figurations’, that is, struc- on sport and globalization (see Chapter 23).
tures or networks of ‘mutually oriented and Murphy, Sheard and Waddington conclude
dependent people’. Elias adapted the term, their chapter by summarizing the responses to
they tell us, on account of its dynamic and rela- the major criticisms of figurational sociology
tional properties, and they go on to add that a which have so far been advanced.
central aspect of any figuration according to The final chapter in this section is ‘Posting
Elias is power, ‘conceptualized not as a sub- up: French Post-structuralism and the Critical
stance or property possessed by particular Analysis of Contemporary Sporting Culture’
individuals and groups but as a characteristic by American-based British scholar David
of all human relationships’. According to Andrews of the University of Memphis. Post-
Elias, in other words, power is a question of structuralism, Andrews informs us – it is a
relative and relatively fluid balances or term that he prefers to the more trendy
‘power-ratios’. Further to this, Murphy, Sheard ‘postmodernism’ – ‘emerged as a loosely
and Waddington note that Elias was critical of aligned series of philosophical, political and
many standard conceptual distinctions, such theoretical rejoinders to the unrest and turbu-
as those between ‘truth’ and ‘falsehood’, ‘sub- lence that engulfed modernizing France
jectivity’ and ‘objectivity’, ‘bias’ and ‘value- during the late 1960s and early 1970s’. It has
freedom/value-neutrality’, suggesting that since become, he argues, ‘a constituent feature
they are better formulated not as dichotomies, of contemporary intellectual life’. Despite this,
but in terms of continua, balances and degrees. according to Andrews, until relatively recently
It follows from this that, according to Elias, the it ‘has been received with a perplexing mixture
task of sociology (as of any science) should be, of defensive dismissal and haughty disdain by
not to search for ‘the truth’ but to add to the large sections of the sociology of sport commu-
existing ‘social fund of knowledge’ under- nity’. Andrew’s lucid account will hopefully
standings and explanations which are more help members of this ‘community’ to decide for
‘object-adequate’ or more ‘reality-congruent’ themselves whether there is much of enduring
than those which were previously available. value in the works of the post-structuralists.
Murphy, Sheard and Waddington next pro- Borrowing from Featherstone (1985),
vide a lucid and succinct exposition of Elias’s Andrews tells us that ‘post-structuralism ...
now increasingly well-known theory of ‘civi- allows us to expose the dark side of sporting
lizing processes’, pointing out how Elias uses modernity by challenging the ethos of rational
this term in a technical, non-evaluative way. human progress embodied by – and within –
They note in this connection how a process that modern sport culture’. According to Andrews,
6 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

it (post-structuralism) is the third in a sequence institution; and Baudrillard’s hyperreal

of philosophies – the first two were existen- cosmology for mapping sport’s immersion
tialism and structuralism – which emerged in within new regimes of representation’.
France after the Second World War as ‘impor- Although, like those of Derrida, Foucault and
tant epistemological and ontological challenges Baudrillard, the language and concepts that
to the modern hegemony of the liberal human- David Andrews employs are often abstract,
ist subject which uncritically placed “man [sic] obtuse and not always adequately explained to
at the centre of history” and made “him the the reader, it is our view that his lively, schol-
privileged creator of meaning”’. More particu- arly and original chapter will repay close and
larly, structuralism emerged as a reaction to careful study.
existentialism’s unscientific subjectivism, that
is, its value-laden stress on individual freedom,
and both it and post-structuralism made heavy NOTES
use of the structural linguistics of the Swiss
semiologist of the turn of the last century, 1 It is also common practice to distinguish
Ferdinand de Saussure. It is this which has led between ‘normative functionalism’ and
some commentators to depict structuralism ‘general functionalism’. The former term
and post-structuralism as having emerged as applies to the functional theory of Talcott
part of a ‘linguistic turn’. It is generally agreed, Parsons, with its stress on social integration
though, that post-structuralism emerged at a via value-consensus. The latter applies to
specific historical conjuncture, more particu- the functional theory of Robert Merton
larly in May 1968 when there took place in which involves no such mono-causal stress.
France a revolt against the regime of President 2 Loy and Booth are mistaken in identifying
de Gaulle which was perceived as repressive Comte as a positivist in the modern sense.
and bureaucratic. It started in the universities As we noted in the General Introduction,
and spread on to the streets of Paris before Comte coined the term ‘sociology’ in oppo-
being defeated. It was in that context that it sition to the statistical ‘social physics’ of
became clear to thinkers on the left that the Quetelet, and suggested that the historical
socialist future they believed in was not going comparative method is the one best suited
to arrive automatically and that the denial of to the study of human societies, the most
individual agency in the writings of structural- complex and rapidly changing of all
ist authors such as the anthropologist Lévi- humanly known phenomena.
Strauss, and the structural Marxist Althusser, 3 John Hargreaves also distinguishes
had gone too far. As Andrews puts it, ‘the between three Marxist approaches to the
events of May 1968 demonstrated the contin- sociological study of sport, namely ‘corre-
gent and constructed nature of knowledge and spondence theory’, ‘representation theory’
its manifestations within institutions and and ‘hegemony theory’ (John Hargreaves
expressions of power’. It was in that highly (1982) ‘Sport and hegemony: some theoret-
politicized climate, Andrews notes, that struc- ical problems’, in Hart Cantelon and
turalism came to be viewed on the left as Richard Gruneau (eds), Sport, Culture and
involving ‘virtual intellectual capitulation’ to the Modern State, Toronto, University of
the prevailing order. From that point on, the Toronto Press). From Hargreaves’s stand-
term ‘post-structuralism’ began increasingly to point, it seems that Rigauer conflates the
be applied to the work of a loose collection of ‘correspondence theory’ and ‘reproduction
left-intellectuals who strove, as they saw it, to theory’ categories, though Rigauer’s classi-
generate ‘politically subversive knowledge’ fication is arguably superior because it is
centred on ‘identifying and nurturing differ- difficult to see where ‘critical theory’ fits
ence, disunity and disorder within the oppres- into Hargreaves’s scheme.
sive formations of [French] modernity’. 4 Jennifer Hargreaves and Ian McDonald
In his chapter, David Andrews concentrates do not explain that the term ‘culture’ was
on the work of Derrida, Foucault and used in a general and non-evaluative
Baudrillard as examples of the post-structural- sense by American anthropologists long
ist genre. More particularly, he seeks, as he puts before its usage in that way by the authors
it, to demonstrate the relevance of ‘Derrida’s whom they cite. Interestingly, one of those
grammatology for deconstructing the philo- authors – Raymond Williams – had a sophis-
sophical foundations of sporting modernity; ticated awareness of the term’s history.
Foucault’s genealogy for excavating sport’s See his Keywords (1988), London, Fontana,
status and influence as a modern disciplinary pp. 87–93.
 EDITORS’ INTRODUCTION 7

5 The distinction between ‘symbolic interac- of Self in Everyday Life (Reading, Mass: Cox
tionism’ and ‘dramaturgical sociology’ is and Wyman, 1959) is often included under
not one that is always drawn. That is to say, the rubric of symbolic interactionism and
the dramaturgical approach that Erving not as a separate sociological approach.
Goffman first introduced in The Presentation
 1
FUNCTIONALISM, SPORT AND SOCIETY

John W. Loy and Douglas Booth

One of the oldest theoretical traditions in already been said, and to express that view in
anthropology and sociology is functionalism, a way that implies that functionalism is as
also called ‘functional analysis’, ‘the functional dead as a dodo’ (Barnes, 1995: 37). On the other
approach’, ‘functional orientation’, ‘functional hand, there are good reasons for reconsidering
theory’, and ‘structural-functionalism’ (Zeitlin, functionalism. Barnes (1995: 37) makes the
1973: 3). The functionalist paradigm once case:
dominated general sociology; however, we
whatever is worth saying about functionalism
reject the view that functionalism – while
bears repeating, for it is the most misunderstood
influential – ever achieved the status of a dom-
and misused of social theories. And it remains in
inant paradigm in sport sociology.
any case clearly alive; in the work, for example, of
The roots of functionalism in modern sociol-
Luhmann and Habermas. Moreover, functionalist
ogy can be traced back to the nineteenth-
forms of thought have penetrated so deeply into
century work of Auguste Comte, the founding
the culture of the social sciences that they are often
father of, and the first to use the term, sociol-
employed without being explicitly recognized as
ogy. Functionalism reached its zenith in gen-
such, so that an understanding of their strength
eral sociology shortly after the Second World
and weaknesses remains necessary even if they are
War. But, as Ritzer (1988: 58) notes, ‘the 1940s
no longer as widely advocated and defended as
and 1950s were paradoxically the years of
once they were.
greatest dominance and the beginnings of the
decline of structural-functionalism.’ Just ‘as it Certainly it is worth while re-examining the
was gaining theoretical hegemony, structural- functionalist perspective within the sociology
functionalism came under attack, and the of sport, as its principles and assumptions
attacks mounted until they reached a continually reappear. This is especially true of
crescendo in the 1960s and 1970s’ (p. 59). studies that focus on sport as a means of social
Ironically, structural-functionalism gained its integration or as a site of social conflict. And
strongest foothold within the sociology of like mainstream sociology, these functionalist
sport when it was under its heaviest attack tenets found within sport sociology are rarely
within the ranks of general sociology. For spelled out.
example, Jarvie and Maguire (1994: 5) contend Accordingly, we offer a re-examination of
that ‘during the late 1960s and early 1970s it functionalism. We first outline the central
played a key part in the early development of assumptions, main forms and major formaliza-
the sociology of sport in North America and on tions of functionalism. Secondly, we review
both sides of what was then the European functionalism’s key contributions to the sociol-
“iron curtain”.’ ogy of sport. We then discuss the chief criti-
The criticisms of structural-functionalism cisms of functionalism and highlight the major
were so many, so prolonged and so devastating controversies surrounding functionalism in the
that many sport sociologists, like many sociol- sociology of sport. We conclude with an
ogists in general, tend ‘to believe that every- overview of new forms of functionalism and
thing worth saying about functionalism has their implications for the sociology of sport.
 FUNCTIONALISM, SPORT AND SOCIETY 9

THE FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE 4 The need for social integration operates as a

selective mechanism for the persistence of
those parts that promote integration of the
Functionalism represents a holistic approach to social whole.
the study of society in particular, and social
systems in general. Specifically, ‘from a func- Functionalist assumptions underpin Durk-
tionalist perspective, the key feature of heim’s four classic sociological works: The
“society” considered as a unified system is its Division of Labor in Society ([1893] 1938), The
orderliness and relative stability in the context Rules of Sociological Method ([1895] 1938), Suicide
of a changing environment’ (Barnes, 1995: 37). ([1897] 1952) and Elementary Forms of the
Although holistic approaches to the study of Religious Life ([1912] 1954). His functional analy-
society date from the ancient Greeks, the early sis of religion greatly influenced the develop-
exemplars of modern versions of functionalism ment of anthropological functionalism under
in anthropology and sociology appear in the A.R. Radcliffe-Brown (1952) and Bronislaw
works of Herbert Spencer and Emile Durkheim. Malinowski (1945). Their work in turn greatly
Following the lead of Auguste Comte, they influenced the sociological functionalism of
espoused organic models of society and Talcott Parsons and Robert K. Merton.1
analysed the structure and functioning of soci- In sum, functionalism has a long history and
eties in a manner analogous to the study of the takes many forms. Space limits detailed dis-
structure and functioning of biological organ- cussions of its many varieties, but we outline
isms. Spencer, for example, drew the following the main forms of functionalism below.
parallels between society and organisms:

1 Both society and organisms can be distin- Forms of Functionalism

guished from inorganic matter, for both
grow and develop. A number of typologies of the forms of func-
2 In both society and organisms an increase tionalism, ranging from the simple to the com-
in size means an increase in complexity and plex, are found in the sociological literature.
differentiation. Spiro (1953) provides the most elaborate typol-
3 In both, a progressive differentiation in ogy, identifying 12 varieties of functionalism.
structure is accompanied by a differentia- However, for present purposes Abrahamson’s
tion in function. (1978) three-fold typology, of individualistic,
4 In both, parts of the whole are interdepen- interpersonal and societal forms, serves to
dent with a change in one part affecting illustrate both classic and contemporary forms
other parts. of functionalism.2
5 In both, each part of the whole is also a Individualistic Functionalism This particu-
micro society or organism in and of itself. lar perspective is most closely associated with
6 And in both organisms and societies, the the anthropological writings of Bronislaw
life of the whole can be destroyed but the Malinowski. He argued that social institutions
parts will live on for a while. (Turner, 1974: and cultural values are functional responses to
16–17) the needs of individuals whether those be
psychological (love, identity) or biological
While critical of much of Spencer’s sociolog- (hunger, sex). Every society, he contended,
ical thought, Durkheim nevertheless utilized must cater for individuals’ needs, although he
several of Spencer’s ideas in formulating his acknowledged that culture also determined
own notions of functionalism. Turner and how individuals expressed their needs.
Maryanski (1979: 96–7) cite Durkheim as ‘the
first to advocate an explicitly functional set of Interpersonal Functionalism Expounded by
assumptions’. These were: A.R. Radcliffe-Brown, this framework empha-
sizes interpersonal interactions. He identified a
1 A social system must reveal some degree of host of interpersonal practices, such as joking,
internal integration among it constituent gift-giving and avoidance, as ‘strain accommo-
parts. dating mechanisms’. These mechanisms, later
2 The important theoretical task is to deter- called ‘functional equivalents’, were viewed as
mine the consequences, or functions, of a solutions for minimizing inherent social strains
constituent part for the integration of the and functioned to connect individuals into an
systemic whole. integrated whole.
3 The ‘causes’ of a part must be analysed
separately from its ‘functions’ for social Societal Functionalism Durkheim was the
integration. first proponent of this perspective. He used the
10 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

term function to refer to practices that satisfy notable proponents of S-F, and in order to lay
the needs of the social system. And he indicated the groundwork for discussing the substantive
that ‘causes’ and ‘effects’ of a function interact applications of S-F to sport sociology, we sum-
and reciprocate. For example, most social sys- marize selected formalizations of Parsons,
tems punish crimes because collective senti- Merton, Durkheim, and Davis and Moore,
ments ‘cause’ the system to act this way. But respectively.3
collective sentiments are also an effect of pun-
ishment; that is, punishment is functional to the Parsons’s AGIL Model of Functional Impera-
maintenance of anti-crime sentiments. tives One of Talcott Parsons’s most notable
contributions to S-F is his ‘general theory of
Structural-functionalism To varying deg- action’. According to Parsons (1966: 5), ‘action
rees, all three forms of functionalism described consists of the structures and processes by
by Abrahamson are incorporated into contem- which human beings form meaningful inten-
porary sociological functionalism generally tions and, more or less successfully, implement
called ‘structural-functionalism’ (hereafter them in concrete situations.’ Parsons (1966) con-
S-F). With reference to S-F, Demerath (1967: ceptualized all general human action systems
506) suggests that: as being comprised of four primary subsystems
On the one hand, it is possible to concentrate on
of action, namely: the behavioral organism, per-
the ‘part’, using the ‘whole’ as a kind of backboard
sonality, social system and culture. Moreover,
off which to bounce effects and consequences. On
Parsons (1966) theorized that all action systems
the other hand, one can concentrate on the whole
must deal with four functional problems which
itself. Here the various parts are constituent
he labelled adaptation, goal-attainment, inte-
elements and only really interesting as they con-
gration and latency (alias pattern-maintenance
tribute to the entirety.
and tension-management). Denoted by the
acronym AGIL, these problems are referred to
He proposes terming the first option ‘struc- as the ‘functional prerequisites’ of systems of
turalism’ and the second option ‘functional- action, or more commonly the ‘functional
ism’, ‘thus giving new life to a once moribund imperatives’ of action systems.
hyphen’ (p. 506). Craib (1984: 43) describes Parsons’s func-
Following Demerath’s distinction, the work tional imperatives as follows:
of Robert K. Merton (1957) best highlights
‘structuralism’, whereas the work of Talcott 1 Each system must adapt to its environment
Parsons (cf. for example, 1966, 1971) best exem- (adaptation).
plifies ‘functionalism’ (cf., for example, Turner, 2 Each system must have a means of mobiliz-
1974). We emphasize the key features of these ing its resources in order to achieve its goals
two branches of S-F in our description of and obtain gratification (goal attainment).
selected theories and typologies of functional- 3 Each system must maintain the internal co-
ism below. ordination of its parts and develop ways of
dealing with deviance – in other words, it
Formalizations of Functionalism must keep itself together (integration).
4 Each system must maintain itself as nearly
As there is little consensus within the social as possible in a state of equilibrium ...
sciences as to what precisely constitutes a (pattern maintenance).
model, paradigm, or theory, it is not surpris-
ing that different sociologists have attached Parsons (1966: 7) theorized that ‘within
each of these labels to S-F. For example, Burrell action systems, cultural systems are special-
and Morgan (1979: 25) regard S-F as the para- ized around the function of pattern-mainte-
digm that ‘has provided the dominant frame- nance, social systems around the integration of
work for the conduct of academic sociology acting units ..., personality systems around
and the study of organizations’; Ritzer (1975: goal-attainment, and the behavioral organism
48) views S-F as one of two dominant theories around adaptation.’ He further theorized that
within the ‘social facts’ paradigm; while every subsystem of action can be analysed in
Sztompka (1974) conceptualizes S-F as a sys- terms of the four functions of A, G, I and L. For
temic model that provides a formal framework example, in the case of the social system, spe-
for constructing a theory of society. Here we cific institutional spheres serve particular func-
simply note that S-F is a broad and diverse the- tions: the economy is primarily related to
oretical perspective containing several explicit adaptation, the polity to goal-attainment,
models, theories and typologies. By way of socializing institutions to integration and the
highlighting the particular viewpoints of community to pattern-maintenance.
 FUNCTIONALISM, SPORT AND SOCIETY 11

Finally, we note that Parsons theorized that focusing on institutionalized goals and means,
his general system of action constituted a Merton in effect views society as a social
cybernetic hierarchy wherein interaction system that varies in its degree of integration.
among the four primary subsystems of action A social system reaches equilibrium when
relies on the constant exchange of energy and there is a satisfactory balance between institu-
information (Craib, 1984: 46–7; Rocher, 1974: tionalized goals and means. However, struc-
50–1; Skidmore, 1979: 157–60; Turner, 1974: tural imbalances result in a poorly integrated
40–2). ‘At the base of the hierarchy are the social system wherein individuals adopt
parts highest in energy, acting as factors condi- different modes of adaptation to institutional-
tioning action; the high information units are at ized goals and means. In short, ‘the social
the top of the hierarchy, as factors controlling structure ... produces a strain toward anomie
action’ (Rocher, 1974: 51; original emphasis). and deviant behavior’ (Merton, 1957: 157).
Thus, in terms of energy, ‘the organism pro- Merton offers a five-fold typology of the
vides the energy necessary for the personality ways that individuals can respond to institu-
system, the personality system provides the tionalized goals and means:
energic conditions for the social system, and 1 conformity – where an individual accepts
the organization of personality systems into a both the cultural goals and the institution-
social system provides the conditions neces- alized means for achieving them;
sary for a cultural system’ (Turner, 1974: 41–2). 2 innovation – where an individual subscribes
Conversely, the cultural system information- to the cultural goals, but does not accept the
ally controls the social system, the social preferred or legitimate means for reaching
system informationally regulates the personal- them;
ity system, and the personality system infor- 3 ritualism – where an individual limits his or
mationally governs the behavioural organism. her horizons and instead of aspiring to lofty
Parsons’s AGIL scheme appears in Heinila’s goals, such as those held out in the
(1969: 14) description of football as a ‘social American Dream, compulsively abides by
system’ wherein the rules of the game ‘fit institutionalized norms like those associ-
Parsons’s functional imperatives surprisingly ated with the Protestant work ethic;
neatly’. The technical rules of football, Heinila 4 retreatism – where an individual rejects both
claimed, promote goal-attainment; training cultural goals and institutionalized means;
rules serve an adaptive function; rules of com- 5 rebellion – where an individual feels alien-
petition and eligibility maintain value pat- ated from current cultural values and nor-
terns; and refereeing rules assist integration. mative means and considers them purely
More formally, Günther Lüschen (1969: arbitrary.
57–66) provides a Parsonian model of the sport
group as a social system and examines the Merton uses his typology to answer the socio-
relationships between structural levels of a logical question, ‘what ... are the consequences
sport group and its functional problems (see for the behavior of people variously situated in
Table 1.1). Responding to Lüschen’s model, a social structure or a culture in which the
John Loy (1969a: 67–75) offers an alternative emphasis on dominant success-goals has
Parsonian model of sport teams viewed as become increasingly separated from an equiv-
social systems (see Table 1.2). Drawing upon alent emphasis on institutionalized procedures
the small group research of Robert Bales for seeking these goals?’ (Merton, 1957: 139).
(Parsons’s colleague and co-author at Harvard Loy (1969b) addressed Merton’s question in
University), Loy’s model focuses on leadership a theoretical essay about the possible relation-
roles in team sports and emphasizes the exter- ships between social structure, game forms
nal versus internal, and instrumental versus and anomie. More specifically, he juxtaposed
expressive, dimensions of sport teams. Merton’s typology of modes of individual
adaptation with Caillois’s (1961) four-fold
Merton’s Theory of Anomie Using a func- typology of game forms (that is, agon, alea,
tionalist framework, Merton identifies two key ilinx, mimicry) and hypothesized that certain
elements of social and cultural structures. ‘The game forms would be more prominent among
first consists of culturally defined goals, pur- certain social classes. For example, he linked
poses and interests, held out as legitimate agon (competition) to ‘conformity’ among the
objectives for all’, irrespective of their social upper-middle classes; alea (chance) to ‘innova-
status (Merton, 1957: 132). ‘A second element tion’ among the lower class; and solitary vari-
of the cultural structure defines, regulates and ants of Caillois’ four game forms to
controls the acceptable modes of reaching ‘retreatism’ among individuals in the lowest
out for these goals’ (Merton, 1957: 133). By societal positions. To illustrate the latter, Loy
12 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

Table 1.1 The sport group as a social system

Structural levels Functional problems
Values Pattern maintenance
(achievement, fair play)
Norms Integration
(defining amateur, foul; rules of a game; defining
‘good’ team member)
Subcollectivities Goal attainment
(offence or defence; ‘braintrusts’ of a team;
cliques, friendships)
Roles Adaptation
(unique clusters of recognized formal or informal rights
and obligations of individual members; specific
quarterback, peacemaker, scapegoat on a team)
Source: adapted from Lüschen, 1969: 61.

Table 1.2 Relationships between leadership roles and functional imperatives in sport groups as
social systems
External dimension (Cultural) Internal dimension (Social structural)
Instrumental dimension Adaptive problem – winning Decision-making problem – relating of team
games from other teams members to each other to reach and carry
out group decisions
(members as means) Leader role – coach as technical Leader role – team member as task leader
expert and executive leader

Expressive dimension Pattern maintenance and member Integrative problems – relating members to
recruitment and retention each other to ‘get along’ with each other
problem – acquisition, training
and control of group members
(members as ends) Leader role – coach as Leader role – team member as
educator and morale leader socio-emotional leader
Source: adapted from Loy, 1969a: 69.

referred to Olmsted’s (1962: 63) analysis of the summarized Durkheim’s theoretical assump-
solitary race track gambler: tions as follows:

Horse racing also appeals to the social isolate, 1 Social cohesion provides psychic support to
since to play the horses ‘seriously’ requires many group members subjected to acute stresses
hours of solitary paper work – very congenial to and anxieties.
such a person – and a minimum of contact with 2 Suicide rates are functions of unrelieved
others. The horse player, even more than most anxieties and stresses to which persons are
gamblers, lives in a dream world of his own, far subjected.
removed from everyday life. 3 Catholics have greater social cohesion than
Protestants.
Durkheim’s Theory of Suicide Although 4 Therefore, lower suicide rates should be
Durkheim acknowledged that suicides are the anticipated among Catholics than among
consequence of individual actions, he argued Protestants.
that suicide is best explained as a social phe-
nomenon. He was particularly interested in While much of functional thought is highly
explaining a number of empirical generaliza- abstract and complex, Durkheim shows that
tions about suicide, such as his finding that in it is possible to apply formal functionalist
a variety of populations Catholics have lower theories to social phenomena.
suicide rates than Protestants. His theoretical Drawing upon Durkheim’s work on suicide
analysis of suicide is quite complex (cf. Jones, and religious life and Merton’s theoretic
1986: 82–114) and only implicitly formalized. formulation above, Karnilowicz (1982: 6)
However, Merton (1957: 97) has formally developed the following propositions:
 FUNCTIONALISM, SPORT AND SOCIETY 13

1 Suicides result, in part, from unrelieved anx- (1) Different positions have unique
ieties and stresses of individuals in society. importance for the preservation or
2 Social integration provides emotional and survival of the society.
psychic support to individuals subjected to (2) Adequate performance in different
acute anxieties and stresses. positions requires incumbents equip-
3 Ceremonial occasions serve to increase ped with different (and socially
social integration among individuals in scarce) amounts of talent or training.
society. (C) The independent variables determine the
4 Therefore, frequency of suicides is antici- dependent variables in the following
pated to be lower on and around ceremo- manner: incumbents with greater talent
nial occasions than on and around or training are induced to occupy the
comparable non-ceremonial days. functionally more important positions
He specifically hypothesized that the frequency by attaching greater rewards to these
of suicide is lower on, and around, national reli- positions.
gious and civil holidays and major sporting (D) It follows from (A), (B) and (C) that in all
events than on, and around, comparable non- societies those positions which receive the
ceremonial days. Karnilowicz chose Easter greater rewards will be the ones which are
Sunday and Christmas Day as national reli- functionally most important and will be
gious holidays, 4th July and Thanksgiving as the ones occupied by the most talented or
national civil holidays, and Super Bowl Sunday qualified incumbents.
(that is, the national championship game of Another assumption should be added to the
American professional football) and the last preceding formulation: rewards attached to
game of the World Series (of North American any particular position may be either material
professional baseball) as major sporting events (for example, income) or symbolic (for exam-
to test this hypothesis. In collaboration with ple, prestige). Thus a functionalist might argue
Curtis and Loy, and using nationwide suicide that within professional American football
data published by the US Public Health Service the position of quarterback requires the most
for 1972–8, Karnilowicz found empirical sup- talent and training, and, as there is a scarcity of
port for the Durkheimian notion that public well-trained, talented quarterbacks, they
ceremonial occasions simultaneously increase accordingly receive the highest salaries and the
social integration and lessen the incidence of greatest prestige for their leadership and
suicides (Curtis et al., 1986: 11). athletic prowess on the field.
The Davis–Moore Theory of Social Stratifi- To the best of our knowledge no effort has
cation Perhaps the most cited, and certainly been made to test the Davis–Moore theory of
the most controversial, formal theory found social stratification at the macro-level in the
within the S-F paradigm is the functional sociology of sport. However, Loy, Knoop and
theory of social stratification formulated by Theberge (1979) made an exploratory test of
Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore. They pub- the Davis–Moore theory using data from
lished various statements of their theory over a North American baseball organizations. They
20-year period (cf. Davis, 1942, 1948, 1953, based their study on both objective and subjec-
1959a; Davis and Moore, 1945; Moore, 1953, tive measures of the four key variables under-
1963a, 1963b) and, not surprisingly, a number lying the Davis–Moore theory, namely,
of different interpretations of their theory exist. functional importance, prestige, skill and
Huaco (1963) discusses four versions of the rewards, and they focused largely on the
Davis–Moore theory: the causal, unqualified ‘imputed’ functional importance of particular
and minimal assumption; the ‘consequential’; playing positions in baseball. Their study sug-
the qualified; and the maximal assumption. gests that ‘macro-theories of social stratifica-
For present purposes, we outline Huaco’s tion are . . . of heuristic use in explaining
(1963: 802) interpretation of the causal, unqual- patterns of differential distributions of rewards
ified and minimal assumption version of the within sport organizations’ (p. 123).
Davis–Moore theory as follows:
(A) All societies have unequal rewards CONTRIBUTIONS OF
attached to different positions (this FUNCTIONALISM TO SPORT
empirical generalization is the dependent
variable). SOCIOLOGY
(B) The state of affairs described in (A) is
determined by two factors (which consti- There is a longstanding belief in sport sociology
tute the independent variables): that functionalism was the initial, and dominant,
14 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

paradigm. For example, in an influential ‘state generation sport sociologists who espoused
of the art review’ two decades ago, Merrill alternative paradigms. For example, noted
Melnick (1975: 46) warned that ‘there is an early proponents of symbolic interactionism
uneasy feeling which suggests that the sociol- within North American sport sociology
ogy of sport has become “locked into” a single included Gregory P. Stone, Donald W. Ball,
paradigm that may eventually inhibit its future Norman Denzin, Robert Faulkner and
growth and development, its general accep- Edmund Vaz (see Chapter 5). And in England
tance by the public, and ultimately its value to Norbert Elias and Eric Dunning simultan-
man [sic] and society.’ Yet, a decade later, Gerald eously condemned the faults of functionalism
Kenyon (1986) conducted an extensive review and commended the merits of figurational
of the sport sociology literature and concluded sociology (see Chapter 6).
that ‘serious contributions based on an explicit In making the preceding points we do not
functionalist approach have been rare’ (p. 11). wish to imply that S-F was absent from early
Thus, the assumed predominance of functional- sport sociology. Rather, we stress that sport
ism in sport sociology is a subject of debate.4 sociology has always embraced a diversity of
paradigms, of which S-F was one. The remain-
der of this section highlights the substantive
The Myth of Functionalism contributions made by functionalism to the
as the Dominant Paradigm sociology of sport at both the macro and micro
in Sport Sociology levels of analysis.

We agree with Kenyon that few substantive

applications of functionalism can be found in Macro-Functionalism:
the sociology of sport literature. At best we can Sport in Society
identify only three or four self-professed func-
tionalist sport sociologists, another three or Functionalism’s holistic approach helped
four influential sport sociologists who impli- direct early sport sociologists to consider sport
citly employed a functionalist framework, and as a social institution and to look more closely
a half-dozen sport sociologists who made at sport as a reflection of the total society and
functional analyses of selected problems.5 its complex relationships with other institu-
Moreover, functionalist-orientated sport tions. Thus functionalism gave sport sociolo-
sociologists never ruled the editorial boards of gists a powerful weapon to counter charges
the International Review of Sport Sociology (IRSS, that they were engaging in a ‘trivial scholarly
first published in 1966) or the Sociology of Sport pursuit’. While second-generation sport sociol-
Journal (SSJ, first published in 1984). Indeed, ogists abandoned the ‘sport as a mirror of
the editors of both journals fostered a multi- society thesis’,6 the significance of sport as an
paradigm approach to sport sociology. Andrzej institutional sphere of daily life remains an
Wohl, the first Editor-in-Chief of the IRSS, ongoing concern.
stated in the first volume of the journal that The most explicit functionalist analyses of
‘not one of the methods used by the various sport in society are found in the writings of
sociological schools nor any of the spheres of Harry Edwards, Kalevi Heinila, Gunther
research proposed by these schools, could, in Lüschen, Christopher Stevenson and Hideo
isolation from other spheres and methods, be Tatano.7 Among these sport sociologists,
of any use to present an as complete as possi- Lüschen, a German sociologist and long-time
ble reflection of the many-sided nature of American resident, has been most instrumen-
sports’ (1966: 10). Similarly, the statement of tal in fostering the functionalist framework in
editorial policy of the first issue of SSJ sport sociology. His first major paper present-
announced that ‘all types of scientific research ing a Parsonian perspective of sport in society,
methodologies’ are appropriate as are ‘the- ‘The Interdependence of Sport and Culture’,
oretical perspectives’ from a range of disci- appeared in the IRSS in 1967. In this paper
plines including social psychology, sociology, Lüschen examined sport from an action system
and anthropology. Finally, we point out that frame of reference, discussed the functions and
sport sociologists with functionalist leanings, dysfunctions of sport within culture and
unlike their colleagues in general sociology, society, and speculated about sport and cul-
never sponsored graduate students who tural evolution. According to Lüschen, in pre-
entered the field as dedicated disciples of an literate cultures ‘sport’s function is universal,
S-F perspective. often religious, collectivity orientated, and in
On the other hand, one can readily identify the training of skills representative and related
several first-generation and many second- to adult and warfare skills, while modern
 FUNCTIONALISM, SPORT AND SOCIETY 15

sport’s function may be called specific for describing the functions of sport as a social
pattern maintenance and integration’ (Lüschen, institution and he offers an original functional
1967: 139). explanation for fan enthusiasm:
Fifteen years later Lüschen (1981b) made
As an institution having primarily socialization
another structural analysis of sport which
and value maintenance functions, sport affords the
focused on the internal and external systems of
fan an opportunity to reaffirm the established values
sport. He asserted that structural analysis ‘con-
and beliefs defining acceptable means and solutions to
ceptualizes the system of sport (notably in the
central problems in the secular realm of everyday soci-
sport contest and its system of rank) as a
etal life. But this fact does not stand alone; particu-
fundamental structural pattern of human and
lar patterns of values are expressed through
social existence’. This, he said, ‘provides as
certain intrinsic features of sports activities; in
much for sociology and sport science in terms
combination, the two aspects explain not only fan
of scientific insight as for the individual ath-
enthusiasm but sport’s predominantly male fol-
lete, who experiences in and through sport
lowing. (Edwards, 1973: 243; original emphasis)
borderline situations of human existence’
(Lüschen, 1981b: 209). More recently, Lüschen The functionalist perspectives of Heinila and
has argued the case for ‘new structuralism’ as Tatano are less well known to English-
a programme to analyse sport in society (1988, speaking sport sociologists as most of their
1990). We discuss his recent work in the last publications appear in their respective native
section of this chapter. languages of Finnish and Japanese. A flavour
Christopher Stevenson and his mentor John of Heinila’s mode of functional analysis can be
Nixon (Stevenson and Nixon, 1972; Stevenson, gleaned from a paper in the first volume of the
1974) also made early contributions to func- IRSS entitled ‘Notes on the Inter-Group
tional analyses of sport in society. They identi- Conflicts in International Sport’. In this article
fied five basic functions of sport at the societal Heinila (1966) examined the significance of
level: ‘the goodwill function in sport ideology.’
Tatano’s most formal functional analysis of
1 socio-emotional function, wherein sport
sport in English is a 1981 article in the IRSS
contributes to the maintenance of socio-
entitled ‘A Model-Construction of Sport as
psychological stability;
Culture: A Working Paper Toward a Systematic
2 socialization, wherein sport contributes to
Analysis of Sport’. Here Tatano emphasizes the
the inculcation of cultural beliefs and mores;
importance of sport symbols. Following
3 integrative function, wherein sport con-
Parsons, he provides a three-fold classification
tributes to the harmonious integration of
in terms of their primacy of orientation: ‘1) cog-
disparate individuals and diverse groups;
nitive or instrumental sport symbol, 2) cathec-
4 political function, wherein sport is used for
tic or expressive sport symbol, 3) evaluative or
ideological purposes;
integrative sport symbol’ (Tatano, 1981: 15). He
5 social mobility function, wherein sport
relates sport symbols to the sport system and
serves as a source of upward mobility.
applies his framework to both the macro and
Harry Edwards also espoused a functionalist micro analyses of sport phenomena. Tatano
view of sport in society. Because his political concludes his theoretical analysis with the
activism and critical social commentary on observation that ‘even if the sport system is not
racism in American society contradict the a closed or separate system, we can systemati-
notion of conservatism held to be an inherent cally analyse empirical and complex sport
aspect of S-F, Edwards has seldom been identi- phenomena, because we can analyse the mech-
fied as a functionalist. However, Edwards is anism of structural-functional interrelations
a direct academic descendant of the father of between the sport system and other systems’
American functionalism, Talcott Parsons, in that (1981: 24).
Edwards studied with Robin M. Williams, Jr Given the fact that there are few overall
for his doctorate at Cornell University and functional analyses of sport in society, it is not
Williams was a doctoral student of Parsons at surprising that there are only a small number
Harvard University. of substantive macro-level applications of S-F.
Edwards’s text Sociology of Sport (1973), the We previously mentioned Loy’s (1969b)
first North American textbook in sport soci- merger of Merton’s typology of modes of indi-
ology, reflects a strong emphasis on what vidual adaptation with Caillois’s (1961) classi-
might best be termed ‘conflict functionalism’. fication of games, and Curtis, Loy and
Drawing upon his mentor’s functional analy- Karnilowicz’s (1986) test of an aspect of
sis of American society (Williams, 1968), Durkheim’s theory of suicide. In addition to
Edwards devotes a chapter of his text to these two substantive contributions we are
16 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

only aware of Milton’s (1972) unpublished Norbert Elias and Eric Dunning (1986).
Master’s thesis on ‘sport as a functional equiv- Although they consider themselves figura-
alent of religion’. However, more examples of tional sociologists rather than functionalist
substantive applications of S-F within the soci- sociologists, functionalist overtones appear
ology of sport are found at the micro level of in their writings about group sports. For
analysis. example, Dunning (1973) examines the social
development of sport in a paper entitled
‘Structural-Functional Properties of Folk-
Micro-Functionalism: Sport Groups Games and Modern Sports: A Sociological
as Social Systems8 Analysis’. In a collaborative effort, Elias and
Dunning (1966) look at the ‘dynamics of sport
As previously discussed, both Lüschen (1969) groups with special reference to football’. Here
and Loy (1969a) provide functionalist models they focus on ‘a complex of interdependent
for the analysis of group dynamics among polarities’ that ‘contribute towards maintaining
sport teams (see also Lüschen, 1986). Their the “tone”, the tension-balance of the games’,
models largely reflect the collaboration of including: ‘(1) the overall polarity between two
Parsons, Bales and Shils (1953). Lüschen’s opposing teams; (2) the polarity between attack
model emphasizes the analysis of sport groups and defence; (3) the polarity between co-
in terms of structural levels, functional prob- operation and tension of the two teams; (4) the
lems and subsystems of action; whereas, Loy’s polarity between co-operation and competition
model emphasizes the analysis of leadership within each team’ (see pp. 398–400). In sum,
role differentiation in terms of expressive and their essay is suggestive of a S-F analysis of the
instrumental team leaders. structures and processes maintaining an equi-
Roger Rees and Mary Segal (1984) provide librium of tension-balances for players and
one of the few empirical investigations of spectators alike.
leadership role differentiation within sport Also at the micro level of analysis, Loy,
teams. Examining two American university McPherson and Kenyon (1978: 185–6) point
football teams, they analysed the structures out that occupational, avocational and deviant
and processes that produce task and socio- sport subcultures confront functional prob-
emotional team leaders. They defined task lems, including:
leaders as the best players on the team, and
socio-emotional leaders as those team members (1) pattern-maintenance, such as the recruitment
identified by their peers as contributing most to and socialization of new members, the retention of
group harmony. Their major findings were that members through rewards and inducements,
skill and ability are the most important qualifi- retirement and desocialization from the scene, and
cations for selection as a task leader, while the maintenance of cultural elements (for example,
years of experience is most important in decid- norms, values, beliefs, symbols, language, dress,
ing a socio-emotional team leader. legends, traditions, technology); (2) integration,
In addition to leadership behaviour, func- such as the learning of job-related skills and moral
tional analyses have been made of group com- attributes, the functional specialization of tasks, the
petition and group conflict in sport situations. social status and mobility paths (career bench-
The classic functional analysis of social conflict marks) within the structure, the rites of passage,
is Lewis Coser’s The Functions of Social Conflict and the establishment of reciprocal collegial rela-
(1956). He examines the significance of social tionships; (3) goal-attainment, such as information
conflict in terms of 16 theoretical propositions control and the acquisition and demonstration of
largely derived from the work of Georg cognitive and motor skills unique to the subculture;
Simmel (1955). Four of the 16 functions and (4) adaptation, such as differential relations with
analysed by Coser seem especially relevant to the dominant culture and with ‘outsiders’.
the study of conflict in sport situations: Interestingly, most functional analyses of sport
1 the function of group binding; subcultures have focused on aspects of
2 the safety-valve function of releasing deviance. For example, Lüschen has made
hostility; functional analyses of delinquency (1971),
3 the scapegoat function of searching for cheating (1976) and drug abuse and doping
enemies; (1984) as examples of deviant behaviour in
4 the function of acquiring alliances (see Loy sport. In the case of drug abuse and doping, he
et al., 1978: 110–12). applies Merton’s (1957) theory of anomie and
Parsons’s pattern-variables in comparing the
The most detailed theoretical analyses of con- drug abuser in sport with the regular drug
flict and tension in sport are provided by abuser (see Chapter 15).
 FUNCTIONALISM, SPORT AND SOCIETY 17

One of the most in-depth functional analyses On the other hand, while Turner and
of sport subcultures is Pooley’s (1976) study of Maryanski (1979: 110) agree that functionalism
structural assimilation among members of eth- is not historiography, they also note that
nic soccer clubs in Milwaukee. His investiga- ‘Durkheim’s functional approach was decidedly
tion addressed two basic questions. First, ‘to historical’ (p. 109), that Parsons’s ‘concern with
what degree does participation in ethnic soccer social evolution among Western societies ...
influence assimilation’ (both positively and reveal[s] a concern with historical events’
negatively)? Secondly, ‘what forces within eth- (p. 111), and that ‘Merton’s “net balance of
nic soccer explain this influence’ (both struc- functions” approach does not preclude histori-
tural and functional factors)? Pooley’s major cal accounts’ (p. 111). Moreover, Durkheim,
finding was that ‘club policies of ethnic soccer Merton, Parsons and Davis and Moore have, ‘in
clubs inhibit the structural assimilation of a wide variety of contexts, performed impor-
members’ (1976: 491). tant historical analyses – probably among the
Finally, we note that several studies by Emil very best in the social sciences’ (p. 112).
Bend and Christopher Stevenson provide S-F Certainly, early sport sociologists who
analyses of the functions and dysfunctions of adopted functionalist theories embraced
socialization (Bend, 1970, 1971; Stevenson, history. In a study of soccer, Heinila (1969), for
1975, 1976a, 1976b), and the antecedents and example, applied Parsons’s AGIL model to
consequences of social mobility (Bend, 1974; describe the different norms and rules in the
Bend and Petrie, 1977; Stevenson, 1974), in and transition from amateurism to professionalism.
through sport.
Consensus Bias The specific criticisms
related to the consensus bias are that function-
CRITICISMS AND CONTROVERSIES alism ‘overemphasizes the normative element’
(Cohen, 1968: 56), that it ‘exaggerates the unity,
stability, and harmony of social systems’
Between the late 1930s and the early 1960s S-F (Zeitlin, 1973: 15), and that, therefore, it ‘mini-
‘was virtually unchallenged as the dominant mizes the importance of social conflict’
sociological theory in the United States’ (Cohen, 1968: 56). But, charges of a consensus
(Ritzer, 1988: 101). But during the 1960s critics bias beg an important question about the
launched blistering attacks, citing dozens of ‘function’ of conflict. We demonstrate this by
different weaknesses and flaws in the para- briefly examining a major sociological debate
digm (Abrahamson, 1978; Cohen, 1968; Craib, in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
1984; Gouldner, 1971; Mills, 1959; Skidmore,
1979; Turner and Maryanski, 1979; Zeitlin, Consensus versus Conflict Debate Charges
1973). By the end of that decade S-F’s credibil- that functionalism contains a consensus bias
ity lay in tatters. In this section we analyse initially emanated from critics who subscribed
these criticisms under three headings: theoreti- to conflict perspectives. In contrast to consen-
cal and substantive, methodological and logi- sus approaches, which see ‘shared norms and
cal, and ideological and political. We also values as fundamental to society, focus on
elaborate on the controversies precipitated by social order based on tacit agreements, and
these criticisms. view social change as occurring in a slow and
orderly fashion’ (Ritzer, 1988: 78), conflict
Theoretical and Substantive Issues theories ‘emphasize the dominance of some
social groups by others, see social order as
The theoretical and substantive criticisms of based on manipulation and control by domi-
S-F reflect two principal charges: a contempo- nant groups, and view social change as occur-
rary bias and a consensus bias. ring rapidly and in a disorderly fashion as
subordinate groups overthrow dominant
Contemporary Bias The main criticism groups’ (Ritzer, 1988: 78).
associated with what we call the contemporary However, Pierre Van den Berghe (1963) was
bias is that S-F is ahistorical or non-historical among the first to recognize that conflict and
and that it ‘fails to account for social change’ consensus theories share important similari-
(Zeitlin, 1973: 15): ‘Is it not the height of ties. Both take a holistic view of society and are
naiveté,’ Zeitlin (1973: 14) asks, ‘to suppose concerned with the way component parts
that one can explain the present exclusively by interrelate; both assume an evolutionary
means of the present – to suppose that the approach to Western social development; both
chain of events leading from the past has no theories recognize social equilibrium, with
effect on the present?’ conflict theories assuming that conflict has a
18 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

long-term equilibrating effect. Indeed, such are paradigm is, on the one hand, non-scientific,
the similarities between these theories that and, on the other hand, that it is too scientific.
Ritzer (1988: 392) includes both in the social Non-scientific Bias Many critics challenge
facts paradigm. It is rather ironic that the self- the perceived non-scientific character of S-F.
professed functionalists in sport sociology Common claims are that the concept of func-
adopted perspectives which focused on con- tionalism is ambiguous, that its statements
flict, deviance and social change. are tautological, that its explanations are
The consensus versus conflict debate teleological, and that its hypotheses are
became a major controversy in sociology (cf. untestable. Moreover, some critics contend
Bernard, 1983; Horton, 1966), which also that S-F reflects ‘a level of scientific inquiry
spilled over into sport sociology. Here we com- that doesn’t exist’ and that it ‘inhibits compar-
pare Michael Novak’s The Joy of Sports (1976) ison’ (Cohen, 1968: 47–56).
and Jean-Marie Brohm’s Sport: a Prison of Ambiguity has been a longstanding problem
Measured Time (1978) to illustrate the function- in functionalism: ‘The term function is ambigu-
alist assumptions which underpin both consen- ous,’ writes Abrahamson (1978: 38), ‘because it
sus and conflict theories. is used inconsistently and without clearly
Novak believes that ‘sports . . . serve a reli- identified referents.’ Other terms face the same
gious function’ (1976: 20), and he contends that problems: ‘What exactly is a structure?’ or ‘a
the ‘central rituals’ of religion reveal ‘the social system?’ asks Ritzer (1988: 103).
unconscious needs of the civilization’ (p. 29). Similarly, tautologies pervade functional
According to Novak (1976), American sports analysis where ‘variables are defined in terms
illustrate the unconscious qualities of the mod- of each other, thus making causes and effects
ern nation. For example, baseball reflects ‘rural obscure and difficult to assess’ (Turner and
culture’ in which the ‘fundamental unit is the Maryanski, 1979: 124).
individual’ who encourages and assists his Functionalism is adversely teleological to
team mates and who is determined not to let the extent that it ‘presume[s] that social
his team down (p. 69); football represents processes and structures come into existence
‘daily reality’ – ‘the obstructions, fierce denials and operate to meet end states or goals, with-
and violence the immigrants have faced, and out being able to document the causal
still face at every step in our society’ (p. 77); sequences whereby end states create and reg-
and basketball signifies black urban style – ulate these structures and processes involved
‘sophisticated, cool, deceptive, swift, spectacu- in their attainment’ (Turner and Maryanski,
lar, flashy, smooth’ (p. 105). 1979: 119). Durkheim, Parsons, Merton and
Contrary to Novak, Brohm (1978) argues other functionalist theorists were aware of the
that sport serves political, ideological, repres- problem and tried to avoid the teleological
sive and mystifying functions. For example, trap by stressing human action and organiza-
sport meets the ideological functional require- tion. However, as Turner and Maryanski
ments of the capitalist mode of production by (1979: 124) point out, the problem remains
strengthening bourgeois rule. Sport, inter alia, because of ‘implicit organicism’. While biolo-
mystifies class conflict, justifies and stabilizes gists can assess life and death, and opera-
the established order, depoliticizes social life, tionalize pathological states within living
prepares youth for labour, helps to militarize organisms, sociologists face a virtually insur-
and regiment youth, and commodifies humans mountable task when they attempt to do the
(1978: 175–82). same for societies.
Both Novak and Brohm recommend politi- According to Abrahamson (1978: 40), the
cal intervention to ‘save’ sport. Novak (1976) consequences of ambiguity, teleology and tau-
advocates reformation. Sport, he says, has been tology are that many of the assumptions of
corrupted by social institutions associated with functionalism ‘violate logic and defy empirical
entertainment (p. 252) and professionalism assessment’. In short, functionalism is seen by
(p. 302). Brohm, however, believes that ‘revolu- some sociologists as a non-scientific paradigm.
tionary action’ (p. 64), to forge ‘alternative,
non-alienating and non-repressive forms’ of Hyper-scientific Bias Given the above
sport (p. 78), is the only viable course. observations, it is ironic that other sociologists
attack functionalism on the grounds that it pre-
tends to be too scientific by attempting to fully
Methodological and Logical Issues adopt the models and methods of the natural
sciences. For example, Burrell and Morgan
Paradoxically, the methodological and logical (1979: 26) argue that functionalists subscribe
criticisms of S-F rest on the claims that the to an objectivist philosophy that is realist,
 FUNCTIONALISM, SPORT AND SOCIETY 19

positivist, determinist and nomothetic. Debates Philosophical debates between the subjec-
about these philosophical tenets characterize tivist and objectivist perspectives about
bipolar perspectives on the nature of social the nature of social science underpin most of
science which Burrell and Morgan (1979) call the fundamental differences between neo-
objectivism and subjectivism (see Figure 1.1). positivists and new humanists in sport
Their subjective–objective dimensional analy- sociology.
sis is outlined below.
First, nominalism versus realism constitutes an Neo-positivism and New Humanism
ontological debate about the nature of reality. Debate Auguste Comte, the founding
Nominalists believe that social reality is based father of sociology, laid the foundations of pos-
on the actions, cognitions and perceptions of itivism in sociology. Thus sociology began as a
individual agents and that culture, social struc- positivistic discipline. Positivism reached its
tures and social systems are simply labels and peak in sociology in the late 1920s and early
nothing more than names. In contradistinction, 1930s under the influence of George A.
realists believe that wholes are greater than the Lundberg (1939, 1941–42). He emphasized the
sum of their individual parts, and that importance of deductive theory, quantitative
cultures, social structures and social systems measurement and ‘operationalism’. The latter
are immutable realities and not mere names. was an extreme form of neo-positivism made
Secondly, anti-positivism versus positivism famous by Percy Bridgeman (1928), a professor
represents an epistemological debate. Posi- of physics at Harvard University in the 1920s.
tivists believe that science is objective and Sjoberg (1959) gives a good overview of the use
value-free, that hypotheses can be empirically of operationalism in sociology in particular
tested and that law-like generalizations about and social research in general.
human behaviour can be discovered; anti- In present-day sociology, forms of neo-
positivists believe that social research is subjec- positivism appear in the writings of formalized
tive, that all knowledge is relative and that the and mathematically orientated sociologists, as
social world is best understood from the view- well as in the theoretical agendas of sociolo-
points of participants rather than observers. gists who continue to endorse the application
Thirdly, voluntarism versus determinism revol- of natural science models to the study of social
ves around the human nature debate. The for- behaviour (see, for example, Blalock, 1969;
mer view holds that human actions are Gibbs, 1972; Turner, 1984; Wallace, 1971, 1983).
autonomous and free-willed, whereas the lat- Of course, other leading figures in sociology
ter view holds that genetic and environmental have rejected positivism in both its classical
factors and/or socio-cultural forces determine and contemporary forms.
human behaviours. Warshay (1975) labels the contemporary
Fourthly, ideographic versus nomothetic repre- critics of neo-positivism ‘the new humanists’.
sents a methodological debate about searching He cites Peter Berger (1963) and Irving Louis
for generalizations in social science. Those Horowitz (1964) as leading figures among
holding to a nomothetic viewpoint believe that the new humanists. Although the new
systematic research produces empirical and humanists comprised a mixed group of soci-
theoretical generalizations about patterns of ologists, Warshay (1975: 88) argues that in
human behaviour. Those who ascribe to an general they viewed ‘sociology as a scholarly
ideographic viewpoint contend that social and humane discipline that must (1) utilize
laws do not exist, that generalizations are the work of the older masters without being
meaningless, and that the only worthy knowl- limited by their vision, (2) create further
edge is ‘local knowledge’ based on detailed theory without being bound by the necessity
anthropological, clinical, historical or sociolog- of formalizing or “verifying” it, and (3) make
ical case studies. use of a great variety of methods for defining,

The Subjectivist approach Philosophical The Objectivist approach

to social science issues to social science

Nominalism Ontology Realism

Anti-positivism Epistemology Positivism
Voluntarism Human nature Determinism
Ideographic Methodology Nomothetic

Figure 1.1 A scheme for analysing assumptions about the nature of social science (adopted from
Burrell and Morgan, 1979: 3)
20 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

gathering, measuring, interpreting, and S-F’s conservative orientation to three

presenting data’. qualities. First, it tends to ignore change, history
The new humanist movement in sociology and conflict. Secondly, it is ‘orientated to the
arose between the mid-1960s and early 1970s analysis of how elements contribute to the per-
during the height of social protests about civil petuation of a system’. Thirdly, it implies that
rights, student rights, women’s rights and the human actors are passive participants following
Vietnam War. As this period corresponded with the dictates of social structures.
the initial development of sport sociology, it is
not surprising that the philosophical orienta- Structure versus Agency Debate Allegations
tions of new humanists in general sociology of a conservative bias, especially the notion of
appealed to younger sport sociologists. For human beings as passive actors, serve to intro-
example, Melnick (1975) concludes his critical duce a third controversy in sociology: the
look at the sociology of sport by arguing for a ‘agency/structure’ debate. Social theorists have
‘humanistic-existential sociology of sport’. long grappled with the question, what deter-
Under different guises, neo-positivists and mines social outcomes? Indeed, Keat and Urry
new humanists continue their debates in sport (1975: 229) assert that ‘the key problem for con-
sociology. Susan Hekman (1983: 5) observes temporary social theory ... is to develop a
that ‘although philosophers of social science theory that satisfactorily synthesizes the struc-
may regard positivism as a dead issue, it con- tural analysis of social formations and the
tinues to guide most research activities under- explanations of human action in terms of sub-
taken by social scientists’. She also notes, jective states and meanings’ (cited in Hekman,
‘positivism remains the dominant standpoint 1983: 9–10). In their discussion of this problem,
because none of the alternative standpoints has Ingham and Loy (1973: 17) observe that the
managed to assume the prominence enjoyed ‘structural components’ of sport may ‘appear
by positivism’ (p. 5). immutable’, that is, force individuals ‘to accom-
Spatial limitations preclude any lengthy modate their “selves” to pre-established forms
analysis of the issues surrounding antiposi- and pre-established roles’. However, they insist
tivism/positivism, but we wish to make two that individuals are knowledgeable and reflec-
concluding points. On the one hand, we have tive and that they retain ‘the ability to step out-
little doubt, especially in the North American side of taken-for-granted routines of society’.9
context, that there was an orthodoxy of method A number of contemporary social theorists
in the formative years of sport sociology that have attempted to reconcile the structure/
can best be labelled ‘instrumental positivism’ agency debate by proposing different syntheses,
(cf. Bryant, 1985). It overemphasized value-free including Berger and Luckman (1966), Keat and
enquiry, empirical data, objective measurement Urry (1975), Fay and Moon (1977), Bourdieu
and statistical analysis. On the other hand, we (1977), and Giddens (1977). Both Bourdieu and
are not convinced that there was a close con- Giddens have been particularly influential in
nection between this instrumental positivism sport sociology (cf., for example, Gruneau, 1983;
and structural-functionalism. For example, the Ingham and Hardy, 1984; Jarvie and Maguire,
leading functionalists in sport sociology such as 1994). Discussions of the structure/agency
Harry Edwards, Kalevi Heinila, Günther debate are found in some form in all chapters of
Lüschen or Christopher Stevenson seldom, if Part One of this present book.
ever, used quantitative methods in conjunction
with their functional analyses. Moreover, some Summary To conclude this section on contro-
functionalist orientated sport sociologists were versies and criticisms, we make five points.
outspoken critics of neo-positivists. For exam- First, two decades ago Abrahamson (1978: 37)
ple, Hideo Tatano charged that ‘in the extreme observed that attacks on functionalism have
case, their factual research suffers the fallacies been ‘frequent and extensive’ while ‘defense
of false empiricism and hyper-factualism’ and counterattack have been surprisingly spar-
(1981: 5). In sum, we believe that several critics ing’. Defences have been made, however. For
of S-F in sport sociology have conflated posi- example, Kincaid (1996: 141), in a more recent
tivism and functionalism. text on the philosophical foundations of the
social sciences, asserts that ‘functional explana-
tions can be perfectly legitimate causal expla-
Ideological and Political Issues nations, they are amenable to ordinary causal
evidence, and they rest on no untoward analo-
Conservative Bias The major ideological gies to biological evolution’.10 ‘Moreover,’
and political criticism of S-F is that it contains Kincaid states, ‘good work is not only possible
a conservative bias. Ritzer (1988: 102) attributes but actual.’ Yet, notwithstanding defences of
 FUNCTIONALISM, SPORT AND SOCIETY 21

functionalism in sociology at large, it is inter- Colomy, 1990: 34). Revived forms of S-F have
esting that, to the best of our knowledge, not been coined neofunctionalism.
one functionalist-orientated sport sociologist
has ever formally defended the paradigm.
Secondly, ‘much of the criticism is largely NEW FORMS OF FUNCTIONALISM
beside the point, since the chief weaknesses of IN SPORT SOCIOLOGY
functionalism were often recognized by those
who formulated the doctrine’ (Cohen, 1968:
47). For example, Merton (1957) provided an In concluding this chapter, we note the recent
early critique of the prevailing postulates of emergence of neofunctionalism and discuss its
functional analysis, discussed functional potential contributions to sport sociology.
analysis as ideology, and offered a protocol for
pursuing functional analyses. In the case of Development of Neofunctionalism
sport sociology, Frey (1986) clearly outlines the
shortcomings of the functional paradigm in a Alexander and Colomy (1990: 36) identify
functional analysis of college athletics. three phases of postwar sociology. The first
Thirdly, it is ironic that many critics of func- phase, which lasted until the 1960s, was domi-
tionalism adopted perspectives that were nated by Parsonian and Mertonian S-F. In the
implicitly functionalist in varying degrees. For second phase, from the 1960s until the 1980s,
example, Norbert Elias in a paper published sociology assumed a multiparadigmatic char-
near the end of his career describes four acter, as warring schools, some of which
‘universal elementary survival functions ‘aligned’ themselves to revolutionary social
which one encounters in every human group’ movements, sought hegemony. (Our discus-
(Elias, 1987: 231). Specifically, he refers to the sion of the controversies and debates precipi-
‘economic function’, the ‘conflict management tated by S-F in the preceding section refers to
function’, the ‘knowledge acquisition and these warring schools.) The third phase began
transmission function’, and the ‘self-restraint in the mid-1980s. One of its distinguishing fea-
function’ (or civilizing process). Elias’s uni- tures is the ‘movement back to synthesis’ as
versal elementary survival functions seem ‘the old lines of confrontation are being dis-
similar to Parsons’s four functional impera- credited’.
tives and some of the functional prerequisites Alexander (1985) recognizes neofunctional-
of a society given by Aberle and others (1950). ism as one of several attempts to develop a
In any event, like Parsons, Elias links elemen- new synthesis.11 Neofunctionalist research pro-
tary functions to institutional spheres. For grammes have emerged in a host of areas,
instance, in respect of the ‘self-restraint func- including sport sociology, notwithstanding
tion’ he comments that ‘one of the social insti- Jarvie and Maguire’s (1994: 25) claims to the
tutions that performs this function can be contrary and Charles Page’s (1985) warning to
found in the initiation rites of less complex younger scholars about the dangers of reviving
human groups’ (Elias, 1987: 231). functionalism.
Our fourth point is that some of the charges Although not a neofunctionalist per se,
against functionalism were simply false. We Mouzelis (1995: 7) is ‘very sympathetic to
agree, for example, with Merton (1957), who the type of neofunctionalist analysis that
denies that the paradigm is intrinsically con- J. Alexander, P. Colomy or N. Smelser are pro-
servative. Indeed, as discussed above, several ducing in an effort to retrieve the useful
sport sociologists adopted radical forms of features of Parsonian functionalism and evolu-
functionalism and advocated revolutionary tionism’. However, he believes that these neo-
changes to the structure and practice of sport. functionalists have not gone far enough, and
A chief example is Harry Edwards, who has, accordingly, provided the most in-depth
helped establish the Olympic Project for sociological reconsideration of functionalism
Human Rights which instigated the ‘revolt’ by to date. In brief, Mouzelis: (a) argues that the
African American athletes at the 1968 Olympic agency/structure distinction must be retained
Games in Mexico City (Edwards, 1969). in social theory; (b) recognizes that Parsonian
And fifth, and lastly, since the mid-1980s a functionalism ‘overemphasized the systemic/
number of German and American sociologists functionalist dimensions of social systems at
have made concerted efforts to overcome the the expense of agency’ (p. 4); and (c) suggests
early criticisms and revive S-F (Ritzer, 1988: how the major limitations of Parsonian func-
71). Indeed, Marco Orr describes ‘the revival of tionalism can be remedied by incorporating
Parsonian thought’ as ‘one of the distinguish- key concepts from the works of Elias, Marx,
ing features of 1980s sociology’ (Alexander and Bourdieu and Giddens. In sum, Mouzelis (p. 8)
22 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

attempts to ‘formulate a set of conceptual tools who wished to make no explanation at all, to
which try both to solve certain puzzles related explain things in terms of some other system, or
to functionalist theorizing and to help the plead a cause. Now, however, the movement that
empirically-orientated sociologist to move was once an asset has turned into a liability.
from micro to meso and macro levels of analy- (1959b: 771)
sis – while avoiding both the reductive and Kingsley Davis concluded his presidential
reificatory treatment of social phenomena’. address with the pronouncement that: ‘The
designation of a school called functionalism
Neofunctionalism will doubtless die out in time’ (p. 772).
and Sport Sociology But four decades later, Kincaid (1996: 101)
contends that functionalism is still alive and
Although they might deny the neofunctionalist well.
label, we believe that ‘the action-theoretical Nearly every tradition in the social sciences, from
perspective’ of Nitsch (1985) and ‘the new ecological anthropology to stratification theory to
structuralism’ of Lüschen (1988, 1990) contain neo-classical economics, employs functional
functionalist overtones. For example, Lüschen explanations. Moreover, such explanations are
cites Nitsch and points out ‘that it is Parsons unlikely to go away. Much in the social world is
(1951) in particular who provides some inter- the result of individuals pursuing their own inter-
esting leads for such action system and theory’ ests, often while proclaiming some more selfless
(Lüschen, 1990: 53). motivation. Much in the social world is the result
Specifically, Lüschen refers to Parsons’s con- of competition, both between individuals and
ception of four primary subsystems of action between social institutions and practices. Much in
and their interrelationships through the cyber- the social world seems to have a life of its own; in
netic hierarchy of control and conditioning. short, to persist for reasons not obvious to com-
Lüschen suggests that ‘sport as an action mon sense. Explaining such social phenomena
system could thus be integrated by building its leads quite naturally to invoking functions – to
theory from the partial insights of such fields explaining the existence of social practices by the
like sport physiology, biomechanics, sport psy- functions, explicit or hidden, that they serve.
chology, sport sociology, sport philosophy or
whatever other subdiscipline might provide Similarly, but perhaps more trenchantly,
information’ (Lüschen, 1990: 53). In short, Mouzelis (1995: 7) asserts that in their haste
Lüschen seeks to formulate a theoretical per- and determination to ‘reject ... all forms of
spective that would result in a unified sport functionalist theorizing’, influential contempo-
science as well as a more mature sociology of rary theorists such as Anthony Giddens,
sport. Norbert Elias and Pierre Bourdieu have ‘failed
to transcend functionalism in general, and
Parsonian functionalism in particular’. Rather
Postscript ‘they have simply avoided ... unfashionable
functionalist vocabulary ... while retaining its
In conclusion, we make a few brief observa- fundamental logic – with the result that crypto-
tions about functionalist theory and method functionalist elements and related distinctions
and close our chapter with a short summary of are clandestinely reintroduced into their writ-
what we consider to be the most substantive ings.’ One cannot, Mouzelis (1995: 159) con-
functionalist contribution to the sociology of cludes, ‘eliminate functionalist logic without
sport literature. paying an unacceptably high price.’
Theory Nearly 40 years ago, in his presiden- Method Broadly speaking sociological func-
tial address at the annual meeting of the tionalism has emphasized theoretical issues,
American Sociological Association, Kingsley while anthropological functionalism has
Davis pointed out that ‘historically the rise of focused on methodological issues, especially
functionalism represented a revolt against gathering data through ethnographic research.
reductionist theories, anti-theoretical empiri- Turner and Maryanski (1979: 132–40) urge soci-
cism, and moralistic or ideological views ologists to employ what they call ‘comparative
under the name of sociology or social anthro- requisite analysis’ and ‘holistic requisite analy-
pology’ (1959b: 757, see abstract). ‘The early sis’ in their empirical inquiries about social life.
rise of functionalism,’ he added, had Whether sport sociologists should adopt these
helped to make a place in sociology and anthro- methods of analysis is a moot point, but cer-
pology for those wishing to explain social phe- tainly different forms of ethnography have
nomena in terms of social systems, as against those much to offer.12
 FUNCTIONALISM, SPORT AND SOCIETY 23

An early exemplar of anthropological func- NOTES

tionalism based on ethnography is found in
Ronald Frankenberg’s (1957) book Village on the We wish to thank our colleague Rex
Border: A Social Study of Religion, Politics and Thomson for reviewing an early draft of this
Football in a North Wales Community. It is unfor- chapter and note in passing that he unwit-
tunate that Frankenberg’s seminal study was tingly expressed functionalist leanings in an
largely overlooked by early sport sociologists.13 early analysis of ‘sport and ideology in con-
Application Frankenberg produced a study temporary society’ (Thomson, 1978).
that not only contained most attributes of 1 For excellent overviews of Parsons’s work
good sociological methodology but in many we refer the reader to Black (1961),
ways he pre-empted the current agenda of Bourricaud (1981) and Rocher (1974);
neofunctionalists. Merton’s most famous work is Social
Theory and Social Structure (1957) and
1 It is historical. Frankenberg took care to
Crothers (1987) provides a good synopsis
learn the history of the Welsh community in
of Merton’s life and sociological writings.
which he lived for a year as a participant
observer. 2 The most recent and very different three-
2 It focuses on social change. Frankenberg fold typology of functionalism is that of
‘tells the story of a struggle to survive as a Habermas (1988: 74–88).
community against the pressure of the out- 3 Robert Merton, Kingsley Davis and Wilbert
side world’ (Gluckman, 1957: 7). Moore all studied as doctoral students with
3 It is concerned with social structure. On the Talcott Parsons at Harvard University.
one hand, it discusses the way class, gen- 4 The assumed predominance of S-F was not
der, nationality and religion intersect, relate restricted to North America or Europe. For
and cut across village life. On the other example, Lawrence and Rowe (1986) con-
hand, it describes how local institutions tend that S-F hindered the development of
such as the football club, brass band, choir, sport sociology in Australia in the 1970s.
annual carnival, dramatic society and com- 5 The second author places himself in this
munity council simultaneously ‘serve’ and category, having been influenced early in
‘determine’ village life. his career by the dictums of Stinchcombe
4 It is non-reductionist in that no one social (1968) to the effect that ‘theory ought to cre-
force or social structure assumes overarch- ate the capacity to invent explanations’ (p. 3;
ing determinacy. original emphasis); and ‘the crucial ques-
5 It is political in the sense that it shows how tion to ask of a strategy is not whether it
villagers confront and deal with their prob- is true, but whether it is sometimes useful’
lems, especially conflicts between different (p. 4).
cliques, sects and occupational groups, and 6 This thesis was abandoned on two
how different groups secure resources and accounts: first, there was the belief that it
convert them into commodities and facili- reified the concept of society; secondly, it
ties, and distribute them. Frankenberg pro- was passive in nature and did not consider
vides particularly good insights into the sport as an active agent in the reproduction
way ‘conflicts are carried over from one of systemic societal relations.
form of recreational activity to another, as 7 For greater insights about these sport soci-
from football to carnival’, and how ‘new ologists we refer the reader to Edwards’s
conflicts engendered in disputes over foot- autobiography (1980), the Festschrift in
ball and carnivals may extend back into honour of Kalevi Heinila (Olin, 1984), and
everyday life and cause further divisions the Festschrift in honour of Günther
within the village’ (1957: 154). Lüschen (Bette and Rütten, 1995). Sadly,
6 It examines both the internal system and Hideo Tatano died at the age of 50, imme-
the external system. Frankenberg shows diately after hosting the sociology of sport
that ‘geographically, economically and his- session of the sport science conference held
torically, the village is part of a larger in conjunction with the 18th Universiade
whole’ (1957: 9). 1995 Fukuoka. Christopher Stevenson
7 It is comparative. As noted by his mentor moved from a functionalist orientation to a
Max Gluckman, Frankenberg’s study is of symbolic interaction orientation later in his
interest from the viewpoint of social anthro- career. Finally, we note that the irony of an
pology for ‘its application of ideas devel- African American (Edwards), a Jew (Bend),
oped in the study of tribal society to a a Canadian (Stevenson), a Finn (Heinila), a
community in Britain’ (1957: 7). German (Lüschen) and a Japanese (Tatano)
24 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

as the pillars of functionalism in sport soci- Paper presented at the Eighth World Congress of
ology will not be lost on postmodernists. Sociology, Toronto, Canada.
8 Martindale (1960: 501–22) gives a brief Bend, E. and Petrie, B.M. (1977) ‘Sport participation,
history of micro-functionalism and group scholastic success, and social mobility’, Exercise
dynamics. and Sports Science Reviews, 5: 1–44.
9 Interestingly, notwithstanding his political Berger, P. (1963) Invitation to Sociology: a Humanistic
activism, Edwards (1973: 356–7) disagrees. Perspective. New York: Anchor Books.
He privileges structure over agency and Berger, P. and Luckman, T. (1966) The Social
warns African Americans that sporting Construction of Reality. New York: Anchor Books.
structures will always restrain change. Bernard, T.J. (1983) The Consensus–Conflict Debate:
10 For early logical analyses and defences of Form and Content in Social Theories. New York:
functionalism we refer the reader to Columbia University Press.
Hempel (1959), Nagel (1961) and Bette, K.H. and Rütten, A. (eds) (1995) International
Stinchcombe (1968). Sociology of Sport: Contemporary Issues. Festschrift in
11 The leading figures are Jeffrey Alexander, Honor of Günther Lüschen. Stuttgart: Naglschmid.
Paul Colomy and Richard Munch in North Black, M. (ed.) (1961) The Social Theories of Talcott
America and Jürgen Habermas in Parsons: a Critical Examination. Englewood Cliffs,
Germany. Alexander and Colomy (1990: NJ: Prentice-Hall.
56) describe Habermas’s Theory of Com- Blalock, H.M. (1969) Theory Construction: From Verbal
municative Action (1987) as ‘a neo-Marxist to Mathematical Constructions. Englewood Cliffs,
revision of Parsonian concepts’. NJ: Prentice-Hall.
12 For a critical account of ethnography in Bourdieu, P. (1977) Outline of a Theory of Practice.
contemporary social research, see Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hammersley (1992). Bourricaud, F. (1981) The Sociology of Talcott Parsons.
13 An even earlier but unpublished field Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
study of sport and the community was by Bridgeman, P.W. (1928) The Logic of Modern Physics.
Frolich (1952). New York: Macmillan.
Brohm, J.M. (1978) Sport: a Prison of Measured Time.
London: Ink Links.
Bryant, C. (1985) Positivism in Social Theory and
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 2
MARXIST THEORIES

Bero Rigauer

In 1977, the City Council of Frankfurt am Main Bottomore, 1979); Marxism as a political
and the University of Frankfurt awarded the ideology applied to the interpretation of differ-
first ‘Theodor W. Adorno Prize’ to Norbert ent societal configurations and social
Elias, who outlined in his acceptance speech processes, for example, political parties, cul-
the close links that exist between his own soci- tural institutions, state formation, the develop-
ological research and theory and the work of ment of sports; attempts at synthesising
Adorno and Marx. Elias particularly empha- Marxian and Marxist ideas with other scientific
sized their ‘critical humanism’ in his lecture, theories and political ideologies (see
repeatedly referring to Marx as a key influence Bottomore, 1979). These short introductory
on his own thinking. comments already clearly show the need to
distinguish between Marxian and Marxist
Marx was undoubtedly the first person who suc- theories, between orthodox and advanced con-
ceeded in creating a comprehensive and coherent cepts, between aspects of the Marxian and
theoretical model of human society and its devel- Marxist theories integrated into other acade-
opment based on the perspective of the less pow- mic theories and subjects, and the theory and
erful and poorer groups of people. One cannot practice of Marxism as a distinctive political
understand the extraordinary and far-reaching ideology.
impact of his work in the present age of diminish- In relation to the historical and sociological
ing, even though in some respects not completely development from Marxian to Marxist theory
disappearing power imbalances, unless one and Marxism, the following four aspects have
comprehends this characteristic of Marx’s social to be taken into consideration.
synthesis. (Elias, 1977: 45)
1 The focus of Karl Marx’s (1818–1883)
According to Elias, although he based his intellectual and analytical work on socio-
intellectual work on a ‘critique of political economic developments in capitalist societies
economy’, Marx must be understood as a clearly reflects the subjective experiences of his
sociologist, The development of Marx’s theory own biography: political and economic con-
by himself and others – often labelled under flicts and revolutions interwoven with the
the heading ‘Marxism’ – is complex. First, this increasingly capitalist industrialization of
theory takes a multidisciplinary approach and Western societies (especially England, France
integrates philosophical, anthropological, his- and Germany – but also the USA), in conjunc-
torical and economic studies. Secondly, there is tion with emerging and intensifying class con-
Marx’s own theoretical writing which I will flicts interrelated with dramatic political
refer to as ‘Marxian’. Thirdly, we have to dis- changes and subsequent power imbalances
tinguish between several directions and stages between the aristocracy, the newly emerging
of theoretical and practical development: the bourgeoisie and the working class. Marx him-
Marxian theory itself and its orthodox inter- self was directly affected by some of these soci-
pretations; the ongoing discussions of and etal struggles, for example, he experienced
enquiries into the Marxian theory by scholars persecution, exile, antisemitism and financial
adhering to various Marxist paradigms (see difficulties. As Marx obviously became a victim
 MARXIST THEORIES 29

of some of these processes, it is understandable radically reformed by Stalin who introduced a

that he took a stand for the poor and oppressed. dictatorial Soviet system in the late 1920s
Despite some critical detachment as an acade- based on his own dogma, ‘Stalinism’ (cf.
mic, it was impossible for Marx to remain Bottomore, 1979: 130–2). After the Second
unaffected by and uninvolved as a citizen in World War this form of totalitarian Marxism
the political and economic crisis of industrial was widely adopted in Eastern Europe (the
capitalism during the nineteenth century ‘Eastern bloc’ or ‘Warsaw Pact’ countries) and
which was the central subject of his research. by the political elite of the USSR. Despite this
According to Blumenberg, Marx’s theoretical harmonization, there were also a number of
and practical efforts were deeply affected by his variations, for example, that of Mao Zedong in
biographical and social experiences and suffer- China (1949; Maoism) or of Castro in Cuba
ings (1962: 105–18). (1959; Fidelism). The ideological influence of
2 During his lifespan Marx worked as Marxism rapidly decreased with the disinte-
journalist, editor (for example, of the Rheinische gration and subsequent democratization
Zeitung), political activist (for example, mem- process of the former communist Eastern bloc
ber and associated founder of the ‘Kommuni- (including Russia) during the 1990s. Only a
stenbund’ [Communist Association]), author few communist states using Marxism as their
(for example, of the Communist Manifesto) and ideological basis still exist, for example, China,
as an independent scholar. Therefore it is Cuba, North Korea and Vietnam. These exam-
hardly a surprise that his ideas initially ples clearly show the political instrumentaliza-
received appreciation from a wider public, tion of Marxism through communist power
particularly those contemporaries who were elites who contributed significantly to the
interested in politics, before his writings were gradual destruction of Marx’s idea of critical
appreciated for their analytical and academic humanism. Two further examples will demon-
qualities. Eventually, his theory became what strate this point:
he ‘intended, in some sense . . . the pre-eminent
Lenin did not set out to re-examine in any system-
theory or doctrine of the working-class move-
atic way the Marxist theoretical system, but
ment. It established itself most strongly in this
instead adopted a conception of Marxism as ‘the
form in the German Social Democratic Party,
theory of the proletarian revolution’ and devoted
whose leaders, as a result of the rapid growth
his efforts to working out, and embodying in an
of the socialist movement, and also through
effective organization, its implications for political
their close association with Engels, became the
strategy. (Bottomore, 1979: 130)
principal intellectual and political heirs of
Marx and largely dominated the international Furthermore Stalin ‘put an end to ... theoretical
labour movement up until 1914’ (Bottomore, debates and the possibility of any serious
1979: 126). advances in Marxist social science. Thereafter,
After Marx’s death in 1883, Marxism as a Soviet Marxism became an increasingly rigid
political ideology developed into many com- and dogmatic ideology’, functionalized as an
peting paradigms. They were heavily influ- instrument of a state-centralized and rigorous
enced and modified by various groups, process of industrialization and collectiviza-
political parties and working-class movements tion (Bottomore, 1979: 131). This development
in Europe and all over the world. An endless is responsible for a number of major problems
number of debates emerged focusing on tradi- Marxism has encountered, including the acad-
tional and modern concepts of Marxist theory, emic treatment of the sociological theory.
driven by the activities and interests of social- 3 Academic discussions of Marxist theory
ist and communist groups, associations or par- began in the late 1880s after Marx’s death, par-
ties in Europe, particularly during the 1880s ticularly in philosophy, sociology and econom-
and 1890s and the first three decades of the ics (for example, by Toennies, Grünberg,
twentieth century. Labels such as ‘orthodox’, Labriola, Durkheim, Böhm-Bawerk, Hilferding
‘revisionist’, ‘Austro-Marxist’ emerged during and Masaryk). During the twentieth century
that period (cf. Bottomore, 1979: 126–30). The these debates were widely influenced by a
Russian Revolution in 1917 led to the founda- number of different contextual factors: political
tion of the USSR. Lenin, Trotsky and other (the two World Wars; socialist/communist
revolutionaries developed a new model of revolutions and associated processes of state
Marxism, referred to as ‘Marxism–Leninism’ formation; fascisticization, etc.), economic (for
which subsequently competed with example, capitalist/socialist industrialization;
‘Trotskyism’. Both ideologies and their institu- the ‘world economic crisis’ of 1929/30), cultural
tional implementation during the formation (concerning the arts, literature, the mass media
process of the Soviet state were rejected and of communication, etc.), and the development
30 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

of the social sciences (societal impact of the determined by a theory referring either to the
humanities, the social and natural sciences). development of capitalism during the nine-
Some of the academic controversies (for exam- teenth and early twentieth centuries or to
ple, Seligman, Simmel, M. Weber) about paradigms that ideologized capitalist societies
Marxism show parallels with the debates about as regressive and destructive, and socialist/
Marxism and political and social practice – as communist societies as progressive and con-
outlined before. The social-scientific elabora- structive. In this connection, academic Marxist
tion of Marxist theory and research in the past theories came increasingly to involve a contra-
has almost always been dogmatic and is even diction between dogmatic and open thinking
nowadays often very orthodox. This can only about social development and research into
be explained adequately if we separate out the this field.
development of a Marxist theory which on the The main political and scientific problem of
one hand became increasingly an ideologized Marxism is based on the dogmatic treatment of
general theory used by socialist/communist historical and societal processes. Epistemo-
states and their educational institutions logical difficulties emerge from an attitude of
(schools, colleges, universities) – the so-called abstract realism, which is methodologically
‘scientific socialism’ grounded in ‘Marxism– connected with the suggestion of Marxism
Leninism’ and its variations (for example, being ‘the only valid theory’. Nevertheless –
Maoism) – while on the other hand, a number and there are other theories which lay claim to
of critical and progressive scholars and schools sole validity – as mentioned above, Marxist
of Marxist theory developed advanced theory contains ideas of substance, together
theories and linked these with non-Marxist with theoretical and empirical characteristics
paradigms and methods, for example, ‘struc- which are sufficiently methodologically impor-
turalist Marxism’, ‘critical theory’, ‘hegemony tant to be applied and advanced in sociological
theory’, ‘critical philosophy’, feminist criti- research into sport.
cisms of Marxist theory, Marxist theories of
‘underdeveloped’ societies (cf. Bottomore,
1979: 125–43). In a nutshell, the academic MARXIST THEORY AND SOCIOLOGY
development of Marxist theory has always
been overshadowed by controversies about Marx’s Theory of Society
Marxism as an ideology.
4 This conflict between ideology and acad- Marx developed a theory of social develop-
emia emerged from a fundamental objective of ment which is based on research into
Marxism, namely the utopian idea of a future socio-economic and political relations, inter-
communist society. All historical attempts to dependencies and power imbalances. ‘Society
put socialism and communism into practice does not consist of individuals but expresses
had to face the dilemma that Marx did not the sum of relations and conditions in which
develop any practical models of communist these individuals stand by one another.’ Marx
society. In addition, the socio-economic condi- also suggests that ‘being a slave and [or: B.R.]
tions under which communist revolutions a citizen, is grounded on social relations, rela-
occurred never fulfilled the fundamental con- tions of human beings A and B. The human
ditions Marx had identified. Some of the revo- being A is as such not a slave. He is slave
lutionary movements did not have widespread within and through society’ (Marx, 1939/41:
support from the people, others took place 176). Subsequently, Marx also argues that all
before the predicted self-destructing crisis of historical societies – especially the ‘bourgeois
industrial capitalism had set in. Consequently, system’ (capitalism) – are characterized by
the leaders of communist revolutions remained increasing efforts to establish totalitarian forms
elitist minorities introducing and establishing (‘totalities’) of social differentiation and inte-
totalitarian forms of state socialism (see point 3 gration (see Marx, 1939/41: 189).
above) which they justified with a modified
ideology of Marxism, such as ‘democratic cen- The Base–Superstructure Distinction The
tralism’ (Lenin). They believed that they had advanced Marxian theory focuses upon eco-
created social realities according to Marxist nomic activities and relations, the ‘base’, and
ideas. However, they simply reversed ideology their impact on other social institutions, such
and reality. A corresponding transposition as politics and culture, the ‘superstructure’.
became more and more a central epistemologi- Marxist theorists assume and stress that soci-
cal problem of academic Marxist theory and etal developments are initiated through eco-
research: the results and interpretations of nomic processes, in particular by any change in
Marxist sociological enquiries were often the mode of production, that is, the structured
 MARXIST THEORIES 31

relationship between the means of production recognizes the relative autonomy of cultural
and the way humans are involved in this processes. However, this autonomy occurs rel-
process. The economic conditions of capitalism atively rarely, for example, during historical
automatically generate a socio-economic con- periods of economic development which take
flict between the ‘masters of production’ (capi- place without social and political conflicts.
talists; owners of the means of production) and
the ‘direct producers’ (workers; owners of Marxist Methodology According to Marx,
labour power). Both societal groups are best Marxist theorists refuse any epistemologically
understood in terms of classes competing for founded idealist methodology (such as Hegel’s
power (‘class struggle’) as the owners of the philosophical method). For Marx, historical
means of production exploit the direct produc- developments and social processes emerge
ers financially (wages less than the economic from concrete realities (realism), which can
values produced) and suppress them politi- only be investigated with the help of a materi-
cally (socio-political dependencies). This alist approach. Materialism, for Marx, relates
power imbalance is also characterized by the methodologically to empirical phenomena.
increasing impoverishment and alienation of Furthermore, he suggests that ‘materialism’
the workers and phases of high unemploy- should be conceptualized as the attempt to
ment (caused by overproduction, the declining develop a theory of society which focuses
rate of profit, etc.). As an inevitable result, class upon the interdependencies between the eco-
struggles turn into revolutions driven by the nomic relations of the base and the cultural
working class with the aim of establishing processes and practices of the superstructure.
socialist or communist societies. In a nutshell, Based on these premises about the nature of
the history of humankind is a history of class research, Marx and Marxist theorists integrate
conflict. Marx and Marxist theorists claim that two distinctive methodological concepts.
such class conflict is leading to the emergence
of communist societies and that these must be Historical Materialism Historical changes in
seen as the highest level of human cultural societal processes and arrangements are
development. always caused by concrete and organized
Equally important in the range of Marxist human activities. Although human beings are
concepts is that of the superstructure, a term actively involved in creating their social envir-
which refers to all social and cultural forms onment, they also enter already existing forms
other than the economy. That is because the of production and interdependency which
superstructure is of fundamental significance determine their social life. The need for
for societal developments. From a Marxist per- research into those social relations which are
spective, it is the economy which has deter- determined by economic activities (modes of
mining effects on the superstructure. One key production, including distribution, consump-
function of the superstructure is to act as a tion and reproduction), whilst using abstract
framework for ideologies that justify and categories and concepts (for example, philo-
stabilize the modes of production and con- sophical, economic and political terms) arises
sumption under capitalism. Due to the depen- from applying the method of historical materi-
dence of the superstructure on the base there alism. This is what Marxists consider to be the
will, eventually, be a relationship of total corre- scientific method of descending from an
spondence between them. Consequently, the abstract totality (such as the class structure) to
superstructure reproduces the key ideologies the concrete realities of social life (for example,
of the capitalist system and reinforces the the social relations that are determined by class
social realization of the latter. As part of this structures; see Marx, 1939/41: 21–9).
arrangement, cultural practices, processes and
relations are fully integrated and merged in the Dialectical Materialism The concept of
superstructure and yet are distinguishable dialectical materialism is methodologically
from each other, for example, education, interwoven with the concept of historical
leisure time, mass media, the arts, religion, materialism and forms the basis of a ‘scientific
sciences, politics, state, the legal system, etc. philosophy’. It was Engels who developed this
Participation in these practices and processes dialectical method. It draws on the results of
requires structured forms of socialization his research into the history of nature (evolu-
whose aims and objectives are based on the tion) and of human society and thought (revo-
key ideologies of the capitalist economy. lution). He discovered three fundamental
Although the Marxist concept of the relation- ‘laws’ of development which all involve
ship between the base and the superstructure dialectical relationships: ‘the law of change
is perceived as highly deterministic, it also from quantity into quality and vice versa; ... the
32 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

penetration of contradictions; . . . the negation Karl Korsch, sociology was never anything but
of negations’ (Engels, 1973: 51). In this episte- a bourgeois invention to counteract the critical
mological context, Marx also referred to Hegel’s impact of Marxism on the dominant self-
formalized model of dialectical developments: descriptions of capitalist societies. The influ-
thesis, antithesis and synthesis. These three ence of Marx’s thought in sociology should
cornerstones symbolize concrete stages of therefore be ubiquitous’ (Ganssmann, 1994: 81).
developing societal configurations. The histor- Korsch, Lukács and other Marxists rejected ‘the
ical subjects (classes) produce changes (revolu- idea of Marxism as a positive science of society
tions) due to increasing conflicts (class – as sociology ...; instead, it was conceived as a
struggles). The outcome also contains social “critical philosophy” which expressed the
innovations through advanced modes of eco- world view of the revolutionary proletariat just
nomic production and cultural reproduction. as, according to Korsch, German idealist phi-
Marx, Engels and some of their successors losophy had been the theoretical expression of
combined and used both methodological con- the revolutionary bourgeoisie’ (Bottomore,
cepts, historical and dialectical materialism, as 1979: 132). In addition, there are other reasons
a central method for their multidisciplinary that question attempts to conceptualize
research into societal development and Marxism as sociology: Marxist theory is based
change. upon political preferences, interdisciplinary
It is important to recognize when summariz- research, a philosophical methodology (dialec-
ing the Marxist theory of society that its ‘dis- tical materialism) and the paradigm of eco-
tinctiveness ... consists of . . . emphasizing the nomic determinism. With regard to these
importance of labour in the economic sense epistemological positions, Marxist theory can-
(the developing interchange between man and not be reduced to an academic subject such as
nature) as the foundation of all social life’ and sociology. However, the so-called bourgeois
progress (Bottomore, 1979: 119). In this respect, scholars also rejected the idea and possibility of
the main problem of capitalism is caused by establishing a Marxist sociology as they
the ‘alienation of labour’ (see Marx, 1970: believed it would be politically and ideologi-
149–66). Alienated labour is based upon the cally connected with the revolutionary interests
established socio-economic relation between of the working class and the deterministic con-
the ‘masters of production’ and the ‘direct pro- cept of Marxism (see, for example, Popper,
ducers’. Individual members of the working 1968: 336–46). Despite all these arguments and
class are increasingly dependent on their points of resistance, Marxist sociology has
employers, that is, the industrialist class within become firmly based within the general frame-
a capitalist society which exploits the workers’ work of sociological theories and methods.
production by appropriating its economic
results. Estranged labour power also becomes Western Marxist Sociology The academic
a commodity on the labour market and denies development of Marxist sociology was initi-
workers the chance of developing their human ated and occurred predominantly in Western
potential and creativity. Therefore, a class Europe. During the 1920s and 1930s members
structure based on economic and political of the ‘Frankfurt School of Critical Theory’
power imbalances dehumanizes social rela- founded a neo-Marxist social-philosophical
tions. As long as production affects societal and sociological theory based on the assump-
developments functionally, however, the tion that an analysis of long-term societal and
future of social progress will depend on a non- capitalistic processes makes it necessary
alienating organization and practice of human to conceptualize distinct theoretical and
labour. Marx’s and the Marxist conception of methodological preconditions: (1) to do inter-
‘alienated labour’ is epistemologically and disciplinary research; (2) to connect social
methodologically a constitutive element of philosophical and empirical research; and
Marxist sociology. (3) to undertake materialistically founded
social research. In 1931, Horkheimer pro-
claimed in a public lecture that: ‘The present
Marxist Sociology stage of scientific knowledge makes a continu-
ous synthesis between philosophy and the
Marxist Sociology – a Contradiction in sciences necessary. There is a central philosoph-
Terms? Marxist and non-Marxist scholars ical and sociological question that has to be
agree that there are scientific and ideological investigated. What are the relations between
problems which make it difficult (and perhaps social life, the psychological development of
impossible) to establish Marxism as a sociolog- individuals, and cultural changes?’ (Rigauer,
ical approach. If ‘one believes Marxists like 1995: 2; see also Bottomore, 1979: 132–3). Until
 MARXIST THEORIES 33

the 1970s the Frankfurt School continued to since the ‘reunification’, the critical concepts of
develop a concept of Marxist sociology and Marxist sociology are neither recognized nor
to integrate it into the social-philosophical appreciated; mostly they are rejected and cer-
framework of ‘critical theory’ (for example, tainly not employed for sociological analyses
Habermas, 1967, 1973). This penetration of (cf. Kreckel, 1994: 240–51).
Marxist sociology with epistememological Epistemological Basis of Marxist Socio-
concerns characterized its foundation. All logy Despite the obvious variations within
‘Western’ theorists who have suggested the Marxist sociology mentioned above, the fol-
outline designs of a Marxist sociology, such lowing summary will focus on key theoretical
as structuralist (Althusser et al.), cultural and methodological aspects and neglect the
(Gramsci et al.), historical (Croce et al.), devel- previously mentioned differences. The episte-
opmental (Frank et al.), were deeply interwoven mological basis of Marxist sociology is the
with Marxism – a critical philosophy of society materialist method, which combines historical
(see Bottomore, 1979: 136–42). As a result, a and dialectical materialism. In terms of the
coherent sociological concept of a ‘Marxist soci- methods used this means: observing, docu-
ology’ focusing on the previously outlined key menting, reconstructing and analysing short-
methodological positions was never estab- or long-term societal processes with particular
lished. This epistemological stage can be reference to unilinear developments and con-
described as involving a tentative progress flict, whilst focusing upon economic relations
towards sociological standards of research: ‘The and interdependencies with particular refer-
development of Marxism as a theory is now ence to the politics of power. Proceeding in this
accorded a greater independence from direct manner means that empirical sociological
political concerns and is more clearly located in research is theory-led. In addition, a constant
the context of a general development of socio- exchange between theory and empirical meth-
logical theory’ (Bottomore, 1979: 142). ods is happening within a particular frame-
work of paradigms, subjects and aims:
Marxist–Leninist Sociology Another inter-
esting development of Marxist sociology that 1 Applying Marxist paradigms linked with
has to be taken into consideration took place in sociological methods to investigate the rela-
the Eastern bloc whilst it was dominated and tionship between base and superstructure,
heavily influenced by the communist regime of emerging and developing economic and
the Soviet Union. In that part of the world, due cultural interdependencies (assuming the
to the ideological pressure of communist gov- predominance of economic influences);
ernments after the Second World War, socio- theory–practice relations being implicated
logical thinking and methods only emerged in a unification of sociological research
reluctantly. Establishing sociology formally as and politically transformed sociological
an academic subject in the postwar era was a knowledge (science as a force of societal
very difficult enterprise as sociology struggled reproduction, innovation and change);
to distance itself from the official ‘Marxist– developing and applying general laws of
Leninist’ sociology of the communist states. societal progress from lower to higher
Theoretically and methodologically, it remai- stages of social, economic, political and
ned as a dogmatic, ideological academic sub- cultural organization (towards socialist/
ject justifying and stabilizing existing political communist forms of society).
structures without any critical sensitivity (see 2 Sociological enquiry into processes which
Bottomore, 1979: 130–5). However, there were are emerging from (i) economic and political
some groups of scholars who developed and relations; (ii) cultural differentiations evolv-
conceptualized advanced and critical para- ing between autonomy and economic/
digms (theories, methods) of Marxist sociology political functionalization; (iii) class struc-
(see Kiss, 1971). Comparing ‘Eastern’ and tures and their inherent societal functions
‘Western’ Marxist sociology, the already men- and revolutionary potential; (iv) the ideo-
tioned epistemological problem of philosophi- logical manipulation of human thinking,
cal involvement is certainly substantial and knowledge and socialization processes
hampered the necessary elaboration of socio- against the background of the economic,
logical theory and methods. During the past political and cultural functions of social
ten years or so, the traditional Marxist–Leninist development.
sociology has been undergoing a gradual 3 The main purpose of Marxist sociology is
process of transformation. The result will cer- guided by sociological criticism of societal
tainly be closer to mainstream ‘Western’ con- and scientific processes, including ideologi-
cepts of sociology. In particular, in Germany cal ones. The methodological term ‘criticism’
34 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

refers to the tradition of political and socialist and communist movements in

philosophical enlightenment (central inter- continental Europe had developed a keen
est of sociological knowledge). interest in sport as early as the second half of
the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth
The flow diagram opposite (Figure 2.1) sum-
century. They considered sport to be a social
marizes and highlights the conceptualizing
practice of great political significance. In addi-
process of Marxist sociology.
tion, they were critical of the ideological con-
tent of sport.
MARXIST SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT A Marxist theory of ‘physical culture’ and
sport (combined with sociological research)
Introduction was founded during the second half of the
twentieth century by Marxist scholars who
The Emerging Interest in Sociological were in various ways supported by socialist
Research into Sport Like sociology itself, and communist organizations and govern-
modern sport emerged in the context of the ments (for example, the Soviet Union; and after
civilizing processes that occurred within the Second World War, the ‘Eastern bloc’).
European societies during the eighteenth and Their research is based on the assumption that
nineteenth centuries. The development of sport is a social and historical phenomenon.
modern sport is closely linked with processes The increasing influence of science on ‘physi-
of increasing democratization, industrializa- cal culture’ and sport happened after the first
tion, rationalization, rising standards of social steps had been taken to realize these activities
control, emancipation and freedom. The emer- in practice. This more or less intended process,
gence of modern sport involved formal and or one may say method, is part of a function-
informal forms of participation of athletes and ally conceptualized relation and interdepen-
supporters in social activities emphasizing dency between theory and practice, allocating
special motor skills, competition and leisure. priority to the latter within socialist/communist
When sport became a widespread and visible policy and Marxist science (see Figure 2.1).
cultural phenomenon, it started socially to dif- What were these early processes of socialist/
ferentiate, expand and create nexuses with communist physical culture including sport
other areas of society. Currently, sport is a which increasingly acquired an empirical
global phenomenon whose development is foundation in Marxist theory, and later on, in
interwoven with the cultural, political and eco- the Marxist sociology of sport?
nomic phases of societal development being The following four examples will demon-
experienced worldwide. Therefore, it is no sur- strate more clearly what this means. All four
prise that sport has attracted the interest of case studies focus on the development of
sociological investigators. Already at the end working-class sport between 1850 and 1930
of the nineteenth and the beginning of the and must be seen against the background of a
twentieth centuries, sociologists started to fairly coherent set of dominant ideologies:
observe, describe and analyse the social func-
tions, structures and innovations of the ongo- 1 There is general agreement that the inter-
ing sportization process. However, it took until est and participation in (informal and organ-
the 1960s for sociological research to focus ized) sport of members of the working class
systematically on the social aspects of sport. grew during this period in Britain. On the one
Despite this progress, one has to take note of hand, workers’ sports participation was seen
the fact that the study of sport continues to be as a type of amusement and uncritical con-
a low-status activity within the profession of sumption, but at the same time also as a valu-
sociology more generally (see Elias and able form of physical recreation connected
Dunning, 1993: 1–6). There is no doubt that with the increasing importance of competitive
sport is an interesting sociological subject that team sports (football, for example). Therefore
provides an exciting challenge for sociological what people perceived to be ‘working-class
enquiries. It can also help to advance debates sport’ became more and more part of the
about the relationship between empirical and so-called middle class or bourgeois sport
theoretical enquiries. This also applies to culture. On the other hand, this development
Marxist sociology in general and Marxist was criticized by a small group of educated
research into sport in particular. middle-class socialists who had their own
dreams of creating a more elevated ‘high’
The Development of Marxist Analyses of culture of the masses, including sport (Holt,
Sport Prior to the emergence of interest in 1992: 145). They ‘refused to accept commercial
sport among Marxist scholars, members of the sport as an authentic element in working-class
 MARXIST THEORIES 35

Marxian theory
(Marx)

Marxism Marxist theory

(socio-political practice) (philosophy, political economy,
social sciences)

Marxism– Western Marxist– Western

Leninism Marxism Leninist Marxist
theory theory

Marxist– Western
Leninist Marxist
sociology sociology

Marxist sociology

- methods
-historical materialism
-dialectical materialism

- paradigms
-base–superstructure–relations
-theory practice relations
-law of societal progress

- key subjects
-economic and political relations
-cultural differentiations and interdependencies
-class structures and conflicts
-ideologization of human thinking, knowledge (consciousness)
-social behaviour and institutions

- interest of knowledge
-sociological criticism of society
-sociological enlightenment
-sociological models of classless future societies

direct relations/interdependencies
indirect relations/interdependencies
Figure 2.1 Flow diagram - Marxist sociology

culture’, because it would create political 1992: 146; see also Hargreaves, 1995: 80–2).
passivity. They suggested that sport was Consequently, ambivalent attitudes towards
‘demoralised and damned by capitalism’ (Holt sport in general and differing interpretations of
36 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

its social and political qualities and functions (a) the existence of a close political, ideologi-
emerged. ‘The absence of a socialist alterna- cal and organizational connection with
tive, the lack of imagination, was due at least in the SPD and the KPD and their aims;
part to the low priority that leaders of the (b) a critical approach to the bourgeois ideal
working-class movement gave to cultural mat- that was said to be part of capitalistic
ters in the broad sense’ (Hargreaves, 1995: 81). sport (a critique of sport meant a critique
Therefore sport in Britain never became an ide- of capitalism);
ological tool of the socialist movement and (c) attempts to justify and develop socialist/
remained marginal in the field of socialist communist aims and forms of sportsprac-
activities. The organization of sports participa- tice (integration of sports-political and
tion was considered to be fairly apolitical, socio-political agitation [cf. Wagner,
occurring within people’s leisure time and 1973/1931]);
involving the simultaneous rejection of and (d) growing ideological conflicts between
adaptation to capitalist civilization and culture proponents of the socialist (SPD) and the
(see Holt, 1992: 146–8). The working-class communist (KPD) concepts of sport;
movement did ‘not seem to have taken . . . (e) growing ideological adaptation to the
sports as a whole very seriously. In fact, . . . the bourgeois concept of competitive sport
British working-class movement and the Left (such as the Olympic movement, high
as a whole continued to ignore the growing performance and competitive sports). In
significance of sport in working-class people’s this context, the bourgeois-orientated
lives, tacitly allowing this terrain to be hege- German tradition of Kultur (Turnen) was
monized by forces unsympathetic to the Left’, more and more taken over as the guiding
that is, by middle-class and bourgeois aims, ideology of sport whereas the modern
purposes, and organizations (Hargreaves, conception of civilization (democratic
1995: 92–3). industrial society) was rather neglected
2 From the 1850s onwards in Germany, the (see Dwertmann, 1997).
working-class movement organized what one
might call ‘proto-sports clubs’ (Turnvereine), for To sum up: the German working-class sports
example, in Leipzig. This movement resisted all movement was politically, ideologically and
political counter-currents (by the monarchy organizationally integrated into the socialist/
and the aristocracy, for example) and was communist working-class movement which
responsible for the foundation of the Arbeiter also formed the basis for its revolutionary pro-
Turner Bund (ATB) – the Workers’ Gymnastics gramme (working-class sport as class struggle).
Association – in 1893 which, in 1919, was 3 In the USSR, the first socialist/commu-
changed into Arbeiter Turn- und Sportbund nist sports movement organized by the state
(ATSB) – the Workers’ Gymnastics and Sports emerged immediately after the revolution in
Association. This change of name clearly 1917. Sport was primarily organized and prac-
reflects the open and fundamental ideological tised to improve the nation’s fitness during the
conflict between Turnen and ‘English Sports’. period of ‘war communism’ which refers to
Until the turn of the century, the politically and the Civil War between 1917 and 1920. During
ideologically orientated working-class gymnas- the ‘Decade of Physical Culture’, three differ-
tics and sports movement was strongly influ- ent strands of sport emerged. These were influ-
enced by the SPD (the Socialist Party of enced by the ‘new economic policies’ and
Germany) and its socialist programme. From favoured by three different communist groups,
the beginning of the twentieth century that is, by teachers, scientists and politicians.
onwards, especially during the Weimar These strands were:
Republic (1919–33), communist influence
had an increasing impact on the movement (a) The ‘Concept of Proletarian Culture’
and caused the division of the working-class (prioritized by the Proletkultists): in addi-
sports movement (Arbeiter Sportbewegung) into tion to the contribution of sport to imp-
Socialist Party (SPD) and Communist Party ortant political events, the ‘Concept of
(KPD) sections. This ideological conflict Production-Gymnastics’ was introduced
endured until the elimination of the working- into the world of work to raise the pro-
class sports movement and its organizations ductivity of the workforce.
by the National Socialists in 1933. Between (b) The ‘Concept of Hygiene’ (favoured by
1850 and 1933, the following features of the the Hygienists): sport was regarded as
working-class gymnastics and sports move- a vital part of health education and par-
ment are worth being singled out for sociologi- ticular sports, like boxing, Association
cal mention: football, gymnastics and weight-lifting,
 MARXIST THEORIES 37

were rejected as being conducive to theory of sport which will be dealt with
injuries, disadvantageous to health and subsequently. This theoretical approach can be
too competitive. understood adequately only against this social
(c) The ‘Concept of Spartacism’ (‘Spartak’; and political background. The following devel-
reference to Spartacus who led a slave opmental aspects of socialist/communist sport
rebellion in the Roman Empire 74–71 BC): in the second half of the nineteenth century
unspecialized and unprofessional practis- and the first three decades of the twentieth cen-
ing of high performance and competitive tury are of crucial importance for understand-
sport. ing the Marxist sociology of sport.

These three different approaches to physical • The working class (proletariat) is of central
culture and sport had a number of factors in significance.
common. First, they were critical of and • Whilst on the one hand, sport has a mar-
rejected the bourgeois-capitalist concept of ginal role for the working-class movement,
competitive sport, especially high performance on the other hand sport also provides the
sport. Secondly, they preferred the area of possibility to develop an autonomous, anti-
physical culture to be developed and orga- bourgeois concept of sport as part of prole-
nized by communist intellectuals rather than tarian culture.
by the members of Russian society as a whole • The working-class sports movement runs
(given the then-contemporary level of devel- the risk of going through a bourgeoisifica-
opment of the USSR). Thirdly, they considered tion process and thus of adapting itself to
sport to be a means to an end and intended to bourgeois norms and values.
use it in order to solve social problems, for • As an integral part of the revolutionary class
example, alcoholism and illness. Fourthly, struggle, the working-class sports move-
sport was expected to support women’s eman- ment will become politically emancipated.
cipation. Fifthly, all three approaches sup- • Proletarian sport is partial and biased. It
ported the development, practice and renewal is associated with socialist/communist
of the concept of ‘physical culture’ (including politics.
physical education, games, leisure activities • The working-class sports movement has an
and sport) and the political and ideological international orientation. Therefore it exerts
functionalization of sport by the Communist international solidarity and participates in
Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) were influ- the international class struggle.
enced by its aims and ideas. Finally, there was • The Soviet model of sport performs the
also a consensus that Soviet sport should be following socialist/communist functions:
centrally organized by the Communist Party in physical and cultural education; health
conjunction with the government and the state. care; increase of human working and pro-
This represents the first attempt to apply and ductive power; paramilitary training;
institutionalize Marxist ideas and concepts to emphasis on top-level competitive sport;
and in the world of sport (see Riordan, 1980a, recreational activities; solving social prob-
1980b, 21–5; Ruffmann, 1980: 37–55, 134ff). lems; emancipation of women; political and
4 After the First World War, European ideological socialization.
working-class sportsmen and women started • The (inter)national working-class sports
to organize themselves nationally and interna- movement reflects the different political
tionally: in 1920 they founded the ‘Lucerne programmes of Democratic Socialism and
Social Democratic Sports International’ Marxist–Leninist centralism.
(LSDSI). One year later the Communist ‘Red
Sports International’ (RSI) came into existence. Most of these social and political elements can
In Frankfurt am Main (1925), Vienna (1931) be observed in the developing Marxist theories
and Antwerp (1937) ‘Workers’ Olympics’ were of sport in the 1920s and 1930s. References to:
organized by the International Socialist the proletarian masses; the marginality as well
Working Class Movement in an attempt to as the centrality of sport’s functions; problems of
stress their political resistance. Due to the bourgeoisification; concepts based on ideologies
different Democratic-Socialist and Marxist– and class struggle; internationalism; use of the
Leninist concepts of sport, ideological conflicts organizational structuring of Soviet sport as a
between the LSDSI and the RSI arose. role model; controversies between dogmatic
and undogmatic programmes of socialism/
The following aspects drawn from the four communism. Almost all the above-mentioned
above-mentioned examples will highlight the dimensions of socialist/communist sport form
historical and empirical base of the Marxist the historical and empirical base for Marxist
38 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

theories of sport. Due to the increasing • The paradigm and methodology of the
differentiation of sport in both capitalist and ‘Theory of Physical Culture and Sport’ were
communist societies, especially after the integrated into historical and dialectical
Second World War, academics started to investi- materialism (see discussion of Marx’s
gate sport systematically. This development theory of society above).
commenced primarily in the USSR and other • Research issues were linked to specific
societies with well-developed Marxist academic functions of the socialist/communist prac-
traditions, for example, in Great Britain, France, tice of physical culture and sports: human
Italy and Germany. productivity (industrial, agricultural and
other work); health (in particular preven-
tion, improvement and rehabilitation); edu-
Marxist–Leninist Theories cation into the ‘socialist personality’
of the Relationship between Sport (collectivism); games, sport and leisure
and Society time; high performance and competitive
sport; paramilitary training.
The Institutional Monopolization of • With reference to the academic treatment of
Science In the USSR, the institutional sport and physical culture, the following
foundations for the development of a aspects were taken into consideration:
Marxist–Leninist ‘theory of physical culture’ the foundations of Marxism–Leninism, the
were laid in the 1920s and 1930s. During this history of physical culture and sport, the
period a number of academic institutions were foundations of pedagogy, medicine, psy-
founded which were operated by the state chology, sociology and the theory of train-
and/or the Communist Party (CPSU): for ing and coaching (see Schafrik, 1972).
example, the ‘State Institute for Physical
Culture’ (1920, Moscow) and the ‘Central Looking back to that earlier discussion of
Institute for Research into Physical Culture’ Marx’s theory of society, the dilemma of all
(1933, Moscow; see Riordan, 1980b). After the theories relating to physical culture and sport
Second World War, the entire structure of insti- becomes obvious: The historical and contem-
tutions became more and more differentiated. porary developments of physical culture and
This pattern of organizational structuring was sport depend on the social and material condi-
copied by European ‘People’s Republics’, such tions of human life as reflected in the
as Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East base–superstructure distinction. Founded on
Germany, Poland and Romania (see Riordan, science, they can be politically planned and
1981) as well as by non-European states under realized through ‘scientific socialism and
the influence of the Soviet Union such as China central planning’. Not the individual but the
and Cuba (see Riordan, 1981). All these states collectivity, whose social function consists of
have in common the fact that their academic the differentiation of socialist/communist
research into sport was based on the Marxist– forms of society and the integration of physical
Leninist ideology. In them, Marxism–Leninism culture and sports practice, stands at the centre
was defined as the only acceptable political of all revolutionary tasks. To achieve this objec-
paradigm and this led to a dogmatic influence tive, the following preconditions have to be
on academic research and theoretical debates. fulfilled:

The Marxist–Leninist ‘Theory of Physical • Marxist–Leninist research into physical

Culture and Sport’ The Marxist (and also culture and sport must be conducted on the
Maoist) ‘Theory of Physical Culture and Sport’ basis of interdisciplinary cooperation.
emerged on the basis of the above-mentioned • A Marxist–Leninist ideology of physical
socio-historical and ideological developments. culture and sport must have a rationale.
The term ‘Socialist Physical Culture’ was at the • A critique of the bourgeois-capitalist
centre of each concept (see Ruffmann, 1980). development of international sport (ideo-
The forms and contents of human movement logical criticism) must be undertaken.
were divided into different physical and cul- Overall, the Marxist–Leninist ‘Theory of
tural aspects and primarily linked with politi- Physical Culture and Sport’ was characterized
cal functions (see discussion of Marxist by scientism, economic determinism and dog-
analyses of sport above, especially point 4 and matism. How can we evaluate the academic
summary). All aims, tasks and contents achievements of the people who worked within
(aspects of theory and research) were inte- this framework? Against the background of the
grated into the ideology of Marxism–Leninism ideological influences they were subject to
and led to the following conceptualization: we can distinguish two academic strands.
 MARXIST THEORIES 39

On the one hand, there were the less research was created (see Friedrich, 1970).
ideologically biased natural and technical However, in the area of sociological theory, the
sciences, such as sports medicine, biomechan- Marxist–Leninist paradigm continued to be the
ics, the theory of training and coaching as well most significant influence and due to its dog-
as the manufacture of sports equipment which matism hampered the development of sociol-
achieved an outstanding international reputa- ogy. As a result, only those theoretical and
tion for their quality research. On the other empirical results of sociological research into
hand, there were the ideologically biased sport were officially accepted and published
humanities and social sciences, such as philos- that fitted the dominant socialist/communist
ophy, pedagogy, psychology, sociology and doctrine of the state and the party. Nearly all
history which, due to their dogmatism, never sociological theories based on empirical stud-
managed to achieve high international stan- ies were expected to conform to the ‘socialist
dards. In general, whilst the social-scientific reality’ of sport and society (see Voigt, 1975).
treatment of sport by dogmatic Marxists bol- Nevertheless, despite rigorous censorship by
stered the status quo, in the natural-scientific the state not all sociological research could be
and technological spheres analysis and applica- manipulated ideologically.
tion developed very well. Nevertheless, the According to Gras and Reinhardt (1987:
academic openness of Marx’s social theory was 42–6), the foci of empirical research and theory
partly discontinued. construction in the sociology of sport in the
former Eastern bloc can be put into the follow-
Marxist–Leninist Contributions to the Sociol- ing areas:
ogy of Sport The Marxist–Leninist theory of
physical culture claimed meta-theoretical • The objects, objectives and functions of the
leadership in the scientific analysis of sport. All Marxist–Leninist sociology of sport.
the other sport sciences were expected to • Sociological research into societal living
accept a subordinate role. A differentiation into conditions and their influences on active
specific subdisciplines was only allowed in a sports participation within organized and
very restricted range of subjects such as unorganized areas (everyday physical
history, pedagogy, medicine and the theory of culture and sport for all).
training but entirely rejected for psychology • Sociological research to improve the
and, in particular, for sociology since the latter development of high performance sport.
was perceived as a ‘bourgeois academic disci- • Sociological research to differentiate sports
pline’. Sociological research as part of the sport organizations, management and planning.
sciences only emerged in the 1960s. In the • Sociological insights into sport as a basis for
German Democratic Republic (GDR), for a differentiated sports information system.
example, sociology did not gain the status of • Sociological research into other relevant
an independent academic subject and was areas that have an impact on sport (for
defined as an integral part of the Marxist– example, sociological enquiries into youth
Leninist theory of society until the 1960s. The cultures, investigation of socialization
same applies to the sociology of sport in the processes).
GDR. Sociology in general and the sociology of • Critical evaluation of selected concepts and
sport in particular, were only introduced theories of the ‘bourgeois’ sociology of sport.
because of the international competition of • In addition, other relevant areas, such as,
scientists in which the GDR wanted to partici- group dynamics in sport, voluntary work
pate. Therefore, in 1961 the first research centre in sport, sports development connected
for the sociology of sport was established at the with social, ideological, economic and cul-
‘Deutsche Hochschule für Körperkultur’ tural factors in general.
(DHfK – German University for Physical
In a nutshell, sociological research and
Culture) in Leipzig which initiated and influ-
theories of sport in the former German
enced the further development of the
Democratic Republic focused on the following
Marxist–Leninist sociology of sport theoreti-
key issues:
cally (see Erbach, 1966; Gras and Reinhardt,
1987) and empirically (see Gras, 1982; • The development of a Marxist–Leninist
Hinsching, 1981). However, the empirical pro- sociology of sport, including a critical ideo-
ject could not be continued in terms of the logical analysis of the so-called bourgeois
established standards of sociological method- sociology of sport (with particular reference
ology. Subsequently, a kind of sociological to West Germany).
empiricism based on Marxism–Leninism and • Empirical research into sports development
what they called bourgeois forms of empirical in the GDR, with particular emphasis on
40 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

both general sociological issues such as areas can be expanded and integrated into the
social activities, motivation, socialization, theory of physical culture (see above).
ideology, achievement, health, profession- However, due to the dogmatic nature of
alization, age, gender and very specific Marxism–Leninism and its claim to be an exclu-
questions, such as the organizational struc- sive meta-theory within the socialist develop-
turing of sport, management and planning ment of the sciences from 1917 until 1990, all
(see Gras and Reinhardt, 1987). epistemological aspects were politically func-
• Interdisciplinary research exploring peda- tionalized and censored by the state (see Lutz,
gogical, biological, medical, anthropological, 1988; Voigt, 1975). As a result, the sociological
psychological and sociological issues (see potential of Marxian theory and Marxism more
Erbach, 1966; Gras and Reinhardt, 1987). generally could not be fully exploited and
The development of the sociology of sport developed.
in the former GDR between 1945 and 1989 can
be regarded as typical and representative of
the influence on the development of the The Neo-Marxist Sociology of Sport
sciences in the Eastern bloc of the USSR. The
following aspects constituted three key foci in The development of Marxist sociology in
this connection: Western capitalist-industrial societies was ori-
entated towards a Marxian and Marxist
1 Focusing on societal developments, sports (–Leninist) sociology. However, its protago-
and their social functions were integrated nists also developed the Marxist paradigm in
conceptually into a model of base– conjunction with other academic traditions,
superstructure relations as part of socialist such as structuralism, functionalism, systems
physical culture. theory, existentialism and psychoanalysis. A
2 As an element of base–superstructure rela- complex and contested set of concepts with
tions, sports were said to contribute to the various differentiations emerged. So-called
social, that is, the physical and psychologi- ‘neo-Marxism’ was applied both to sociology
cal, reproduction of society. and to its subdisciplines, for example, the soci-
3 On the assumption that, in socialist soci- ology of sport. The following strands of the
eties, class conflicts had ceased to occur, neo-Marxist sociology of sport will now be dis-
sport was expected to contribute to the cussed: reproduction theory, critical theory and
political socialization of people into social- hegemony theory.
ist values and norms and, thus, to the
development of a socialist personality. This Reproduction Theory Reproduction theory
function was centrally organized and sup- is based on a Marxist theory of labour in which
ported by the state and the Communist societal functions are integrated: the simple
Party and involved scientific planning. and the complex reproduction of labour
In this context, the scientific and political power. In the case of simple reproduction,
function of the sociology of sport was to estab- sport as a social form ensures the physical
lish and promote the development of sport preservation and reproduction of labour
through a theoretical underpinning (socialist power (the recreation function). In the case of
physical culture) and empirical research complex reproduction, sport has additional
(sports development under socialism). functions. Labour power with its purely eco-
Accordingly, it appears logical to argue that the nomic function of reproduction increasingly
Marxist–Leninist sociology of sport introduced involves qualifications and knowledge as
and differentiated structural-functionalist and bases for sports activities (the qualification
empiricist elements within the epistemological function). As we can see, the relationship
framework of a dogmatic paradigm (Marxism– between sport, work and reproduction has two
Leninism; see as an example Pietsch and Gras, levels. The following Marxist assumptions
1986). As a consequence, a paradoxical admix- underlie these relations:
ture between Marxism and ‘bourgeois’ func-
1 Work and reproduction are mutually
tionalism emerged.
involved in a historical, dynamic inter-
Summary The Marxist–Leninist sociology of dependence.
sport is an integral part of the Marxist academic 2 Sport in this connection has to be consid-
tradition. Its theoretical and empirical reference ered as an element of the extended repro-
to historical and societal developments pro- duction functions of labour power.
vides a number of interesting areas for research. 3 Of central significance in democratic
Through an interdisciplinary approach these societies are those functions that contribute
 MARXIST THEORIES 41

to the acquisition of qualifications lack of Marxist research into cultural and

(Güldenpfennig, 1974: 15). ideological superstructures, they placed spe-
cial emphasis on research into this field. The
Consequently, the sociology of sport, its growth of fascism reinforced their theoretical
empirical research and theoretical underpin- assumptions. For these reasons, they grounded
ning, have to focus on societal correlations their research programme in social philosophi-
between sport and the development of work cal, sociological, historical and social psycho-
within historical, economic, political and social logical (based on Freud’s psychoanalysis)
processes. Seen from the point of view of research into superstructural fields, but they
reproduction theory, the relationship between also undertook research into economic issues
sport and work within capitalist and socialist and tried to connect ‘base and superstructure’
industrial societies needs to be conceptualized in their studies. Basically, the scientific
as follows: approach of ‘critical theory’ can be described
• Under capitalism, sport, like other societal as an attempt to integrate Marxist and
fields, reproduces the capitalist system Freudian methodology.
under economic and political conditions of Members of the IFSR did not explicitly elab-
class conflict but without revolution orate and conceptualize empirical methods,
(simple reproduction). but they did implicitly develop techniques
• Under socialism, sport, like other societal during the research process itself. The focus of
fields, reproduces the socialist system with their work was ‘a debate over an appropriate
the aim of improving the individual and non-positivistic epistemology for the social
social aspects of human behaviour. sciences’ (Jary and Jary, 1995: 243). The appli-
cation of empirical methods should always be
The ideological underpinning of these two related to a theoretical framework of social
statements makes them empirically unaccept- research. Not the quantitative, but the qualita-
able as they do not comply with standards of tive properties of empirical data are the most
sociological research and theory construction. relevant. This methodological approach
Therefore this paradigm employed by neo- implied the need to find ways to connect data,
Marxist sociologists of sport is of interest only and how to interpret their social relations,
as a theoretical framework. However, sociolog- meanings and process characteristics (see
ical research into sport does need to be orien- Rigauer, 1995).
tated towards the sport–work relationship Unlike many members of the Frankfurt
(reproduction, socialization, ideology). School such as Adorno, Horkheimer and
Habermas, who only marginally touched on
social developments in sport, some of their
Critical Theory A confluence of academic successors critically engaged with its social
and scientific interests, biographical and per- and political aspects. While doing so, they
sonal concerns, and societal developments in were influenced by the 1960s students’ rebel-
the Weimar Republic (1918–33), particularly lion in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG).
the emergence of fascist totalitarianism in the In that context they developed the sociological
context of three interwoven social, political foundations for a ‘critical theory of sport’.
and economic processes – nationalism, racism Rigauer (1969, English translation 1981;
and capitalism – created a distinctive social 1979) investigated the relationship between
reality and Zeitgeist, within which the sport and work with particular reference to the
members of the ‘Institute for Social Research’ organizational structuring, practices and func-
(IFSR) founded in 1922 in Frankfurt am Main tions of work and their effects on socio-
(some of its outstanding members were cultural, socio-political and socio-economic
Horkheimer, Adorno, Marcuse, Fromm, developments in sport in capitalist societies.
Benjamin and, after 1950, Habermas and According to his central sociological thesis,
Friedeburg) created their theoretical and under conditions of industrial capitalism sport
methodological concept of the ‘Critical Theory as an integral part of the superstructure
(of Society)’, often also referred to as the (culture, ideology) reproduces features of
‘Frankfurt School (of Sociology)’. Members of social behaviour that are functionally and nor-
the Frankfurt School founded and developed matively ingrained in capitalistically orga-
an expanded dialectical model of ‘base and nized processes of working, marketing,
superstructure’. They rejected any form of eco- rationalization, scientification, communication
nomic determinism and assumed dynamic and socialization. All these social processes
relations and interdependencies between the are reduced in sport to the quantitative princi-
economy and the culture of a society. Due to a ple of ‘ideal’ and ‘material surplus value’
42 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

(reification, alienation). On the one hand, investigated technocratic system structures

the central ideological function of sport con- and structures of behaviour within the stage
sists of transposing its base-related (economic) of social differentiation reached in industrial
superstructural relation and interdependence capitalism at the turn of the century. She
into societal practice. On the other hand, it also shows how ideological relations under capi-
has to blur this very structural correspondence talism are conducive to positivist scientific
ideologically in a way that allows the idea of developments and uses this framework in
sport as a socially autonomous area to be main- order to analyse typical forms of conscious-
tained. The main purpose of a Marxist socio- ness and behaviour. Sport, she suggests, stabi-
logical theory of sport should be to explain the lizes the power structures of capitalist
real societal functions of sport with the help of societies whilst reproducing technocratic prac-
critical analyses focused on culture and ideol- tices: it produces technical and disciplined
ogy. In addition, a Marxist sociology has to behaviour and a corresponding positivist ide-
generate concepts that relate sport to the aim of ology which leads to patterns of objectifi-
political emancipation, thus contributing to the cation, quantification and reductionism.
defeat of capitalism. Furthermore, sport legitimates these techno-
Vinnai (1970) researched the system of social cratic capitalist practices and uses them as a
correspondences between capitalist forms of repressive method of general socialization:
production, consumption and forms of social ‘Sport is a capitalistically modified form of
behaviour in sport. He takes the example of game!’ (Prokop, 1971: 21).
soccer and identifies individual and social pat- The main difference between reproduction
terns of adaptation using the Marxist model of theory (see above) and critical theory is that
‘commodity structure’: the reduction of human the latter integrates and critically evaluates the
behaviour in sport to market exchanges. As an development of sport in both capitalist and
element of capitalist mass culture, sport takes socialist societies. Critical theorists uncovered
over socialization functions that lead to the the ways in which sportspersons in the former
adaptation of human behaviour to authoritar- Soviet bloc were subjected to a repressive ins-
ian patterns (connected with narcissistic, trumentalization of their consciousness and
masochistic and aggressive personality charac- behaviour through the socialist ideology of the
teristics). In this process the personal and state (see Prokop, 1971: 121–3). The critical
social autonomy of individuals becomes theory of sport was influential in the develop-
increasingly restricted and can lead to com- ment of sociological theories in the former
plete alienation. Integrated with these socio- German Federal Republic and internationally
logical and socio-psychological concepts, until the 1980s. Rütten (1988) applied the cul-
Vinnai (1970: esp. 9–104) allocates ideological tural and ideological processes emphasized
functions to sport: ‘Sport, like other manifesta- sociologically by Adorno (including their aes-
tions of the culture industry that have been thetic basis) to the internal world of sport. He
structured and planned, brings out the identi- also stressed the potential of sport for social
fication of people with already established emancipation. Rütten (1988) was able to con-
norms. The system of sport is one in which ceptualize a sociological approach to the social
conformism is hammered into everybody’s dialectics of sport that, on the one hand, sup-
emotions and prohibits behaviour that is not ports the development of social behaviour and
adapted to social norms’ (Vinnai, 1970: 104). on the other hand restricts the same. Morgan
Consequently, sport develops cultural- (1994) reconstructs neo-Marxist approaches to
industrial forms of behaviour concerned with the sociology of sport in an international com-
creating an ideological consciousness within parison drawing on critical theory. He devel-
capitalism which fosters economic growth, ops a convincing concept in order to pursue
profits and exploitation materially, socially and the sociological establishment of a critical
psychologically. theory of sport. His ‘intent in doing so is to
An investigation conducted by Prokop in break the impasse that has thus far stymied
1971 concludes the sociological contributions the Left’s efforts to come to grips adequately
to a ‘critical theory of sport’ of the Frankfurt with contemporary sport. The revamped
Institute of Social Research. Prokop’s sociolog- critical theory of sport I offer to accomplish
ical analysis of sport concentrates on the his- this aim, to get the critical process going again,
torical and societal genesis of the modern takes its point of departure from sport
Olympic movement, starting from its founder, conceived as a social practice, and from a criti-
Coubertin, who initiated the first Olympic cally extended use of the liberal device of
Games of modern times in Athens in 1896. She walling off social spheres to protect them
 MARXIST THEORIES 43

from unsavoury outside influences’ (Morgan, and make useful contributions to a critical
1994: 179). sociology of sport (see Morgan, 1994: 60–127).
They see social classes as defining, delivering,
Hegemony Theory Hegemony theory is improving and enforcing sport-related norms,
based on the thinking and writing of the Italian values and functions within hegemonic
Marxist Antonio Gramsci (1891–1937). He processes on the basis of their ideological
rejected the deterministic character of the and political power positions, including the
traditional ‘base–superstructure’ distinction economically, culturally and socially reproduced
and integrated philosophical and sociological base–superstructure/superstructure–base rela-
aspects into his analysis in order to develop it tions of capitalist societies. Yet, it is not deter-
further. He also rejected the straightforward minism that results from this process but the
matter–consciousness relationship and the cor- contrary: ‘Hegemony is never guaranteed: it
responding ideological processes, and replaced must be worked for continually and renewed
it on the theoretical level with a group- and by the hegemonic class or class fraction’
class-related model of power and conflict. (Hargreaves, 1995: 220). One can find this phe-
According to Gramsci, neither the economic nomenon repeated in every era of the capitalist
base of capitalism nor the material circum- development of sport. All groups involved in
stances of human existence determine people’s sport, that is, dominant as well as subordinate
social, political and cultural forms of behav- groups, compete with each other and struggle
iour and the underlying ideologies. On the for the sports-practical realization of their
contrary, there are dominant social groups aims, cultural values, social functions, organi-
whose intellectual members – both in the rul- zational and material framework. Gruneau
ing and subject classes – develop, define and (1983, 1993) and Hargreaves (1995) show how
negotiate values, norms and class fractions. these class-specific cultural and political strug-
They build social hegemonies on the basis of gles within sport emerged and how they con-
language, knowledge, common thinking and tinue to occur. These processes can be revealed
everyday practice in religion, art, literature, as hegemonial social conflicts in which base
etc. that concur with each other. However, and superstructure ideologies that are econom-
people are also exposed to permanent innova- ically, politically and culturally founded take
tion, the results of which are handed down over central functions. They refer to ‘residual’
from one generation to the next. Hegemonic, (ideologically lasting) and current sports
class-bound groups differentiate, transform processes. Key themes in these hegemonic dis-
and convey material (base) and imaginary courses are the following:
(superstructure) values, norms and functions
within these processes. Within the scope of • Amateurism, fair play, rational recreation.
such ideological and political interchanging • Athletics, competition; leisure (sport for all).
and enforced processes, open class struggles • Professionalization, commercialization, mass
for power between competing groups emerge. mediatization.
The upper and middle classes have material, • Sports consumption.
cultural and political advantages (for example, • Physical education (socialization).
wealth, knowledge and the capacity to define • Gender relations, politicization of the body
values, norms, rules, etc.) over the working and racism; within social contexts of alien-
class in the course of social production and ation, emancipation, relative autonomy.
reproduction processes. However, the lower • Organization, bureaucratization, institu-
classes are able to translate their material and tionalization.
ideological aims and values into action with • National identifications, nationalism, racism.
the help of their own organizations (for exam- • Globalization.
ple, parties, trade unions). In capitalist soci-
eties, hegemonic processes of differentiation This list demonstrates the research interests
and development take the course of ideologi- of Gruneau (1983, 1993) and Hargreaves
cal and institutional mediation between base (1995). The empirical foci of sociological theory
and superstructure. The superstructure are the cultural, economic and political devel-
influences the material base just as the base opments of sport as they have been initiated
influences the ideological superstructure (see and pushed ahead on the basis of hegemonic
Gramsci, 1987: 56–103). conflicts and struggles. Similar to Hargreaves
Employing hegemony theory, Gruneau (1995), Gruneau (1983, 1993) supports the
(1983, 1993) and Hargreaves (1995) investigate thesis ‘that certain class, gender, and Western
social developments in sport under capitalism cultural and bodily practices continue to be
44 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

represented in modern sport as if they were Summary: the Marxist Sociology

universal and natural, thereby marginalizing of Sport
many alternative conceptions of sport and the
body’. But none ‘of this should be taken to Based on the key concepts outlined in the
suggest that sport today is any more stable or second and third sections of this chapter, I
less contradictory than in the past. No hege- suggest the following thesis: the development
monic settlement of forces and interests is for- of a Marxist sociology of sport is founded on
ever . . . . Indeed, there is a notable tension both the theory and practice of Marxism. The
between all totalizing visions of ‘’modern’’ life real political and societal manifestations of the
and the sweeping forces of social and cultural Marxist dogma (political parties, trade unions
differentiation characteristic of contemporary ... and people’s republics) can be found in the
consumer societies’ (Gruneau, 1993: 98). With organizations of working-class sport. Using
these assertions the author provides additional the experience of working-class sport, Marxist
support for a Marxist-orientated sociological theories of physical culture and sport argue
analysis of sport in the same way as that the nature of sport is closely linked to
Hargreaves (1995) does when he objects that societal and state institutions (capitalism;
‘Policy cannot automatically be deduced from socialism/communism). As a consequence of
analysis: its formation is a creative process the academic analysis of the bourgeois devel-
requiring imaginative leaps, and above all, a opment of sport under capitalism, Marxist con-
genuine interaction between policy-makers cepts of the sociology of sport emerged. The
and subjects’ (Hargreaves, 1995: 223). flow diagram opposite (Figure 2.2) summa-
rizes and highlights the conceptualizing
Conclusion At the heart of the neo-Marxian process of the Marxist sociology of sport.
sociology of sport are investigations into the
social processes of reproduction that take place
as part of capitalist base–superstructure rela- TOWARDS AN ADVANCED
tions. They assume that the developments of NEO-MARXIST SOCIOLOGY OF
sport that take place within capitalist societies
are structurally determined by the principle of SPORT: CONCEPTUAL PERSPECTIVES
simple reproduction. Therefore, sports are held
to perform social functions of adaptation. Currently, the majority of social developments
Supporters of critical theory, however, investi- at a national and international level are ideo-
gate the social structures and functions of the logically influenced by production, reproduc-
reproduction of sport within the context of tion and consumption processes based on the
capitalist labour, marketing and rationalization principles of capitalism. Social agents link the
processes, and examine the political, cultural ‘Homo socialis’ with the ‘Homo oeconomicus’.
and ideological effects of these processes on This observation also applies to the national
various modern sport developments. The and international spheres of sport. Sport
authors of hegemony theory emphasize the operates in a global market and is a global
effects of the social reproduction processes of industry (see Maguire, 1993; Rigauer, 1992).
sport within capitalism on the intermediate, Consequently, sociological research into the
social, political and cultural levels of hege- relationships between sport and capitalism is
monic class conflicts. Their main thesis claims becoming more urgently needed than ever as
that the agents of politically competing power the findings will certainly contribute to a better
elites generate and institutionalize socially dif- understanding and explanation of current and
ferentiated values, norms and functions in the future social developments of sport within the
world of sport against the background of inter- context of specific economic frameworks.
dependent material and ideological base– Therefore, it is necessary to continue further
superstructure relations. sociological enquiries on the basis of a Marxist
All these constructs have in common the fact paradigm which has to integrate the historical
that their authors attempt to separate the soci- and dialectical materialist theory of society and
ological paradigm of reproduction from the at the same time avoid deterministic concepts
Marxist base–superstructure dogma and its (see Morgan, 1994: 179–203). The intellectual
inherent economic determinism in order to problem of the Marxist sociology of sport is
research capitalistically influenced social well known and was the main topic of this
processes of sports development on a more chapter. Here and now, it is worth summing up
open, scientific basis. It has to be concluded the problem from a figurational sociological
that this approach is used most consistently by point of view: Marxist sociology involves
the advocates of the hegemony theory. socio-economic determinism, a nomothetic
 MARXIST THEORIES 45

Marxist theory
of society

socialist/communist
sport movement/
practice

Soviet practice socialist/communist

of physical culture practice of physical
and sport culture and sport
(USSR, Eastern bloc) (Western democracies)

Marxist–Leninist (neo-)Marxist
theory of physical theory of physical
culture and sport culture and sport

Marxist–Leninist (neo-)Marxist
sociology of sport sociology of sport

ongoing conceptualizing
process of neo-Marxist
sociology of sport

direct relations/interdependencies
indirect relations/interdependencies

Figure 2.2 Flow diagram - Marxist sociology of sport

model of social development and what one 3 Constructive debates are needed with other
might call ‘utopian determinism’ (see sociological paradigms and other method-
Dunning, 1992: 226–35). Such epistemological ological approaches.
fixations hinder and prevent the development 4 The different forms of empirical (including
of a sophisticated Marxist sociology of sport. historical) research consistent with a
The key question now is, what theoretical and Marxist framework need to be specified.
methodological conditions have to be fulfilled 5 Sociological fragmentation needs to be
to open and widen the Marxist sociology combated.
of sport paradigm? The following list con- With such a programme, the Marxist sociol-
tains a set of preliminary and incomplete ogy of sport will not have to abandon its
suggestions: specific scientific concepts. On the contrary, it
1 Emphasis should be on an open and critical might develop them further within the perma-
‘sociological realism’. nent stream of sociological debates and critical
2 The individual–society dualism or structure– evaluations (see Morgan, 1994: 204–51). The
agency dilemma needs to be overcome. same applies to all other sociological theories
46 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

used for the analysis of sport. The further sports as a presupposition for a higher level of
development of these theories depends on how sporting activity’, International Review of Sport
far academics are able to elaborate competing Sociology, 17: 91–8.
sociological theories (preserving sociological Gras, F. and Reinhardt, B. (1987) ‘The situation and
differences) whilst at the same time recognizing developmental tendencies of Marxist–Leninist
paradigmatic commonalities. Such a process of sport sociology in the German Democratic
communication and cooperation will prevent Republic (GDR)’, International Review of Sport
unnecessary tensions and provide the basis Sociology, 22: 39–49.
for a productive future for the entire field of Gruneau, R. (1983) Class, Sports, and Social
sociology. The claim for dominance of one Development. Amherst, MA: The University of
theory would necessarily lead to a dogmatic Massachusetts Press.
reductionism of the sociology of sport and Gruneau, R. (1993) ‘The critique of sport in moder-
all scientific development would come to a nity: theorising power, culture, and the politics
standstill. of the body’, in E. Dunning, J. Maguire and
R. Pearton (eds), The Sports Process: a Comparative
and Developmental Approach. Champaign, IL:
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Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp. pp. 37–68. UdSSR, Polens, der CSSR, Ungarns, Bulgariens und
Elias, N. and Dunning, E. (1993) Quest for Excitement. Rumäniens. Reinbek: Rowohlt.
Sport and Leisure in the Civilizing Process. Oxford/ Kreckel, R. (1994) ‘Sociology in East German univer-
Cambridge, MA: Blackwell. sities: decomposition and reconstruction’, in
Engels, F. (1973) Dialektik der Natur (1873–1883, 1925). B. Schäfers (ed.), Sociology in Germany. Opladen:
Berlin: Dietz. Leske and Budrich. pp. 240–51.
Erbach, G. (1966) ‘The science of sport and sports Lutz, W. (1988) Ideologie und Wissenschaft in der
sociology – questions related to development – Sportsoziologie der DDR. Bochum: Brockmeyer.
problems of structure’, International Review of Sport Maguire, J. (1993) ‘American football, British society,
Sociology, 1: 59–73. and global sport development’, in E. Dunning,
Friedrich, W. (ed.) (1970) Methoden der marxistisch– J. Maguire and R. Pearton, The Sports Process:
leninistischen Sozialforschung. Berlin: Deutscher a Comparative and Developmental Approach.
Verlag der Wissenschaften. Champaign, IL. pp. 207–29.
Ganssmann, H. (1994) ‘Karl Marx’, in B. Schäfers, Marx, K. (1970) Ökonomisch-philosophische Manu-
(ed.), Sociology in Germany. Opladen: Leske and skripte (1844). Leipzig: Reclam.
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Gramsci, A. (1987) Marxismus und Kultur. Ideologie, Ökonomie (1857–59). Moscow: Europäische
Alltag, Literatur. Hamburg: VSA Verlag. Verlagsanstalt.
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Pietsch, K. and Gras, F. (1986) ‘Athletic activities Riordan, J. (1980b) Sportmacht Sowjetunion.
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Review for the Sociology of Sport, 21: 323–37. USSR, Czechoslovakia, the GDR, China, Cuba.
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USSR. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
 3
CULTURAL STUDIES
AND THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

Jennifer Hargreaves and Ian McDonald

Put in simple terms, cultural studies is drawing on such diverse academic discourses
concerned with the social significance and as communication studies, film theory, history,
systematic analysis of cultural practices, experi- literary criticism, philosophy, politics and
ences and institutions. Its particular character- semiology, as well as sociology. It has been
istic is to direct attention to, and analyse characterized ‘not so much as a “discipline”,
critically, ‘the everyday world of lived reality’ but an area where different disciplines intersect
(Blundell et al., 1993: 2–3) – activities that people in the study of the cultural aspects of society’
take part in, feelings engendered by them, and (Hall et al., 1980: 7). Unlike functionalism (with
meanings associated with them. Since sport Durkheim and Parsons), Marxism (with Marx
touches the lives of millions and millions of and Engels) and figurationalism (with Elias),
people across the world, the cultural studies cultural studies is without an obvious canonical
perspective provides an important method of figurehead, although it is generally acknowl-
understanding its social importance. But other edged that the work of the Italian Marxist
perspectives in the sociology of sport also make Antonio Gramsci has been pivotal.
this claim,1 to the extent that the field has The authors of a growing number of histo-
become highly contested. Nevertheless, it is ries of cultural studies (for example, Blundell
widely recognized that cultural studies is one et al., 1993; Brantlinger, 1990; Grossberg et al.,
of the key players (Horne, 1996; Ingham and 1992; Turner, 1990) agree that its origin was
Loy, 1993; Morgan, 1994). located in England, and, more specifically, was
In this chapter we outline the origins and linked to three major publications: Richard
characteristics of cultural studies, assess the Hoggart’s The Uses of Literacy (1957); Raymond
distinctive ways in which it has been applied Williams’s Culture and Society (1958); and
to analyses of sport, and reflect on criticisms of E.P. Thompson’s The Making of the English
its analytical value. Because we are sympa- Working Class (1963). Collectively, these books
thetic to the cultural studies tradition, we point established a radically different conception
to what we argue are the flawed arguments of culture from the one that was previously
and theoretical misrepresentations of some of dominant in both academic and popular dis-
its critics. courses (culture understood as synonymous
with ‘high’ culture, embracing literary texts
and artefacts), and they provided the inspira-
THE ORIGIN AND CHARACTERISTICS tion for further analyses of the complexities
of cultural formations, in particular social,
OF CULTURAL STUDIES political and historical conditions.
Williams’s Culture and Society is cited by both
An immediate difficulty in anchoring cultural Brantlinger (1990: 38) and Turner (1990: 52) as
studies within a particular sociological tradi- the key text. Williams challenged the predomi-
tion is that it is cross-disciplinary in nature, nant conception of culture as high art and as
 CULTURAL STUDIES AND SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT 49

the product of ‘creative geniuses’. He took cultural studies, Barker and Beezer (1992: 5–6)
issue with literary thinkers like Matthew argue that:
Arnold (1869: 6), who described culture as ‘the
always implicit in early analyses was the question:
best that has been thought and said in the
what can be done about the oppressive relations
world’. Williams (1958: 310) also protested
we are revealing? What forces are there, even if
against the reduction of culture to a set of arte-
only potentially, that could lead to liberation?
facts, insisting that ‘a culture is not only a body
What strategies suggest themselves for supporting
of intellectual and imaginative work: it is also
emancipatory forces? And in consequence, what
and essentially a whole way of life’.
will count as liberation and emancipation?
Williams had moved away from an elitist,
narrow definition of culture to a more general-
ized, anthropological definition that empha-
sized social practices – the gamut of ways in THE INFLUENCE OF GRAMSCI
which people think, feel and act. Activities
from football to brass bands were thus legit- It was the writings of the Italian Marxist
imized as culture every bit as much as opera Antonio Gramsci – especially the Prison
and poetry. But, although Williams (1965: 364) Notebooks, where the centrality of culture
eulogized football as ‘a wonderful game’ and within relations of power was articulated –
argued that ‘the need for sport and entertain- that provided a way of answering these ques-
ment is as real as the need for art’, he did so tions. Gramsci showed that in Western soci-
only in passing and failed to explore the links eties the power of the dominant class rests
between sport and popular consciousness. mainly not on physical force and coercion
Hoggart (1957: 91) was the same. He also through military-police apparatuses (as in
understood the seductive appeal of sport when totalitarian regimes), but on ideological leader-
he wrote ‘[a]t work, sport vies with sex as the ship exercised through a network of voluntary
staple conversation. The popular Sunday institutions that pervade everyday life (‘civil
newspapers are read as much for their full society’) – for example, political parties, trade
sports reports as for their accounts of the unions, the mass media, the family, schools,
week’s crimes’, but chose to concentrate on churches and all cultural processes (which
other cultural practices in his work. He would include sport, although it had far less
embraced a similar understanding of culture to cultural importance during the interwar
Williams, by insisting upon creative, authentic period, when Gramsci was writing, than it has
features of working-class life that could not today).
easily be dismissed as vacuous and insignifi- Gramsci’s theoretical ideas were tied to his
cant. He did so by providing a rich ethno- political position. His vision was to under-
graphic account of an urban ‘culture of the stand the complex ways in which culture was
people’, although he deplored the growing related to political domination and to work out
commercial penetration of culture which was strategies for a change towards socialism.
affecting the communities, families, language Gramsci argued that control of culture was a
and sensibilities of working-class people. 2 prerequisite for social change. But he rejected
E.P. Thompson (1963) also opposed elitist con- Marxist economism with its crude base–
ceptions of culture by showing how human superstructure metaphor which posits culture
experience arises from the connection between as a mere reflection of the economic base. He
material circumstances and different, but favoured a position that, as Grossberg (1993:
historically specific forms of consciousness, 29–30) points out, ‘sees history as actively
linked to class identity. He captured the role of produced by individuals and social groups as
conflict and struggle as the crucial ingredient they struggle to make the best they can out of
in the making of working-class cultures. their lives under determinate conditions’.
Although these three authors worked Gramsci used the concept of hegemony to
independently of each other, and had different explain how a dominant group or class estab-
political orientations, together their texts have lishes political and cultural leadership and
been characterized as foundational, not only control throughout civil society and the state,
because they paved the way for the acceptance and how a whole complex series of cultural,
and systematic sociological study of working- political and ideological practices work to
class and popular culture, but also because they ‘cement’ a society into a relative – though
pointed towards a form of intellectual engage- never complete – unity (Bennett et al., 1979:
ment that was openly interventionist. In their 192). According to Stuart Hall (1980: 36),
account of the genesis and development of Gramsci’s use of the concept of hegemony was
50 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

‘always made specific to a particular historical reactions to values and beliefs, which in
phase in specific national societies’, and, fur- specific social and historical situations, sup-
ther, was ‘elaborated specifically in relation to port established social relations and structures
those advanced capitalist societies in which the of power (Anderson, 1976; Gramsci, 1971;
institutions of state and civil society have Williams, 1977). This is very different from
reached a stage of great complexity’. Hege- straightforward indoctrination or a strict
mony is a tool for explaining how ideas and system of ideological control. In summary,
practices which seem against the interests of hegemony resists the idea that people are pas-
subordinate groups are believed in and carried sive recipients of culture and keeps intact what
out by them so as to become ‘commonsense’. is arguably the inherent humanism of
Commonsense was understood by Gramsci to Marxism. The concept of hegemony proposes a
be the unconscious and unquestioning way in dialectical relationship between individuals
which the social world is understood and and society, accounting for ways in which
hence organized and lived day-by-day – a individuals are both determined and deter-
‘cultural battle’ for the legitimation of ideas mining, and it allows for cultural experiences
and practices so that they become ‘universal’ such as sports to be understood as both
(1971: 348). Hegemony, then, is a process of exploitative and worth while.
experience, negotiation and struggle by indi-
viduals in real-life situations, rather than one
in which subordinate groups are simply duped INSTITUTIONALIZING CULTURAL
by dominant ideologies. In Gramsci’s formula-
tion, it is not simply a matter of class control, STUDIES
but an unstable process which requires the
winning of consent from subordinate groups. Gramsci’s ideas became a seminal influence
It is, then, never ‘complete’ or fixed, but rather in analyses of British culture following the
diverse and always changing. translation of the Prison Notebooks into English
The concept of hegemony raises questions in 1971. This became possible because cultural
about the relationship between cultural, politi- studies had already become institutionalized
cal and economic processes – Gramsci avoided with the formation of the Centre for Con-
the view of culture as distinctly separate from temporary Cultural Studies (CCCS) at the
politics and economics, but saw it as recipro- University of Birmingham in 1964. Under the
cally related to them. Although he did not look intellectual leadership of Stuart Hall, who suc-
at sport, specifically, Pivato’s (1990) analysis of ceeded Richard Hoggart as Director in 1968, a
the bicycle as a political symbol in Gramsci’s distinctive critical approach to the study of
Italy suggests that, in their struggle for power, contemporary forms of culture was developed.
both the nationalists and socialists used sport At the beginning, the work of the Centre was
to mobilize different fractions of the Italian predominantly concerned with the culture of
working class (Jarvie and Maguire 1994: the English working classes. Ethnography was
117–19). It could be argued that this was made a favoured approach to research because the
possible, in line with Gramsci’s ideas, because, endeavour was to understand how individuals
although at one level culture is an individual made sense of their social worlds. Resistance to
phenomenon, it is also an experience shared a sense of subordination along the lines of class
with other people. As he put it: and age, through the display of ‘spectacular’
styles and behaviour of young working-class
Culture, at its various levels, unifies in a series of
English men, was a focus of the 1970s (Clarke
strata, to the extent that they come into contact
et al., 1975; Cohen 1980; Hall and Jefferson
with each other, a greater or lesser number of
1976). In the later part of the decade, a
individuals who understand each other’s mode of
Women’s Studies Group was set up which
expression in differing degrees, etc. (Gramsci,
moved attention to gendered relations of
1971: 349)
power – a shift that was described by Stuart
Gramsci’s analysis of culture, embodying Hall (1992, cited in M.A. Hall 1996: 35) as a
the concept of hegemony and a rejection of ‘specific, decisive and ruptural’ feminist inter-
reductionism, in particular of economism, vention. Later, other structures of domination
recognizes the importance of praxis – a term entered the cultural studies agenda, including
describing human activity, energy, expression, analyses of the subcultures of adolescent girls,
agency – a process through which people are ethnic minorities, peoples in the Third World,
involved in the making of history. It is under- and gays and lesbians. Cultural studies lost its
stood to be the result of people’s positive initial ‘Englishness’ as it spread abroad and
 CULTURAL STUDIES AND SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT 51

was institutionalized through research (mostly development of global politics and economics,
on aboriginal people) in university departments and with postcolonial questions of nationhood,
in North America and Australia. To a large identity and power. The continued topicality
extent, attempts to understand marginalized of these issues is reflected in the publication,
groups replaced class-dominated research. in 1998, of a new Sage journal, entitled Inter-
However, Blundell et al. have argued that national Journal of Cultural Studies.
there has always been an intrinsic contradiction The latest shift in focus has resulted from
to the general theme of understanding subordi- debates over the fragmentation of culture in
nation and the struggle for hegemony. From the postmodernist societies and through engage-
early years of the CCCS, many of the academics ments with post-structural theories. The term
carrying out the research were from different ‘postmodern cultural studies’ has been used by
class and ethnic groups than the subjects under Lawrence Grossberg (1993: 58) to describe the
investigation. They were also predominantly increasingly transnational context of difference
male and the few female researchers were, within which subjectivity and identity are con-
almost without exception, the only ones who stituted. He argues that:
looked at female cultures. Blundell and her co-
Postmodern cultural studies returns to the
writers (1993: 6–7) claim that the situation has
questions that animated the original passion of
not changed radically, even with the expansion
cultural studies: what is the ‘modern’ world? How
and diffusion of cultural studies:
do we locate ourselves as subjects within that
This contradiction, embedded deep in the history world? How do our investments in that world
and practice of cultural studies, raises the question provide the possibilities for regaining some sense
of who cultural studies is for. Is it for those about of its possible futures? (p. 64)
whom cultural studies writes? Is it relevant to
their lives? Can it make a difference? Or is it for
cultural studies practitioners? Does it achieve little
but advance the academic careers of those who THE APPLICATION OF CULTURAL
engage in it? Does it always provide an ‘authentic’ STUDIES TO SPORT
critique as distinct from a voyeuristic celebration
of all that is generated at the level of popular
Although sport did not receive sustained treat-
culture? And, at worst, does it function primarily
ment in the development of cultural studies at
to assuage the political conscience of those (pre-
the CCCS, in the 1970s and 1980s the Centre
dominantly white, bourgeois and male) who are
supported a number of research projects into
conscious of difference and differences in power?
sport and leisure which were published in the
Problems for cultural studies were also Working Papers in Cultural Studies or the
created by new ‘critical dialogues’ and prob- Stencilled Occasional Papers series. The focus
lematics arising from changes in political and was predominantly on working-class male
economic structures (Morley and Kuan-Hsing subjectivities through such subcultural forms
Chen, 1996). The ‘culturalist tradition’ (favour- as football hooliganism or through the broader
ing agency and experience) was challenged theme of sport and the media (Clarke 1973;
during the 1970s by the emergence of struc- Critcher 1971; Peters 1976; Watson 1973), but
turalist theories of linguistics and ideology3 they also included research on marginal and
(stressing determination and control). Stuart innovative activities, such as kung-fu, pool,
Hall argued that although the two paradigms skateboarding and squash (Critcher et al.,
appeared as incompatible, it was possible to 1979). In 1974, following a symposium on
achieve a synthesis through Gramsci’s concept Women in Sport, organized by the Physical
of hegemony (1980: 286), which, though by no Education Department at the University of
means universally used, became one of the Birmingham the previous year, the CCCS pub-
organizing ideas at the CCCS. Hegemony lished two papers given at that conference – by
theory provided the potential for understand- Chas Critcher and Paul Willis. A CCCS 1982
ing both the liberative and controlling features publication on ‘Sporting Fictions’ (Jenkins and
of culture. Feminists who at this time were Green, 1982) was also the product of a confer-
involved in the debate around agency and ence with the same title.
structure introduced a new dimension, point- The CCCS publications on sport, although
ing to the inadequacies of theories which left spasmodic, were original, varied and well
out or marginalized patriarchal structures of theorized and opened the doors for a specific
power.4 In more recent years, the character of cultural studies of sport which became institu-
cultural studies has changed further with the tionalized mostly in university departments of
52 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

physical education, sport studies and leisure recognizable only in a dialectical relationship to
studies.5 Starting from the basic premise that political, economic, ideological and other cultural
sport and leisure are important for an under- forms. Sport exists as a paradox – it has been
standing of power relations throughout shown here how its manipulative manifestations
society, the development of a cultural studies need to be counterposed to its liberative tendencies.
perspective in the sociology of sport has (1982: 22–3)
followed along similar lines and embodied
similar problematics to those of cultural studies In this perspective of cultural studies, sport is
in general. perceived to be an aspect of culture embodying
The publication in 1982 of Jennifer struggle and contestation, and the concern is
Hargreaves’s edited collection, Sport, Culture with the processes through which cultural
and Ideology marked a watershed in the devel- practices and the ideologies and beliefs under-
opment of sports sociology. Many of the lying those practices are created, reproduced
authors adopted a cultural studies perspective and changed through human agency and inter-
and collectively produced the first sport sociol- action.
ogy book with this orientation. It was very Following the parent tradition, the use and
much a reaction to the orthodox Marxist ten- interrogation of the concept of hegemony has
dency in sport sociology to reduce sports to a been pivotal in both the British and North
mirror of capitalist society, thoroughly infil- American variants of sport cultural studies.
trated by commercialization, and acting as an Hegemony has been applied specifically to the
efficient repository for dominant ideology (see classic sociological agency-structure problem-
Brohm, 1978; Hoch, 1972; Vinnai, 1973). It was atic which Gruneau refers to as the ‘paradox of
argued that the concept of hegemony would sports’ (1983: 147–53).
avoid this reductionism and encourage ques- For example, in The Devil Makes Work (which
tions about the specific nature of dominance includes numerous references to sport), John
and subordination in sport: Clarke and Chas Critcher (1985: 225) set out to
apply to the analysis of leisure an approach
If cuts in welfare services close a community derived from cultural studies. They selected
swimming pool, for example, or a notice is erected this approach because it embodies a double
outside council flats where families are housed, sense of culture – ‘culture as a whole, connected
‘NO BALL GAMES ON THE GRASS’, such ques- to economic, political and social arrangements’
tions as ‘Who made the decision?’ and ‘In whose and the sense of culture ‘as subsets of meaning
interests?’ direct attention to the relationship actively created by individuals and groups’
between power in society and the lived experiences (p. 227). From this perspective, sport and
of ordinary people. (J.A. Hargreaves, 1982: 15) leisure are understood as neither wholly deter-
The key problematic of the book was the mined nor completely autonomous, but areas
complex relationship between sport, ideology of life that can be sites of contestation between
and the wielding of power. As well as theoreti- dominant and subordinate groups. Further-
cal explorations, it included chapters on a more, hegemony is a concept that Clarke and
range of issues relevant to sport at the time: Critcher find useful in explaining: (a) the effec-
for example, the significance of the media tiveness of leadership by persuasion – in par-
treatment of sport in the hegemonic process; ticular through everyday events in our lives,
the patriarchal character of sport and the and (b) the incompleteness of, and tensions
importance of sport as a site for feminist intrinsic to, cultural conflict. They argue that,
intervention; the relatively autonomous and ‘leisure has been, and remains, integral to the
oppositional nature of specific youth sports struggle for hegemony in British society’,
cultures and the interpenetration of class with manifest through cultural conflict over mean-
other factors such as race, sex and deviance; ings and through the control of free time in
football hooliganism as an aspect of the histor- people’s lives (p. 228).
ically specific totality of social relations which Richard Gruneau also explores the double
have generated it and particularly relating to sense of culture in several of his publications,
the crisis of the British state at that time; the including Class, Sports, and Social Development
highly specific forms of state involvement in (1983), and Popular Cultures and Political
cultural hegemony in the USSR and South Practices (1988). He utilizes the concept of
Africa, respectively. It was claimed that: hegemony to explain how sport is a contested
zone and to illuminate fundamental differences
This collection as a whole has identified the way in in the ways ‘modern’ sports have developed
which sport is ‘constitutive and constituting’, their unique forms of institutional and cultural
 CULTURAL STUDIES AND SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT 53

expression in Canada, Britain and the United Jones’s Workers at Play (1986), a detailed
States. Simply, he shows how the regulation of account of the ways in which working-class
cultural life is central to class relations. By sport and leisure practices were part of the
examining the development of Canadian sport various political struggles of the interwar
from colonial times until the 1980s, and relating period (1918–1939). Jones examines these prac-
it to the wider class structure, the state, political tices as cases of counter-hegemonic struggle
life, militarism and religion, Gruneau is able to which (at least implicitly) challenged the
tease out the dynamic behind the commercial values and organization of bourgeois sport.
and ‘rational-bureacratic’ forms of organization As a result of advances in media technology
predominant in Canadian sport. He demon- and communications, and because of the
strates how some cultural forms and practices exceptional popularity of sport, the question of
are ‘driven out of the centre of popular life, media-based representations has been a key
actively marginalized, so that something else issue in the work of cultural studies writers.
can take their place’, and that in sport ‘the One of the first media-sport-based interven-
focus of these struggles has been the monopo- tions was made by Alan and John Clarke in
listic capacity to define the dominant forms 1982 when they demonstrated how sport is
and meanings of sport practices and the “legit- ‘enmeshed in the media’s reproduction and
imate” uses of time and the body’ (Gruneau transmission of ideological themes and values
1988b: 20). which are dominant in our society’ in ways
In Sport, Power and Culture (1986), John that are contested and contradictory (p. 68).
Hargreaves also uses hegemony as his central Ten years later, in Fields in Vision (1992), Garry
conceptual tool, to argue that sport was integral Whannel examines the cultural and economic
to the class and cultural struggles of the nine- relations between television and sport, and
teenth century. His central thesis is that ‘sport highlights the ways in which television and
was significantly implicated in the process sponsorship have reshaped sport in the context
whereby the growing economic and political of the enterprise culture. But he is aware that
power of the bourgeoisie in nineteenth-century this process is not a cohesive one and he high-
Britain was eventually transformed into that lights the changing and ambivalent character-
class’s hegemony in the latter part of the istics of representations of sport. For example,
century’ (1986: 6–7). in a discussion about race and Britishness,
Arguing that sport must be understood Whannel shows how representations of black
historically, he points to its centrality in the athletes can appear as radical and transforma-
culture of twentieth-century capitalism and tive views of blackness at the same time as they
to the ways in which it can be penetrated by reflect commonsense racist views based on the
ideology as well as autonomous from it. As myth of ‘natural ability’. He argues that:
Charles Critcher (1986: 339) points out, both
As with gender, there is a degree of ambivalence
Gruneau and Hargreaves view hegemony as a
around images of race in sport on television.
process and sport ‘as part of the contestation of
While sport offers a fund of positive images of
meanings that arise in class societies’ (p. 336).
talented black athletes succeeding, it does also
Using historically specific and culturally speci-
serve to reproduce elements of stereotypical atti-
fic examples, they demonstrate the dialectical
tudes. (p. 129)
and changing relationships between human
agency and social and political structures. Whannel uses empirical material to show how
Reflecting on these (and other) studies, Holt ‘blackness, Britishness, physicality and femi-
(1993: 365) notes that: ninity are not unchanging terms, but are subject
to negotiation’. He conceptualizes popular
The ‘cultural’ approach fits well into the established
culture as ‘neither imposed from above nor
pattern of British social history which has taken the
generated spontaneously from below’ (1992: 9).
relationship between classes and levels of class-
In common with other cultural studies writers,
consciousness as a central issue for discussion.
his central concern is with power and, specifi-
The identification with popular subjectivities cally, with the complexities of the media–sport–
flows from a political commitment to the strug- power axis. In a more general account of power
gles of subordinate groups and oppressed in sport, Gruneau (1988a) identifies three key
classes. For example, Garry Whannel’s socialist dimensions: (a) the capacity to structure sport
analysis of sport, Blowing the Whistle (1983), in preferred ways; (b) the capacity to select
puts the case for more progressive forms of sports traditions; and (c) the capacity to define
sport, rooted in social ownership and demo- the range of ‘legitimate’ practices and mean-
cratic control. Class is also central in Stephen ings associated with dominant sports practices.
54 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

The concepts and issues outlined above that through my use of the orientation of hegemony,
have informed the development of the cultural which is directly linked to social criticism of mod-
studies of sport remain topical today. In 1993 ern capitalist society. (p. 3)
Ingham and Loy edited a collection of papers
in a publication entitled, Sport in Social Develop- Although the original impetus for a cultural
ment: Traditions, Transitions and Transformations studies of sport sprang from Britain, a wealth
that are anchored around Raymond Williams’s of research in the field has followed in other
(1977) theme of ‘dominant-residual-emergent’, Western countries – notably, Canada and the
chosen, the editors explain, because ‘it high- United States, and also Australia (Rowe, 1995;
lights the compexity of social development and Rowe and Lawrence, 1986). In spite of cultur-
provides insights into the currently fashion- ally specific differences, Jarvie and Maguire
able theory of hegemony’ (p. 1). Although (1994: 124) summarize some general aims of
some of the authors are English, or originated the cultural studies of sport tradition: (i) to
in England, the book was produced specifi- consider the relationship between power and
cally as a challenge to what the editors describe culture; (ii) to demonstrate how a particular
as ‘the conventional, statistical, neo-positivistic form of sport or leisure has been consolidated,
paradigm that has been dominant within contested, maintained or reproduced within
North American sport studies’ (p. vii). The the context of society as a whole; and (iii) to
anti-positivist stance in North American highlight the role of sport and leisure as a site
sociology of sport literature has followed of popular struggle.
the British anti-positivist/reductionist trend.
However, unlike Ingham and Loy’s (1993) col-
lection, the work of some writers does not fit so THE FEMINIST CRITIQUE
obviously into a cultural studies perspective
and the umbrella description, ‘critical’ para-
digm, has been used as a replacement. For A major criticism of the sport cultural studies
example, in Sport in Society: Issues and trajectory is its failure to grasp the relevance of
Controversies, Jay Coakley (1990) suggests three sport to sexual politics. It has been argued by
major theoretical frameworks for studying the sport and leisure feminists, who themselves
relationship between sport and society, work in a cultural studies perspective, that
namely, ‘structural functionalism’, ‘conflict there has been a huge gender imbalance of
theory’ (by which he means Marxism) and focus (Deem, 1988; Hall, 1996; J.A. Hargreaves,
‘critical theory’ (which subsumes cultural 1994). Rosemary Deem (1988: 347) is extremely
studies along with other approaches, such as critical of John Hargreaves’s (1986) failure to
variants of Marxist, socialist and feminist acknowledge or engage with research carried
approaches). However, although Coakley out by feminists about gender, leisure and
emphasizes the importance of changing social sport,6 and his failure to carry out research in
relations, there is no explicit discussion of the the field. She points to the way in which, in
concept of hegemony in his ‘inclusive’ pro- common with Clarke and Critcher (1985), he
cedure, so that he runs the risk of losing the alludes to gender as if it is an ‘extra’ which
specific character and meaning of the cultural must not move attention too far away from the
studies project. But in other US publications, priority of class. Most cultural theorists of
such as Sage’s (1990) methodical analysis of sport are male and, without exception, though
Power and Ideology in American Sport, the appli- in different ways, they marginalize gender
cation of cultural studies has not been diluted. relations of cultural power and by doing so
Sage explains that the ‘critical’ in critical theory reproduce one feature of the cultural domi-
has two meanings: nance that they set out to critique. Although
references are made to the relationship
First, it is critical of the ideas that form the con- between class and gender, and even to the way
ventional wisdom about sport in American society. that class and gender divisions are constructed
In the realm of sport, as in many others, dominant together, there have been no attempts to
groups use political, economic, and cultural explore this relationship rigorously nor to look
resources to define societal norms and values to at the specific complexities of male hegemony.
sustain their influence. Their interests are legit- In so far as they fail to do so, they can be
imized by compatible ideologies disseminated by accused of perpetuating sexist sociology (see
schools, mass media, and various agencies of Critcher, 1986: 338–9).
social control, and the processes they use to sup- In Sporting Females (1994), Jennifer
press alternative versions. Second, . . . critical Hargreaves has attempted to address this
 CULTURAL STUDIES AND SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT 55

deficiency by applying the concept of gender, have become important considerations

hegemony specifically to male leadership and in cultural studies research. And it is not only
domination of sports. In a critical account of women who have characterized themselves as
the development of female sports from the sports feminists, but men as well. Arguing that
nineteenth century to the present day, she sports feminism is a necessary way forward,
looks at both the lived experiences of women Michael Messner and Donald Sabo (1990), edi-
in sports and the structural forces influencing tors of Sport, Men and the Gender Order: Critical
participation in order to reveal the complex Feminist Perspectives, are examples of the grow-
and paradoxical character of female sports. By ing number of men who adopt a feminist
applying the concept of male hegemony specif- stance and who concern themselves with mul-
ically to male leadership and domination of tiple structures of power and their inter-
sports, she argues that it is possible to recognize relationships. They propose a liaison between
the advantages experienced by men, in general, critical sport sociology and feminism and the
in relation to women, but also the inability of formulation of a ‘non-hierarchical theory’
men to gain total control. She goes on: which ‘allows us to conceptualize varied and
shifting forms of domination in such a way
Some men and some women support, accommo-
that we do not privilege one at the expense of
date, or collude in existing patterns of discrimina-
distorting or ignoring the others’ (p. 10). This is
tion in sports that are specific to capitalism and to
why sports feminists point out that they were
male domination, while other men and women
articulating the need to take account of differ-
oppose them and struggle for change. Male hege-
ence and diversity before the postmodern claim
mony is not a simple male vs female opposition,
of authorship (Scraton, 1994). But in spite of the
which is how it is often presented, but complex
fundamental contribution that feminist schol-
and changing. (1994: 23)
ars have made to advances in sport cultural
Ann Hall (1996: 29–48) argues for a specifi- studies, most debates about the field generalize
cally feminist cultural studies applied to sport. from male examples and fail adequately to
She states that, ‘Increasingly, and primarily in recognize or integrate women’s contributions.
the United States, it is suggested that the
theoretical underpinnings of a truly radical,
gendered (and non-racialized) theory of sport
lie in the combination of feminism and cultural PARADIGM WARS
studies’ (p. 34). For Ann Hall, such a project
would include: more historically grounded The development of the cultural studies of
research; a sensitivity to difference; studies of sport has not been without opposition. Some of
men, sport and masculinity; acknowledgement the most vociferous criticisms have come from
of the significance of the body; and work that proponents of figurational sociology. Chris
relates feminist cultural politics to sport. Rojek (1992: 26) considers the possibility of
The feminist cultural studies initiative has transference between the two perspectives,
re-enlivened the politicization of theory. Femi- arguing that both would view sport as histori-
nist researchers of sport have systematically cally constructed and would agree that there is
related their work to practice. They are not no single culture (p. 27). More importantly,
merely researchers who describe what women however, he also points to a range of discrep-
do; they also set out to transform the structures ancies between them, some of which are foun-
that oppress women in sport and to create dational and clearly irreconcilable. Citing
liberating changes (Hall, 1996: 29). By focusing Clarke and Critcher (1985) as key cultural stud-
on gender and its relationship to other struc- ies theorists, Rojek argues that the concept of
tures of power, their work has also drawn hegemony hardly constitutes a theory and that
attention to the diversity of women and to Clarke and Critcher’s work is really ‘nothing
other subordinated groups. Their work also more than the recording of history’ (p. 8); that
makes clear that hegemony is by no means the authors have a ‘Little Englander mentality’
restricted to class and gender divisions alone. by focusing on home territory and omitting the
Indeed, the essential usefulness of the concept global dimension (p. 10); and that they tend to
is its sensitivity to questions of domination and ‘conflate every aspect of social practice into
subordination as expressions of the totality of culture’ (p. 27). The more serious denunciation
social relations. of cultural studies is the claim that it fails to
Feminist interventions have had a lot to do escape from class reductionism (p. 9). Eric
with the fact that such categories as race, age, Dunning and his co-writers (1988: 218) berate
disability and sexuality, as well as class and cultural studies proponents for reifying social
56 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

life through their insistence that, in the last what, following Gramsci, ... researchers recognize
instance, the economic base is the key to iden- as the need to capture the ‘current moment’ of
tity, practice and association. Rojek (1992: 26) hegemony. (p. 107)
concurs, by arguing that:
Much of the figurational critique of cultural
cultural studies writers insulate themselves from studies does not address the large range of
the criticism that class relations in the post-war research that has been carried out, but engages
period have become less important in explaining only with limited examples and huge generali-
sport and leisure relations and that lifestyle has zations. For example, the work of feminist
become more important, by dismissing lifestyle as cultural writers, and their critiques of power
an epiphenomenon of class. and male domination have not been integrated
Finally, Rojek points out that, ‘On the ques- into the main debates, and in their specific
tion of social and political involvement, fig- engagements with sports feminism, they do
urational sociologists and cultural studies not engage adequately with the bulk of the lit-
proponents, really are poles apart.’ With refer- erature in the field (Hargreaves, 1994: 12–16).
ence to the figurationists’ support of method- The figurational critique of praxis is also
ological detachment (Elias and Dunning, 1986: rejected by cultural theorists, who argue that it
3–5), he goes on, ‘Figurational sociologists ... is possible to carry out worthwhile and ‘scien-
regard ‘praxis’ ... as the betrayal of science tifically’ sound research without the spurious
because it continuously involves political values pretence of objectivity (Hargreaves, 1994;
muddying the quest for objectivity’ (p. 28). Horne and Jary, 1987). Although figurational-
The debates between the two positions are ists deny the possibility of ‘objective’ or ‘value-
complex and cannot be dealt with fully here. In neutral’ research, their methodological
defence of cultural studies we would argue that adherence to a balance between ‘involvement’
in their critiques of it, opponents, and especially and ‘detachment’ has in practice distanced
Dunning (see, for example, his entries in researchers from struggles over power, an
Dunning and Rojek 1992), have returned to action, many cultural studies writers would
selected extracts from the original texts of Marx argue, that can implicitly support those who
and Lenin, have ignored ‘cultural’ Marxist inter- dominate.
pretations, and have chosen not to engage with A related methodological critique has come
the complexities of the concept of hegemony as from John MacAloon (1992), who claims that
explicated in Gramsci’s original writings (1971). cultural analysts of sport have failed to carry
The irony is that the cultural studies approach out ethnographic research and depend on
was developed precisely to avoid the reduction- ‘large processes and structures’ (he cites late
ism and economism that it is purported to capitalism, dependency, and commodification
embody. Gramsci understood the power and as examples) (p. 112), derived from predeter-
complexities of culture in non-totalitarian, fast- mined historical accounts and theoretical
developing capitalist societies, but explicitly ideas, so that ‘all comparisons are automati-
refused the idea that it was a mere reflection of cally controlled comparisons’ (p. 113). He
the economic base. In figurational sociology, argues that ‘identification and depiction of
because class is seen as one form, rather than the large historical structures and social logics, if
fundamental form of power, it has not featured such things exist at all, can never initiate any
as a determining structure of social relations, interesting or truly comparative analysis
and has tended therefore to be used as a because methodologically manipulable differ-
descriptive category of difference. In the cul- ences are suppressed in absentia’ (p. 112).
tural studies tradition there is no inevitability MacAloon seems to forget that the tradi-
about social and cultural developments, and tional methodologies of cultural analysts were
writers in the field have used a wealth of empir- ethnographic, used specifically in order to
ical examples to explain the complexities of understand the everyday experiences and feel-
culture as everyday, commonsense experiences ings of individuals and sub-groups – and that
in specific historical and cultural contexts. current researchers continue to use this
Referring to the work of cultural studies, John method. But MacAloon also objects to the
Horne and David Jary (1987) argue that: social contexting of cultural events, which, he
says, should itself be investigated. MacAloon
theoretical analysis and empirical research on rela- is arguing that a tendency has developed
tions between cultural forms and state, class and among analysts of sport not to engage in suffi-
economy are handled – actually or potentially – cient investigative research and to work within
more fully than Figurational Sociology, reflecting a pre-ordained frame of analysis. It is ironical
 CULTURAL STUDIES AND SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT 57

that Joseph Maguire is one of the theorists culture and power’. However, they also
criticized by MacAloon (for using the concept criticize most of the writers in the field
of ‘Americanization’ uncritically as an over- because, they claim, they have failed to ground
riding structure of power) because he is usu- their ideological analyses ‘in the realm of cor-
ally identified as a figurational sociologist, and poreality’ (p. 270). Whilst in some instances
because, in his joint publication with Grant this may be the case, there is a growing atten-
Jarvie (1996: 54), he supports MacAloon’s tion to the body in recent literature, and, in
assertion that hegemony theorists have tended particular, on representations of masculinity,
to overuse the concept at the expense of pro- femininity and sexuality in sport.
viding sufficient substantive evidence to sup- Of course, among the researchers from every
port their arguments. Jarvie and Maguire tradition, it is possible to identify weaknesses
(1994: 112) claim that: in procedures and in the application of theoret-
ical ideas, but by association they do not render
To some extent, a violence of abstraction has
the whole field as weak. The extensive work
occurred in the sense that some writers have been
that has emanated from the cultural studies tra-
quick to highlight the importance of hegemony at
dition has been produced, in the main, by
the expense of other aspects of Gramsci’s thinking
researchers who skilfully combine empirical
or worse an abstraction of hegemony has been
material with theoretical concepts and who do
exercised at the expense of concrete modalities of
not have predetermined ideas about their find-
historical and cultural situations . . . The gulf
ings. Together, they have produced an exten-
between theory and evidence has still to be closed.
sive and insightful analysis of sport in culture.
MacAloon urges change, because, he says:
the exploration of cultural conceptions underlying
one context of practice will reveal connections to CONCLUSION
other institutions and contexts that may be quite
surprising or unexpected, that is, concealed or
There is no question that in spite of the uneven
suppressed by cultural commonsense, everyday
development of and critical comments on the
speech, disciplinary or professional boundaries. In
cultural studies paradigm, it has made a major
this way inquiry into sport can broaden toward
contribution to our understanding of the com-
the very general social morphologies that cultural
plex relationships between culture (sport) and
studies researchers are most interested in, not by a
power, and about the activeness of culture.
theoretical reductio but by demonstrated relation-
Indicative of the important influence of cul-
ships among widening circles of actors and
tural studies to the development of the socio-
contexts. (p. 117)
logy of sport is the fact that most of the authors
Hargreaves and Tomlinson (1992) disagree of the Key Topics section of this book are either
with MacAloon’s argument and defend the from, or have directly engaged with, the cul-
methodology under attack. In particular, tural studies perspective.
Hargreaves (1992: 132) claims that cultural Nevertheless, there have been contestations
researchers link sociology with history in fun- within the field itself and it has never pro-
damental ways and ‘in the sense that both dis- duced a static set of ideas, but, rather, has
ciplines attempt to produce theoretically adapted to developments in (mainstream)
informed, testable propositions about social social theory, and, in turn, has spearheaded
events, relations, and processes, there is no real new approaches in the sociology of sport.
difference between them’. He points out that Radical work is currently being produced by
historical research precludes participant obser- cultural theorists who are engaging in debates
vation and interview techniques and that with postmodernism and with the work of
although primary sources are important, the post-structural theorists, with the literature on
use of existing historical evidence ‘constitutes globalization and postcolonialism, and with
some of the most important work in the social developments related to the body and identity.
sciences’. He emphasizes the role of theory – The challenge facing cultural studies within
that is, the use of analytical processes in order the sociology of sport is to continue the engage-
to make sense of the social world of sport. ment with other and new paradigms, whilst
David Andrews and John Loy (1993: 270) maintaining its distinctiveness. This requires an
recognize that cultural studies ‘is a continu- understanding of what we have characterized
ously evolving, materialist, anti-essentialist, as ‘good’ cultural studies research, which, we
and anti-reductionist strategy for analyzing argue, has three critical attributes. First, it
conjuncturally specific relationships between is receptive to, and engages with, different
58 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

theoretical traditions. Secondly, unlike much of F.R. Leavis), see, for example, Chapter 1 in
contemporary social theory within the aca- J.A. Hargreaves (1982).
demy, its starting point has been the real world, 3 The work of Louis Althusser and his
linking theory to empirical investigations and account of ideological state apparatuses
producing theoretically grounded research. was particularly influential.
And, thirdly, it has taken sides politically – by 4 The first major feminist intervention was
developing a form of intellectual engagement made by Angela McRobbie in 1980.
that is interventionist. Cultural studies exposes 5 For information about the early develop-
power relationships where none have been ment of a cultural studies perspective in
assumed, and respects the contribution and cre- the sociology of sport, see Jennifer
ative potential of marginalized, oppressed and Hargreaves’s (1982) introductory chapter
exploited groups. in her edited book Sport, Culture and
One of the best examples of good cultural Ideology.
studies writing on sport is also one of the old- 6 See, for example, R. Deem (1986) All Work
est – Beyond a Boundary, written by C.L.R. James and No Play? The Sociology of Women and
in 1963. Quite properly, it is still considered a Leisure, Milton Keynes, Open University
classic account of sport as a social and cultural Press; E. Green, S. Hebron and
form, and should provide both a benchmark D. Woodward (1987) Leisure and Gender: A
and an inspiration for good cultural studies Study of Sheffield Woman’s Leisure Experi-
research.7 Intertwining autobiography, politi- ences, London, ESCR/Sports Council;
cal prose and penetrating portraits of the C. Griffin, D. Hobson, S. MacIntoch and
greats of West Indian cricket, James presents T. McCabe (1982) ‘Women and Leisure’, in
cricket in the West Indies as simultaneously a J.A. Hargreaves (ed), Sport, Culture and
form of art, politics and philosophy, thus chal- Ideology, London, Routledge & Kegan Paul,
lenging the aestheticians who have ‘scorned to pp. 88–116; M. Talbot and E. Wimbush
take notice of popular sports and games’ (1963: (1986) Women, Leisure and Well-Being,
195). It is an account which enables James to Edinburgh, Centre for Leisure Resarch,
identify and agitate around cricket as a privi- Dunfermline College.
leged site in the struggle for West Indian 7 We are aware that C.L.R. James omitted to
independence against colonial rule. By raising mention gender and, as with all authors,
questions about the role of sport in emergent there are other analytical weaknesses in his
constructions of postcolonial national identi- work. Nevertheless, we argue that the
ties, and exploring the complex relationship strengths of his arguments provide an
between sport and resistance to racial oppres- excellent guide for others entering the
sion, Beyond a Boundary transcends the field.
specifics of its own socio-historic moment.
Above all, it demonstrates that the question
posed by James in his preface in 1963, ‘What do
they know of cricket who only cricket know?’,
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 4
FEMINIST THEORIES FOR SPORT

Susan Birrell

Feminist theory is a dynamic, continually is not to be confused with a focus on ‘women

evolving complex of theories or theoretical tra- in sport’, which was an early subject of study;
ditions that take as their point of departure the rather, it is a framework for understanding
analysis of gender as a category of experience women in sport that draws on and contributes
in society. In the past it seemed to make sense to the development of feminist theories outside
to distinguish among varieties of feminist the field.
theories (liberal feminism, radical feminism, Just as all research on girls and women in
Marxist feminism, etc.); today it is more useful sport is not necessarily feminist, not all femi-
to conceive of feminist theories in the plural, as nist work focuses on girls and women. A grow-
a series of theoretical approaches marked by ing area of interest, fostered by the growth of
rapid development and comprised of an inter- the men’s studies movement, is on men in
mix of voices and responses to earlier theoreti- sport, on the ways that sport serves to con-
cal traditions. Whatever the sources, whatever solidate male privilege, and on the often dele-
the mix of voices privileged by a particular terious impact that masculine ideologies
scholar, feminist theory within the sociology of played out in sport have on many boys and
sport has as its main purpose to theorize about men (Kidd, 1990; Messner and Sabo, 1990,
gender relations within our patriarchal society 1994; Curry, 1991). As our theoretical under-
as they are evidenced by, played out in, and standings have become more sophisticated, the
reproduced through sport and other body subject of our theorizing has expanded to
practices. include more critical analyses focused on the
Sport is clearly a gendered activity, that is, reproduction of gender relations and male
an activity that not only welcomes boys and privilege through sport, sport as a patriarchial
men more enthusiastically than girls and practice, and sport as a site for masculinist
women but that also serves as a site for cele- hegemony. Each reconceptualization of the
brating skills and values clearly marked as subject reflects and requires a shift in theoreti-
‘masculine’ (see, for example, Bryson, 1983). cal thinking, and these shifts are evident in the
This is what we mean when we refer to sport feminist theories we draw on for our analyses
as a ‘male preserve’ (Dunning, 1986; Sheard in sport. In the final analysis, however, gender
and Dunning, 1973; Theberge, 1985). Thus it is relations must always be a key feature: a
not surprising that feminist scholars find sport theory that does not take gender seriously as
to be a logical site for analysis of relationships a category of experience cannot be considered
of gender. a feminist theory.
When one talks about ‘feminist theory and One of the most salient features of feminist
sport’ what is generally meant is not just that theorizing is that it is a dynamic process. While
one is studying gender in sport but how one is it may appear to produce particular frame-
studying it: to claim that one is doing feminist works which can be differentiated from one
analysis is to make a commitment to an explic- another, at least for heuristic purposes (and
itly theoretical approach to the interpretation that will be one focus reviewed in the next few
of sport as a gendered activity. Feminist theory pages), in reality it is the provisionary status of
62 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

feminist theory which is its hallmark. Feminist the purely personal so that one is able to
theory is not neat: as hard as we scholars understand one’s personal bad luck or misfor-
might work to simplify it, it refuses to be tune as a small incident in a greater pattern of
disciplined into discrete categories. This is oppression experienced to some extent by all
both the strength and the frustration of femi- those who share the same life situation. Thus
nist theories and a testimony to their resilience we learn to see beyond our own personal con-
as useful frameworks for understanding. dition to the broader social conditions that
Feminist theory is unsettled – and thus unset- surround us.
tling to those of us trying to use it appropri- All feminists share an assumption that
ately. But it is precisely because we live in a women are oppressed within patriarchy and a
world of increasing complexity, confusion and commitment to change those conditions. But
contradiction that our theories must meet the not all feminists agree on how those oppres-
social world on these terms. sive relations are produced and reproduced,
Finally, feminist theory is an openly political and not all feminists share the same vision for
or critical practice committed not just to the future or the same agenda for change. In
analyzing gender in sport but to changing our application of feminist theories to sport,
those dynamics. As the grounding of a plan of then, it makes sense to speak of the threads of
action for social action or praxis, feminist feminist theories that spin together to produce
theory has clear implications for social change a myriad of patterns useful in extending our
in sport. understanding of the meaning of sport as a
gendered practice.
The point of this chapter (as with feminist
theory in general) is not to condense the com-
FEMINISM AS A THEORY plexities of feminist thought into one unifying
theory but to reflect the multivocality of cur-
Like other sociological theories, feminist rent thinking within the theoretical range that
theory offers an explanation of our lives within can be generally referred to as feminist theory.
culture by attempting to abstract from concrete In what follows, I will review some basic tenets
individual lives a general pattern of experi- of feminist theorizing, discuss critiques of fem-
ence. Thus a theory is a framework for under- inist theory by non-feminists, and introduce
standing, but it always develops within a three stages through which feminist theorizing
particular cultural context and it is always pro- about sport appears to have traveled. Within
visional. Theory is never perfect, never com- those stages, theoretical threads of importance
plete, never proven. Instead, theory provides to contemporary feminist theory will be delin-
us with a starting point for our understanding eated and discussed. This will include a dis-
but it begs to be expanded, contradicted, cussion of liberal and radical feminism as the
refined, replaced. founding categories of feminist thought about
Theories often begin as critiques of current sport; attempts to theorize difference more
or dominant theories or ways of thinking, and profoundly by turning (in the 1980s) toward
feminist theories began as critiques of the synthetic and critical theories such as Marxist
limitations of the dominant theories in the dis- feminism, socialist feminism, racial relations
ciplines that did not include women or did not theories and cultural studies; and the status of
take women’s issues and insights seriously. feminist theories in a postmodern world, as we
The particular focus of feminist theories is to move toward more truly interdisciplinary the-
provide new ways to understand ourselves as oretical frameworks, borrowing insights from
gendered beings, that is, as women and men, Foucault, discourse analysis, Gramscian hege-
and new ways to see the connections between mony theory and poststructuralism.
our individual lives and the lives of other Before we begin, however, a brief discussion
women and men. All feminist theories privi- of the resistance to feminist theories seems
lege gender as the central category of analysis appropriate. Feminist theory is a self-reflexive
because they are founded on the belief that theoretical practice that changes because those
human experiences are gendered. who produce and use the insights the theories
Feminist theory is grounded in an analysis offer are constantly unsatisfied with their scope,
of personal experience – it bears, in fact, strong their focus or their limitations. Thus some of the
resemblance to the process of consciousness- harshest critics of feminist theory are feminists
raising central to many critical theories (see themselves, that is, those who make ‘inside the
MacKinnon, 1989) – but the crucial step in paradigm’ critiques. But feminists are not the
this analysis is to overcome one’s focus on only ones engaged in analyzing feminist theory.
 FEMINIST THEORIES FOR SPORT 63

Criticisms from ‘outside the paradigm’ must goal could ever be achieved). They are
also be taken seriously. Because these critiques convinced that a range of methodological and
are aimed at the entire enterprise of feminist theoretical approaches, which could include
theorizing and not the particularities of specific but would not privilege social science tradi-
feminist theories, it makes sense to discuss them tions, is more appropriate for the study of
at this point. The more specific critiques gener- gender, sport, power and culture.
ated by feminists as they work to broaden and A final criticism of feminist theories could be
improve theory will be integrated into the text referred to as the backlash or reverse discrimi-
in an appropriate place, partly to demonstrate nation position. This criticism is that as the
concretely the self-reflexive nature of feminist result of affirmative action and such scholarly
theorizing. developments as women’s studies and femi-
nist theory, the scales of gender inequity have
tipped and women now have an unfair advan-
tage over men both theoretically and socially.
RESISTING FEMINIST THEORY This critique is sadly out of touch with the real
world, where inequities of gender, race and
The View from Outside class continue to flourish.

While feminist self-criticism, or ‘inside the

paradigm’ critiques, generally take a dialecti- FEMINIST THEORIES FOR SPORT:
cal form as scholars work to address shortcom-
ings and produce more useful theories, THREE STAGES1
criticisms of feminist theories which originate
‘outside the paradigm’ generally discredit the For the purposes of this review, I discuss the
practice of feminist theory altogether. Most relationship between feminist theories and
criticisms from outside are conservative in sport as occurring in three general stages. First
nature. Often they are founded on a belief that was an early atheoretical stage, focused on
women and men are different by design (that developing a research area focused on ‘women
is, genetically, biologically, divinely) and were in sport’. Next, came a self-conscious search for
thus ordained to live different lives, lives that theoretical homes within feminism, which
surely were not meant to include such a mas- began roughly in 1978 (see Birrell, 1988).
culine activity as sport. Such critics see no need Finally, our current stage emerged in the late
to analyze or advocate change for women. 1980s, strongly influenced by postmodern sen-
Not surprisingly, one early and particularly sibilities, during which we are moving, often
effective form of critique has been apathy: the reluctantly, beyond modernist conceptions of
wholesale ignoring of women’s interests in theory and toward less unified, less linear
sport or the dismissal of women-centered cri- analyses. My review focuses largely on the lat-
tiques of dominant forms of sport. A more ter two stages, which cover the past two
active critique dismisses feminist theory by decades, as the dialogue between feminist
discrediting women as unsuitable athletes theories and sport developed.
and/or unworthy topics for scholarship. John
Carroll’s (1986) essay, ‘Sport: virtue and grace’,
in which he argues that women spoil sport as Early Atheoretical Attention
sport spoils women, stands out as the most to Women in Sport
explicit example of this sort of critique (see also
J.A. Hargreaves, 1986, for a direct rebuttal). Although important critical analyses of the
Another main line of criticism attacks femi- dominance of masculine values in sport
nist theory (and other critical theories as well) existed in England (Sheard and Dunning,
for not adhering to the mainstream notions of 1973; Willis, 1974), analyses of the place of
social science they believe should characterize girls and women in sport undertaken in North
the field. John Phillips (1993), for example, America and Europe in the 1970s contented
labels critical feminist analyses ‘pseudo- themselves with documenting inequalities
science’, complaining that they lack objectivity and arguing for the expansion of opportuni-
and are value-laden and politically motivated. ties for women. With notable US exceptions
Feminists respond that feminist theory is a crit- (Felshin, 1975; Hart, 1972), they did not do so
ical theory intended to be coupled with social within an explicit theoretical frame. Research
action. Likewise, critical feminists see no inher- at the time was dominated by psychological
ent value in objectivity (even if that elusive topics focused on sex or gender roles, traits
64 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

and motives, and role conflict. Sociological sophisticated theoretical models, most of the
attention was primarily paid to socialization research in the field was influenced by a liberal
(see, for example, Greendorfer, 1978). Gender feminist approach. By the end of the decade,
was conceived of as a variable or distributive however, the turn to critical theories that explic-
category rather than a set of relations sus- itly theorized relations of power, and more
tained through human agency and cultural inclusive theories which explicitly theorized
practice (see Birrell, 1988, and Hall, 1988, 1996, difference in terms of relations of class and race
for a more extensive discussion of this as well as gender, moved us toward a critical
history). feminist cultural studies approach and again
In 1978, two books appeared in North changed the direction of the field.
America which marked a significant turn
toward feminist theory: Carole Oglesby’s The Ur Categories of Feminist Theory:
edited book Women in Sport: From Myth to Liberal and Radical Feminism Liberal
Reality (1978), and Ann Hall’s monograph feminism and radical or cultural feminism are
Sport and Gender: a Feminist Perspective on the to a great extent the grandmother categories
Sociology of Sport (1978). Two years later, at the that created and nurtured all the rest. Because
first NASSS conference in Denver, the influ- they seem to dominate popular understand-
ence of feminist theory on sport was clearly ings of feminist thought (that is, most people
evident in papers presented by Ann Hall who are at all familiar with feminism can rec-
(1980), Nancy Theberge (1980), and Mary ognize these two strands but not others), they
Boutilier and Cindy SanGiovanni (1980). Even can be seen as the Ur, or originating categories.
more importantly, the conference provided a Despite much movement away from these
site for feminist scholars from several coun- generative categories, they remain so central
tries to meet one another for the first time, to that they might also be considered residual cat-
create a feminist network and to develop egories of feminist theory.
a sense that a critical mass of scholars did Liberal feminism is the dominant form of
exist to further this interest. Boutilier and feminist thought and action in North America,
SanGiovanni gave a particularly important Great Britain and Europe. Liberal feminism is
paper which introduced one important typol- based on the humanist ontological position
ogy of the current state of feminist theories that men and women are more alike than dif-
outside of sport. Relying on Alison Jaggar and ferent. Despite their inherent similarities, how-
Paula Struhl (Rothenberg)’s (1978) classifica- ever, women and men come to live different
tions of feminist frameworks, Boutilier and lives, with different experiences, different
SanGiovanni identified and discussed liberal opportunities and different expectations,
feminism, radical feminism, Marxist feminism because society erects barriers that restrict their
and socialist feminism. These paradigms, par- equal participation in society. Extending the
ticularly liberal feminism, informed much of rights that women naturally deserve requires
the feminist research on sport in the decade of removing these artifically constructed barriers
the 1980s, though by the end of the decade (such as the right of college men to receive ath-
increasingly critical and synthetic theoretical letic scholarships while college women had
efforts were shifting the focus. virtually no opportunities to participate at all).
Liberal feminists advocate equal access, equal
opportunity, equal reward structures, equal
Moving Toward Theory: pay for equal work, comparable worth and
The Modernist Project similar equal rights for women.
In terms of sport, liberal feminists work to
The decade of the 1980s was one of exciting remove the barriers to girls’ and women’s par-
change in the study of gender and sport. This ticipation in sport through legislation such as
second stage was characterized by self- Title IX and the Equal Rights Amendment in
conscious critiques of the atheoretical begin- the United States. The limit of liberal feminist
nings of the field from feminist scholars such as thought is that it entails no fundamental cri-
Susan Birrell (1984) in the United States, Ann tique of the structures themselves, advocating
Hall (1981, 1984) and Nancy Theberge (1984) in instead that women merely be allowed to take
Canada, and Lois Bryson (1983) in Australia. As their equal place alongside men in them. To the
our understanding grew of feminist theories extent that it focuses on structural limitations,
developing outside the field, we used those liberal feminism focuses little attention on ide-
insights to inform our own analyses. But while ology, or the dominant way of seeing the world
some feminists urged the field toward more that works to keep social structures in place.
 FEMINIST THEORIES FOR SPORT 65

Radical or cultural feminism responds to the The Move Toward Synthesis

liberal agenda for change by arguing that it
does not go far enough. Men and women, they Theorizing Difference: Gender, Race, Class,
argue, are essentially different. The patriarchal Sexuality Liberal and radical feminism can
system men have established (and which be seen, and criticized, as ‘pure’ categories of
continues to benefit all men, even those pro- feminist theory. That is, they focus on gender
feminist men who would like to see the system as the primary category of oppression to the
changed) has failed dramatically; what is exclusion of other categories such as class,
needed is another vision of the world emanat- race, sexuality, age, nationality, religion. This is
ing from the insights of women. Radical a serious problem for those engaged in critical
change entails a fundamental societal transfor- analyses of sport because gender is only one
mation, not just equal access to the system that part of an interconnected matrix of relations of
already exists. Rather than agitating to get power which also include relations of class,
women involved in the male-dominated ath- race, sexuality, religion, age, etc. Neatly sepa-
letic system that already exists, for example, rating gender out of this matrix can happen
radicals argue that the entire system must be only theoretically, and, through ignorance and
dismantled and reconstructed from the stand- neglect, this strategy does violence to those in
point of women. The way to accomplish this is other oppressive relationships, such as race
not through legislation but through revolution. and class. If the proper subject of feminist
Another radical solution is for women to estab- theory is women in all our diversity, then the
lish their own separate spaces and practices proper project of feminist theory is theorizing
outside the purview of patriarchy. Lesbian sep- that diversity. The subject of feminist theory
aratism is a particularly strong voice in this must shift from woman to women to reflect the
movement. vast experiential diversity of women’s lives. A
Beginning in the early 1980s, research central part of the contemporary feminist pro-
and analysis was explicitly framed by or read ject is to discover and theorize links to the lived
through particular theoretical traditions. experiences of other oppressive relationships.
Liberal feminism which advocates the inclu- The move is not without its problems, how-
sion of women and girls within the structure of ever, particularly issues of ‘primacy’ (Harding,
opportunity and privilege enjoyed by men and 1993) or arguments over whether race or class
boys clearly underlies the bulk of research doc- or gender is the primary and most oppressive
umenting inequalities of opportunity, advocat- category of experience. While such commit-
ing Title IX and documenting the precipitous ments to one group isolated from others may
decline in coaching and administration posi- serve an important purpose in the develop-
tions for women within women’s sport (Acosta ment of particular theoretical positions, and
and Carpenter, 1994). more importantly, strategies for social action
Critiques of the conservative limitations of (and this is the strength of identity politics
such a feminist approach generally advocate espoused by the Combahee River Collective,
that radical feminist theory should replace lib- 1984), they offer incomplete grounds for analy-
eral feminism theory as the grounding for sis in a world which we increasingly under-
analysis and, more importantly, social change. stand as structured by the complex interactions
The main focus of radical feminism is that of all these relationships. This realization
sport as we know it must be entirely disman- paved the way for the first synthetic theories,
tled so that a feminist alternative might be that is, theories that try to combine the insights
constructed. But some writers have looked to from two or more theoretical traditions.
organized athletics for such situations. Slatton The first attempts at synthesis were between
(1982) makes the case for the Association of radical feminist theories and Marxism – the
Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) theoretical approach called Marxist feminism.
in the United States, Grant (1984) makes the But Marxist feminism is generally agreed to
case for international women’s field hockey, privilege the primacy of class over gender, a
and McKay (1997) explores the effect of affir- situation not acceptable to many feminists (the
mative action initiatives in sport in Canada, classic statement here is Hartman, 1981).
Australia and New Zealand. Other feminist Marxist feminism is grounded in the assump-
alternatives are built outside institutionalized tions of Marxism: that the basic oppression is
sport, in softball (Birrell and Richter, 1987; economic and that class is the most important
Lenskyj, 1994), rugby (Wheatley, 1994), body category of experience and analysis. Gender
building (Miller and Penz, 1991), and aerobics oppression, the Marxist would argue, is deriv-
(Haravon, 1995). ative of class oppression; rid the world of
66 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

economic exploitation and gender inequities never been absent from feminist movements,
would also disappear. Contemporary Marxist but they have often not been recognized or
feminist analyses focus on women’s oppres- honored in feminist theories in any meaningful
sion through labor. Women are kept outside way. This is despite the fact that the Combahee
the system of waged labor, are systematically River Collective’s (1984) early essay on identity
located in poorer-paid segments of the work- politics was a major theoretical contribution to
force, engage in labor which does not count as feminist theorizing. Moreover, one early and
work within the dominant notions of waged unsatisfactory solution to the absence of
labor, and in contrast to men who are charac- women of color from feminist theories was to
terized as being engaged in production, include ‘women of color’ into already existing
women are engaged in reproduction: not only feminist theories. At least two problems imme-
the biological reproduction of children (the diately surface. First, such an approach clearly
next generation of workers) but reproduction diminishes the experiences of women of color
of the necessities of domestic life needed to because it assumes that they can be contained
refresh the (male) worker. All of these insights in existing theories, grounded in the experi-
can be applied to the situation of women in ences of white, middle-class women. Secondly,
sport in capitalist countries. Although not this strategy assumed that ‘women of color’
often couched within the language of Marxist was a unified category of experience not dif-
feminism, analyses of woman athletes, coaches ferentiated by the variety of experiences that
and administrators as laborers could be mark the life course of women from different
enhanced in this way. cultures. As a result of such egregious short-
This first-order synthetic theory reflected in comings, many women of color developed a
Marxist feminism was quickly reformulated in deep distrust of feminist theories, seeing the
the more equitable socialist feminist theory. act of theorizing as an act of colonization
Socialist feminist theory privileges neither cap- (Christian, 1987).
italism nor feminism but acknowledges class Another suggestion from women of color
and gender as mutually supporting systems of was to build feminist theory around the expe-
oppression: capitalist patriarchy is the proper riences of the most oppressed and marginal-
subject for analysis and social action. In sport, ized group: to build feminist theory from
this move began with calls to join feminist margin to center (hooks, 1984) or to produce
interests to the Marxist theoretical project Afrocentric feminist thought (Collins, 1991).
(Beamish, 1984) or to develop a socialist femi- The solution generally accepted today fits
nism for sport (Bray, 1983; Hall, 1985; within the notion of producing synthetic
Theberge, 1984). Although explicit attention to theories by theorizing a ‘matrix of domination’
this paradigm appears to have decreased, fem- (Collins, 1991). Early examples of the success-
inist analysis continues to take account of the ful application of such a theory can be found in
material relations of women in sport in more Angela Davis’s (1983) analysis of slavery as a
subtle ways. For example, in a particularly product of race, class and gender, and the col-
interesting study that takes gender, class, race laborative work of Bulkin, Pratt, and Smith
and nationalism into account, Thompson (1984), which argued that oppression is under-
(1988) discusses Australian women’s refusal to stood as situational, that is, as the product of
support their men through reproductive labor particular times and places. Solutions to
as a means of protesting against the Australian oppression, then, must also be situational.
rugby team’s involvement with the white They argue for forming strategic alliances
South African team. across identities, around the oppressive rela-
Socialist feminism was quickly recognized tionships most dramatically in need of redress
as the appropriate site for second-order syn- at particular times.
thesis theories or the matrix model which In recent years, we have begun to investigate
works to focus on interacting impacts of gen- the relationships between gender and race as
der, class and race. Even with the acknow- they are played out in sport. For example, Stan
ledgement of the equal importance of gender Eitzen and David Furst (1989) brought women
and class, theorizing difference along lines of into the time-honored tradition of stacking
race and ethnicity remains an underdeveloped with their focus on volleyball. Brenda
focus in sport studies. Early efforts (Birrell Bredemeier (1992) clearly refigured the
1989, 1990) had to depend on theoretical work research program on morality and sport from a
outside the field for guidance. multicultural perspective. Mike Messner’s
Women of color – African American, Latina, feminist essay ‘White men misbehaving’
Asian American, Native American – have (1992b) serves as an important reminder that
 FEMINIST THEORIES FOR SPORT 67

women are not the only humans who are through sport. Cultural studies, or more
gendered, and blacks are not the only humans properly, feminist cultural studies (Cole and
who are raced. Indeed, a good deal of work on Birrell, 1986), was the logical product of the
the intersection of race and gender takes as its moves to theorize difference through synthe-
subject the analysis of black masculinity sis. Cultural studies was initially developed in
(Andrews, 1996b; Awkward, 1995; Baker and England, and it has had significant influence
Boyd, 1997; Cole, 1996; McDonald, 1996a, on the study of sport in North America as well.
1996b). Still, Yvonne Smith (1992) reminds us Cultural studies is based on the assumption
of the need for further work on women of that power is distributed inequitably through-
color. Especially needed is research that out society, often along lines of gender, class
extends our understanding of race beyond and race. These relations of power are not fixed
African Americans (Birrell, 1989, 1990). but contested. Although the inertia of power
The relationship between gender and sexu- generally rests with those already in power, in
ality receives increasing attention within femi- fact power is constantly contested. It is that
nist theories. The clear attempts of sport to struggle that interests critical scholars.
enforce gender difference through the hetero- Moreover, power is usually not maintained by
sexualization of women athletes is one aspect force or coercion but through more subtle
of this (Birrell and Theberge, 1994a; Davis, forms of ideological dominance. Ideology is
1997; Duncan, 1990, 1993). Early radical femi- the set of ideas that serve the interests of dom-
nist theories often theorized sexuality, more inant groups but are taken up as the societal
specifically lesbianism, as an integral part of the common sense even by those who are disem-
separatist move (Bunch, 1975; Rich, 1980). They powered by them (Theberge and Birrell,
found the relationship to be clear: feminism is 1994a). Sport is a particularly public site for
the theory and lesbianism is the practice. such ideological struggle: ‘what is being con-
Women in sport have long dealt with the tested ... is the construction and meaning of
assumption that any woman strange enough to gender relations’ (Birrell and Theberge, 1994a:
want to tread in male territory to play sport is 344). The usefulness of the theoretical vocabu-
probably not just a tomboy but a lesbian. When lary of cultural studies to explore the intersec-
we turned our attention to this in the 1980s, the tions of gender, race and class in sport has been
topics of most concern were bringing lesbian clearly recognized.
existence within the scope of feminist attention In 1988, Birrell identified four themes central
and producing an analysis of the ideology of to the critical feminist cultural studies project:
homophobia, which as many feminists pointed
out, kept both lesbians and heterosexual 1 The production of an ideology of masculin-
women out of sport. In North America, Pat ity and male power through sport.
Griffin (1992, 1993), Helen Lenskyj (1986) 2 The media practices through which dom-
and Dorothy Kidd (1983) did groundbreaking inant notions of women are reproduced.
work in this area. In the 1990s, Susan Cahn’s 3 Physicality, sexuality, the body as sites for
(1994) book furnished one of the more com- defining gender relations.
prehensive discussions of the history of homo- 4 The resistance of women to dominant sport
phobia in sport and physical education; and practices.
Pat Griffin (1998) and Mariah Burton Nelson
(1991, 1994) brought these issues before the Ten years later, these themes still receive
general population. While work on sexuality in significant attention. Based on the work of
the 1980s focused on lesbian identity, even Eric Dunning (Dunning, 1986; Sheard and
more complicated theoretical models for Dunning, 1973), the first theme functions today
understanding sexuality, and its relationship to as the primary assumption of the field. Mike
sport, emerged in the next decade. Messner’s (1988) essay ‘Sports and male domi-
nation: the female athlete as contested ideolog-
ical terrain’ is a cornerstone of this tradition
The Critical Agenda and Feminist (see also Birrell and Theberge, 1994a, 1994b,
Cultural Studies and Theberge and Birrell, 1994a, for an exten-
sive discussion and application of this para-
As the 1980s progressed, more and more femi- digm). Increasingly this area is theoretically
nist energy was directed toward the critical informed by Gramscian hegemony theory:
agenda in sport. Critical approaches are explic- ‘Hegemony is a fairly complete system of ide-
itly about power and how gender relations are ological dominance that works through the
reproduced by, resisted in, and transformed apparent complicity of those disenfranchised
68 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

by it’ (Theberge and Birrell, 1994a: 327). One the construction of women as unnatural
particularly active site for the construction of athletes and of female athletes as unnatural
masculinist hegemony around sport is through women. In the most extensive study of a par-
media practices. ticular site in this process, Laurel Davis (1997)
As feminists expand our notions of what the explores the production, textual features and
proper subject of feminist theorizing is, reception of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit
increasing attention is being paid to the place issue.
of men within the patriarchal structures of The tradition of documenting resistance to
sport. This is a far cry from earlier focuses on dominant sport practices remains a vital one in
men in sport; these analyses are informed by the field, no doubt influenced by the work of
the realization that, although all men benefit John Fiske (1989a, 1989b). In the 1990s, Bryson
from life within a patriarchal culture, some (1990) and Birrell and Theberge (1994b)
men find their own gendered roles as hyper- explored several channels of resistance for
masculine jocks difficult to fulfill. Most of this women in sport, and Helen Lenskyj (1994)
pro-feminist work is conducted by men, most explored feminist softball, Libby Wheatley
notably Mike Messner (1990b, 1996), who has (1994) reported on songs sung by feminist
theorized the process as well as applying the rugby players, Miller and Penz (1991) watched
new men’s studies to his own work (1990a, female bodybuilders ‘colonize a male pre-
1992a). Don Sabo has also been an ally in pro- serve’; and Haravon (1995) suggested ways to
viding feminist analyses of men’s experiences make the aerobics gym a resistant space for
in sport (1990) and editing two anthologies feminists.
that bring that perspective to sport (Sabo and Of the four themes identified by Birrell in
Runfola, 1980; Messner and Sabo, 1990). Tim 1988, however, by far the most attention has
Curry’s (1991) account of what takes place in been paid to issues of physicality and the body,
male locker rooms gave a rare insider’s view of and for that we give credit to the turn toward
a central site for the reproduction of masculine Foucault and postmodernism.
hegemony. In Canada, Bruce Kidd (1990) offers
an insightful view of the ‘dynamic of women’s
oppression/men’s repression’ through the FEMINIST THEORIES FOR A
structures of sport. In addition, a number of
these articles single out male violence through POSTMODERN AGE
or surrounding sport as a mainstay in the pro-
duction of male privilege (Curry, 1991; Disch The term ‘postmodernism’ is best applied to
and Kane, 1996; Kane and Disch, 1993; the conditions of contemporary life rather than
Messner, 1990a, 1992a; Theberge, 1989; see also assigned to a particular theory, although some
the IRSS issue on ‘the macho world of sport’, theories, such as post-structuralism, discussed
Klein, 1990). below, are better adapted than others to express
Much of the provocative critical work on the confusions and contradictions of life in a
the ways that the media produce images of postmodern era. Life in postmodern times has
women in sport has been conducted by exploded a number of modernist (mis)concep-
Margaret Duncan. She has studied photo- tions about the world, and many of them have
graphic images of women in the Olympic deep effects on feminist theory. Postmodernism
games (1990), the presentation of women in deconstructs modernist fallacies about unity.
Shape magazine (1994) and, with Cindy The authenticity of the self, a central notion in
Hasbrook (1988), televised images of women’s many theoretical schemes, including the focus
sports. All of her essays provide thoughtful on identity politics which underlies radical
analyses of the dynamics of representation and feminism, is replaced with notions of sub-
the struggle for agency in that representation jectivity, that is, our self as subject is always
(1993, 1994). In their review of the ideological contexted within dominant discourses. Post-
control of women through media images, modernism also disrupts our belief in an essen-
Birrell and Theberge (1994a) discuss several tial relationship between language and reality.
themes: the underrepresentation of women In a way, reality eludes language. Far from
athletes in the media; the trivialization and being a tool for our self-expression, language is
marginalization of their accomplishments; the reconceived as the primary means through
sexualization, or more properly, heterosexual- which our consciousness is structured. This
ization of women athletes; the hidden dis- way of thinking also decenters the notion
course on homophobia; the depiction of of truth; there is no truth, there are, at best,
women’s involvement in sport as tragic; and provisional truths. Finally, postmodernism
 FEMINIST THEORIES FOR SPORT 69

challenges the notion of totalizing theories – and other body practices are a central site for
theories that aim to understand the world training the docile body. One needs merely to
within one cohesive explanatory structure – think back on one’s experiences in physical
such as those fashioned by modern sociologi- education, with its emphasis on ‘schooling the
cal theories. body’ ( J.E. Hargreaves, 1986), to see why this
The emergence of cultural studies as the is so. Most of the work which follows this lead
dominant paradigm for feminist analysis in the is discussed by David Andrews in his chapter
1980s served as a bridge to the more interdisci- in this volume, but the work of Mary Duquin
plinary, postmodern sensibilities. Another (1994a, 1994b), Margaret Duncan (1994), Susan
round of stocktaking essays appeared at the Bordo (1989), Laurie Schultz (1990), Brian
end of the 1980s (Birrell, 1988; Deem, 1988; Pronger (1995, 1990), Genevieve Rail and Jean
Hall, 1988; J.A. Hargreaves, 1990; Talbot, 1988), Harvey (1995), Cheryl Cole and Harry Denny
attempting to trace a direct line from the rela- (1995), Cole and Amy Hribar (1999), Sindy
tively organized feminist frameworks of the Sidnor (Slowikowski, 1993), Dave Andrews
past to the sorts of intellectual forces that (1993), Elizabeth Grosz (1994) and Pierkko
would guide the future. Cultural studies was Markula (1995) all deserve special mention
taking us beyond the boundaries of social here as well.
science into the relatively unbounded territory
inhabited by Lacan, Derrida, Foucault and Queer Theory and the Transgender
Gramsci where the languages spoken include Challenge One important reconceptualiza-
discourse analysis, hegemony theory, post- tion in our theories of gender was Judith
structuralism, deconstruction and postmod- Butler’s (1990) identification of the heterosex-
ernism. Jennifer Hargreaves (1986, 1990) and ual matrix: the interrelationships among sex,
Talbot (1988) were clearly anticipating the gender and sexuality (or desire). Since the
entrance of Foucault, and in 1993, with the 1970s, it has been customary to use the term
publication of her important essay, Cheryl Cole ‘sex’ to refer to one’s biological and genetic
was identified as a major visionary for the category: one is embodied either male or
post-structuralist feminist studies move in female. ‘Gender’ was used to refer to the cul-
sport. tural scripts and behaviors that those born
Michel Foucault and post-structuralism are male or female were expected to fulfill: one
at the center of these shifts in several ways. acts masculine or feminine. ‘Sexuality’ refers to
Post-structuralism focuses on the ‘analysis of one’s choice of sexual partner. The three,
social organization, social meanings, power, sex/gender/sexuality, are not causally related,
and individual consciousness’ (Weedon, 1987: but our cultural assumptions lead us to believe
21) constructed through language or other they are. We assume the three naturally come
forms of representation. The theoretical and in a complete package: female, feminine, het-
methodological strategies of analysis influ- erosexual. We assume we can read one cate-
enced by post-structuralist thought require us gory from information we have about another.
to focus our attention on the construction of And finally, we assume that each category
narratives and the contesting of meanings. belongs in a binary.
The narratives that surround sport and the The first of these terms to be questionned
body furnish obvious sites for this analysis was gender, and it was soon recognized that
because sport figures so prominently in the masculine and feminine roles were not the
production of ‘celebrity bodies’. Discourse only choices, even in a sexist society. Both
analyses that attend to the construction of scholars and the general population were
gender relations through sport narratives drawn to the notion of ‘androgyny’ or the
include focuses on Renee Richards (Birrell combination within one person of traits char-
and Cole, 1990), Magic Johnson (Cole and acteristic of both genders. Gender was the eas-
Denny, 1995; King, 1993), Lisa Olson (Disch iest term to deconstruct because it was
and Kane, 1996; Kane and Disch, 1993), Mike increasingly apparent that gender was cultur-
Tyson (Birrell and McDonald, 1993; Awkward, ally constructed. In the past few years, how-
1995) and Michael Jordan (see the essays in ever, our notion of sex as a binary and our
Andrews, 1996b). notion of sexuality as a binary have both been
The Foucauldian concept of the production seriously challenged, with far more dramatic
of power through surveillance and discipline results.
provides provocative new points of departure To argue that there may be more than two
for the study of the athletic body. As a wide mutually exclusive sexes is to challenge the
range of scholars have demonstrated, sport notion of difference itself, for metaphors of
70 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

difference often rely on the male/female FEMINIST THEORY, SPORT

binary for their meaning. Nevertheless, AND CULTURAL PRACTICE
research in sport has provided a particularly
compelling site for examining this logic, for
sport remains one of the few cultural activities Theorizing is a challenging and rewarding
still felt to be logically arranged by sex. Susan activity in its own right, but as a critical theory,
Birrell and Cheryl Cole’s (1990) analysis of the feminist theory is committed to producing
cultural meaning of Renee Richards, the male- frameworks of understanding that can serve as
to-constructed-female transsexual who fought the basis for thoughtful and profound social
a legal battle to be allowed to play tennis on change. The connection of feminist theories to
the women’s tour, offered one opportunity to sporting practice can best be characterized as
recognize that sex categories are cultural con- providing the theoretical underpinnings for
structions that require enormous cultural work the arguments made by advocacy groups as
to maintain. John Hood-Williams (1995) per- they work to redress the inequities and
forms the same deconstruction of sex testing increase the opportunities for girls and women
for athletics, and Laurel Davis and Linda in sport. Some are involved in particular
Delano (1992) read the subtext of an anti-drug research projects with a conscious concern for
campaign to find fears of transgendered bodies identifying barriers to girls’ and women’s par-
lurking beneath. ticipation and helping girls discover and enjoy
The third concept, sexuality, has also been sport. The research traditions of socialization,
dislodged from its binary assumptions. Other role models and coaching burn-out are exam-
possibilities for sexual choices, such as bisex- ples of this impulse. Other feminist work
ual and more recently transgender, work not assesses and documents inequities and injus-
only to disrupt the binary but to dislodge sex- tices in sport, at both the practical and the ide-
uality from its position as an identity. Instead, ological level.
it is argued that actions or particular choices Feminist practitioners in sport work to fulfill
may have a sexuality, but individuals do not that promise so that social action in sport can
have a permanent sexual identity. Thus the take place within a comprehensive plan.
phrase ‘I am a lesbian’ (a statement of identity) Unlike their counterparts in men’s athletics,
is replaced by ‘I am in a lesbian relationship’ (a women collegiate athletic administrators in
situated choice). Sykes (1996) explores the North America pay attention to the more
implications of this in her post-structuralist cri- accessible writings of liberal feminist theorists,
tique of lesbian identities. sometimes working together at conferences or
A transsexual, like Renee Richards, is some- in workshops to build bridges between theory
one who believes he or she was born into the and practice. The New Agenda conferences
wrong body. The transsexual undergoes con- sponsored by the Women’s Sport Foundation
siderable anguish and work in order to have in the US in 1983 and 1984 are good examples
the sex signifiers of one gender exchanged of this collaborative process. While the practi-
surgically with those of the other. Dramatic as tioner and the theorist may not always be the
the plight of the transsexual is, ‘transgender’ same person, their commitment to each other’s
is a more radical concept. A transgendered work and to the same feminist end strengthens
person believes that sex, gender and sexuality their respective work.
do/should not exist as permanent conditions, Among those concerned with day-to-day
nor do they have any necessary connection to gains for women in sport there is an acknowl-
one another. The transgendered person wants edgement that theory helps to arrange our
to live in a body (and, more radically, a society) ideas and to see the bigger picture, the broader
where sexed bodies do not matter. context. And while theory is not always explic-
The deconstruction of the heterosexual itly invoked in the work they do – the memos
matrix disrupts some aspects of the feminist they produce, the expert court testimony they
project. If sex and gender do not exist as real, provide, the speeches they give to booster
enduring categories, what happens to our clubs, parents and young athletes – it often
central category, woman? What is the subject underlies and strengthens their messages.
of feminist theory? In this sense we can say As evidence of these connections, I mention
that the transgender movement has queered four arenas in which theory and practice exist
the categories of our analysis. This fascinating together in sport. First, in terms of advocacy,
development is a clear challenge for our many who speak on behalf of the interests of
future. girls and women in sport – by supporting leg-
islation such as the Civil Rights Restoration
 FEMINIST THEORIES FOR SPORT 71

Act in the US, by bringing Justine Blainey’s occasional Sports Illustrated Womensport after
case to play ice hockey before the Canadian three numbers.
Supreme Court, by providing expert testimony Fourth, homepages for CAAWS (www.
in court cases such as Bell v. Grove City and caaws.ca) and the Women’s Sport Foundation
Cohen v. Brown in the US – rely on research (www.womenssportsfoundation.org) facilitate
informed by feminist theory to frame their connection to those important organizations.
arguments. In addition, the Feminist Majority maintains a
Secondly, organizations that advocate for site (www.feminist.org/sports) where one can
women in sport have been founded all over the find links to a variety of sport topics, including
world. In Canada, the Canadian Association Title IX, gender equity, Olympic sport, NCAA
for the Advancement of Women and Sport and and WNBA basketball, the martial arts, and
Physical Activity (CAAWS/ACAFS) has been much more. Information specific to Title IX in
in existence since 1981; they have held several the US is maintained at bailiwick.lib.uiowa.
national conferences and publish a newsletter. edu/ge. Finally, some measure of success can
In the US, the Women’s Sports Foundation be gleaned from the fact that mainstream
(WSF) takes a leadership role in disseminating media, such as USA Today (no doubt facilitated
information, supporting legislative initiatives, by the NASSS ‘expert’ file) regularly seek out
and sponsoring research studies and national feminist or ‘alternative’ approaches to issues of
conferences, such as the New Agenda confer- women in sport.
ences in 1983 and 1984 which focused on turn-
ing research into action. The Women’s Sports
Foundation in the United Kingdom, Women-
Sport International (WSI), WomenSport THE FUTURE OF FEMINIST THEORIES
Australia and the International Working
Group (IWG) all work to bridge common inter-
FOR SPORT
ests. In general, these groups follow a liberal
agenda for change. As a dynamic and evolving theoretical prac-
Thirdly, several publications draw on the tice, feminist theories will continue to change
resources of those involved at all levels of and develop as scholars struggle towards more
analysis and theory. CAAWS publishes a complete understandings of the complex
newsletter, Action (formerly The Starting Line), dynamics of power relations of which gender
and the Citizens for Sports Equity publish Full relations are a fundamental part. At the pre-
Court Press. In a more radical vein, Girl Jock and sent, that course seems to be dominated by two
other clearly feminist ‘zines focused on sport important trends. One trend is the move
and the body, such as Fat! So? and Fat Girl, towards synthetic theories that use the insights
work to provide spaces for all women to enjoy of feminist theories as one thread to weave into
sport and their bodies on their own terms. more complex theories of power and the inter-
Unfortunately, no mainstream magazine in the relationships of gender, race and class. The
US, even those that appear to focus on women second is the move across the disciplinary
and sport, offers the full encouragement boundaries of sociology towards the powerful
toward empowerment that a feminist groun- insights offered through post-structuralist
ded publication would. The mainstream mag- approaches. In the future, new cultural
azine with the most disappointing history, conditions that we cannot yet even envision
from this perspective, is the magazine most will challenge us to provide new forms of
recently sold as Women’s Sports and Fitness. understanding. That mandate is the most
Founded as Womensport in 1984 by Billie Jean exciting prospect in the process of theory.
King as a means to provide support for girls Whatever the challenges are, feminist theory
and women interested in and involved in will surely be an important part of the theoret-
sport, the magazine has gone through several ical process. For that reason, references to a
reorganizations, generally shifting its focus postfeminist era are both wrong-headed and
away from competitive sport and toward politically dangerous. To assert that we are in a
appearance-driven fitness activities (Endel, postfeminist world is to assert that feminism is
1991). Most recently, the magazine has been no longer necessary. This goal – the dissolution
bought out by Conde Nast and consolidated of feminism – can be sought from two very dif-
with their new publication Conde Nast Sports ferent political positions: working towards the
for Women. Time Inc. have apparently aban- end of gender or working towards the end of
doned their attempt to capture the emerging feminism. The first scenario would envision a
women’s market, stopping production of their world in which the gendered nature of social
72 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

life has been eradicated so that gender is no relations but which often rest uneasily
longer an index of the provision of privilege or within the overarching label of ‘feminist’
a key point around which power revolves. theory.
Although such a state of affairs is not likely to With some important exceptions, most of
happen in our lifetime, that condition would the excitement within feminist theory and
be greeted with different responses by femi- sport appears to be taking place within
nists located within different theoretical North America, England and Australia.
groups. Some feminist theories see the end of Articles published in the IRSS, for example,
gender as the goal of feminist theory, feminist our premier international journal, primarily
thought and feminist action; interestingly, the feature articles on participation figures and
end of gender would eradicate the need for structural analyses from other countries.
feminist theory as the primary tool both to
explain and protest those conditions. More
nefarious, however, are calls for the end of
feminism before gender privileges are decon- REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING
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Awkward, M. (1995) ‘Representing rape: on Spike,
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 5
INTERPRETIVE APPROACHES TO THE
SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

Peter Donnelly

Interpretation is the basis of all sociology, and dramaturgical sociology, labelling theory,
all science. If I observe a recurring event, or phenomenological sociology, ethnomethodo-
discover a relationship between two variables, logy, and existential sociology) (Douglas et al.,
a statistical tendency, or empirical evidence of 1980), and hermeneutics.1 Marshall (1994)
causality, such discoveries require interpreta- notes that these sociologies differ in two ways.
tion. However, within the field of sociology, First, in the extent to which they view interpre-
the term interpretive is used more narrowly to tation as problematic (p. 255) – Weberian soci-
refer to a particular group of sociologies which ology and symbolic interactionism take a
have as their basis the interpretation and relatively unproblematic (commonsense)
understanding of human meaning and action. approach to interpretation; phenomenology,
Johnson notes that: ethnomethodology and hermeneutics devel-
oped more refined approaches. Second, in the
a sociological understanding of behaviour must
degree to which they go beyond the actor’s
include the meaning that social actors give to what
own understanding of what he or she is doing
they and others do. When people interact, they
(p. 255). As Jary and Jary note:
interpret what is going on from the meaning of
symbols to the attribution of motives to others. all social reality is ‘pre-interpreted’ in that it only
(1995: 146) has form as (and is constituted by) the outcome of
social actors’ beliefs and interpretations. Thus it is,
Interpretive sociology represents, in large part,
or ought to be, a truism that no form of sociology
one of ‘the two sociologies’ (Dawe, 1970). In
can proceed without at least a preliminary grasp of
their task of exploring the relationship
actors’ meanings. (1995: 336)
between the individual and society sociolo-
gists have divided, since the earliest days of Thus, while Weberian sociology takes Verstehen
sociology, between the ‘system’ approach and (understanding) as its basis, and distinguishes
the ‘action’ approach. This division is captured between ‘descriptive’ and ‘explanatory’ under-
well in Thompson and Tunstall’s question: ‘Do standing; and Alfred Schutz (phenomenologi-
the two approaches of social systems and cal sociology) developed Weber’s work to
social action theory simply correspond to our distinguish between ‘because’ motives and ‘in
own ambivalent experience of society as some- order to’ motives; other interpretive sociolo-
thing that constrains us and yet also something gies (for example, existential sociology)
that we ourselves construct?’ (1975: 476). assume that the actor’s own meanings are the
Interpretive sociology fits clearly into the social basis for analysis, while the remainder (such as
action side of the divide, a position that is both ethnomethodology, Goffman’s dramaturgy)
its strength and its weakness. focus more on discovery of the rules of social
Included in interpretive sociology are action and interaction.
Weberian sociology, the ‘sociologies of every- Just as interpretive sociology is related to
day life’ (symbolic interactionism, Goffman’s the social systems/social action debate in
78 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

sociology, it is also connected with, but not will, choice, or the concrete situations individuals
congruent to, two other sociological debates – face) or in terms of something outside of the indi-
that between macro- and micro-sociology vidual (such as culture or social structure) that
(with the sociologies of everyday life usually determines or causes what they will do? Second,
being equated with micro-sociology); and that are we to determine the answers to our first ques-
between the so-called quantitative and qualita- tion by observing individuals in concrete situa-
tive methodologies. Since methodology is a tions of everyday life, or by observing something
key feature of the practice, and the critique, of (such as a social structure), supposedly outside of
interpretive sociology, it is important to the individuals, by experimentally controlled
address it here. Although ‘understanding’ is methods? (1980: 183)
the key to Weber’s methodology (Weber,
1904–17, 1922), the actual methods of the soci- Douglas suggests that psychology chose the
ologies of everyday life often approximate individual perspective and the social sciences
those of anthropology – primarily ethnography generally opted for a more collectivist perspec-
and in-depth interviewing. Hermeneutic tive; but both preferred abstracted empirical
methods are now likely to be termed ‘textual methodology. However, interpretive sociology,
analysis’, and overlap with ethnographic and which is sometimes referred to as ‘social psy-
interview work at the level of ‘discourse analy- chology’ or ‘sociological social psychology’,
sis’. The quantitative–qualitative debate has certainly opted for the observation of individ-
been largely resolved now by interpretive soci- uals in everyday situations and for individual
ologists who are likely to turn to, or collect free will and choice. The interpretive sociolo-
appropriate forms of quantitative data (cf. gies differ in the extent to which they deal with
Denzin’s (1970) strategy of ‘triangulation’; or the way that individuals produce culture and
Willis’s (1978) use of a cluster of methods – social structure, and in the extent to which they
both qualitative and quantitative). also regard individual action as constrained by
In sum, interpretive sociology may be the structures it produces.2
defined by its opposite in that it ‘differs from Among the various interpretive sociologies,
the view that social life is governed by objective hermeneutics has the oldest provenance. The
cultural and structural characteristics of social term, derived from Hermes (the messenger),
systems (external to individuals, and relatively originally referred to biblical studies as prac-
independent of them); and from the view that it tised by individuals attempting to divine the
is possible to construct rigid scientific laws to ‘true’ meaning of biblical texts. In its modern
explain patterns of social behaviour’ (Johnson, incarnation, hermeneutics is closely connected
1995: 146). Thus, interpretive sociology is con- to critical media studies, and it is in that con-
cerned with the way in which the social world text that it is evident in the sociology of sport.
is not just something to be confronted by indi- Hermeneutics involves the methodology and
viduals, but is continually constructed and ‘the theory or philosophy of the interpretation
reinvented by the participants. The following of meaning’ (Bleicher, 1980: 1). Rather than the
sections deal with the emergence of this per- ‘factual particulars’ of written or visual texts,
spective in sociology and in the sociology of researchers ‘deconstruct’ texts by ‘look[ing] for
sport; with criticisms of the perspective and the recurring themes and messages. Are some
responses of interpretive sociologists; with issues being given more attention than others?
examples of sport-related research; and with an Are certain ideological perspectives being
examination of the way in which that research emphasized?’ (Kane and Disch, 1993: 339; see
has developed our knowledge of the social also Duncan, 1986).
world in and beyond sport. A great deal has been written about Max
Weber and Weberian sociology (for example,
Bendix, 1960; and Gerth and Mills (1946) for a
EMERGENCE AND DEVELOPMENT
collection of his work). Along with Durkheim
OF INTERPRETIVE SOCIOLOGY and Marx, Weber is considered to be one of the
classic founders of sociology. Unlike Marx’s
Modern sociology is grounded in classical historical materialism, and Durkheim’s attempt
philosophical ideas about the individual versus to found a positivist science of sociology,
society. Douglas et al. summarized the key con- Weber’s contribution is rooted in the German
cepts of sociology in two interrelated questions: philosophical thought of Kant and Rickert, and
led him to draw a sharp distinction between the
First, can human actions be explained in terms of natural and social sciences. ‘For Weber, the aim
concrete individual factors (such as individual of sociology was to achieve an interpretative
 INTERPRETIVE APPROACHES 79

understanding of subjectively meaningful Although the emergence of a distinct

human action which exposed the actors’ sociology of sport was coincident with the 1970s
motives, at one level “the causes” of actions, to growth of interpretive sociology, interpretive
view’ (Jary and Jary, 1995: 726; original empha- sociology has not, until recently, had a major
sis). Weber argued that, ‘action is social insofar impact on the development of the sociology
as by virtue of the subjective meaning attached of sport. While the influence of Weber has
to it by the acting individual or individuals, it been evident and implicit in the sociology of
takes account of the behaviour of others and is sport, very little of the work in the sociology
thereby oriented in its course’ (1947: 88). of sport has been explicitly Weberian. Only
Weber’s work has been enormously influential Guttmann’s much praised, and much criticized
in the development of sociology, but somewhat From Ritual to Record (1978), and the earlier
less so in the sociology of sport. work of Alan Ingham (1975, 1978, 1979), were
The most prominent of the interpretive soci- clearly Weberian. Hermeneutic analyses are
ologies in the sociology of sport are the soci- coincident with the recent interest in sport
ologies of everyday life, particularly symbolic media studies, and have been carried out in the
interactionism and dramaturgical sociology. sociology of sport for the past ten years or so.
These forms of interpretive sociology are pri- Some examples of these are given subsequently.
marily American in origin, and the Chicago As noted previously, the sociologies of
School of urban sociology that flourished everyday life have been the most evident form
between the First and Second World Wars of interpretive sociology in the sociology of
is often cited as the source. Perhaps the sport.3 These began both independently of the
most important contributions of the Chicago sociology of sport as a part of the countercul-
School were the development of urban ethno- tural growth of interpretive sociology in main-
graphic fieldwork as a methodology, and stream sociology (for example, Scott’s (1968)
W.I. Thomas’s fundamental dictum of interpre- work on horse racing, and Polsky’s (1969)
tive sociology – ‘if men define situations as work on pool hustling), and in the sociology of
real, they are real in their consequences’ (1923). sport itself. Greg Stone, who is recognized as
Thus, in seventeenth-century Salem, certain one of the major early contributors to the soci-
women were defined as witches; while we rec- ology of sport, was alone among the original
ognize that such definitions had no basis in group in his involvement in interpretive soci-
reality, they had real consequences for the ology (for example, Stone, 1955, 1957).
women who were imprisoned and executed. Interpretive sociology of sport began to
Interpretive thinking in American sociology develop at the University of Massachusetts in
progressed through C. Everett Hughes, George the 1970s. Friendships between Charles Page
Herbert Mead and Alfred Schutz (who arrived and Greg Stone, and John Loy and Donald Ball
from Austria in 1935), but remained marginal (see, for example, Ball, 1976), led Page and Loy
to the main trends in sociology which, in an to encourage several graduate students (Susan
attempt to establish scientific credibility in the Birrell, Peter Donnelly, Alan Ingham and
academy, were being modelled on the posi- Nancy Theberge) to engage in subcultural
tivist and empiricist natural sciences. It was studies. Rob Faulkner’s (1974a, 1974b, 1975)
not until the late 1960s and 1970s that, in a presence in the Sociology Department, espe-
backlash against the natural science model, cially his course on Qualitative Methods, pro-
interpretive sociologies began to flourish in vided additional encouragement.4
North American Sociology Departments. During this time, there was a great deal of
Blumer’s collection of essays was published as ‘muckraking sports journalism’, some of the
Symbolic Interactionism (1969); Goffman’s work ‘new journalism’ began to deal with sport, and
was beginning to be taught widely; and several athletes’ biographies exposed inside
Garfinkel’s ethnomethodology was beginning information and corrupt practices in sport.
to gain recognition. Berger and Luckmann’s While these were not so sociological, they cer-
The Social Construction of Reality (1967) took the tainly provided rich ‘insider’ information for
definition of the situation a step further to sociologists of sport interested in the experi-
describe how individuals construct and recon- ence and meaning of being an athlete.
struct their social worlds. Interpretive sociol- The final step in the development of an inter-
ogy has continued to develop and adapt, most pretive sociology of sport began in the 1980s as
recently in its attempts to deal with social sport sociologists began to be exposed to the
structure and attempts to find common ground work of the Centre for Contemporary Cultural
with cultural studies (for example, Becker and Studies at Birmingham University in England.
McCall, 1990; Denzin, 1992). For several sociologists of sport this work led
80 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

them from a rather descriptive and relatively statement about the social world is necessarily
atheoretical form of participant observation, to relative to any other’ (1995: 336).
a much more critical ethnographic approach to In an approach that is based on the social
interpretive sociology. However, even those construction of reality, there is an obvious con-
who did not shift to critical cultural studies cern about what constitutes ‘reality’. Shotter
were affected by the anthropologist Clifford notes that:
Geertz’s (1973) notion of ‘thick description’,
... there is currently something of a ‘flight’ into
and have generally begun to provide a much
realism. For one of the major objections to the
more richly textured level of description as a
whole social constructionist movement is as fol-
result of their fieldwork. Independent of these
lows. It claims that there is no independent reality
North American trends, Pierre Bourdieu and
to which claims to truth may be compared or
his students in France began to develop an
referred – for all human ‘realities’ (Umwelten) are
extremely sophisticated interpretive sociology
only known from within, so to speak – means that
based on fieldwork, and they considered sport
there are no independent standards to which to
to be a part of their mandate from the very
appeal in their adjudication; thus ‘anything goes!’,
beginning. North American sport sociologists
and we slide into relativistic nihilism. (1993: 89)
began to become aware of Bourdieu’s work in
the 1980s and, in combination with the cultural At the cultural level, a relative approach per-
studies approach, interpretive sociology of mits sociologists to understand and interpret
sport has now become a central aspect of the cultures on their own terms, but when taken to
field of study, making important contributions extremes it may find slavery, torture and
to our understanding of sport in society. female circumcision to be ‘justifiable’. While
the evidence for the social construction of char-
acteristics such as gender, and behaviour such
as participating in sport, is overwhelming,
CRITIQUES AND RESPONSES sociologists continue to struggle with the
issues of human values and relativity.
Critiques of interpretive sociology take issue Methodological critiques, which to a great
with both the theoretical and methodological extent overlap with theoretical issues, usually
aspects of the approach. The most obvious the- concern the quality of the data produced
oretical critiques are from the forms of sociol- by fieldwork and in-depth interviewing.
ogy that take a social systems approach, or Bottomore has captured the methodological
maintain a view that some aspects of social dilemma:
reality are unproblematic in terms of meaning,
The exclusive insistence, in much recent sociology,
and may be understood directly (Marshall,
upon a rigorous ‘scientific method’, has tended to
1994), or believe that it is possible to discover
create an unusually conservative outlook; the
standard laws that govern human behaviour.
existing framework of society is accepted as given,
While these critiques only amount to differ-
because it is too complex for scientific study, and
ences in approach to the study of sociology,
all the resources of a truly ‘scientific’ sociology are
others zero in on specific aspects of the theo-
then marshalled for the investigation of small-
retical approach such as the overemphasis on
scale problems carefully isolated from the wider
agency, or cultural relativism.
social structure. It is desirable, therefore, to
For example, phenomenology and eth-
emphasize once more as the distinctive feature of
nomethodology emphasize the capacity of
sociological thought that it attempts to grasp every
individuals (‘agents’) to construct and recon-
specific problem in its whole social context ...
struct their worlds, which can then only be
(1979: 323)
understood in the agents’ terms (Jary and Jary,
1995). While the approach is obviously criti- Insistence on ‘scientific method’ led to much of
cized by those approaches that emphasize the criticism of hermeneutics and the socio-
social structure (for example, functionalism, logies of everyday life. Researchers were
and some forms of Marxism), it is also criti- accused of subjectivity, of ‘going native’, and of
cized by those approaches seeking to incorpo- producing unreplicable results.
rate both processes (for example, cultural Subjectivity is anathema to the ‘scientific
studies) in an attempt to show that there are method’ where the researcher is considered to
some structural constraints on freedom to act. be a dispassionate and objective observer
With regard to relativism, Jary and Jary note and/or manipulator of events. Given system-
that a distinguishing characteristic of interpre- atic observations of human behaviour, particu-
tive sociology is ‘the recognition that any larly if the observer is also a participant; and
 INTERPRETIVE APPROACHES 81

given in-depth interviews with subjects, seeks corroboration and minimizes distortion,
advocates of the ‘scientific method’ questioned but which is without rationalist natural-science-
why the sociologist’s interpretations were any like pretence’ (1980: 91; original emphasis), and
more valid than any other person’s interpreta- has gone a long way towards developing that
tions. The Rashomon phenomenon was invoked method (for example, Willis, 1978). Researchers
(from the Japanese film in which the stories of using hermeneutic and ethnographic methods
three participants in an event – a robbery – are now regularly deal with the methodological
quite different), and researchers were also issues in an open and reflexive manner. For
accused of ‘going native’ (that is, losing objec- example, with regard to hermeneutics:
tivity by empathizing with their subjects).
At issue in this methodology is the role of the
And, given that it was usually only one
reader. How do we know that readers will inter-
researcher engaged in the work, and that stud-
pret the features of photographs in the ways that
ies were rarely repeated (the replicability of
the researcher uncovers? . . . A number of authors
results being a benchmark of reliability in the
have argued that texts of all kinds – written and
‘scientific method’, although one that is not
visual – embody multiple realities and suggest
always used), the work was considered to be
multiple meanings. The researcher can never be
unreliable.
certain of how a particular individual may per-
An initial response to such criticism was
ceive a given text because meaning is created in
the attempt to become more ‘scientific’.
the interaction between the text and the reader . . .
Hermeneutic analysis became a more strictly
The reader brings his/her personal set of experi-
quantitative ‘content analysis’; Manford Kuhn
ences, history, and social and cultural contexts to
developed a more quantitative approach to
the text, and all of these influences shape the
symbolic interactionism that came to be known
reader’s interpretation of that text. Although
as ‘the Iowa School’; and methodological texts
texts may strongly suggest a particular reading . . .
warned researchers against ‘going native’.
there is always the possibility of oppositional
However, more recently there has been a
readings . . .
recognition that, in sociology, both the
Responsible textual studies do not assert with
researcher and the focus of research are sub-
absolute certainty how particular texts are inter-
jects; thus sociology must be thought of as a
preted. But they suggest the kinds of interpreta-
subjective or better still, a reflexive science.5 As
tions that may take place, based on the available
Giddens notes:
evidence, and likely interpretations of a particular
1) We cannot approach society, or ‘social facts’, as text. Ultimately these interpretations must be
we do objects or events in the natural world, judged on the basis of the persuasiveness and
because societies only exist in so far as they are cre- logic of the researcher’s discussion. (Duncan,
ated and re-created in our own actions as human 1990: 27)
beings ...
Methodological concerns overlap with
2) ... Atoms cannot get to know what scientists say
theoretical concerns precisely in the issues of
about them, or change their behaviour in the light
theoretical assumptions and interpretation.
of that knowledge. Human beings can do so. Thus
Because of the critical nature of much recent
the relation between sociology and its ‘subject-
hermeneutic work, an assumption is made
matter’ is necessarily different from that involved
that media messages are designed to maintain
in the natural sciences. (1982: 13–15)
an unequal status quo in society – hermeneu-
Just as some natural scientists are now begin- tic analysis attempts to deconstruct those
ning to recognize the element of subjectivity messages. However, a more recent assump-
present in the type of research questions asked tion also allows that any ‘reader’ potentially
and assumptions made, ‘there is now a ten- has the power to reject those in-built
dency among field workers to recognize and messages and make an oppositional or alter-
reveal, rather than deny and conceal, the part native reading.
that personal interests, preferences and experi- A final critique of research in interpretive
ences play in the formulation of field-work sociology concerns the ‘journalistic’ nature
plans’ (Georges and Jones, 1983: 233). Recogni- of research reports. Critics announce that they
tion of this ‘cultural baggage’ now easily find no difference between sociology and
extends to open acknowledgement of ‘going journalism in this area. Of course, there are
native’ and conducting research that is designed important differences in terms of explicit
to affect social policy and social change.6 methodological and theoretical assumptions
Willis has suggested that, ‘We are still in and techniques, and in terms of the academic
need of a method which respects evidence, review processes and academic responsibility,
82 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

but there are also important similarities – Also, as noted, hermeneutic analyses of
especially in the ‘new journalism’ (cf. sport have most frequently taken the form of
Tomlinson, 1984). There is even an important critical analyses of print and television media
symbiosis here because journalists are some- (see Kinkema and Harris (1992) for a recent
times able to achieve access to areas out of review essay on sport and the mass media).
bounds to sociologists, and provide important The overwhelming majority of such studies
data and insights useful to sociological have been concerned with the representation
research. Donnelly has advocated that, when of gender in the media, with violence/
studying sport subcultures, all sources of data masculinity a distant, though related, second.
are appropriate and may be useful: Among the more significant analyses of the
representation of women are Duncan (1990) on
... the researcher should go beyond . . . traditional
sports photographs, Duncan and Hasbrook
forms of data to see what members of the subcul-
(1988) and Duncan, Messner, Williams and
ture write about themselves for other members
Jensen (1990) on televised sports, and MacNeill
(every sport and many leisure subcultures publish
(1988) on television coverage of women’s
at least one newsletter or magazine) or for the gen-
bodybuilding and an exercise programme.
eral public in biographies, introductory or how-to
Trujillo (1995) on televised coverage of
books, and general books and magazine articles;
(American) football violence, and White and
and what is written about the subculture by jour-
Gillett’s (1994) analysis of print advertise-
nalists and freelance writers . . .
ments7 for bodybuilding products, are exam-
Nor should the researcher be constrained by
ples of work addressing issues of masculinity.
nonfiction since many other forms of writing and
Some of the best work in hermeneutics
artistic work are frequently available and offer
focuses on specific incidents in sport, but again
points of view that are often unique and fre-
these are primarily concerned with gender
quently enlightening. [These include novels]
issues. For example, Birrell and Cole (1990)
poetry and songs (both of which may supplement
examined the reaction to Renee Richards (for-
the narrative folklore of the subculture), painting
merly Richard Raskind), a ‘constructed-female
and sculpture, cartoons and films . . . (1985: 568–9)
transexual’ when she/he began to play on the
In the final analysis though, it is not surpris- women’s tennis tour; Kane and Disch (1993)
ing if good journalistic accounts are somewhat examined media accounts of the sexual har-
like sociological accounts. As Giddens (cited rassment of Lisa Olson, a female sports
previously) noted, human beings can get to reporter, in a men’s (American football) locker
know what scientists say about them, and soci- room; King (1993) and Cole and Denny (1995)
ological knowledge is widely reported in the explored the public announcement that
media, and widely available in bookstores and ‘Magic’ Johnson was HIV positive; McKay and
libraries, as well as being taught in university Smith (1995) reviewed media coverage of the
courses. It would be more surprising if good O.J. Simpson case; Messner and Solomon
insider journalistic accounts were not similar (1993) analysed the media coverage of Sugar
to good ethnographic research. Ray Leonard’s wife beating incident;8,9 Young
(1986) examined media responses to the
Heysel Stadium incident in which 39 soccer
INTERPRETIVE STUDIES IN THE fans died; and Theberge (1989) reviewed news-
paper responses to a major incident of sports
SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT violence at the World Junior Hockey
Championships.
As noted previously, although Weber is fre- Although there are now many studies of the
quently included under the umbrella of inter- actual content of media texts, Kinkema and
pretive sociology, and although his influence Harris (1992) and others have noted the
on the development of sociology, and to some absence of studies dealing with the production
extent the sociology of sport, is widespread, of those texts, and studies dealing with
very few works in the sociology of sport can be the way in which audiences (rather than
considered as explicitly Weberian. Only researchers) interpret the texts. Hermeneutic
Guttmann (1978) and Ingham (1975, 1978, analyses and ethnographic analyses combine
1979) adopt an explicitly Weberian perspective around these types of studies. Hesling (1986)
in major works in the sociology of sport. reviewed the development of sportscasting
Seppanen (1981) and Stone (1981) employ codes; while Gruneau (1989) and MacNeill
Weberian concepts in their respective analyses (1996) conducted production ethnographies on
of Olympic success and sport and community. a World Cup skiing event and Olympic ice
 INTERPRETIVE APPROACHES 83

hockey coverage respectively; and Theberge Although Weinberg and Arond’s (1952)
and Cronk (1986) examined the production study of boxers was the first of many studies of
of newspaper sports news. Duncan and sport subcultures as ‘careers’, the majority of
Brummett (1993) and Eastman and Riggs such studies were not carried out until after the
(1994) have conducted ‘living room’ ethnogra- full recognition of a sociology of sport (Loy
phies of television sports spectators in order to and Kenyon, 1965). Stone’s studies of wrestlers
explore both oppositional readings and rituals. (Stone, 1972; Stone and Oldenberg, 1967) were
A great deal more work needs to be done in followed by Scott’s (1968) work on horse rac-
these areas. ing, Polsky’s (1969) study of pool hustlers, and
There are distinct overlaps in all of the soci- Faulkner’s (1974a, 1974b) study of hockey
ologies of everyday life, in both methodology players. This early work came to fruition in
and theoretical assumptions. With few excep- 1975 in four major chapters in Ball and Loy’s
tions, most of the studies in the sociology of Sport and Social Order. Ingham (1975) began to
sport employing an interpretive approach do develop his theoretical work on occupational
not identify a specific sociological theory, and subcultures in sport; Haerle (1975) raised the
most of those published between the 1960s and issue of career patterns and career contingen-
1980s fall into the general category of symbolic cies (for baseball players); while Faulkner
interactionism and Goffman’s dramaturgical (1975) and Rosenberg and Turowetz (1975) car-
approach (since that time there has been a ried out comparative work – hockey players
clear shift toward a cultural studies approach and Hollywood musicians in the former,
to ethnographic research). The exceptions professional wrestlers and physicians in the
include: Howe (1991) and Whitson’s (1976) latter. The use of ‘career’ as a defining concept
calls for the use of phenomenology in the soci- carried on for some time after 1975 – for exam-
ology of sport, and Pronger (1990) and Rail’s ple, Theberge (1977) on women professional
(1992) actual uses of phenomenology in their golfers, and Birrell and Turowetz (1979) in
studies of gay male athletes and female basket- another Goffman-inspired comparative study
ball players respectively; and Kew’s series of (professional wrestlers and female university
studies (1986, 1987, 1990, 1992) of the develop- gymnasts) – but by the time Prus (1984) sum-
ment of rules in sport, employing an eth- marized the notion of career contingencies the
nomethodological perspective. concept of ‘career’ and work on subcultures
There are two distinct, but overlapping had both changed.
themes of studies employing the remaining Careers were being thought of as any time
sociologies of everyday life (primarily sym- spent progressing in a sport – a competitive
bolic interactionism and Goffman’s dra- swimmer who began at age 6, retired13 at age
maturgy;10 but since the 1980s, an increasingly 14 and never earned any money, could now be
cultural studies approach): (a) descriptions considered to have had a ‘career’ in swim-
and analyses of sport subcultures (including ming. And the cultural characteristics of sub-
the themes of careers and cultural production); cultures were now being studied without
(b) the process of socialization (which overlaps resort to the concept of ‘career’. Vaz (1972)
to a great extent with the theme of career). anticipated this with his work on young
hockey players, and was followed by Thomson
Sport Subcultures11 Subcultures are ‘any (1977) on rugby players, Pearson (1979) on
system[s] of beliefs, values and norms . . . surfers, Donnelly (1980) and Vanreusel and
shared and actively participated in by an Renson (1982) on rock climbers and other
appreciable minority of people within a partic- high-risk sport participants, and Albert’s series
ular culture’ (Jary and Jary, 1995: 665), and the of studies on racing cyclists (1984, 1990, 1991).
study of subcultures is an important aspect of However, during the 1980s, there was a fur-
interpretive sociology. Subcultural studies in ther change in the study of sport subcultures
the United States developed from Chicago resulting from two sources. First, Geertz’s
School interest in youth, delinquents and (1973) methodological refinement of ‘thick
deviance, and posited that the formation of description’ – ‘[i]ntensive, small scale, dense
subcultures was either a result of ‘differential descriptions of social life from observation,
interaction’ or an ‘environmental response’. through which broader cultural interpretations
Cohen (1955) combined these views into a and generalizations can be made’ (Marshall,
powerful explanation of subcultural forma- 1994: 533) – led to much richer and textured
tion, and it was a short step from examining descriptions of social contexts. Secondly,
deviant ‘careers’ to the study of non-deviant British subculture theory took a radical
careers, eventually including sports careers.12 theoretical/political turn in the direction of
84 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

critical sociology (for example, Hall and sociology of sport have turned their attention
Jefferson, 1976; Hebdige, 1979). As a result, the to socialization that a number of rich insights
sociology of subcultures not only shows how have been made into the process.
sports and other leisure practices are socially
Socialization is an active process of learning and
constructed and defined activities, meaningful
social development that occurs as people interact
only to the extent that meaning is attached to
with each other and become acquainted with the
them by the participants, but also how ‘subcul-
social world in which they live, and as they form
tures, with their various “establishment” and
ideas about who they are, and make decisions
“countercultural” emphases, have been consti-
about their goals and behaviours. Human beings
tutively inserted into the struggles, the forms
are not simply passive learners in the socialization
of compliance and opposition, social reproduc-
process. Instead, they actively participate: they
tion and transformation, associated with
influence those who influence them, they make
changing patterns of social development’
their own interpretations of what they see and
(Gruneau, 1981: 10).14 These changes have had
hear, and they accept, revise, or reject the messages
a powerful impact on subcultural studies
they receive about who they are, what the world is
of sport.
all about, and what they should do as they make
The changes noted above have produced an
their way in the world. (Coakley, 1998: 88)
extremely rich crop of studies, and the follow-
ing examples have been influenced by one or The processes of becoming an athlete and
both of the changes: Williams’s (Williams et al., becoming an adult person, and the way these
1989) and Giulianotti’s (1995a, 1995b) studies two interact, were addressed to a certain extent
of British soccer hooligans; Klein’s observa- in some of the ‘career’ subculture studies noted
tions of bodybuilders (1993) and baseball play- above. However, primary recognition of the
ers in the Dominican Republic (1991); Foley’s socialization process seems to have occurred as
(1990) study of the American high school foot- a consequence of the 1980s changes in subcul-
ball subculture; the Adlers’ (1991) work on uni- tural studies of sport.
versity basketball players; Crosset’s (1995) Early involvement in sport and physical
study of women professional golfers; Sugden’s activity has been studied by Hasbrook (1993,
(1987) study of boxing; Tomlinson’s (1992) 1995) in school playgrounds, Fine (1987) in
study of a British folk game (knur and spell); little league baseball and Ingham and Dewar
Curry’s (1991) study of the male locker room (1989) in PeeWee hockey. But these studies go
subculture; Birrell and Richter’s (1987) study well beyond the actual processes of involve-
of transformations in women’s softball; ment to show how sport and physical activity
Theberge’s (1995) study of women’s ice are major sites for the production and repro-
hockey; Beal’s (1995) study of skateboarding; duction of traditional and stereotypical notions
and Markula’s (1995) work on women aerobics of gender. Grey (1992) has shown how new
participants. immigrants fail to become socialized into high
Most of these studies have been carried out school sport; and Chafetz and Kotarba (1995)
by researchers from the United States, Canada remind us that socialization is a two-way
and Britain. However, there is also a French process when they show how little league
school of subcultural research rooted in the baseball affects the players’ mothers.
sociology of Pierre Bourdieu and mostly car- Once involved in sport, the socialization
ried out by his students.15 For example, process continues. Donnelly and Young (1988)
Wacquant’s series of studies on boxing (1989, examined the way in which rookie athletes
1992, 1995a, 1995b), Clément’s (1984, 1985) constructed appropriate subcultural identities
studies on the martial arts, Bruant’s (1992) for themselves, to be confirmed (or rejected) by
ethnography of running, Pociello’s (1983) work established athletes in the subculture; Coakley
on rugby, Suaud’s (1989) study of tennis clubs, and White (1992) showed how English
and Midol’s studies (1993; Midol and Broyer, teenagers made the decision to continue, or not
1995) of extreme (‘whiz’) sports. continue, sport participation; Stevenson (1990)
demonstrated how international athletes
Socialization and Sport16 Research on who began to focus on their particular sport; and
becomes involved in sport, how they become Messner (1992) explored the meaning of suc-
involved and the effect that sport has on them, cess and relationships in the lives of elite male
has been important since the beginning of athletes. The process continues to be two-way,
the sociology of sport. However, the early and Thompson (1992) showed the way in
research was based on survey methods, and it which the involvement of husbands and
is only since those involved in the interpretive children in tennis had an impact on the lives of
 INTERPRETIVE APPROACHES 85

wives/mothers. Many of the subcultural rich and rewarding studies. With the refine-
studies noted above also deal with the contin- ments in theory (a critical cultural studies
uing process of socialization. approach is now widely used) and methodolo-
Career interruptions and endings (retire- gies (reflexivity, ‘thick description’, ethnogra-
ments, sometimes referred to as desocializa- phy), interpretive sociology has recently come
tion) form the final phase of sport socialization. to be what many consider the predominant
Coakley (1992) has studied burnout among approach in the sociology of sport. The recent
adolescent athletes as a problem of social publication dates of the majority of studies
development, and Swain (1991) and Messner noted above attest to the growth of interest in
(1992) have taken different approaches to the interpretive sociology in the sociology of sport
problem in their analyses of the retirement of and, as an example of this recent prominence,
elite athletes. Young (Young, White and all of the Presidential Addresses given at the
McTeer, 1994; Young and White, 1995) has pro- North American Society for the Sociology of
vided the most focused view of the way that Sport annual conferences in the 1990s have
male and female athletes view and deal with taken an interpretive sociology approach.
injuries. Of course, except in the case of trau- Weberian sociology has given us important
matic injury, such retirements rarely signal a insights into the emergence and development
complete end to sport involvement – rather, of modern sport; and hermeneutics has shown
they indicate a change in the way a person us the ideological underpinnings and dynam-
participates. ics of the sport–media complex, particularly in
Finally, several new approaches to interpre- terms of gender relations. But perhaps the
tive sociology should be noted. While sport major impact of interpretive sociology has
sociologists have often accepted athletes’ been the way in which it hangs flesh on the
biographies as reasonable sources of data, more skeletons of survey data. For example, surveys
recent sophisticated methodologies (including have continually shown that boys and men are
case studies, life histories and narrative sociol- more involved in sport and physical activity
ogy) have brought biography and autobiogra- than girls and women, but researchers were
phy to the fore in the interpretive sociologist’s obliged to speculate about the reasons for this
repertoire of techniques. Henning Eichberg’s difference. Recent observations and in-depth
special issue of the International Review for the interviews have shown the dynamics of gen-
Sociology of Sport (29 (1), 1994) on ‘Narrative der relations in sport – how sport is a gender-
Sociology’ provides a number of examples of ing practice, and how males and females make
this type of work by scholars from Finland and decisions about participation – thus giving a
Denmark; while in North America, Tim Curry much clearer explanation for the participation
(1993, 1996; Curry and Strauss, 1994) has been differences. Interpretive sociology has also
an exponent of the case study/life history tech- given us a much richer notion of careers, sub-
nique.17 Interpretive sociologists have also cultures and group dynamics in sport, and a
begun to explore innovative ways of reporting great many insights into how we become
research – see, for example, Curry and Strauss’s involved in sport, live our lives as athletes and
(1994) photo-essay; and Wacquant’s (1989) retire from intense participation. In the final
split-page technique. Finally, Cole (1991) and analysis, though, interpretive sociology is
Foley (1992) have reminded interpretive sociol- about meaning, and in the sociology of sport
ogists of sport of the politics of interpretation, we are beginning to attain a powerful sense of
perhaps ensuring that reflexivity is maintained what sport means, and how sport means, in
in the use of these techniques. the lives of human beings.

THE IMPACT OF INTERPRETIVE

NOTES
SOCIOLOGY ON THE SOCIOLOGY
OF SPORT I should like to thank John Loy for his
careful reading of an earlier version of this
Studies using an interpretive sociology chapter.
approach, particularly ethnographic studies, 1 While I have included Weberian sociology
are extremely time-consuming. They usually in this list because of his typology of
require enormous commitment on the part of ‘action’, his emphasis on subjective mean-
the researcher, but that commitment has paid ings, and so on, it is clear that Weber was
off in the sociology of sport with a number of much more than an interpretive sociologist
86 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

(for example, his comparative historical 13 The issue of retirement is considered

sociology focusing on culture and social subsequently as a part of ‘socialization’.
structure), and that his work is quite dis- 14 See Donnelly (1993) for a more recent the-
tinct from the sociologies of everyday life. oretical analysis of sport subcultures.
Also, some commentators (for example, 15 For more on the anthropological sociology
Marshall, 1994) suggest that structuralism, of Bourdieu, and his contributions to the
post-structuralism and Giddens’s theory sociology of sport, see Clément (1995) and
of structuration might also be included as Defrance (1995).
interpretive sociologies. 16 See Coakley (1993, 1996, 1998) for reviews
2 This is often referred to as the ‘structure– of research on socialization; and Coakley
agency’ debate. Some modern approaches and Donnelly (1999) for a series of studies
to sociology (for example, cultural stud- on the theme of socialization into sport.
ies) follow a Marxian compromise 17 Curry (1986) and Snyder (1990) have also
between these two positions – ‘Men make used photo-elicitation interview tech-
their own history, but they do not make it niques, which are part of the new visual
just as they please; they do not make it sociology.
under circumstances chosen by them-
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 6
FIGURATIONAL SOCIOLOGY AND ITS
APPLICATION TO SPORT

Patrick Murphy, Ken Sheard and Ivan Waddington

Figurational sociology or, as it is sometimes degree of relative (but never absolute and total)
called, process sociology, has grown out of the autonomy vis-à-vis other people and who is, in
work of Norbert Elias (1897–1990).1 The central fact, fundamentally oriented toward and depen-
organizing concept of figurational sociology is, dent on other people throughout his life. The
unsurprisingly, the concept of ‘figuration’ itself. network of interdependencies among human
Elias described a figuration as ‘a structure of beings is what binds them together. Such interde-
mutually oriented and dependent people’ pendencies are the nexus of ... the figuration, a
(1978a: 261). He developed the concept as a structure of mutually oriented and dependent
means of trying to overcome some of the diffi- people. Since people are more or less dependent
culties associated with more conventional soci- on each other first by nature and then through
ological terms and theories. In particular, he social learning, through education, socialization,
was critical of what he regarded as misleading and socially generated reciprocal needs, they exist,
and unhelpful dualisms and dichotomies, such one might venture to say, only as pluralities, only
as that between the individual and society, and in figurations. (Elias, 1978a: 261)
also of the tendency towards what he called Elias argued that in order to understand
process reduction, in which everything that is what sociology is about, one must be aware of
experienced and observed as dynamic and oneself as a human being among other human
interdependent is represented in static, isolated beings, and that one has to recognize that what
categories. Elias explicitly conceptualized figu- are often conceptualized as reified ‘social
rations as historically produced and repro- forces’ are in fact nothing other than con-
duced networks of interdependence. straints exerted by people over one another
In criticizing what he termed the Homo and over themselves. It is mistaken to see
clausus model of human beings – that is the ‘social structures’ as existing apart from our-
view of individuals as self-contained and selves or from human beings in general.
separate from other people – Elias argued that Moreover, the peculiar constraint which is
it is not fruitful to view ‘the individual’ and exerted by ‘social structures’ (figurations) over
‘society’ as two independently existing objects those who form them – and the fact that social
(1978b: 119). For Elias, these two concepts refer processes, though produced by the interweav-
to inseparable levels of the same human world. ing of pluralities of individual acts, are rela-
The concept of figurations was developed to tively autonomous of particular individual
convey the idea that sociology is concerned not intentions – should not lead us to ascribe to
with Homo clausus, but with Homines aperti, these processes an existence, an objective real-
with people bonded together in dynamic con- ity, over and above the groups of people whose
stellations. As he put it: actions constitute those processes. However, it
The image of man [sic] as a ‘closed personality’ is the case that the very complexity and
is . .. replaced by the image of man as an ‘open dynamic character of the interweaving of the
personality’ who possesses a greater or lesser actions of large numbers of people continuously
 FIGURATIONAL SOCIOLOGY AND SPORT 93

give rise to outcomes that no one has chosen examination of empirical data which indicate
and no one has designed; unintended and that, in the societies of Western Europe
unplanned outcomes of this kind, which Elias between the Middle Ages and the early years
stressed were usual aspects of social life, he of the twentieth century, a long-term process
called ‘blind’ social processes (1987a: 99). took place generally involving the refinement
One of the main objectives of figurational of manners and social standards and an
sociology as Elias saw it was to encourage soci- increase in the social pressure on people to
ologists to ‘think processually’ by always exercise stricter, more continuous and more
studying social relations as emerging and con- even self-control over their feelings and behav-
tingent processes. To him it was axiomatic that iour. As part of this unplanned process, there
figurations should be studied as interdepen- occurred a shift in the balance between exter-
dent relations which are continually in flux and nal constraints and self-constraints in favour of
that shifts and transformations in patterns of the latter, and at the level of personality, an
social bonding can be identified in all patterns increase in the importance of ‘conscience’ as a
of development. Moreover, he believed it was regulator of behaviour. That is, social stan-
possible to discern such shifts because interde- dards came to be internalized more deeply and
pendence is neither arbitrary nor random. On to operate, not only consciously, but also
the contrary, the individuals and groups that beneath the level of rationality and conscious
make up a specific figuration are intercon- control, for example by means of the arousal of
nected by a multiplicity of dynamic bonds. feelings of shame, guilt and anxiety.
Whereas Marxists, for example, have tended to One aspect of this process which is of central
stress the importance of economic relations in relevance to the study of the development of
social bonding, figurationalists suggest that the sport has been the increasing social control of
importance of economic relations is likely to violence and aggression, together with a long-
vary from one situation to another and that in term decline in most people’s propensity for
some situations political and emotional (affec- obtaining pleasure from directly taking part in
tive) bonds may be equally or more significant. and/or witnessing seriously violent acts. Elias
The concept of the social bond is intended to refers in this connection to a ‘dampening of
reinforce the two-edged character of figura- Angriffslust’, literally to a dampening down or
tions which may be both enabling and con- curbing of the lust for attacking, that is, a
straining (Rojek, 1985: 160). taming of people’s conscious desire and capa-
A central dimension of figurations or city for obtaining pleasure from attacking
dynamic interdependency ties is power, con- others. This has entailed at least two things:
ceptualized not as a substance or property pos- first, a lowering of what Elias called the
sessed by particular individuals and groups ‘threshold of repugnance’ regarding blood-
but as a characteristic of all human relation- shed and other direct and symbolic mani-
ships (Elias, 1978b: 74). Power is always a festations of physical violence. As a result,
question of relative balances, never of absolute according to Elias, most people nowadays tend
possession or absolute deprivation, for no one to recoil more readily in the presence of such
is ever absolutely powerful or absolutely manifestations than tended to be the case with
powerless. Neither is the balance of power people in the Middle Ages. Secondly, it has
between groups in a society permanent, for entailed the internalization of a stricter taboo
power balances are dynamic and continuously on violence. A consequence of this is that guilt
in flux. feelings and anxieties are liable to be aroused
whenever this taboo is violated. At the same
time, said Elias, there has occurred a tendency
to push violence behind the scenes and, as
THE CIVILIZING PROCESS part of this, to describe people who openly
derive pleasure from violence in terms of
The work for which Elias is most famous is the language of psychopathology, with such
undoubtedly The Civilizing Process (Volume 1, people being treated and/or punished by
1978a, Volume 2, 1982, single volume, 1994). It means of stigmatization, hospitalization,
is important to emphasize that Elias does not imprisonment or a combination of these
use the concept of a civilizing process in an (Dunning, 1990a).
evaluative way, for he does not suggest that In popular understanding, the terms ‘vio-
people whose behaviour may be considered lence’ and ‘civilization’ are usually taken as
more ‘civilized’ are in any way morally superior antitheses, but the civilizing process in Western
to those whose behaviour is less ‘civilized’. The Europe may be seen as an unplanned outcome
theory of civilizing processes is based on the of violent ‘hegemonial’ or ‘elimination’
94 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

struggles among monarchs and other feudal conceptualizes the problem in terms of degrees
lords. These struggles were associated with the of involvement and detachment. This is held
development of emergent European nation- to be more adequate than conventional argu-
states, each of which was characterized by the ments because, first, it does not involve a radi-
increasingly stable and effective monopoliza- cal dichotomy between categories such as
tion of the twin, mutually supportive means of ‘objective’ and ‘subjective’, as though these
ruling: the use of force and of the imposition of were mutually exclusive categories; and, sec-
taxes. In other words, far from being simple ondly, it is relational and processual and, as
antitheses, violence and ‘civilization’ are char- such, provides us with a framework with
acterized by specific forms of interdependence. which we can examine the development, over
More particularly, civilizing processes are time, of more object-adequate from less object-
related to the establishment of increasingly adequate knowledge.
effective control over the use of violence and One important implication of Elias’s
an increasingly effective monopoly over taxa- approach is that researchers can realistically
tion, both of which facilitate internal pacifica- only aspire to develop explanations that have a
tion and economic growth. Civilizing processes greater degree of adequacy than preceding
are also held to be associated with the length- explanations. Notions such as ‘ultimate truth’
ening of interdependency chains (in more and ‘complete detachment’ have no place in his
conventional sociological language, the approach. Yet, strangely, some critics of figura-
growth in the division of labour); the growing tional sociology (such as Hargreaves, 1992;
monetization of social relationships; functional Horne and Jary, 1987) have still concluded
democratization (the gradual historical ten- that its adherents claim to provide ‘objective’
dency towards more equal – though not analyses from a value-neutral stance. It cannot
wholly equal – power balances between dif- be stressed too strongly that this was not his
ferent groups and subgroups in society); and view and that Elias did not use such terms,
lastly, the decreasing privatization of the preferring to speak in terms of degrees of
force and tax monopolies and their increasing object-adequacy, or, more latterly, of reality-
public control. congruence.
As we shall see, the theory of civilizing Elias noted that sociologists, like everyone
processes has been widely used in the study of else, are members of many social groups out-
modern sports, especially with reference to side of their academic communities and they
issues concerning violence in sport. cannot cease to take part in, or to be affected
by, the affairs of these groups. In this sense,
they cannot be wholly detached. However,
Elias notes that there is at least one sense in
INVOLVEMENT AND DETACHMENT which it would not be desirable, in terms of the
development of sociology, for them to be
Another distinctive characteristic of Elias’s wholly detached, even if this were possible.
approach is his position on the relationship Thus, while one need not know, in order to
between human understanding and values, an understand the structure of a molecule, what it
issue which has usually been discussed in ‘feels like’ to be one of its atoms, in order to
abstract, static, ahistorical and dichotomic understand the way in which human groups
terms in which protagonists have argued work one needs to know from ‘inside’, as it
either for ‘objectivity’ or ‘subjectivity’, for were, how human beings experience their own
‘value freedom’ or the ‘inevitability of bias’. In and other groups, and one cannot know this
contrast, for Elias a balance of emotional without active involvement. The problem for
involvement and detachment is present in sociologists, then, is not how to be completely
virtually all human behaviour. Similarly, it is detached, for that is impossible, but rather how
not possible to identify an historical moment to maintain an appropriate balance between
when wholly ‘objective’ scientific knowledge being an everyday participant and a scientific
suddenly emerged, fully formed, out of what enquirer and, as a professional group, to estab-
had formerly been wholly subjective forms of lish in their work the undisputed dominance of
knowledge. These insights point up the short- the latter.
comings of approaching the problem of the While the foregoing explication cannot do
growth of human knowledge and its relation- justice to the subtlety and complexity of Elias’s
ship to changing values in terms of dicho- general position, we hope that it will serve as
tomous either/or categories. an introduction to some of the central aspects
Elias (1987a) offers a properly sociological of figurational or process-sociology. In the next
approach to the problem of knowledge. He section, we consider some of the ways in which
 FIGURATIONAL SOCIOLOGY AND SPORT 95

the figurational perspective has been used in England were both relatively united nationally
the sociology of sport. as early as the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries. France, though, had become highly
centralized and its people subject to a form of
FIGURATIONAL SOCIOLOGY ‘absolute’ rule, one aspect of which was that
the right of subjects ‘to form associations of
AND SPORT their own choosing was usually restricted ... if
not abolished’ (1986: 38).
As we have seen, the basic principles of figura- In England movement towards a highly cen-
tional sociology are potentially applicable to a tralized state and ‘absolutism’ had been more
range of social phenomena, but it is the ways in or less destroyed in the seventeenth century by
which they have been applied in the sociology the Civil War, one consequence of which was
of sport with which we are concerned here. the restrictions placed on the powers of the
At the risk of considerable over-simplification monarch. Moreover, the reliance placed by the
it might be suggested that this work falls English on naval force meant that the large
into four main categories: early sportization centralized bureaucracy required to coordinate
processes and the control of violence; increas- a huge land army did not develop. A variety of
ing seriousness of involvement and the growth processes, then, contributed to the landed rul-
of ‘professional’ sport; football hooliganism; ing classes not only retaining a high degree of
and the relationship between globalization autonomy relative to the monarchical state but,
processes and sport. Of course, these cate- via parliament, sharing with the monarch in
gories are essentially artificial given the stress the tasks of ruling (Dunning, 1992a: 7–18).
figurational sociologists place on networks of Elias argued that there occurred simultane-
interdependency. ously with this ‘parliamentarization of political
It is now generally accepted that the word conflict’, the ‘sportization’ of pastimes. The
‘sport’ acquired its modern meaning, and more civilized habits developed by the aristoc-
the activities to which it is applied first devel- racy and gentry for governing also found
oped, in eighteenth-century England. Elias expression in their organization of less violent,
attempted to explain why (Elias, 1971: 88–115). more civilized ways of enjoying themselves.
An important part of his explanation lay in These incipiently modern forms of sport devel-
attempting to demonstrate how what he called oped through the type of voluntary associa-
the ‘sportization’ process was linked with the tions known as ‘clubs’ (Dunning, 1992a: 13;
process of ‘the parliamentarization of political Elias and Dunning, 1986: 38–9).
conflict’. Figurational sociologists argue that this initial
Elias used the term ‘sportization’ to refer to sportization of pastimes occurred in two main
a process in the course of which the framework waves: an eighteenth-century wave in which
of rules applying to sport became stricter, the principal pastimes that began to emerge as
including those rules attempting to provide for modern sports were cricket, fox hunting, horse
fairness and equal chances for all to win. The racing and boxing; and a second, nineteenth-
rules governing sport became more precise, century wave in which soccer, rugby, tennis and
more explicit, written down and more differ- athletics began to take on modern forms
entiated and supervision of rule-observance (Dunning, 1992a; Elias and Dunning, 1986).
became more efficient. Moreover, in the course Elias himself contributed to the study of fox
of the same process, self-control and self-disci- hunting and boxing (1971, 1986) while Brookes
pline increased, while in the game-contests produced a figurational analysis of the devel-
which became known as sports a balance was opment of cricket2 (Brookes, 1974, 1978).
established between the possibility of attaining In the mid-1960s Elias and Dunning under-
a high level of combat-tension and what was took comparative and developmental investi-
then seen as reasonable protection against gations into early Greek and Roman sports,
injury (Elias and Dunning, 1986: 21–2). such as boxing and wrestling, and medieval
Elias’s explanation as to why the sportiza- folk-games, such as ‘football’ (Dunning, 1971).
tion process occurred first in England centres These studies were designed to probe just how
around differences in state formation processes different were the sport-like activities of
between various European societies and the people at relatively early stages in civilizing
related differences in balances of power processes and nation-state formation processes,
between ruling groups in those societies (1986: by comparison with the sports of the modern
26–40). For example, Germany and Italy period. Elias (1971) stressed that Greek combat
remained relatively disunited until well into ‘sports’, for example, which were often a direct
the nineteenth century, while France and training for warfare, involved much higher
96 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

levels of violence and open emotionality than one of the preconditions for the sportization of
those permitted today, and were less highly football and the emergence of soccer and rugby
regulated. This is what Elias’s theory of civiliz- as modern sports. They also show how a civili-
ing processes would lead one to expect. zing process was involved in this process as the
Compared with relatively developed nation- violence of the games was gradually brought
states, levels of physical insecurity in Greek under greater control.
city-states were high and conscience-formation Barbarians, Gentlemen and Players also offered
was much less developed than is the case in the a figurational explanation of the trends
West today.3 Elias suggested that internalized towards more intense competition, profession-
inhibitions against physical violence were also alization, greater achievement-orientation,
lower and the associated feelings of guilt and greater rewards and growing seriousness of
shame correspondingly much weaker. involvement observed in many, if not most,
Elias and Dunning’s (1986) work on the folk modern sports. The argument was a complex
football ‘games’ of medieval and early modern one but basically involved the suggestion that
Britain extended this analysis and demon- an increase in seriousness could be attributed
strated just how different such activities were in part to what Elias termed ‘functional democ-
from modern football. Such games were less ratization’ in the modern world. Elias argued
highly regulated than their modern counter- that in the course of nation-state formation
parts and were governed primarily by local processes in the West many power balances
oral custom. They differed from town to town have become relatively more equal. These
and region to region and were ‘played’ over processes are interconnected with the length-
open country or through the streets of towns by ening chains of interdependence that increas-
an indeterminate number of participants. They ingly tie people together, both within state
involved elements of what nowadays we societies and throughout the modern world.
would probably consider different games and, The reciprocal pressures and controls to which
above all, they involved a much higher level of people are subject and which they are able to
open violence than would be contemplated or exert on others within industrial societies
permitted today. These activities, although inevitably make their presence felt in their
‘mock-fights’, bore a greater resemblance to real sporting activities. Top-level sportspeople in
fighting than their modern-day equivalents. modern, urban-industrial societies, Dunning
Dunning and Sheard’s Barbarians, Gentlemen and Sheard suggested, are not independent
and Players (1979), a sociological study of the and hence are not able to play solely for ‘fun’.
development of rugby football, took Elias and The sheer numbers of people involved in
Dunning’s earlier work on the development modern sport mean that a well-developed
of football much further and provided the desire to achieve is necessary if one is to stand
template for much of the work of what later a realistic chance of getting to the top. If one
became known as the ‘Leicester school’ of wants to be recognized as a ‘success’ at sport,
figurational sociologists. The book addressed one has to play seriously. Moreover, top-level
three themes: the development of more ‘civi- sportspeople can no longer play just for them-
lized’ team games; the growth of increasingly selves but are representatives of wider com-
serious, competitive, professionalized games; munities such as cities, counties and nations.
and the phenomenon of ‘football hooliganism’. They are, therefore, increasingly constrained to
The first two themes were examined in consid- provide the sorts of satisfactions demanded by
erable detail while the third, football hooligan- their supporters; for example, they are
ism, was merely touched upon. However, it expected to provide them with a certain mea-
was the work on football hooliganism which sure of excitement and the satisfaction which
was to earn the Leicester school an interna- comes from supporting a successful team.
tional reputation in the years that followed They have, that is, to validate in competition
(Williams et al., 1984; Dunning et al., 1988; the community with which the supporters
Murphy et al., 1990). identify (Dunning and Sheard, 1976, 1979;
Barbarians, Gentlemen and Players emphasized Elias and Dunning, 1986).
just how central the English public schools Under such circumstances, Dunning and
were in the second, nineteenth-century, wave of Sheard suggest, it is not surprising that players
sportization. These schools operated, in charac- on occasions resort to the calculated use of ille-
teristically English fashion, with a high degree gitimate violence in order to try to achieve
of independence from the state. Dunning victory (1979: 272–89). This would, at first
and Sheard show how this degree of relative sight, seem to be a contradiction of Elias’s
autonomy facilitated competition among and theory of civilizing processes in which he
innovation within the public schools which was argued that there has been a long-term decline
 FIGURATIONAL SOCIOLOGY AND SPORT 97

in people’s propensity for obtaining pleasure ‘rougher’ working-class neighbourhoods from

from directly engaging in and witnessing vio- which football hooligans are mainly drawn are
lent acts, and that the threshold of repugnance characterized more by ‘segmental’ and less by
regarding violent acts has become lower, with ‘functional’ bonding – that is by bonds of simil-
people increasingly feeling guilty when such itude rather than difference – than most other
taboos are broken. However, Dunning has groups in contemporary British society. We
argued that in the course of civilizing processes have been familiarized with the social attrib-
there occurs in conjunction with an increase in utes of such neighbourhoods through a ple-
socially generated competitive pressures, an thora of sociological studies (Cloward and
increase in people’s tendency and ability to Ohlin, 1960; Cohen, 1955; Miller, 1958; Suttles,
plan, to use foresight and to use longer-term, 1968). The main point for present purposes is
more rational means for achieving their goals that their characteristic patterns – including
(Dunning, 1986a: 237). In this context, the delib- relative poverty, unemployment, mother-
erate use of violence to achieve advantage or centred families, male-dominance, etc. – mutu-
victory in a game is, argues Dunning, consis- ally reinforce each other to produce, inter alia,
tent with the personality and habitus of people norms of aggressive masculinity and intense
who consider themselves to be highly civilized feelings of attachment to narrowly defined
because it involves a high level of control, rela- ‘we-groups’ and correspondingly intense
tively little pleasure from directly inflicting feelings of hostility towards ‘outsider’ or ‘they-
pain, and is utilized to achieve specific ends. groups’. Such groups, of what the Leicester
Dunning, in fact, suggests that in the course of group call ‘segmentally bonded’ young males,
civilizing processes there occurs a change in the tend to find their opponents locally from
balance between ‘expressive’ and ‘instrumen- amongst groups who resemble themselves in
tal’ violence, in favour of the latter (1986a: 227). many ways. However, just like the segmentary
He suggests that this distinction, although not lineages described by Evans-Pritchard (1940)
one made by Elias, helps make sense of what in simpler societies, these ‘segments’ may
appears to be an increase in violence on the combine to fight an external enemy, that is,
field of play as sports have become more pro- fans from other towns or cities. Not only do
fessionalized, ‘spectacularized’ and inter- these groups find in football an attractive
nationalized in recent decades. locale for the expression of their rivalries,
It was also in Barbarians, Gentlemen and but the development of transport systems,
Players that the germ of an explanation for internationalization and other processes,
football hooliganism – and the relevance of means that formerly internecine rivalry and
‘segmental bonding’ in that explanation – was conflict become transposed to the national and
outlined (Dunning and Sheard, 1979: 282–5). international levels. Such a pattern of intra-
However, it was in The Roots of Football working-class conflict is not easily explained
Hooliganism (Dunning et al., 1988), that the by a Marxist, dichotomous model of class
Leicester group brought together in one vol- conflict in which the ‘enemy’ is hypothesized
ume the fruits of their own and other people’s as ‘the bourgeoisie’ or the ‘representatives of
work on this contemporary social problem. the state’.
Before the publication of this study, and the Figurational sociologists have recently
earlier work upon which it was based, it was turned their attention to the diffusion of mod-
much less commonly accepted than it is today ern sporting forms on a global scale, linking
that violent disorder at football matches has this to broader globalization processes.
deep historical roots. It tended to be assumed Maguire has attempted to clarify some of the
that ‘hooliganism’ was a relatively new phe- conceptual confusions surrounding the term
nomenon, a product, among other things, of ‘globalization’, while extending and refining
the ‘permissive’ 1960s. The Leicester sociolo- aspects of the figurational approach, especially
gists, after tracing the historical flows of the as it applies to an understanding of global
‘hooligan’ phenomenon and linking it with the sport development and the role of the ‘media–
civilizing changes in British society over at sport production complex’ in those develop-
least a century, attempted to explain why foot- ments. He has also attempted to bring out the
ball hooligan gangs, and the rougher sections interconnections between globalization and
of society from which they were predomi- national identity (Jarvie and Maguire, 1994;
nantly drawn, should have remained relatively Maguire, 1991, 1993a, 1993b, 1994).
unincorporated into the more ‘civilized’ The ‘conceptual snares’ which Maguire
society of the late twentieth century. They also (1994: 399) believes characterize work on
addressed some of the implications of this fact. globalization include dichotomous thinking,
Briefly, the argument advanced was that the the use of monocausal explanation and the
98 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

tendency to view globalization processes as forms, products and images. However, the
governed by either the intended or the unin- people involved in global marketing also
tended consequences of the actions of groups attempt to celebrate difference, with new vari-
of people: ‘Globalization processes involve a eties of ethnic wares sought and targeted at
blend between intended and unintended prac- specific market niches leading, sometimes, to
tices’ (Jarvie and Maguire, 1994: 147). Maguire the strengthening of ‘local’ ethnic identities.
also distances himself from the implication An example of this would be the spread to
that ‘globalization’ implies homogenization Britain of Japanese martial arts (Jarvie and
(1994: 400). However, on the negative side, Maguire, 1994: 151; Maguire, 1994: 409). The
Jarvie and Maguire sometimes display a ten- development of sport, then, is seen as being
dency to reify which figurational sociologists contoured by the interlocking processes of
would normally try to avoid.4 diminishing contrasts and increasing varieties.
All writers agree that globalization involves Involvement in sports may also provide
processes that transcend the boundaries of people with ‘anchors of meaning’ as national
nation-states, and that such processes are cultures and identities are affected by global
uneven, long-term and historically rooted. ‘time–space compression’ (Bale and Maguire,
Most also recognize the difficulty of under- 1994; Jarvie and Maguire, 1994). The develop-
standing local or national experiences without ment of the British Empire resulted in a diverse
reference to global developments or what commingling of ‘British’ national culture and
Maguire calls ‘flows’ (1993a). Jarvie and identity with that of other cultures. It involved
Maguire (1994: 231) also suggest that global- the spread of British ‘civilization’ and sport-
ization may be leading ‘to a form of time–space forms, and hence the diminishing of contrasts,
compression’5 in which people experience but other sports, such as polo, diffused west-
spatial and temporal dimensions differently. wards from the East. The process of cultural
There is, they suggest ‘a speeding up of interchange, though unequal, is not all one-
time and a “shrinking” of space. Modern tech- way. Maguire (1994: 408) suggests that this
nologies enable people, images, ideas and process continues, with revamped versions of
money to criss-cross the globe with great British sport-forms – for example, American
rapidity. This leads . . . to a greater degree of football and Australian Rules – re-emerging in
interdependence, but also to an increased the mother country.
awareness of the world as a whole.’ At the Moreover, Jarvie and Maguire argue that the
same time, however, these processes may also effects of the spread of sport from the British to
be associated with a concomitant resurgence – their colonial subjects have been double-
as the two sides of the same coin – of edged. Although originally an indication of the
local/national identifications. success of British colonizers in spreading their
Other ideas developed by figurational sport-forms to other parts of the world, most
sociologists might also be applied to under- former colonial peoples now regularly beat the
standing relations between Western and British at ‘their own games’, boosting their
non-Western societies, particularly relating to sense of nationhood and difference in the
the development and spread of sport. process. Jarvie and Maguire suggest that, in the
Attention is directed towards four key insights: context of the loss of the former colonies,
the concept of diminishing contrasts and British/English sporting success may help
increasing varieties, the idea of the commin- restore, however superficially, a symbolic
gling of Western and non-Western cultures, the sense of stability, but that losing to former
subsequent emergence of a new amalgam and colonies may compound the general sense of
the ongoing attempts by established groups to dislocation (1994: 152).
integrate outsider people(s) as workers and/or The association of particular sports with
consumers (Jarvie and Maguire, 1994: 151; specific places and seasons, it is suggested,
Maguire, 1994: 404). can provide a sense of permanence and
According to Maguire (1993a), aspects of belonging – however illusory – which helps
globalization are ‘powered’ by specifically counteract the breakdown of identity often
Western notions of ‘civilization’ with various thought to accompany globalization processes.
commercial and industrial interest groups Jarvie and Maguire argue, however, that the
active in spreading the cult of consumerism development of the media–sport production
and a staple diet of Western products. This has complex may also serve to erode this sense of
been associated with diminishing contrasts stability. Satellite broadcasting means that ‘con-
between nations, as members of the ‘media– sumers’ of sport can ‘be at’ any sport venue
sport production complex’ have achieved across the globe, while the introduction of
success in marketing virtually identical sport- novel varieties of sports subcultures to existing
 FIGURATIONAL SOCIOLOGY AND SPORT 99

national cultures facilitates the forging of new ‘civilizing process’ marked a major step forward in
sport and leisure identities. Although they the sociological analysis of sport and leisure.
argue that involvement in sport has reinforced (Horne and Jary, 1987: 86–7)
and reflected a diminishing of contrasts
between nations, they are also aware that the Notwithstanding comments such as these,
close association of sport with national however, it is the case that the debate between
cultures and identities may mean the under- figurational sociologists and their critics has
mining of the integration of regions at a politi- not always been as constructive as we would
cal level and conclude, despite recognizing the like. Figurational sociologists and their critics
tentative emergence of a European sports iden- have, on occasions, accused each other of cari-
tity, that: ‘As with European integration more caturing the others’ work (Dunning, 1992b:
generally, the sports process occupies con- 256; Horne and Jary, 1987: 99) and, within the
tested terrain in which the defensive response context of what Dunning (1992b: 257) has
of strengthened ethnic identities may yet win called ‘a failure of communication of massive
out over broader pluralizing global flows’ proportions’, Bauman (1979: 125) has
(1994: 153). expressed the fear that figurational sociology
may develop ‘into one more sect on the already
sectarian sociological scene’. Such a develop-
ment would be unhelpful both to figurational
CRITICAL EVALUATION sociology and to sociology more generally and
we want to encourage a more constructive dia-
AND OVERVIEW logue between figurational sociologists and
their critics. One step towards rapprochement
In this section, we outline and comment on involves recognizing the substantial amount of
some of the major criticisms of the figurational common ground between these groups.
perspective. For didactic purposes it may be
useful to comment on these criticisms under
the following headings:
General Criticisms of Figurational
Sociology
1 General criticisms of figurational sociology.
2 Criticisms specifically of the theory of Perhaps the two most general criticisms of fig-
civilizing processes. urational sociology are, first, that whatever its
3 Criticisms of the figurational approach to contribution to date, it does not represent a dis-
the sociology of sport. tinctive perspective within sociology as
claimed by its advocates and, secondly, that
At the outset, we should note that several figurational sociology is, in effect, a form of
critics of figurational sociology have acknowl- functionalism.
edged the substantial contribution which figu- The first point has been forcefully argued
rational sociologists have made, both to by Curtis, who, writing of Elias’s What is
sociology in general and to the sociology of Sociology? (1978b), states:
sport in particular. Curtis (1986: 58), for exam-
ple, though criticizing Elias’s work on civiliz- I doubt that many sociologists will find this
ing processes, nevertheless states that The approach and subject matter to be very new or
Civilizing Process is ‘macro sociology and social absent from their own thoughts on society. Elias
history par excellence . . . there has been noth- does, however, suggest some new terms for social
ing written which even begins to approximate phenomena and sets of phenomena known previ-
the sweep of history . . . and the painstaking ously under other labels. For example, what are fig-
detail’ of Elias’s work. Horne and Jary, while urations except people in structures (or networks or
criticizing figurational sociology mainly from a systems) with these structures limited to interde-
Gramscian Marxist perspective, nevertheless pendent relationships? What is Sociology? is often
acknowledge that: old wine in a new bottle ... Much of it is fairly stan-
dard fare in sociology ... (Curtis, 1986: 59)
If the objective of a sociology of sport is now
widely recognized as the provision of a theoreti- Horne and Jary (1987: 87) similarly argue
cally adequate and historically grounded analysis that the contribution which figurational sociol-
of changing patterns of sport, then Figurational ogists have made to the sociology of sport has
Sociology has contributed strongly to this recogni- not resulted from any distinctive perspective
tion. The study of sport’s role in the long-term but ‘simply from the raising of classical socio-
transformation of culture and manners, and of the logical questions and from recourse to conven-
changes in class and power associated with this tional sociological “best practice” in an area
100 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

where these had hitherto been conspicuously distinctive ‘structure of affects’ . . . and a social
absent’. They argue that ‘any thesis of the dis- system; it was a unified working-out of meaning-
tinctiveness or the indispensability of the con- and-structure. [Elias] shows, in a set of very
cept of figuration in making Figurational detailed studies ... just how impossible it is to split
Sociology’s contribution possible must be chal- or disentangle the meaning-and-structure pair if
lenged’ and they assert that there is little dif- one seriously wishes to understand either.
ference between the concept of figuration and Bauman (1979: 121) similarly argued that, in
the more traditional sociological concepts of The Civilizing Process, Elias demonstrated:
‘pattern’ and ‘situation’.
In order to evaluate this criticism, it is neces- with merciless logic and overwhelming empirical
sary to understand why Elias rejected these evidence, that long term changes in what is nor-
more conventional sociological concepts. As we mally classified as ‘personality structure’ and in
saw earlier, a central aspect of Elias’s sociology what is normally considered under a separate
involved the attempt to conceptualize social heading of ‘socio-political structure’ were aspects
processes in a way that did not perpetuate tra- of the same historical process; not only inter-
ditional and unhelpful dichotomies such as twined, but mutually instrumental in each other’s
those between the individual and society, or occurrence.
structure and change. In relation to the latter,
Rojek (1992: 15) suggests that the concepts of A second general criticism of the figurational
pattern and situation both have rather static approach relates to its alleged ‘functionalism’.
connotations and that neither of them conveys For example, Horne and Jary (1987: 88–9) sug-
‘the mobile, unfinished qualities of human rela- gest that the concept of figurations refers to
tions as unequivocally as the concept of figura- ‘chains of functions’ and argue that figura-
tion’. Bauman (1979: 119) similarly concludes: tional sociology ‘retains roots in functionalist
sociology, particularly the functionalism of
The ‘figuration’ approach could – and should –
Durkheim’. Later they argue that figurational
incorporate change, open-endedness, multiplicity
sociology is premised on an explicit or implicit
of chances, essential unpredictability of outcome,
reference to ‘societal needs’ and ‘functional
fluidity of any current pattern of interdependen-
requirements’, and further suggest that some
cies, into the very description of all historically
observers have wanted to locate figurational
generated social totalities. Figuration cannot
sociology clearly in the ranks of the ‘social
help but being at the same time stable ... and
order’ and ‘social control’ sociologies, since
dynamic ...; figurations, as a matter of fact, negate
leisure is seen as performing ‘compensatory’
and transcend the very opposition between stabil-
functions (1987: 100).
ity and change.
How valid are these criticisms? Elias cer-
The concept of figuration also helps us, tainly uses the term ‘function’ in his work,
in similar fashion, to move away from the though this hardly indicates that his work is
individual/society dichotomy. Thus, Bauman functionalist, for the concept of function has –
(1979: 118–19) has pointed out that the concept unfortunately in the view of the present writ-
of figuration is a ‘two-edged sword’, with one ers – been incorporated into mainstream soci-
edge aimed effectively against individualistic ology and is now widely used by sociologists
explanations of social processes, and the other representing a variety of perspectives. We
edge aimed at reifying concepts such as ‘social might note here that Horne and Jary them-
system’. Turner (1985: 159–60) makes a similar selves called for study of the ‘contested func-
point, noting that the concept of figuration is a tions of sport’ (1987: 100), though it would be
means of avoiding both ‘methodological indi- foolish to suggest that they are therefore func-
vidualism and the reification of sociological tionalists. More specifically, in relation to their
categories by concentrating on the webs of suggestion that figurational sociology should
interdependence (“figurations”) between be located in the ranks of functionalist ‘social
people and the power balances which charac- order’ and ‘social control’ sociologies, it should
terise these webs’. be noted that Elias himself criticized precisely
That Elias did offer a more useful conceptu- this aspect of structural-functionalism. He
alization of the individual–society relationship argued:
is suggested by some of the responses to The
the concept of ‘function’ as it has been used ...
Civilizing Process. Abrams (1982: 231–2), for
especially by ‘structural-functionalist’ theorists, is
example, has written that:
not only based on an inadequate analysis of
The civilizing process . . . was . . . simultaneously the subject matter to which it relates, but also con-
and symbiotically a way of life for individuals, a tains an inappropriate value judgement which,
 FIGURATIONAL SOCIOLOGY AND SPORT 101

moreover, is made explicit in neither interpretation All these criticisms have in common the idea
nor use. The inappropriateness of the evaluation is that Elias’s theory of civilizing processes is a
due to the fact that they tend – unintentionally – to theory of a continuous and ‘progressive’ trend
use the terms for those tasks performed by one towards ever-more civilized standards of con-
part of the society which are ‘good’ for the ‘whole’, duct in relation to the control of aggression. It
because they contribute to the preservation and is, however, difficult to sustain this criticism by
integrity of the existing social system. Human reference to Elias’s work, for Elias indicated
activities which either fail or appear to fail to do many times that European societies have expe-
that are therefore branded as ‘dysfunctional’. It is rienced decivilizing phases of varying inten-
plain that at this point social beliefs have become sity and varying duration. For example, he
mixed up in scientific theory. (1978b: 77) wrote (1982: 251) that the civilizing process
‘moves along in a long sequence of spurts and
Rojek points out that figurational sociolo- counter spurts’ and pointed out that:
gists do not, as Horne and Jary suggest, ‘see
compensatory functions in sport and leisure this movement of society and civilization certainly
everywhere’, and neither do they, like many does not follow a straight line. Within the overall
functionalists, ‘resolutely ignore conflict and movement there are repeatedly greater or lesser
contradiction’; indeed, he suggests that the counter-movements in which the contrasts in
work of Dunning et al. on football hooliganism society and the fluctuations in the behaviour of
in Britain ‘can hardly be taken as a paean to the individuals, their affective outbreaks, increase
power of sport to enhance harmony or stability again. (1982: 253)
in society’ (Rojek, 1992: 23). As Rojek (1992: 21) has noted, one can hardly
In conclusion, the critics have not effectively take statements of this kind ‘as a sign of enthu-
sustained their argument that figurational siasm for evolutionary doctrine’.
sociology is functionalist, though we might Moreover, Elias has written at length on the
note that the influence of the then popular non- de-civilizing processes associated with the rise
Parsonian functionalism was certainly evident of Nazism in Germany. Elias made a contribu-
in some very early work by Dunning (for tion to understanding this phenomenon in his
example, Dunning, 1967), though it is much paper ‘Civilization and violence’ (1982/3) and,
less evident in his later work. at considerably greater length, in his Studien
über die Deutschen (1989), now made available
Criticisms of the Theory in English as The Germans (1996). Elias, whose
of Civilizing Processes mother died in Auschwitz, says that the book
‘originated in the attempt to make understand-
The most frequently made criticism of Elias’s able, to myself and anyone who is prepared to
The Civilizing Process is that it is a form of listen, how the rise of National Socialism came
‘latent evolutionism’ (Horne and Jary, 1987: about, and thus also the war, concentration
101). Curtis, for example, writes of Elias’s camps and the breaking apart of the earlier
‘assumption of more or less unilinear evolu- Germany into two states’. The core of the book
tion’ and he continues: was ‘an attempt to tease out developments in
the German national habitus which made
Does not the record of aggression and violence in possible the de-civilizing spurt of the Hitler
this century put the lie to this linear view, at least epoch’ (Elias, 1996: 1). It is all but impossible
with respect to the increased internalization of to imagine how anyone could interpret such
controls on violence? While reading The Civilizing a statement as being indicative of a commit-
Process, I could not help thinking of all the con- ment to a theory of unilinear ‘progress’. We
trary evidence . . . from the past few years: the concur with Rojek’s conclusion that, ‘having
slaughter of Jews in Nazi Germany; the devasta- considered the evidence, the criticism of evolu-
tion laid on people in Dresden; the annihilation tionism ... is not warranted. Demonstrably, the
provided the people of Hiroshima; . . . to name but theory of the civilizing process allows for
a very few. How do we reconcile these events with counter-civilizing as well as civilizing move-
a notion that people are moving toward a pinnacle ments’ (Rojek, 1992: 22).
in self-restraint of aggression? (Curtis, 1986: 59–60)

Newman (1986: 322) has similarly referred to Criticisms of the Figurational

what he calls ‘Elias’s notion of the ever- Sociology of Sport
civilizing trend of social life’ whilst Taylor
(1987: 176) writes of ‘the evolutionary and Writing from a position which is broadly sym-
idealist social theory of Norbert Elias’. pathetic to figurational sociology, Stokvis (1992)
102 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

has offered one specific and one general experience of non-violent competition between
criticism of the work of Elias and Dunning. The opposing parties in Parliament had anything
specific criticism relates to Elias’s work on the to do with the development of the typically
development of fox hunting in England, while English way of fox hunting’ (1992: 124–5). He
the more general criticism concerns what suggests that Elias’s misconception about the
Stokvis argues is too narrow a concentration origins of English fox hunting arose, in part,
on matters of violence and its control in the from his reliance on a limited number of con-
work of figurational sociologists. temporary sources. Elias certainly bases his
Elias (1986) discussed the development of study on limited sources and Stokvis offers a
fox hunting in England in terms of the theory clear, cogent and telling critique of Elias’s work.
of civilizing processes. He noted that, charac- More generally, Stokvis argues that what
teristic of the form of fox hunting that devel- he sees as figurational sociologists’ over-
oped from the eighteenth century onwards concentration on violence and its control has
was a restriction on the use of violence. For led to the neglect of what he considers to be
example, the hunters were unarmed and were more important areas for research such as the
required from the eighteenth century onwards formal organization and standardization of
to kill foxes not directly, but ‘by proxy’, that is, sport, its diffusion in national societies and
through the hounds. Elias argued that the throughout the world and its professionaliza-
development of these less violent forms of tion and commercialization. He suggests that
hunting took place in conjunction with the figurational sociologists have focused nar-
‘parliamentarization of political conflict’, for, rowly on the restriction of the level of tolerated
as the cycle of violence which had character- violence with the result that ‘what is only one
ized English society in the seventeenth century aspect in the development of some modern
began to wane, a more civilized ruling class sports is considered the defining characteristic
began to emerge which developed less violent of modern sports in general’ (Stokvis, 1992:
ways of behaving in both the political and the 131). He adds: ‘the basic distinguishing charac-
leisure spheres. The leisure side of this process, teristic of modern sports is their international
like the political side, involved what Elias organization and standardization and not, as
called a ‘civilizing spurt’, one aspect of which Elias suggests, the relatively low level of toler-
involved the development of less violent ways ated violence’ (1992: 134). Stokvis suggests that
of hunting. while one must take account of changes in the
However, Stokvis argues that the more civi- levels of socially permitted violence within
lized traits in fox hunting to which Elias refers sport, ‘the rise of modern sports should, how-
developed first in France during the rise of the ever, primarily be interpreted as another mani-
absolute monarchy, independently of any form festation of the increase in the scale and
of parliamentarization. He notes that the complexity of social life’ (1992: 127).
‘chasse par force’ which developed in France Stokvis’s criticism implies, quite wrongly in
during the sixteenth century involved a move our view, that figurational sociologists have
away from the earlier crude slaughtering of the explained changes in socially permitted levels
quarry and that the violence involved in the of violence without reference to other aspects
killing ‘was reduced to a minimum’ (Stokvis, of the development of modern sport. For
1992: 123). Stokvis notes that this French style example, in their analysis of the structural
of hunting was diffused to England during the properties of folk games and modern sports,
reign of James I (1603–25), this diffusion taking Dunning and Sheard (1979: 33–4) list 15 char-
place in much the same way as English sports acteristics in terms of which one can differenti-
were diffused to other countries some cen- ate between folk games and modern sports,
turies later. Thus, in the seventeenth century, only one of which relates specifically to levels
France became the dominant power in Europe of socially tolerated violence, with the other
and the manners of the French elite became a characteristics including reference to many
prestigious model to be followed by the elites aspects of the informal and formal organiza-
of neighbouring countries. tion of folk games and modern sports. They
The interest of the English gentry and aris- point out, for example, that folk games were
tocracy in the French way of hunting during characterized by a diffuse, informal organiza-
the reign of James I demonstrates, suggests tion which was largely implicit in the local
Stokvis, ‘that they had already acquired a taste social structure, whereas modern sports are
for pastimes in which the level of violence was characterized by highly specific, formal organi-
relatively restrained before parliament zations which are institutionally differentiated
acquired its leading role in politics’, and he at the local, regional, national and inter-
argues that ‘there is no indication that the national levels. They also point out that folk
 FIGURATIONAL SOCIOLOGY AND SPORT 103

games involved regional variations in the rules gender relations which was accidentally
whereas modern sports are characterized by destroyed and all that remains is a recon-
national and international standardization of structed journal article (Elias, 1987b). Other fig-
rules. If we locate Dunning and Sheard’s urational sociologists have also written on
analysis of differences in socially tolerated lev- aspects of gender relationships within sport
els of violence within the context of their much (Dunning, 1986b, 1990b; Sheard and Dunning,
broader analysis of modern sports we see that 1973; Waddington et al., 1998). There have also
they do indeed address many of the very been two recent and interesting attempts to
issues which Stokvis identifies as ‘more impor- examine the relationship between figurational
tant areas’ for research. sociology and feminist approaches with a view
The final criticism – that figurational sociol- to possible synthesis (Colwell, 1999; Maguire
ogists have neglected gender issues – has been and Mansfield, 1998). Notwithstanding these
forcefully made by Jennifer Hargreaves (1992). recent developments, however, there has been a
Hargreaves (1992: 163) writes of Elias and relative neglect of such issues, and to this degree
Dunning’s Quest for Excitement: the charge is substantiated; indeed, Dunning
has accepted that ‘we have in the past been too
with the exception of a section about fox hunting, silent on questions of gender’ (1992b: 255).
in which a limited number of upper-class women However, we believe that Hargreaves has
would have actively participated, the book is exclu- misunderstood what is involved in the concepts
sively about male sports and shared traditions. The of involvement and detachment, and that there
cover signals its contents: it shows a boxing match is nothing in the methodology of figurational
with one man knocking another out of the ring, a sociology which militates against the system-
male referee and an all-male audience. Turn inside atic study of gender. The emphasis in figura-
and there is an all-male crowd celebrating a foot- tional sociology on studying phenomena in a
ball triumph . . . Elias ignores the traditions of relatively detached way does not involve,
women in sport and also the ways in which either explicitly or implicitly, a celebration of
women, however unobviously, were integral to male sport but neither does it imply that, as
dominantly male cultures. sociologists, we should celebrate female sport;
rather, it involves the idea that our primary
This neglect of gender issues, she argues, is not task is to develop sociologically more adequate
accidental but grows out of the methodology explanations of the structure of sport.
of figurational sociology. Figurational sociolo- Figurational sociologists simply claim that, in
gists’ stress on the need to study phenomena in so far as we are able to examine social processes
a relatively detached manner results, she sug- in a relatively detached way, we are likely to
gests, not in ‘objective’ knowledge, but in an generate more adequate explanations than
uncritical acceptance of gender inequalities in are those who, for one reason or another, are
sport: unable to develop such a degree of detach-
it is not an accident that all figurational sports soci- ment. We believe this is a reasonable claim
ology has been written by men about male sports that most sociologists would share. We also
and, in contradiction to Dunning’s claim, such a believe that relatively adequate explanations of
position represents an alignment with the ‘domi- this kind will provide a more secure basis for
nant values and modes of thinking of Western action designed to overcome existing gender
societies’. Because it claims to be objective and inequalities.
uncritical, in a subtle but fundamental manner it is
supporting the popular idea that sport is more
NOTES
suited to men than to women and represents a cel-
ebration of male bonding and male sport.
(Hargreaves, 1992: 165) 1 For a detailed biography and analysis of
Elias’s work, see S. Mennell (1989).
Hargreaves’s charge is thus not merely 2 Although Brookes chose to exclude all
that figurational sociologists have neglected direct references to sociological theory in
gender issues, but that their emphasis on his book, his PhD thesis, from which the
detachment leads them to accept prevailing book was taken, drew explicitly on Eliasian
male-dominated ideologies about sport. To theory.
what extent are these charges valid? 3 When studying the Greek city-states one is
It is certainly the case that figurational sociol- dealing with a vast period of human
ogists have, for the most part, neglected gender history. We would tentatively suggest that
issues, though they have not ignored them alto- there is some evidence which points to the
gether. Elias wrote a book-length manuscript on existence of a civilizing process in this era.
104 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

The principal indication of the presence of Curtis, J. (1986) ‘Isn’t it difficult to support some
this process is the growing power of politi- of the notions of “The Civilizing Process”?
cal groupings over the military. We are, of A response to Dunning’, in C.R. Rees and
course, not proposing that such a process – A.W. Miracle (eds), Sport and Social Theory.
were it to be shown to have occurred – Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. pp. 57–65.
would have been unilinear in character. Dunning, E. (1967) ‘Notes on some conceptual and
Like Western European civilizing processes, theoretical problems in the sociology of sport’,
we would anticipate that it is likely to have International Review of Sport Sociology, 2: 143–53.
been uneven and prone to reversals. Dunning, E. (1971) The Sociology of Sport. London:
4 For example: ‘Western societies were act- Frank Cass.
ing, as it were, as a form of upper class or Dunning, E. (1986a) ‘Social bonding and violence in
established group on a world level’ (Jarvie sport’, in N. Elias and E. Dunning, Quest for
and Maguire, 1994: 149). The reification Excitement: Sport and Leisure in the Civilizing
here consists in the treatment of the collec- Process. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. pp. 224–44.
tive plural noun ‘Western societies’ as an Dunning, E. (1986b) ‘Sport as a male preserve: notes
entity that could act. The point that Jarvie on the social sources of masculine identity and its
and Maguire are making is, of course, taken transformations’, in N. Elias and E. Dunning, Quest
from Elias. However, his formulation for Excitement: Sport and Leisure in the Civilizing
avoids reification. It is: ‘From Western Process. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. pp. 267–83.
society — as a kind of upper class — Dunning, E. (1990a) ‘Sociological reflections on
Western “civilized” patterns of conduct are sport, violence and civilization’, International
today spreading over wide areas outside Review for the Sociology of Sport, 25 (1): 65–82.
the West, . . .’ (Elias, 1982: 253). Dunning, E. (1990b) ‘Sport and gender in a patriar-
5 The concept of ‘time–space compression’, it chal society’. Paper delivered at the World
might be noted, is not specifically Eliasian Congress of Sociology, Madrid.
and in some respects is misleading. It is not Dunning, E. (1992a) ‘“Culture”, “Civilization” and
that time ‘speeds up’ or that space ‘shrinks’, the Sociology of Sport’, Innovation, 5 (4): 7–18.
but that people are able to travel and com- Dunning, E. (1992b) ‘Figurational sociology and the
municate faster and over greater distances sociology of sport: some concluding remarks’, in
than used to be the case. For a figurational E. Dunning and C. Rojek (eds), Sport and Leisure in
approach to the significance of time, see the Civilizing Process: Critique and Counter-Critique.
Elias (1992) and Dunning (1994, 1999). Basingstoke: Macmillan. pp. 221–84.
Dunning, E. (1994) ‘Sport in space and time: “civiliz-
ing processes”, trajectories of state-formation and
the development of modern sport’, International
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 7
POSTING UP: FRENCH POST-STRUCTURALISM
AND THE CRITICAL ANALYSIS
OF CONTEMPORARY SPORTING CULTURE

David L. Andrews

In varying ways, then, the post-structuralists show ‘rational organization of everyday social life’
the tensions within seeming truths, the difficulties (Habermas, 1981: 9) – post-structuralism
involved even in seemingly ordinary understand- emerged as a loosely aligned series of philo-
ings, the constant effort of construction involved sophical, political and theoretical rejoinders to
in accepted truths, as well as the constant ten- the unrest and turbulence that engulfed mod-
dency of those truths to break down and reveal ernizing France during the late 1960s and early
their internal inconsistencies and aporias. 1970s. Thus, from its roots within the popular
(Calhoun, 1995: 113–14) responses to the perverse flowering of the
The Zeitgeist of the modern era was based on Enlightenment project in postwar France,
the Enlightenment assumption of the through its appropriation within North
inevitable progress and advancement of indi- American, British, Japanese and Australasian
viduals, and hence society, resulting from the intellectual cultures, the unifying element of
circulation of rational scientifically based post-structuralism’s varied strands has been
knowledges, technologies and institutions. To the generation of the type of knowledge that
many these foundations of modernity have would ameliorate the deindividualizing ratio-
conclusively failed to live up to their advanced nalities, and violent subject hierarchies, that
billing. According to Stuart Hall, ‘The troubled have come to characterize the dystopian condi-
thought surfaces that modernity’s triumphs tions of late modernity.
and successes are rooted, not simply in French post-structuralism’s extraordinary
progress and enlightenment, but also in vio- global diffusion is matched by its expansive
lence, oppression and exclusion, in the archaic, migration across intellectual domains. Origin-
the violent, the untransformed, the repressed ally the preserve of literary studies and criti-
aspects of social life’ (Hall, 1992a: 16). Rather cism, over the past 15 years post-structuralism
than alleviating the social divisions of the pre- has made its presence felt throughout the
Enlightenment, premodern age, the produc- (sub)disciplinary structure of the fragmenting
tion, circulation and institutionalization of social sciences and humanities. Indeed, as evi-
modern knowledges has merely exacerbated denced by its appearance in areas as diverse as
the separation between the informed and the African studies (Pouwels, 1992), education
ill-informed, the empowered and the disem- (Usher, 1989), family studies (Fish, 1993), geo-
powered, the exploiter and the exploited, the graphy (Lawson, 1995), health (Lupton, 1993),
haves and the have-nots. Given the incestuous Italian studies (Smith, 1994), rural studies
relationship between conventional social (Martin, 1995) and social history (Steinberg,
theorizing and the project of modernity – 1996), it is evident that post-structuralism has
most deleteriously manifest in the modern become a constituent feature of contemporary
search for objective and scientific analyses of intellectual life. Despite such academic ubiq-
human existence that would contribute to the uity, post-structuralism is only now beginning
 POST-STRUCTURALISM AND ANALYSIS OF SPORTING CULTURE 107

to make its presence felt within the sociology theorists, namely, Jacques Derrida, Michel
of sport. Indeed, until relatively recently post- Foucault and Jean Baudrillard. This list is nec-
structuralist-orientated research has been essarily short since the work of other post-
received with a perplexing mixture of defen- structuralists (such as Georges Bataille, Gilles
sive dismissal and haughty disdain by large Deleuze, Emmanuel Levinas, Jean-François
sections of the sociology of sport community. Lyotard) appears so infrequently, if at all,
While such sentiments persist among certain within the sociology of sport literature. In
circles within the internecine conflicts that addition, while it is tempting to include the
mark the sociology of sport’s intellectual mat- work of Pierre Bourdieu – who is of the same
uration, there are significant rumblings which generation of French intellectuals, and has
would suggest that post-structuralist texts are done important work on cultural (re)produc-
being read, and imaginatively appropriated, tion, much of which discusses sport (see
by a small group of scholars seeking to criti- Bourdieu, 1978, 1984, 1988) – his work will not
cally theorize the interplay between contempo- be discussed within this chapter. It is felt
rary sporting formations, language, power and Bourdieu’s project exhibits significantly differ-
subjectivity. ent intellectual antecedents and sensibilities to
As has long been established by advocates of those displayed by the post-structuralists iden-
contrasting theoretical frameworks (Brohm, tified herein. As Bourdieu himself stated:
1978; Dunning and Sheard, 1979; Gruneau,
If I had to characterize my work in a couple of
1988; Guttmann, 1978; Hargreaves, 1986;
words, that is, as is often done these days, to apply
Ingham, 1978), the appearance of contempo-
a label to it, I would talk of constructivist struc-
rary sport formations was inextricably bound
turalism or of structuralist constructivism, taking the
to the careering institutional and ideological
word structuralist in a sense very different from
‘juggernaut’ (Giddens, 1990) of modernity:
that given to it by the Saussurean or Lévi-
Sport, as we experience it, developed in response Straussian tradition. (Bourdieu, 1990: 123)
to and as part of the dynamics and practices asso-
Returning to what is discussed in this
ciated with modernity. . . . Sport is celebrated for its
chapter, the overviews of Derridean, Foucaul-
diversity, individuality, discipline, order, and soli-
dian and Baudrillardian theorizing will pro-
darity: as a mythic practice, sport is understood as
vide a necessarily brief summary of their
a democratic and meritocratic site in which indi-
respective post-structuralist approaches, and
viduals compete. (Cole, 1995: 228)
highlight the noteworthy studies which – to
Taking into consideration its preoccupation varying degrees – have appropriated these
with the constitution and crisis of modernity, theories as a means of, and framework for,
post-structuralism represents a legitimate interrogating particular aspects of contempo-
alternative to the more established theoretical rary sport culture. The chapter concludes by
schools within the sociology of sport (see offering some future directions for the bur-
Jarvie and Maguire, 1994) for those seeking to geoning relationship between post-structural-
examine the nature and influence of modern ist theory and the sociology of sport.
sport discourses, practices and institutions. As Far from being a definitive statement –
well as expressing modernity’s individualistic, something hardly appropriate in any post-
rational and instrumental impulses, the forma- structuralist orientated discussion – this
tions and discourses of modern sport simulta- chapter is intended to stimulate the all-
neously embody the de-individualizing important, and as of yet not fully realized, goal
rationalities, and violent subject hierarchies, of critically engaging and evaluating the
that characterize the unravelling modern con- philosophical, epistemological and ontological
dition. Paraphrasing Featherstone (1985), post- significance of post-structuralism for the soci-
structuralism thus allows us to expose the dark ology of sport. In reference to the uncritical
side of sporting modernity by challenging the adoption of contemporary French social and
ethos of rational human progress embodied by – cultural philosophy by North American intel-
and within – modern sport culture. lectuals within an array of academic fields,
This chapter is intended to provide an Gottdiener has opined that such intellectual
overview of the growing body of post- trends occurred without rigorous discussion
structuralist informed scholarship within the ‘as if they [North American scholars] had
sociology of sport. Following a broad-based sprung, like Athena, full-blown from some
genealogy of the post-structuralist project, Gallic source of intrinsic truth’ (1995: 156). In
focused on its roots within French intellectual order for the global sociology of sport commu-
culture, this discussion concentrates on the nity to avoid falling foul of such accusations,
work of three pivotal French post-structuralist we are compelled to initiate an exacting debate
108 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

pertaining to the merits, or otherwise, of interpretation of post-Saussurean theory, but

post-structuralist theorizing as contributions to they also differ markedly with respect to their
our body of knowledge. More than a decade particular engagements with the modern pro-
ago, Kurzweil (1986: 113) announced that ject: whereas Derrida deconstructed the philo-
Derrida ‘is no longer discussed in Paris’, and sophical foundations of modernity, Foucault
since there has long been talk of a post- excavated modern disciplinary knowledges
post-structuralism (Brantlinger, 1992; Johnson, and institutions, and Baudrillard effectively
1987), to many this call to evaluate post- announced the end of modernity. In this man-
structuralism would seem a passé project in the ner, post-structuralism incorporates theorizing
extreme. Nevertheless, we cannot, and indeed that respectively asserts that the modern pro-
should not, feel any guilt or embarrassment for ject either should be in, is presently in, or has
not having fully worked through this task. At been deposed by, a state of terminal crisis. The
the present time, what we should be conscious focus of post-structuralism would thus appear
of is recognizing the need to rigorously engage to oscillate between modern, late modern and
post-structuralist thought before we either indeed postmodern conjunctures. Any uncriti-
blithely relegate it to some intellectual waste- cal conflation of post-structuralism and post-
land, or blindly appropriate it as the next theo- modernism would therefore appear to be
retical nirvana for the sociology of sport. misleading, inaccurate and thereby ill-advised.
It is a well-rehearsed dictum that French
post-structuralism sprang forth during the late
A GENEALOGY OF THE DISCURSIVE 1960s and early 1970s as both a political
response to particular historical circumstances,
POST-STRUCTURALIST SUBJECT and as a counter to the interpretive inadequa-
cies of prevailing social doctrines. Regardless
of the veracity of this assertion, if we are to
Overwhelmingly, the direction of post-structuralist
truly engage both the complexities and vagaries
thought has been to emphasize the ‘constituted’
of post-structuralism, we are implored – albeit
nature of the subject – not merely aspects of the
briefly – to revisit the context of modernizing
subject ... but the very constitution of subjectivity
France, which spawned this ‘post-Marxian,
per se. In locating this process of constitution at the
postcommunist Left standpoint’ (Seidman,
level of language structure and acquisition, post-
1994: 201). Failing to do so would make
structuralist theory indicates both the inevitability
us liable to the charges of indiscriminate theo-
of experiencing ‘subject-ness’ and also its unavoid-
retical pillaging (Bannet, 1989) that, within
able emptiness. (Macdonald, 1991: 49)
wider academic circles, has characterized
Before delving any further into the post- much research aligned under the post-
structuralist morass it should be noted that structuralist banner. This dubious practice is
some commentators use ‘post-structuralism’ especially troublesome when researchers
and ‘postmodernism’ interchangeably. Others appropriate particular theoretical discourses
acknowledge their interchangeable nature, yet and concepts without fully acknowledging, or
choose to use derivatives of the more seductive perhaps even recognizing, the social, political,
term postmodern as an umbrella term for both economic, technological and philosophical
(see Firat and Venkatesh, 1995; Grenz, 1996; contexts which fashioned them, and which are
Rosenau, 1992). This chapter studiously coun- necessarily implicated in their use. In mitigat-
ters this trend. It is my contention that post- ing against such a potentially debilitating ten-
structuralism’s distinct intellectual lineage, dency within the sociology of sport, this
and focus, render it too important to be sub- section contextualizes the post-structuralist
sumed under the broad and ambiguous banner project, and provides the foundation for the
of postmodernism. Although postmodern to more detailed discussions of the work of
the extent that they uniformly repudiate mod- Derrida, Foucault and Baudrillard which fol-
ern notions of the centred subject, and related lows. More simply expressed, as one commen-
claims to the existence of universal objective tator noted, it is important not to overlook the
truths (Ashley, 1994), post-structuralists clearly ‘Frenchness of French philosophy’ (Matthews,
differ in the extent to which they engage – or 1996: 1–13).
even acknowledge the existence of – the well- As with the Enlightenment movement in
rehearsed manifestations of the postmodern eighteenth-century Europe – vanguarded as it
condition (see Connor, 1989; Featherstone, was by French philosophes such as Voltaire,
1991; McRobbie, 1994). Post-structuralists are Diderot and Rousseau – the vibrancy and
linked by their mutual concern with radically dynamism of French intellectual culture in
problematizing modernity, utilizing their own the post-Second World War era played a
 POST-STRUCTURALISM AND ANALYSIS OF SPORTING CULTURE 109

significant role in the advancement of Existentialism

post-Enlightenment social philosophies. The
attendant social, political, economic and In order to chart – in a genealogical fashion –
technological modernization that followed the trajectories of postempiricist social theoriz-
France’s liberation from Nazi occupation ing, one is implored to briefly return to the rise
wrought profound changes in the constitution of French existentialism within the late 1940s
and experience of everyday French life (Rigby, and early 1950s. The flowering of existential-
1991). In order to account for these radical ism has been linked to the heroism of the
transformations which neutered the relevance French resistance movement which dominated
of existing social philosophies, ‘New social the national popular imagination in the imme-
theories emerged to articulate the sense of diate postwar era. French public culture enthu-
dynamic change experienced by many in post- siastically embraced the heroes and heroines of
war France, analysing the new forms of mass the resistance as selfless individuals who suc-
culture, the consumer society, technology, and cessfully challenged the violence and oppres-
modernized urbanization’ (Best and Kellner, sion imposed by the fascist totalitarianism of
1991: 17). These social philosophies, emanating the occupying Nazis. These underground vol-
from the intense ferment of postwar French unteers, willing to sacrifice their lives in the
intellectual culture, could be collectively cause of French freedom, became an important
labelled postempiricist to the extent that they source of postwar collective pride and identity.
countered the dominant positivist empiricism, French intellectual culture could hardly be
which asserted that knowledge can only be divorced from the ‘heroic ethos of the war
gleaned from that which can be experienced, resistance’ (Seidman, 1994: 199). Thus, within
and thereby verified, through sensory percep- this context, existentialism’s celebration of the
tion (Hamilton, 1992). It should be stressed, autonomous subject came to the fore as a criti-
however, that ‘The unity defined by the very cal response to the de-individualizing tenden-
term postempiricist is defined by a shared oppo- cies of both logical positivism, and Cartesian
sition to positivism, rather than a settled agree- speculative philosophy:
ment about the alternative’ (Morrow, 1994: 75).
In philosophy, especially since the end of the war,
The Enlightenment rational humanism that
we have witnessed a general reaction against the
underpinned the mastery of the human
systematizing mind, and perhaps even against
sciences in the eighteenth and nineteenth cen-
science itself. It is probably because the passion for
turies provided the dominant stratagem for
final and totalitarian truths has become so perva-
interpreting the structure and experience of
sive that the individual, threatened by the general-
modernity during the early and middle
ity and abstraction which are shutting him in, is
twentieth century. Nevertheless, existentialism
fighting a fight of the last hour against his imminent
in the 1940s, structuralism in the 1960s, and
drowning in universal laws. (Campbell, 1968: 137)
post-structuralism in the 1970s, sequentially
developed as competing, and oftentimes con- Descombes described postwar French exis-
tradictory, postempiricist responses to what tentialists such as Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de
Halton (1995) described as the ‘unbearable Beauvoir and Maurice Merleau-Ponty, as the
enlightenment of [modern] being’. Although in generation ‘of the three H’s’ (1980: 2), because
very differing ways, existentialism, structural- both the phenomenological and Marxist
ism and post-structuralism all represent strands of existentialism were profoundly
important epistemological and ontological informed by varied appropriations of Hegelian
challenges to the modern hegemony of the lib- dialectics, Husserlian phenomenology and
eral humanist subject, which uncritically Heideggerian hermeneutics (Descombes, 1980:
placed ‘man [sic] at the centre of history’ and 9–74; Morrow, 1994: 121–3). Although far from
made ‘him the privileged creator of meaning’ a unified philosophical doctrine – indeed,
(Kearney, 1987: 119). Hence, from one vantage Macquarrie preferred to view existentialism as
point, this section is centrally concerned with a philosophical style – there do exist some iden-
highlighting the changing understandings of tifying tenets of existential philosophy which
the human subject and subjectivity in postwar Macquarrie characterized as ‘family resem-
French social thought, each of which offered blances’ (1972: 18). Uppermost amongst these
contrasting explanations for the derivation of unifying traits stands the existential notion of
‘the conscious and unconscious thoughts and the human subject as agent, which clearly
emotions of the individual, her [sic] sense of counters the domineering presence of the
herself and her ways of understanding the Cartesian self as a thinking subject within
world’ (Weedon, 1997: 32). Western philosophy (Macmurray, 1957).
Existential ontology argues that human
110 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

existence cannot be reduced to Descartes’s the rapid industrialization, urbanization,

cogito ergo sum, rather it is prefigured on the commercialization and centralized bureaucra-
understanding of a potentially absurd uni- tization of French society – with the goal of
verse, populated by isolated individuals who engineering France’s belated re-emergence as a
are solely responsible for the creation of their global power to rival the United States and the
own conscience, consciousness, actions and Soviet Union. Although failing to reassert the
thereby existence. According to Sartre: world significance France had enjoyed during
much of the nineteenth century, by the end of
We mean that man first of all exists, encounters
the 1950s, de Gaulle’s policies had wrought
himself, surges up in the world – and defines him-
substantial changes in the experience of every-
self afterwards. If man, as the existentialist sees
day French life (Rigby, 1991). As Ardagh
him, is not definable, it is because to begin with he
recorded:
is nothing. He will not be anything until later,
and then he will be what he makes of himself. France went through a spectacular renewal. A
(1956: 290) stagnant economy turned into one of the world’s
In a political sense, this condition of radical most dynamic and successful, as material modern-
voluntarism necessitates that individuals ization moved along at a hectic pace and an agri-
become responsible for their involvement in, culture-based society became mainly an urban and
and the stance they take toward, the world in industrial one. Prosperity soared, bringing with it
which they exist (Cooper, 1990: viii). changes in lifestyles, and throwing up some
Without question existentialism reached strange conflicts between rooted French habits and
deep into the recesses of postwar popular new modes. (Ardagh, 1982: 13)
existence. Primarily through the work of Jack It is perhaps too simplistic to attribute the
Kerouac, existentialism was vaunted as a de ascent of structuralism solely to the birth of a
rigueur intellectual accessory for the near- French technocratic and neocapitalist state
mythic Beat generation, and the sizeable (Bannet, 1989). Nevertheless it would be fool-
cohort of predominantly young and middle- ish to think there were no connection whatso-
class, angst-ridden, black-enrobed disciples ever. Certainly, there would appear to exist a
on both sides of the Atlantic (for a lighthearted homologous relationship between de Gaulle’s
synopsis of the relationship between existen- modern French technocracy, and structural-
tialism and popular culture see Thorne, 1993: ism’s highly rationalized and scientific goal of
220–1, 73–4). However, as with any popular constructing predictive models pertaining to
movement, existentialism’s ascendance within the order and coherence of human existence
the academy proved to be considerably less (Seidman, 1994).
enduring. As befits the irrational process of The man widely thought responsible for
epistemic evolution (Kuhn, 1970), in true bringing ‘structuralism from the quiet halls of
adversarial fashion, structuralism surfaced linguistic faculties to the cacophony of the
as an attempt to wrestle the ‘role of the subject philosophical marketplace was the anthropolo-
in social thought’ away from existentialism’s gist Claude Lévi-Strauss’ (Poster, 1975: 307).
unscientific subjectivism (Poster, 1975: 306). Formed within his earlier works (Lévi-Strauss,
1961, 1967, 1969), the publication of Lévi-
Strauss’s The Savage Mind (1966b) in 1962
Structuralism marked the beginning of the era in which struc-
turalism dominated the French intellectual
Once again, it is important to broadly ‘recon- scene (Poster, 1975). Within the final chapter of
textualize’ (Bannet, 1989) the epistemological The Savage Mind (1966b), Lévi-Strauss engaged
and ontological shift from existentialism to in a rambling critique of Sartre’s brand of exis-
structuralism in relation to the broader tentialism, and explicated the ontological and
changes experienced within postwar France. epistemological foundations of a structuralism
While it continued to resonate with the French defined in explicit opposition to existentialism.
psyche, as the 1950s drew on, the cultural cen- Existentialism posited a voluntarist ontology
trality of the resistance movement became sub- based upon the centrality of human agency,
sumed under the weight of more immediate which Lévi-Strauss renounced for contributing
concerns. Similarly, the radical voluntarist nothing to the understanding of the nature of
subjectivity vaunted by existentialism became Being:
less germane to the changing experiences of
the French populace. The French leader, As for the trend of thought which was to find
General de Gaulle, had initiated an aggressive fulfillment in existentialism, it seemed to me to be
process of postwar modernization – based on the exact opposite of true thought, by reason of
 POST-STRUCTURALISM AND ANALYSIS OF SPORTING CULTURE 111

its indulgent attitude toward the illusions of described the difference and interrelationship
subjectivity. To promote private preoccupations to between the two intimately united elements of
the rank of philosophical problems is dangerous the linguistic sign – the signifier (the visual
and may end in a kind of shop-girl’s philosophy . . . mark, acoustic expression, or sound-image
[which disrupts the mission of philosophy as of the sign) and the signified (the concept or
being] . . . to understand Being in relation to mental image associated with the sign) – as an
itself, and not in relation to oneself. (Lévi-Strauss, ‘opposition that separates them from each
1961: 62) other and for the whole which they are parts’
(Saussure, 1959: 67).
In shifting the nexus of ontological under- Perhaps Saussure’s most profound state-
standing from subject to structure, Lévi- ment, regarding furthering the understanding
Strauss favored a radical antihumanism that of language as a system of meaning, can be
dissolved or – to engage what became a gleaned from his assertion of the differential
(post)structuralist leitmotif – decentered the relation between signs through which meaning
human subject through the assertion of objec- is created, ‘Everything that has been said up to
tive, universal structures as the principal defin- this point boils down to this: in language there
ers of human existence. Lévi-Strauss honed are only differences ... The idea or phonic sub-
this structuralist understanding under the stance that a sign contains is of less importance
tutelage of the renowned phonologist Roman than the other signs which surround it’
Jakobson, whom he encountered at the New (Saussure, 1959: 120). Leading on from this
School in New York during his enforced exile insight, Saussure stressed the importance of
from the antisemitism which accompanied the binary oppositions (his example being father
Nazi occupation of France. Jakobson drew and mother), in as much as the ‘entire mecha-
Lévi-Strauss’s attention to the structural lin- nism of language ... is based on oppositions of
guistics of the turn-of-the-century Swiss this kind and on the phonic and conceptual
semiologist Ferdinand de Saussure, whose differences that they imply’ (Saussure, 1959:
posthumously assembled Course in General 121). Another of Saussure’s important dictates
Linguistics (Saussure, 1959) laid the ground- related to his understanding of linguistics cen-
work for the linguistic turn that spawned struc- tered on his assertion of the arbitrary nature of
turalism and post-structuralism. the sign. The sign can be considered arbitrary,
Saussure’s most important bequest to his because in almost all cases, there is no fixed or
theoretical heirs can be found in his repudia- natural unity between the signified and the
tion of the rationalist view of language as a signifier. The arbitrary linkage between the
natural mechanism of naming, based on the two elements of the sign is based not on some
existence of intrinsic and immutable links necessary and immutable connection, but
between words and material or imaginary rather ‘every means of expression used in a
objects. Instead of slavishly reflecting reality, society is based, in principle, on a collective
Saussure argued that language actively shaped norm – in other words, on convention’
human consciousness, and thereby informed (Saussure, 1959: 68). As Saussure pointed out,
the understanding, and experience, of material there is no preordained link between the letter
and imaginary worlds. In conceptualizing ‘t’ and the sound with which it has come to be
language as a social – rather than natural – associated (Saussure, 1959: 119). Moreover, the
phenomenon, Saussure stressed the difference sound-image, or word, ’tree’ (to cite another of
between la langue (the rules and depth struc- Saussure’s examples) is associated with the
ture of the language system) and la parole (the concept tree only because of the contingent
spoken product of individuals’ engagement conventions of the linguistic community in
with the language system). Or, as Sturrock put which the process of signification takes place.
it, ‘If langue is a structure then parole is an In conjunction with selective readings of
event’ (1986: 9). Saussure asserted that lan- Mauss, Durkheim and Jakobson, Saussure’s
guage had to be analysed synchronically, with ground-breaking insights provided the basis
particular regard to what were identified as for Lévi-Strauss’s structural anthropology
constant structural elements, as opposed to (1967), which revolved around the ‘systematic
adopting a diachronic focus on the historical search for unconscious universal mental
shifts in linguistic expression. This ahistoric structures’ (Kurzweil, 1986: 113). This ahistoric
synchronic approach to understanding the project involved applying Saussurean linguis-
structure of language revolved around the tics to the analysis of the myths, totems,
identification of the bifurcated constitution kinship patterns and exchange rituals of
of the sign as the primary mechanism of mean- numerous primitive societies (see Lévi-Strauss,
ing construction, or signification. Saussure 1961, 1966b, 1967):
112 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

He transposed the structuralist conceptions to the understandings of the modern subject as the
study of anthropological data, relying on the sign fully centered and unified subject, innately
as a central term. It was not simply an analysis of endowed with the capacity for reasoned
the transmission of signs which functions within thought and action. In asserting that the struc-
sociality, but also a matter of envisaging structures turalist subject is only constituted in, and
as symbolic systems, that is, the structural through, its relationship with language, Lévi-
arrangement as productive of meaning. (Coward Strauss, through Saussure – and in sharp con-
and Ellis, 1981: 155) trast to the overt humanism of Sartre’s radical
voluntarism – decentered the modern subject
From the findings of his own field research, by refuting any notion of agency in regard to
and from that of others, Lévi-Strauss asserted individuals’ ability to create their own mean-
that the structure of the human mind is directly ings of self and surroundings. According to
related to that of the linguistic and material Saussure, since linguistic convention only
expressions that frame social existence: all are exists ‘by virtue of a sort of contract signed by
based on a set of universal binary oppositions, the members of the community’, the creation
including those of nature/culture, life/death, of meaning becomes a ‘largely unconscious’
sacred/profane, light/darkness, raw/cooked, act (1959: 14, 72) in which the individual plays
male/female. Confounding the patronizing little more than a reproductive role. So, as
Eurocentrism of traditional anthropology, Coward and Ellis so succinctly expressed it,
Lévi-Strauss declared his findings were ‘Lévi-Strauss’s structuralism shows us that
equally applicable to modern societies. In other the human subject is not homogenous and in
words, according to Lévi-Strauss, there did control of himself, he is constructed by a struc-
exist a truly universal logic, and the varied lin- ture whose very existence escapes his gaze’
guistic and material articulations of particular (1981: 160).
cultural formations are simply the shifting per-
mutations and coalitions of the omnipresent
binary code. Post-Structuralism
Lévi-Strauss’s assertion that ‘everything in
culture, in society and in the mind is governed The events of May 1968 represent an important
by the same universal and unconscious struc- watershed in the political, economic, cultural,
tures’ (Bannet, 1989: 259) advanced structural- and intellectual history of postwar France.
ism as a legitimate scientific practice, involving Fermenting student dissatisfaction with the
the objective, rational and rigorous search for systemic inequities that dominated de Gaulle’s
predictive universal knowledge of the human repressive bureaucratic regime erupted from
condition. As Harland noted, ‘The Struc- the universities, and spread on to the streets of
turalists, in general, are concerned to know the Paris. The center of Paris thus became the site
[human] world – to uncover it through of mass demonstrations, and numerous violent
detailed observational analysis and to map it clashes between students and the police. As the
out under extended explicatory grids’ popular agitation escalated, the student
(Harland, 1987: 2). Structuralism decreed that movement found willing allies among, and
human existence could only be understood by forged strategic alliances with, both the trade
identifying the universal logics within the cul- unions and teachers’ organizations. This
tural systems of (language, ritual, myth) that broad-based anti-establishment coalition
gave expression to human experience, instead called a general strike on 13 May, which within
of by dissecting the individual articulations of days was heeded by a sizeable proportion of
such cultural systems. In this way, Lévi-Strauss France’s working population. The nation was
advanced the radical notion that ‘the ultimate thus brought to a complete standstill.
goal of the human sciences [is] not to con- Significantly, many of France’s professional
stitute, but to dissolve man [sic]’ (1966a: 247). élite – among them many actors, journalists,
Ironically, given its avowed ‘scientific preten- lawyers, physicians and musicians – also
sions’ (Best and Kellner, 1991: 20), structural- became actively involved in this popular
ism displayed less congruence with other unrest, by assisting in seizing control of the
edicts of Enlightenment thought; most notably cultural institutions – including television,
those linked to the nature of the human subject. radio, newspapers – through which knowl-
As Grenz noted in relation to Lévi-Strauss’s edge of current events was produced and cir-
structuralism, ‘it is not just the idea of the culated. Hence, ‘What began as incidents of
self that he rejects: he also rejects subjectivity’ student unrest escalated into a broad-based
(1996: 119). Lévi-Strauss clearly countered revolt against French capitalism, Catholicism,
the European humanism that undergirded and consumerism’ (Seidman, 1994: 200).
 POST-STRUCTURALISM AND ANALYSIS OF SPORTING CULTURE 113

Within weeks, de Gaulle’s government Nietzsche and Freud, to weave a systematic

engineered the collapse of the mass insurrec- and scathing critique of Lévi-Strauss’s work in
tion. Nevertheless, as well as creating a climate particular, which identified the need to go
of instability within the nation in general, the beyond, or post, structuralism.
whole demonstration of dissent stirred a senti- Before taking this discussion any further, it
ment that had been brewing for some time should be noted that the prefix ‘post’, and
amongst certain factions of the French cultural particularly its usage within the term post-
intelligentsia; namely, that structuralism’s structuralism, should not be interpreted as a
rigid and ahistorical scientism was an inade- comprehensive and conclusive repudiation of
quate theoretical framework for critically deci- structuralism. Rather, post-structuralism is
phering the complexities, contradictions and ‘not “post” in the sense of having killed
dynamism of life within modernizing France. structuralism off, it is “post” only in the
Moreover, the events of May 1968 demon- sense of coming after and of seeking to extend
strated the contingent and constructed nature structuralism in its rightful direction’
of knowledge, and its manifestations within (Sturrock, 1986: 137). Refining this point, it is
institutions and expressions of power. Within evident that post-structuralism builds upon
this highly politicized climate, structuralism’s structuralism’s Saussurean understanding and
focus on establishing universal rules of focus on the constitution of meaning, reality
linguistic and social order was viewed as and subjectivity within language. For this
virtual intellectual capitulation to, and thereby reason, Weedon makes the crucial point that in
reproduction of, the contemporary French ‘this sense all poststructuralism is post-
power structure. Structuralism’s newly found Saussurean’ (1997: 22). Instead of delving into
untenability thus provided the impetus for the the intricacies of particular post-structuralist
loose aggregation of a number of philosophi- theories (which after all is the focus of the sub-
cally and theoretically aligned French intellec- sequent section), this discussion will concern
tuals under the ‘amorphous’ (Denzin, 1991: 2) itself with providing a broad outline of the
banner of post-structuralism, whose unifying post-Saussurean, and for that matter post-
feature was the generation of politically Lévi-Straussian, nature of the post-structuralist
subversive knowledge concerned with identi- project.
fying and nurturing difference, disunity and Evidently, Derrida’s post-structuralist
disorder within the oppressive formations of proclamation, ‘There is nothing outside of the
(French) modernity. text [there is no outside text; il n’y a pas d’ hors
The intellectual journey of noted French texte]’ (Derrida, 1976: 158), is derived from
semiologist Roland Barthes, from his enthusi- Saussure’s recognition of the importance of
astic appropriation of Saussurean linguistics in discourse – in the Foucauldian (Foucault, 1974)
the classic Mythologies (1972) to his later focus sense of the term, subjectifying symbolic sys-
on the fragmented and subjective aspects of tems or productions of truth – in establishing
reading in works such as The Pleasure of the the meanings that individuals attribute to
Text (Barthes, 1975), provides a neat summa- themselves, others and their social surround-
tion of the shift from structuralism to post- ings. Harking back to the Saussurean roots of
structuralism. Barthes is also an interesting post-structuralism, Brown noted:
figure for sport sociologists since, as evidenced
Language, according to this perspective, does not
by his analyses of wrestling (1972: 15–25) and
reflect reality but actively constitutes it. The world,
the Tour de France (1979: 79–90), he was the
in other words, is not composed of meaningful
only French (post-)structuralist to discuss
entities to which language attaches names in a
sport in any sort of depth. Yet, in order to bet-
neutral and mimetic fashion. Language, rather, is
ter fathom structuralism’s metamorphosis into
involved in the construction of reality, the under-
post-structuralism, at this juncture it would
standings that are derived from it, the sense that is
be more instructive to turn to the profoundly
made of it. (1995: 291)
influential figure of Jacques Derrida. Accord-
ing to Docker (1994), post-structuralism’s Some critiques have misconstrued post-
‘formative text’ can be charted to a paper given structuralism’s linguistic focus as a denial of
in 1966 by Derrida entitled ‘Structure, sign and material existence itself. However, Derrida in
play in the discourse of the human sciences’ particular, and post-structuralists in general,
(Derrida, 1970). Within this noted ‘and by now are not advocates of a transcendental solipsism
fetishized’ (Radhakrishnan, 1990: 145) presen- laboring under the ‘absurd delusion’ that noth-
tation, Derrida was expected to introduce ing exists ‘outside the play of textual inscrip-
structuralism to the American academy. In the tion’ (Norris, 1987: 148–9). Since the meaning
event, he used influences from Heidegger, of the world is constituted through language, it
114 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

is not that there is nothing outside of the text, Another way of putting what we have just said is
rather post-structuralism is based on the that meaning is not immediately present in the
assumption that there is nothing meaningful sign. Since the meaning of a sign is a matter of
outside of the text. This is a crucial, if some- what the sign is not, its meaning is always in some
times conveniently overlooked, distinction. sense absent from it too. Meaning, if you like, is
Despite evident influences, post-structuralists scattered or dispersed along the whole chain of
differ from Saussure in that they deny the signifiers; it cannot be easily nailed down, it is
existence of any stable relationship between never fully present in any sign alone, but is rather
the signifier and the signified. According to a kind of constant flickering presence and absence
Saussure, although it is purely arbitrary, the together. Reading a text is more like tracing this
connection between signifiers and signifieds’ process of constant flickering than it is like count-
once established by the relatively inert conven- ing the beads on a necklace. (Eagleton, 1983: 128)
tions of the linguistic community, becomes vir- Within any sign there is the ‘“trace” of a now-
tually immediate, unitary and stable (Coward absent reality or a trace of its former connec-
and Ellis, 1981): ‘the statement that everything tions to other elements’ (Grenz, 1996: 145).
in language is negative is true only if the signi- Thus, it is the interplay between presence and
fied and the signifer are considered separately; absence invoked by the notion of the ‘trace’
when we consider the sign in its totality, we (Derrida, 1981) which explains how the signi-
have something that is positive in its own class’ fied is implicated in a never-ending chain of
(Saussure, 1959: 14, 120). Post-structuralist self-referential signifiers which leads to the
thought asserts the impossibility of a fixed perpetual deferral of meaning: the ‘indefinite
and stable relationship between signifier and referral of signifier to signifier ... gives the
signified, and hence points to the necessary signified meaning no respite ... it always signi-
instability of the process of signification. Once fies again’ (Derrida, 1978: 25). In order to
again, this refinement was prompted by demonstrate the always inadequate, incom-
Derrida’s seminal work. Foremost amongst plete nature of the signified, Derrida (1976)
post-structuralists, it was Derrida who demon- utilized the Heideggerian strategy of putting
strated Saussure’s failure to comprehend, or a cross through words, thereby indicating that
indeed develop, the full significance of his lin- their meaning is always sous rature (under
guistic theorizing (Sturrock, 1986). erasure).
Derrida highlighted the incomplete nature of The very impossibility of the ‘transcendental
Saussure’s understanding of difference signified’ – a single, stable and universal mean-
through his invention of the term différance. ing of a sign outside of language – ‘extends the
Whilst ‘neither a word nor a concept’, Derrida’s domain and the play of significations infi-
différance cleverly conflated the two meanings nitely’ (Derrida, 1978: 146). And yet, without
associated with the Latin verb differre (Derrida, wishing to detract from Derrida’s assertions
1982a: 7). It incorporated both the notion of to pointing to the emptiness and incompleteness
differ, ‘to be not identical, to be other, dis- of language, communication only works when
cernible, etc.’, and the concept of to defer, ‘to the meaning of a sign is at least temporarily
temporize, to take recourse ... a detour that sus- fixed, and furnished with a fleeting aura of
pends the accomplishment’ (Derrida, 1982a: 8). permanence. This points to post-structuralism’s
Evidently, Saussure’s notion of deriving mean- concern with the necessarily political nature of
ing from phonic and conceptual difference language, meaning and knowledge. According
leads Derrida to proclaim the necessary empti- to Seidman, ‘whenever a linguistic and social
ness of language (the sign). Denying the exis- order is said to be fixed or meanings are
tence of a fixed, immutable unity between assumed to be unambiguous and stable, this
signifiers and signifieds, Derrida viewed the should be understood as less a disclosure of
meaning of the signified as deriving from the truth than as an act of power’ (1994: 202). While
infinite ‘play of differences which are generated structuralism’s scientism initiated a search for
by signifiers which are themselves the product rational, objectively researched and universal
of those differences’ (Sarup, 1993: 44). The linguistic knowledge, post-structuralism’s
dynamism of the sign arises because ‘The play scepticism sought to unearth its irrational,
of differences supposes, in effect, syntheses and subjectively constructed and localized charac-
referrals which forbid at any moment, or in any ter. Thus, post-structuralism focused on illumi-
sense, that a simple element be present in and of nating:
itself, referring only to itself’ (Derrida, 1981:
26). Turning to Eagleton in order to clarify the tensions within seeming truths, the difficulties
and underline this pivotal aspect of post- involved even in seemingly ordinary understand-
structuralist thought: ings, the constant effort of construction involved
 POST-STRUCTURALISM AND ANALYSIS OF SPORTING CULTURE 115

in accepted truths, as well as the constant tendency discursive structures to define subjectivity and
of those truths to break down and reveal their experience, post-structuralism does involve a
internal inconsistencies and aporias. (Calhoun, sense of human agency, however overdeter-
1995: 113–14) mined (Cole, 1994). Such is the ‘psychological
and emotional force’ (Weedon, 1997: 31) of the
Recognizing the constructed and contingent subject positions embedded within popular dis-
nature of discursive formations (in simple course, that individuals routinely, and mistak-
terms, what Bannet (1989) described as systems enly, credit themselves as the authors of their
or regimes of interpretation) has had important discursively constructed subjectivities. Thus,
ramifications for the post-structuralist under- the individual unconsciously assumes itself to
standing of the human subject. According to be the source of the subjective meanings, and
post-structuralists, the human subject is far identities, of which it is merely an effect (Heath,
from being stable, unified and whole. Rather, 1981). Further emphasizing the contradictory
like the language through which it is consti- nature of existence, the individual is the subject
tuted, the subject is necessarily unstable, dis- of the multitudinous discursive formations
united and fragmented (Hall, 1992b). within late modernity, and subjected to these
While decentering the sovereign individual discursive regimes. For in shaping (or constitut-
(Locke, 1967) from its status as a ‘bounded ing) the individual’s view of itself and the social
entity pristine and separate unto itself’ world in which it is located, language provides
(Kondo, 1995: 96), structuralism’s universalism the interpretive framework for both enabling
inadvertently replicated the ‘humanist notion and constraining the individual’s experience of
of an unchanging human nature’ (Best and that world. Hence, by dint of its perpetual
Kellner, 1991: 20). Post-structuralism ‘radically reconstitution in, and through, late modernity’s
problematized’ (Grossberg and Nelson, 1988: shifting and multiple discursive formations,
7) structuralism’s implicit humanism, by post-structuralism pointedly proclaims the
advancing an understanding of the human precarious, constructed, contextual and proces-
subject as a dynamic and multi-accentual sual nature of the subject (Hall, 1990, 1996a;
entity constituted ‘within, not outside, dis- Weedon, 1997).
course ... produced in specific historical and
institutional sites within specific discursive
formations and practices, by specific enuncia- POST-SPORT: RECONFIGURING
tive strategies’ (Hall, 1996a: 4). As much as THE FOCUS OF THE SOCIOLOGY
people are invested in being seen to uphold the
modern myth of the essential, originary, fixed
OF SPORT
and guaranteed identity, the subject can more
accurately be described as a strategic and unsta- Post-structuralists offer new and challenging per-
ble point of identification, or suture, to the spectives on the history of Western societies.
conjuncturally specific forms of subjectivity, or Departing from liberal and Marxist social ideas
subject positions, constructed for us within which draw our attention to the economy, the
particular discursive contexts (Cole, 1993; Hall, state, organizational dynamics, and cultural
1990, 1995, 1996a; Kondo, 1995). As Hall elo- values, they center social analysis on processes
quently described, the process of identification relating to the body, sexuality, identity, con-
through which the subject is constructed is a sumerism, medical-scientific discourses, the social
strategic ‘“production”, which is never com- role of the human sciences, and disciplinary tech-
plete, always in process, and always consti- nologies of control. (Seidman, 1994: 229)
tuted within, not outside, representation’
(Hall, 1990: 222). It is interesting to note that of the post-
Invoking Althusserian conceptualizing (1971) structuralist concerns highlighted in the above
(admittedly more structural Marxist than post- quote, all have been addressed to varying
structuralist, but a figure whose theorizing degrees within the small body of post-
ably complements post-structuralism’s focus on structuralist orientated literature emanating
language and subjectivity), post-structuralism from the sociology of sport. For instance, the
notoriously decentered the originary, unified body (Gruneau, 1991), sexuality (Miller, 1995),
and essential post-Cartesian subject (Hall and identity (Sykes, 1996), consumerism (Van
Gay, 1996). This was achieved by indicating Wynsberghe and Ritchie, 1998), medical-
how, instead of being the point of origin, the scientific discourses (Harvey and Sparks,
subject is in fact interpellated, or hailed, by the 1991), human sciences (Whitson and MacIntosh,
subject positions imbued within particular 1990), and disciplinary technologies (Cole and
discursive formations. Despite the power of Denny, 1995), have all been addressed in
116 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

sporting contexts by researchers with at least a singly or in combination, the work of these
passing affinity with, and interest in, the post- noted post-structuralists, I intend to demon-
structuralist project. This sporting replication of strate the relevance of: Derrida’s grammatol-
research interests is by no means surprising, as ogy for deconstructing the philosophical
post-structuralism’s focus on the discourses, foundations of sporting modernity; Foucault’s
processes and institutions that shaped moder- genealogy for excavating sport’s status and
nity, strongly encourages researchers into par- influence as a modern disciplinary institution;
ticular avenues of enquiry related to the and, Baudrillard’s hyperreal cosmology for
relationship between modern knowledge, mapping sport’s immersion within new
power and the constitution of subjectivity. Since regimes of representation. Each of these theo-
sport is dialectically implicated in the dis- rists provides important and provocative
courses (progress, rationality, individualism) insights into developing understandings of
and processes (industrialization, urbanization, sport as a contingent, contested and coercive
globalization) of modernity, it could be consid- discursive formation, whose popular presence
ered an explicitly modern institution. It would significantly contributes to the constitution of
thus seem wholly appropriate for the sociology the late modern subject. Thus, each of them has
of sport to use post-structuralist thought as a the potential to make important contributions
vehicle for excavating the discursive forma- to the advancement of the post-sport criticism
tions, and allied subjectivities, of contemporary to which I briefly alluded.
sport culture.
While by no means voluminous, both indi-
vidually and collectively, the growing body of Jacques Derrida: the Discursive
post-structuralist orientated literature within Logic of Modern Sport
the sociology of sport interrogates the structure
and experience of modern sport formations. Due to its evident complexity, it would seem
Paraphrasing Judith Butler’s (1993b) under- an absurd task to even attempt to capture
standing of post-structuralism’s implicit cri- Derrida’s work within the space of a few para-
tique of modernity, these studies identify that graphs. Nevertheless, even such a cursory dis-
the uncritical belief in the possibility of cussion is long overdue. Since Derrida’s
progress as expressed through the sporting ground-breaking works were published over
modern simply cannot be upheld with the 30 years ago, and since the wider reception of
plausibility or conviction it once possessed. his writing has been through at least three dis-
These critical works make ‘accessible to sight’ tinct phases – those marked by enthusiasm and
the ‘not seen’ (Derrida, 1976: 163) aspects of indifference, consolidation and adjustment,
contemporary sport culture, and thereby illu- and finally productive yet critical engagement
minate the contradictions, corruptions and (Woods, 1992) – Derrida’s writing unquestion-
coercions that fester beneath the common- ably warrants a more considered airing within
sense fetishizing of sport within the late mod- the sociology of sport community. Despite
ern era. In this respect, it could be argued that arguably being the leading instigator of
the focus and goal of a post-structuralist soci- the post-structuralist movement, Jacques
ology of sport is, and indeed should be, post- Derrida’s challenging work has been virtually
sport. Not that the terrain of sport should be ignored by sociology of sport researchers.
deserted altogether. Rather, post-structuralism Indeed, up to this point there have been less
compels researchers to problematize sport’s than a handful of sport-related studies which
implicit relation to the modern project; a brief have utilized Derrida’s important theoretical
which involves developing politically subver- and methodological insights in any degree of
sive readings of sport which seek to take it depth. Such intellectual neglect has con-
beyond – or post – the oppressive, symboli- tributed to what is perhaps the most glaring
cally violent and exclusionary vices of its mod- theoretical absence within the sociology of
ern incarnations. sport. More important a motivation than even
Since time and space constraints prohibit overcoming the intellectual lag that, for
a fully in-depth overview of Derrida’s, some reason, seems to haunt the sociology of
Foucault’s and Baudrillard’s complex, exten- sport, Derrida’s deconstructive project contin-
sive, yet frequently shifting bodies of work, ues to be of explicit relevance to the project
I am forced to concentrate on highlighting the of articulating modern sport’s relation to
aspects of each theorist’s work that are most the stultifying discourses of modernity. This
pertinent to furthering contemporary sport is because, as well as being Derrida’s main
criticism. With specific reference to sociology focus, the ‘monological statements of truth’
of sport studies that have appropriated, either (Calhoun, 1995: 113) structuring Western
 POST-STRUCTURALISM AND ANALYSIS OF SPORTING CULTURE 117

philosophy, and indeed modern society, are put forward for this honor yet, breaking three
graphically embodied and suggestively vindi- decades of unopposed nominations, four pro-
cated within the discursive economy of fessors objected so virulently that they forced a
modern sport. university ballot over his candidacy. The whole
While Roland Barthes announced the ‘death issue thus became the forum for a public
of the author’ (Barthes, 1977) and, with equal debate over Derrida’s work, and indeed post-
deference to post-structuralist sensibilities structuralism in general. Probably the most
related to textual instability, Foucault asked the aggressive indictment of Derrida came within
pointed question ‘What difference does it a letter written to The Times by 19 members of
make who is speaking?’ (Foucault, 1979: 160), the Internationale Akademie für Philosophie:
embellishing discussions of theory with even
M. Derrida’s work does not meet accepted stan-
the briefest biographical information would
dards of clarity and rigour ... M. Derrida’s volumi-
still seem an appealing – if perhaps inconse-
nous writings in our view stretch the normal forms
quential – exercise. To this end, Derrida was
of academic scholarship beyond recognition ...
born in El Biar, Algiers, in 1930 (at the time
Academic status based on what seems to be little
Algeria was still a French département), into a
more than semi-intelligible attacks upon the
lower middle-class Sephardic Jewish family.
values of reason, truth and scholarship is not, we
Having attained his baccalaureate in Algeria,
submit, sufficient grounds for the awarding of an
Derrida subsequently moved to Paris to fur-
honorary degree in a distinguished university.
ther his education. From 1952 to 1956 he stud-
(Barry Smith et al., Letter to the Editor, The Times,
ied philosophy at the École Normale
9 May 1992)
Supérieure, where he became particularly
interested in the work of Hegel, Heidegger and On 16 May the result of the university ballot
Husserl, and came into contact with the supported Derrida’s nomination for the hon-
renowned Hegel scholar Jean Hippolite. orary degree. Nevertheless, the anti-post-
Derrida subsequently taught philosophy at the structuralist sentiments expressed throughout
Sorbonne from 1960 to 1964, followed by a the ‘Derrida affair’, and illustrated in the above
more extended tenure at the École Normale letter, would appear to have found support
Supérieure from 1964 to 1984, during which within many academic disciplines, including
time he completed what are arguably his most the sociology of sport. Derrida incites such
significant works (see Derrida, 1973, 1976, defensiveness from many mainstream acade-
1978). As a result of his controversial and mics largely because his radical deconstructive
extensive scholarly output, Derrida became an project undermines the claims to foundational
important figure within French intellectual knowledge espoused by mainstream philoso-
culture, and in 1984 was appointed to the pres- phy, and assumed as the epistemological and
tigious position of Director of Studies at the ontological basis of traditional academic disci-
École des Hautes Études en Science Sociales. plines. Turning Barry Smith et al.’s critique
Since the early 1970s Derrida also made regu- back on itself, Derrida’s project blatantly
lar teaching and lecturing trips to North delights in stretching the normal forms of acad-
America, especially to Yale University, the emic scholarship beyond recognition, by disrupt-
Johns Hopkins University and the University ing the values of reason and truth championed
of California at Irvine. These trips inspired the by traditional scholars.
‘Yale deconstruction’ movement (headed by Within his ‘general strategy of deconstruction’
the controversial figure of the late Paul de (Derrida, 1981: 41), Derrida championed a
Man) and secured for Derrida an important ‘vigilant scepticism’ (Norris, 1987: 20) toward
place within the American academy, such that the binarism underpinning the Western tradi-
Matthews commented ‘his fame is even greater tion of rational thought (Boyne, 1990). As
in the United States than in his own country’ Brown neatly surmised, although it has
(1996: 166). emerged within ‘popular parlance as a chic
In other academic circles, the reception for synonym for “criticism”, “investigation” or
Derrida’s radical philosophy has been less wel- “analysis”, deconstruction is a procedure for
coming. Nowhere is this better exemplified interrogating texts, which, by means of careful
than in the much publicized ‘Derrida affair’ and detailed reading, seeks to expose their
(The Times, 13 May 1992) that engulfed the nor- inconsistencies, contradictions, unrecognized
mally sedate halls of Cambridge University in assumptions and implicit conceptual hierar-
1992. In March of that year, senior Cambridge chies’ (Brown, 1994: 36–7). Deconstruction rep-
faculty held their annual meeting in which resents ‘guerrilla warfare against the
they decide upon the recipients for that year’s Enlightenment heritage’ (Boyne, 1990: 90),
honorary degrees. Derrida’s name had been because, influenced by Heidegger’s reading of
118 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

Nietzsche, Derrida is centrally concerned with truth, or reality’ serving as the authentic
the politics and practice of subverting lan- foundation for ‘thought, language, and experi-
guage, knowledge and truth. Nevertheless, ence’ (Grenz, 1996: 141–2). In other words,
Derrida affirmed the need to do more than Derrida asserted the impossibility of any foun-
invert binary hierarchies by substituting one dational, originary or essential ‘transcendental
pole of the binary for the other. Doing so signifieds’ (Derrida, 1978) as the basis of
would mean ‘simply residing within the closed Western rational thought.
field of these oppositions, thereby confirming Closely allied to logocentrism, which
it’ (Derrida, 1981: 41). According to Derrida: Grossberg cited as being ‘constitutive of moder-
nity’ (1996: 94), is the phonocentric prejudice
Deconstruction cannot limit itself or proceed
within modern Western philosophy. Phono-
immediately to a neutralization; it must, by means
centrism refers to the privileging of the phonic
of a double gesture, a double writing, practice an
(the temporal substance of speech) over the
overturning of the classical opposition and a gen-
graphic (the spatial substance of writing), as
eral displacement of the system. It is only on this
the medium of true expression. Phonemes, or
condition that deconstruction will provide itself
spoken phrases, are viewed as being pure
the means with which to intervene in the field of
representations of thought and consciousness,
oppositions that it criticizes. (Derrida, 1982b: 329;
whereas graphemes, or written phrases, are
emphasis in original)
less immediate, derivations and corrupted
Derrida thus incorporates a new form of para- forms of speech. According to thinkers ranging
sitic writing, requiring a host text which the from Aristotle, through Rousseau, to Saussure,
deconstructive text inhabits and disrupts, lead- speech is closer to psychic interiority, as it is a
ing to the explication of the contingent, unsta- more direct, natural, sincere form of articula-
ble, dispersed and absent nature of any tion, and thus a transparent expression of inner
meaning (Brown, 1994). As an intellectual truth (Sarup, 1993). Phonocentrism is a foun-
practice, deconstruction seeks to inhabit, resist dation of modern notions of the fully centered,
and disorganize philosophical oppositions, by authorial human subject, for it reaffirms the
challenging them from the inside (Boyne, 1990; ‘metaphysics of presence’ (Derrida, 1976),
Derrida, 1981). For Derrida, the ultimate goal which asserts that individual consciousness is
of deconstruction’s textual interventions is to immediately and faithfully present in speech:
demonstrate ‘the ultimate undecidability’ and
The perfection of such a language would be
impossibility of the ‘deep-laid conceptual
marked by its utter transparency. It would in no
oppositions’ (Norris, 1987: 82) which constitute
way obscure or distort the world which it repre-
the basis of Western thought. To this end, he
sented. The dream, then, is one of language and
encouraged the following points of textual
one world perfectly attuned. The world repre-
inhabitation and engagement.
sented by the language, unobscured by the lan-
Derrida identified that the Western philo-
guage, would be perfectly present to the observing
sophic tradition is based upon the logic of
subject, who could then speak of what was seen.
logocentrism, which asserted that objective,
(Boyne, 1990: 91)
centered and universal knowledge (logos) per-
taining to the empirical world exists prior to – Phonocentrism is thus an ally of Western
yet can be identified and potentially expressed philosophy’s logocentrism, for it is through
through – language. As Cobley put it, tradi- speech that the ‘self-presence of full self-
tional thought has ‘unwittingly reconstructed consciousness’ (Sarup, 1993: 36) articulates
referential modes in which the signifier oper- the logos of universal and foundational
ates, but it does so purely for the purposes knowledge.
of referring to a self-contained preexisting Derrida undermined the phonocentric privi-
“concept” which exists independently of signi- leging of speech, by highlighting the ‘strange
fication’ (1996: 206). The dominant strands economy of the supplement’ (Derrida, 1976:
of Western philosophy were prefigured on a 154) at work within binary oppositions such as
binary opposition between reality and myth, that of speech and writing. According to
which posited language’s ability to articulate, Derrida, the word supplement refers to acts of
against its potential for distorting, the objective addition and replacement. In Rousseau’s
reality which was thought to exist outside terms, writing is a ‘dangerous supplement’
consciousness: philosophy being the faithful (Derrida, 1976: 144) to speech, because it is
representation of this reality, mythology both an addition to, and replacement for, the
being its deceptive corruption. Derrida originary consciousness expressed within
attacked this logocentrism by denying the speech. Hence, the speech/writing binary is
possibility of some ‘“word” presence, essence, hierarchically ordered between the natural
 POST-STRUCTURALISM AND ANALYSIS OF SPORTING CULTURE 119

presence of the phoneme, and the artificial (p. 272) present within the discursive logics of
presence of the grapheme. Confounding exercise and sport. In true deconstructionist
Rousseau, Derrida argues that ‘the infinite fashion and ‘in order to unravel it or to show
process of supplementarity has always already how it unravels itself from within’, Cole inhab-
infiltrated presence, always already inscribed ited, resisted and disorganized, the new
there the space of repetition and the splitting of deviant subject position of the exercise addict
the self’ (Derrida, 1976: 163). Far from speech (p. 266). On a superficial level, the ‘discourse of
being originary, and writing derivative, both addiction is one that continually reasserts and
are supplements: traces of each inhabit the reinvents the natural’, by policing the bound-
other, which is ‘ultimately dependent on the ary between the natural and the un-natural,
absent other for its own presence and meaning’ between the pure and the corrupt, and most
(Storey, 1993: 87). crucially, between free will and compulsion
As with the speech/writing binary, the other (p. 268). However, Cole identified the impossi-
oppositions which structure Western thought bility of the exercise addict being an originary
(such as reality/myth, presence/absence, or essential entity, by indicating how this sub-
nature/culture, good/evil, sacred/profane, ject position inhabits, and is constituted by,
masculine/feminine) are based on a ‘violent both poles of the aforementioned binaries, the
hierarchy’ (Derrida, 1981: 41) in which the first insides of which are always already ‘contami-
term is privileged, and the second term is sub- nated by their outside’ (p. 272). Moreover, the
ordinate and therefore inferior to it. Derrida subject addicted to exercise displays a complex
demonstrates how binary structures rely on and seemingly contradictory relation to the
supplementarity for their very existence, thus free will/compulsion binary. For, the exercise
forbidding the possibility that any element is a addict ‘is addicted to the idea of free subjectiv-
unitary presence which refers to itself alone ity, addicted to the repeated act of freely choos-
(Derrida, 1981). No element of a binary opposi- ing health – that act which is supposed to be
tion is ever fully present or absent, they are both anti-addiction’ (p. 271). Cole’s deconstruction
present and absent at one and the same time. of the exercise addict thus pointed to the sup-
This point prompted Derrida’s commentary on plementary, unstable and contradictory dispo-
Rousseau, ‘who declares what he wishes to say’ sition – in other words the failure – of modern
while he simultaneously ‘describes that which he rational subjectivities and thought.
does not wish to say’ (Derrida, 1976: 229, empha- Cole also pointed to sport’s status as a con-
sis in original). Rather than exhibiting the uni- text for amplifying ‘the crisis of the natural’,
versal truth of foundational knowledge, the particularly as it equates to ‘the presumed nat-
hierarchically ordered binary oppositions, uralness of the body (the persistent elision of
underpinning Western thought, science and the technological condition)’ (1998: 271).
culture, strategically naturalize modern power Derrida confounded the opposition between
relations, by including, valuing and avowing natural and un-natural bodily states, engaged
certain terms and positions, while simultane- within debates surrounding the artificial
ously excluding, devaluing and disavowing enhancement of bodies through prosthetic
others (Best and Kellner, 1991; Docker, 1994). As devices. According to Derrida (1993: 17), these
Hollinger concluded, ‘what is privileged, what challenges to common understandings of the
is present, depends on the absent other that it body emerge in ‘discourses on the subject of,
seeks to dominate and erase’ (1994: 110). for instance, artificial insemination, sperm
Turning to Derrida’s negligible presence banks, the market for surrogate mothers, organ
within the sociology of sport. Although a self- transplants, euthanasia, sex changes, the use of
confessed ‘card carrying Foucauldian’ (Cole, drugs in sport, and especially, especially on the
1997), within her recent work Cheryl Cole has subject of AIDS’ (quoted in Cole, 1998: 265).
engaged Derrida’s oeuvre in a uniquely Derrida indicates how the rhetorical strategy
informed and informative manner. While involved within these emotive discourses pre-
Cole’s (1998) broad-ranging discussion of sumes the existence of a natural, originary,
deviance and the (re)territorialization of exer- organic body, which is somehow corrupted by
cising/sporting bodies, incorporates an invig- prosthetic engineering. Using Derrida’s
orating theoretical synthesis of Derrida, Michel insights as a starting point, Cole questions the
Foucault and Eve Sedgwick, her appropriation taken-for-granted assumption of sport’s status
of Derridean deconstruction proves to be of as a natural ‘zone of authentic work’, and an
most relevance to this discussion. Rigorously appropriate vehicle for the organic and pure
contextualizing the discussion within contem- body (p. 271). By being articulated as ‘the anti-
porary American popular cultural politics, drug’, pure sport is positioned in opposition to
Cole unearthed the ‘naturalistic metaphysics’ sporting practices and bodies artificially
120 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

enhanced by ‘chemical prosthetics’ (pp. 271, ‘“problem” of homosexuality’ (Garber, 1995:

270). The use of drugs in sport is criminalized, 100, 98). In inventive fashion, Garber identifies
because it threatens the assumed ‘“natural” ‘Nancy and Tonya’ as a same-sex skating dyad,
normality of the body, of the body politic and thrown together by the crass machinations of
the body of the individual member’ (Derrida, the popular press. In contrast with other exam-
1993: 14, quoted in Cole, 1998: 269). However, ples, however, this same-sex couplet was based
in seeking to ‘discern, render visible, and mea- upon regressive intra-gender differences, as
sure the natural and the foreign, the pure and opposed to threatening sexual similarities.
the impure’, drug-testing regimes that classify Hence, the Nancy and Tonya pairings were
what is – and what is not – a drug, continually differentiated by oppositions (nasty/nice,
destabilize and reinvent understandings of sweetheart/bitch, virgin/whore, daughter/
nature and the natural (Cole, 1998: 272). loner, butch/femme) which graphically dicho-
Consequently, as Cole indicates, any conceptu- tomized women, with the intent of keeping
alizing of the natural body is hopelessly out- them ‘in their place’. In this respect, they ‘were
moded, for, as well as notions of the natural a pair, after all, to everyone but each other’
always being contaminated by those of the un- (Garber, 1995: 102).
natural, the natural/un-natural binary is in a Lastly, and albeit to a lesser extent, Derrida
perpetual state of flux. Instead of pointing has also informed research related to the
toward the corruption of the natural sporting dynamic representation of race and racial dif-
body, the ‘scopic regime of drug-testing’ which ference within popular sport culture. Cheryl
‘attempts to discern, render visible, and mea- Cole and David Andrews (1996) invoked
sure the natural and the foreign, the pure and Derrida when illustrating how the boundaries
the impure’ is founded on, and advances, a between binary terms are constantly trans-
‘politics of and nostalgia for an organic corpo- gressed, and thus require constant policing if
reality and the moral valuations inscribed they are to be maintained:
through its diagnostics’ (pp. 272, 273).
Because deconstructionists emphasize the trans-
Within her intriguingly titled chapter ‘Viktor
gression always taking place at the border, decon-
Petrenko’s mother-in-law’, and framed by
struction examines the force relations between the
Derrida’s reflection on ‘What is a pair?’ (1987:
terms: the constant exertion of pressures at their
259), Marjorie Garber offered an interesting
boundaries, the policing required to maintain
stratagem for deconstructing the sexual and
those boundaries, the incompleteness of the cate-
gender politics at play within ice skating.
gory of the will and the violence that it does. (Cole
Whilst Derrida’s question was prompted by a
and Andrews, 1996: 152)
pair of shoes represented in a series of Van
Gogh paintings, Garber’s (1995) focus is Focusing on two prominent African American
answering the question ‘What is a pair?’ in NBA basketball players, Magic Johnson and
relation to the highly mediated world of figure Michael Jordan, Cole and Andrews indicated
skating. Different-sex ice skating couples how their mediated identities became sites for
advance an assumed complementarity bet- the reinvention of the ‘what and who categories
ween, and correspondence of, the oppositional which organize the racial imagination’ (Cole
elements (male/female) which comprise the and Andrews, 1996: 154). As carefully con-
pairing. They are ‘pairs’ which ‘[complete] the structed African American superstars, Johnson
set’ and reassuringly, if presumptuously, leave and Jordan occupied discursive spaces which
‘no excess, no supplement, no fetish’ with distanced themselves from – and in doing so
regard to the sexual orientation of the respec- reinforced – the stereotypical images and
tive elements of the pairing (1995: 100). embodiments of a threatening black masculin-
Predictably, therefore, the narration of conven- ity which inhabit the American imaginary.
tional pairs figure skating has become ‘the cul- Evidencing the Derridean notion of supple-
tural story of the heterosexual romance’ mentarity, their (Johnson and Jordan) identities
(Garber, 1995: 98). Conversely, same-sex ice were ‘never simply self-identical or self-
skating couples represent a ‘double which contained’ but were dependent upon the absent
does not make a pair’ (Garber, 1995: 100). The other that they sought to dominate and erase
perceived similarity, and lack of symbolic (Cole and Andrews, 1996: 152). Cole and
correspondence, between their two parts Andrews explicated how both Johnson and
(male/male, or female/female), precludes Jordan subsequently transgressed the racial
such couples from acting ‘as one’ (Garber, boundaries which their previously virtuous
1995: 101). Same-sex couples are thus unable to images had helped to maintain. The disclosure
provide the ‘reassurance’ of a privileged het- of Johnson’s HIV-positive status made acutely
erosexuality, and seemingly point to the evident his sexuality, whilst coverage of
 POST-STRUCTURALISM AND ANALYSIS OF SPORTING CULTURE 121

Jordan’s gambling exploits revealed an knowledge, subjectivity and society developed

apparently compulsive persona, both of which within his ‘masterpiece’ (Sarup, 1993: 67)
rendered visible that from which they were Discipline and Punish: the Birth of the Prison
previously distanced – the pathologized and (1977a) and furthered within the History of
demonized bodies of African American racial Sexuality trilogy (1988a, 1988b, 1988c).
others. Furthering one aspect of this analysis, Paul-Michel Foucault (he dropped the Paul
Andrews (1996) flirted with Derridean theoriz- in later years) was born in Poitiers in 1926. His
ing whilst problematizing the very notion of father and both his grandfathers had been sur-
Michael Jordan’s blackness. Andrews identi- geons in the French provincial city. Although
fied Jordan as a floating and unstable racial disappointing his father by not following in
signifier that, within its various manifestions, the family’s professional footsteps, and while
seductively reproduced the violent racial enduring periods of academic failure, the
hierarchy of the evolving American cultural young Paul-Michel ultimately excelled at
formation. school by coming fourth in the nationwide uni-
versity entrance exam for the prestigious École
Normale Supérieure in Paris. Once at univer-
Michel Foucault: the Disciplinary sity Foucault suffered bouts of severe depres-
Formation of Modern Sport sion, allegedly linked to his homosexuality,
which prompted his father to arrange for him
Michel Foucault was once described as ‘the to visit a psychiatrist. As a result of these visits,
single most famous intellectual in the world’ Foucault became highly skeptical of the role
(Miller, 1993: 13). Certainly, of all French post- and influence of psychiatrists, and equally
structuralists, Foucault’s is the theorizing most motivated to study psychology himself. To this
evident within sociology of sport research. end, he received his Licence de Philosophie
Indeed, at the time of writing, the post- and Licence de Psychologie from the Sorbonne
structuralist presence within the sociology of in 1948 and 1950 respectively. In 1952 he was
sport could be described as being primarily awarded his Diplôme de Psycho-Pathologie
Foucauldian. In contrast to the apparent disre- from the Université de Paris. Between 1951 and
gard for things Derridean, and the widespread 1955 Foucault lectured at the École Normale
disdain for things Baudrillardian, the work Supérieure, until taking up a brief appoint-
of Foucault has been widely and enthusiasti- ment lecturing French at the University of
cally embraced by numerous researchers inter- Uppsala in Sweden. While at Uppsala,
ested in examining varied aspects of the Foucault took advantage of the university’s
modern sport problematic. While Derrida’s extensive medical history library, where he car-
discomforting absence is somewhat perplex- ried out much of the research for his first two
ing, Foucault’s healthy presence is more easily major works, an examination of madness
attributable. Since the body constitutes the (Foucault, 1973a) and an examination of the
material core and most redolent expression of clinic (Foucault, 1975).
sporting activity (Hargreaves, 1987), and since After a five-year stint living and teaching in
much of Foucault’s research keyed on explicat- Sweden, Poland, and Germany, in 1960
ing how the growth of systematic modern Foucault returned to France to take up the posi-
knowledges coincided with the expansion of tion of director of the Institut de Philosophie at
power relations into the realm of controlling the Faculté des Lettres in Clermont Ferrand. In
bodily practices and existence (Turner, 1982), it this position, Foucault finalized his archaeolog-
is clear to see how Foucault’s understanding of ical approach (Foucault, 1973b, 1974) to the
‘the discourses of discipline and pleasure that history of ideas which ‘attempts to identify
surround the body in modern societies has the conditions of possibility of knowledge,
much to offer students of sport’ (Whitson, the determining rules of formation of discur-
1989: 62). Indeed, the noted French Marxist sive rationality that operate beneath the level
Jean-Marie Brohm, even designated sport as of intention or thematic content’ (Best and
‘perhaps the social practice which best exem- Kellner, 1991: 40). From this juncture, Foucault
plifies the “disciplinary society”, analysed by embarked on an inexorable rise to academic
M. Foucault’ (1978: 18). Rather than addressing superstardom, which was confirmed by his
Foucault’s scholarly output in its expansive election to the chair of ‘History of Systems of
entirety, and following Whitson and Brohm’s Thought’ at the Collège de France in 1970.
implied directives, this discussion is limited to The original publication of Discipline and
the aspects most germane to the study of mod- Punish in 1975 marked Foucault’s shift from an
ern sport culture: namely, Foucault’s later archaeological to a more conjuncturally based
genealogical approach to modern disciplinary genealogical approach focused on ‘the mutual
122 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

relations between systems of truth and power which ultimately replaced it. Foucault
modalities of power, the way in which there is (1977a) famously expressed this discontinuity
a “political regime” of the production of truth’ as a contrast between the public displays of
(Davidson, 1986: 224). The final phase of authority embroiled within the practice of pre-
Foucault’s intellectual project was envisioned modern ritualized execution, and the discrete
as a six-volume genealogy of modern sexuality, individualizing mechanisms of control associ-
focusing on the politics of pleasure and the self. ated with modern disciplinary institutions. As
This grand design was brought to a halt by Boyne succinctly noted, ‘discipline is the pre-
Foucault’s untimely death from AIDS in 1984, cise reverse of the spectacle’ (1990: 114).
by which time only the first of the volumes had Although focused on the ‘birth of the prison’,
been published (Foucault, 1988a) leaving two Discipline and Punish (Foucault, 1977a) repre-
others to be posthumously released (Foucault, sents an important Foucauldian introduction to
1988b, 1988c). the ‘political anatomy’ (Smart, 1985: 90) of
Despite sharing Derrida’s neo-Nietzschean modern society. Concretizing his earlier archae-
interest in the relationship between language, ological design (Foucault, 1973b, 1974),
knowledge and truth, Foucault offers a Discipline and Punish demonstrated that the
markedly different approach toward decipher- historical analysis of modern existence should
ing this fundamental post-structuralist prob- not revolve around an understanding of the
lematic. Derrida even took Foucault to task for knowing subject, but should rather center on an
the way in which the rhetorical structure of his historically grounded theory of discursive
Madness and Civilization (Foucault, 1973a) rein- practice. Foucault’s aim was to thematize the
forced the violence of the reason/madness operations of the bio-power which, in discur-
binary: ‘How could Foucault capture the spirit sively dissecting the body, rendered the mod-
of madness when he was so obviously writing ern individual both the object and subject of
from the viewpoint of reason’ (Derrida, 1978: disciplinary knowledge. In broad terms, this
34). Although failing to openly acknowledge genealogical approach illustrated how scien-
this critique, following it, there was a noticeable tific, rational and implicitly modern discourses
shift in Foucault’s work to ‘an engagement of the human body (for example, criminology,
with the thickness and duplicity of this world, penology, psychology, psychiatry, economics
an engagement which is less obviously tainted and demography) emerged from within, and
by the search for an origin’ (Boyne, 1990: 108). provided the philosophical and organizational
Foucault subsequently became a ‘“specific bases for the carceral network of modern disci-
intellectual” as opposed to the “universal” plinary institutions (for example, prisons, facto-
intellectual’ (Foucault, 1977b: 12), evermore ries, schools and hospitals) which expedited the
motivated by a desire ‘not to formulate the rise of industrial capitalism. Foucault’s concern
global systematic theory which holds every- with the repressive character of modernity
thing in place, but to analyse the specificity of involved disentangling the ‘arbitrary construc-
mechanisms of power, to locate the connections tion of the subject as a disciplinary ploy, and the
and extensions, to build little by little a strategic inescapable mutual imbrication of power and
knowledge’ (Foucault, 1980c: 83). knowledge’ (Calhoun, 1995: 107).
For his own part, Foucault criticized In order to explicate how individual subjects
Derrida’s abstracted philosophical reflections became constituted as correlative elements of
in favour of an approach that ‘reasserts the pri- bio-power and knowledge, Foucault famously
macy of the social real’ (Boyne, 1990: 108). As turned his attention to Jeremy Bentham’s 1791
‘first and foremost, an analyst of modernity, design for the modern prison, known as the
indeed early modernity’ (Calhoun, 1995: 107), Panopticon. Indeed, for Foucault, such was the
Foucault’s critical historical analyses con- exemplary nature of the Panopticon that he
cretized, or empirically substantiated, the characterized modern society as ‘an indefi-
ways in which modern discursive formations nitely generalizable mechanism of “panopti-
act to both enable and constrain the everyday cism”’ (Foucault, 1977a: 216). Derived from the
lives of human subjects. Not that Foucault fur- Greek pan (all) and optos (visible), the word
thered the teleological and rationalist idealism Panopticon ably described the form and func-
of Enlightenment history, rather his approach tion of a structure designed for the normaliza-
was focused on identifying historical ruptures tion, through surveillance, of its incarcerated
and discontinuities (Young, 1990). Perhaps the populace. Disciplinary institutions, such as the
most significant historical fissure identified by Panopticon, were centered around regimes of
Foucault was that between the highly visible measured, corrective and continuous corporal
externalized practice of pre-modern power, and training, designed to facilitate the controlled
the anonymous internalized practice of modern manufacturing of suitably docile bodies. Less
 POST-STRUCTURALISM AND ANALYSIS OF SPORTING CULTURE 123

a mechanism of overt repression, modern specific technique of power that regards

disciplinary power was primarily a force of individuals as objects and instruments of its
normalization (McNay, 1994). More than exercise’ (1977a: 170).
merely training the human body, modern bio- Foucault’s dissection of the Panopticon is
power was prefigured on ‘a design of subtle important since it illustrated the apparatus and
coercion’ over the human soul (Foucault, arrangements of disciplinary power at work
1977a: 209). The medical-scientific technologies within various modern institutional spaces,
of the body, formulated, circulated and instan- ‘penitentiaries, certainly, but also schools,
tiated through the corrective regimes of disci- hospitals, military centres, psychiatric institu-
plinary institutions, generated normative tions, administrative apparatuses, bureaucratic
models of human behaviour and identity. With agencies, police forces, and so on’ (McHoul
the spread of these discursive fields of com- and Grace, 1995: 66). However, Foucault’s
parison (Foucault, 1977a), individuals were critique of modern power relations was con-
objectified in such a way that they became siderably more broad-ranging, since the prac-
conscious of themselves, and were thus in a tice of normalizing corporal existence through
position to constitute themselves as social the Panoptic gaze soon spread into ‘non-
subjects, only in relation to this ‘new and myth- institutional spaces and populations’ (Smart,
ical presence of the norm’ (Boyne, 1990: 113; 1985: 89). The spread of bio-scientific dis-
emphasis in original). courses within the wider society has contri-
While its discursively based disciplinary reg- buted to a situation wherein the human subject
imen sought to compare, differentiate and hier- has become constituted, and controlled, by a
archically order penal subjects, the effective normalizing ‘conscience of self-knowledge’
operation of the Panopticon’s normalizing tech- relating to every facet of individual existence
nology depended upon its revolutionary struc- (Foucault, 1982: 212). Illustrating this discur-
tural design. Bentham’s model consisted of a sive understanding of the process of subjectifi-
central observation tower, replete with cation, Foucault’s extended genealogy of
Venetian blinds on the windows, and sur- sexuality (Foucault, 1988a, 1988b, 1988c)
rounded by a circle of inward facing and per- demonstrated how the spread of bio-power in
petually observable cells. The architecture of the modern era was responsible for creating,
the Panopticon ensured that power and author- and policing the boundaries between, what
ity were visible (prisoners could not avoid the became considered as normal and abnormal
imposing presence of the observation tower) sexual identities, practices and desires. As
yet unverifiable (prisoners could never be sure Foucault concluded, the swarming of modern
that they were not being observed). The disciplinary mechanisms and practices of sur-
omnipresent, yet anonymous, gaze of the veillance ‘from the closed fortresses in which
Panopticon’s hierarchical observer manufac- they once functioned’, to their circulation ‘in a
tured a state of constant anxiety amongst pris- “free” state’, has led to the emergence of
oners, who were psychologically coerced by the ‘panopticisms of every day’ (Foucault, 1977a:
ever-present threat of normalizing judgement, 211, 223).
assessment and/or examination. Since it Despite at one time being castigated for its
demanded an unquestioned obedience to the relative absence within the field (Andrews,
corporal norms of the prison’s meticulously 1993), in recent times Foucauldian-influenced
rehearsed daily regimen, the experience of con- sport research has become somewhat of a
stant surveillance proved an effective ‘guaran- growth area. There have been two overviews of
tee of order’ (Foucault, 1977a: 200): Foucault’s oeuvre and its applicability for
researchers within the sociology of sport
He who is subjected to a field of visibility, and who
(Andrews, 1993; Rail and Harvey, 1995), both of
knows it, assumes responsibility for the con-
which provide more detailed explications of
straints of power; he makes them play sponta-
Foucault’s theorizing than is possible within
neously upon himself; he inscribes in himself the
the constraints of the present project. Rail and
power relation in which he simultaneously plays
Harvey’s (1995) article is additionally impor-
both roles: he becomes the principle of his own
tant in two ways. First, it brings to the fore
subjection. (Foucault, 1977a: 202–3)
numerous Foucauldian studies of sport by
Illustrating the internalized ‘penality of the Francophone scholars, many of which have
norm’ (Foucault, 1977a: 183), the incarcerated been virtually disregarded due to the
subjects of surveillance were the principal Anglocentric nature of the wider sociology of
regulators of their own existence, and sport community. Secondly, it represents the
prompted Foucault’s famous aphorism that most comprehensive presentation of works that
‘discipline “makes” individuals; it is the have applied Foucault’s theoretical framework
124 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

to the analysis of either sport or physical panopticism of the modern sport space is
education. Rail and Harvey’s discussion is also succinctly captured within Robert Rinehart’s
useful since it grouped sociology of sport (1998) engaging description of the swimming
research directly influenced by Foucauldian pool as a mechanism of surveillance, focused
theory into four substantive clusters: studies on the bodies of the swimmers who execute
that made appeals to the sociology of sport their repetitious training regimen within it. As
community to engage Foucault’s work (for Rinehart noted, the individuating and normal-
example, Cole, 1993; Theberge, 1991; Whitson, izing horizontal panopticism of the swimming
1989); studies that engaged Foucault’s early pool turned it into a site of ‘hundreds of tiny
archaeological approach to epistemic under- theatres of punishment’ (Foucault, 1977a: 113,
standing (for example, Clément, 1993; quoted in Rinehart, 1998: 42).
Defrance, 1987; Loudcher, 1994); studies that The opening section of Toby Miller’s intrigu-
embraced aspects of Foucault’s Panoptic model ingly titled article ‘A short history of the
of modern disciplinary society (for example, penis’ (1995: 2–8) also represents a useful
Cole and Denny, 1995; King, 1993; Vigarello, Foucauldian precis of modern sport as a deriv-
1978); and, studies more directly influenced by ative of institutional and discursive power,
Foucault’s later work on the technologies of the particularly as it relates to the formulation and
self (for example, Boudreau et al., 1992; circulation of gendered public knowledges and
Heikkala, 1993). truths. Miller broadly anchors the institutional-
Rather than merely summarizing their find- ization of physical education, exercise, health
ings, this discussion concentrates on reviewing and contemporary sport forms within the con-
a selection of the most significant Foucauldian text of industrial and social modernity.
studies published since – or in one case According to Miller, these varied manifesta-
(Duncan, 1994) not included within – Rail and tions of modern physical culture were linked
Harvey’s informative piece. Cole and Orlie by a common political objective regarding the
(1995) provide a brief, yet illuminating, governance of the male sporting body, ‘render-
Foucauldian epistemic diagnosis of sport as a ing it efficient, aesthetic, and self-monitoring’
prominent modern technology. According to and the ‘standard currency of sporting dis-
their analysis, sport is imagined as a site at course’ (Miller, 1995: 3, 2). Ably complement-
which particular modern bio-knowledges and ing Miller’s article, Brian Pronger (1995) draws
practices heavily from Foucault’s work in his explication
of the way ‘gross anatomy’ courses contribute
converge in, produce, and regulate so-called ath-
to the discursive and politically charged tech-
letic bodies. The athletic body is a body through
nologization of the human body as a produc-
which particular claims are made: it is a body
tive machine of late modern consumer
whose symbolic purchase accrues most obviously
capitalism. Pronger graphically demonstrates
around the categories health, discipline, and pro-
how scientific-medical knowledges of the body
ductivity. Sport, then, can be more usefully under-
informed the production, and ultimately the
stood as the site where apparatuses produce,
practice, of physical education, sport, exercise
control, and regulate bodies under the guise of pro-
and health professionals. The bio-discursive
tecting a space that displays the pure body and the
objectification of the human form rendered
proficiencies of its will. (Cole and Orlie, 1995: 229)
the normal (that is, productive) sporting, exer-
Sport is thus implicated as an optic of modern cising, or healthy body an oppressive yet
disciplinary power: a mechanism of surveil- seductive ‘instrument in the project of techno-
lance which renders visible and intelligible the logical modernity’ (Pronger, 1995: 435).
normal body, and the abnormal body against Shifting to a more culturally grounded focus,
which the norm is constituted. Influenced by Susan Brownell (1995) fashioned an imagina-
Foucault’s notion of ‘substantive geographies’ tive synthesis of Foucauldian and Eliasian the-
(Philo, 1992), John Bale’s (1992, 1993, 1994) orizing, during the course of her analysis of
ground-breaking work in the area of sports the power relations linking sport to national,
geography examined the relationship between class and gender formations within moderniz-
sport, space and power. Bale (1994) drew atten- ing China. Within the popular discourses of
tion to the similarity between the modern evo- the body promulgated by the state institutions
lution of sport and punishment, both of which of the People’s Republic – of which sport
were relocated from corporal/public to was perhaps the most redolent expression –
carceral/private spaces. As Bale noted, ‘The Brownell discerned a complex and dynamic
sports place, therefore, has changed from being fusion of the Chinese versions of discipline
one of open, public space to one of segmented (jilü) and civilization (wenming). As a conse-
and panopticised confinement’ (1994: 84). The quence, Brownell argued that Foucault’s
 POST-STRUCTURALISM AND ANALYSIS OF SPORTING CULTURE 125

understanding of discipline and Elias’s who, while wishing to conform to the idealized
concept of the civilizing process ‘complement female body shape, perceived its actualization
each other and offer comparative insights into to be a wholly ‘ridiculous’ proposition (1995:
the nature of Chinese state power’ (Brownell, 450). In this way, Markula asserted that the
1995: 26), and its influence upon shaping pervasiveness of power within disciplinary
popular discourse through sport. society does ‘not mean one is trapped and con-
Although Foucault has been roundly criti- demned to defeat no matter what’ (Foucault,
cized for disregarding the oppressed and sub- 1980b: 141–2). Instead, Markula’s skeptical aer-
ordinated experiences and conditions of obicizers vindicated Foucault’s notion of dis-
women (cf. Hartsock, 1993; Ramazanoglu, cursive power as an inalienable producer of
1993; Sawicki, 1991), his critical appropriation resistance, since the very constitution of nor-
by post-structuralist feminists has generated malizing bio-power provides the means
some of the most vibrant and incisive work whereby it may be resisted (Dumm, 1996).
related to the cultural politics of gender and Synthesizing Foucauldian theorizing and fem-
sex (cf. Bordo, 1989, 1993a, 1993b; Butler, 1989, inist cultural studies, Gwen E. Chapman (1997)
1990, 1993a). This trend is equally evident studied the practice of ‘making weight’
within the sociology of sport, where amongst a women’s lightweight rowing team.
Foucauldian theoretical imperatives have been Her analysis illustrated how extreme regimes
extensively appropriated as a means of criti- of physical activity, coupled with stringent
cally dissecting the sporting body as an impor- controls of food intake, acted as a disciplinary
tant locus of control in the discursive mechanism for mobilizing broader technolo-
constitution of gendered and sexed norms, gies of femininity within the context of
practices and identities (Theberge, 1991). women’s rowing. Chapman also used the
Margaret Duncan (1994) analysed the politics experience of female rowers to invoke the later
of women’s body images within two issues of Foucault’s (1988d, 1996) understanding of the
Shape magazine (a fitness-oriented magazine contradictory relations between freedom and
targeted at the female market). In pinpointing constraint, involved in the active experience of
explicitly gendered bio-discourses that constituting the self. For, as Chapman con-
unproblematically reified individual will and cluded, ‘At the same time that sport offers
responsibility, and implicitly valorized the aes- women discursive tools to oppose oppressive
thetic – as opposed to health-deriving – bene- power relations, it also further enmeshes them
fits of exercise, Duncan graphically portrayed in normalizing discourses that limit their
how Shape acted as a panoptic mechanism in vision of who and what they can be’ (1997:
the true Foucauldian meaning of the concept. 221). Through reference to Foucault’s (1980a)
Duncan demonstrated how the circulation of narration of the tragic experience of Herculine
public discourses pertaining to the preferred Barbin, a mid-nineteenth-century hermaphro-
shape of the female body, became complicit in dite, Hood-Williams vilified the sex testing
shaping private experiences of female subordi- procedures of the International Olympic
nation. In a comparable panoptic vein, Committee (IOC) for habitually trying ‘to dis-
MacNeill (1998: 170) cast the iconic celebrity tinguish, to differentiate, to discover the true
bodies, which front celebrity fitness videos, as sex’ (1995: 297). According to Hood-Williams,
‘an economically and politically useful site for the IOC’s dogmatic adherence to a dimorphic
exerting power and for the embodiment of the model of sex-typing is founded in the populist
“scientific” knowledges s/he espouses’. desire to corroborate traditional and natural
Similarly, Cole and Hribar’s (1995) broad- gender divisions and identities, and obscures
ranging disassemblage of Nike’s calculated the fact that far from being fixed, natural and
mobilization of the postfeminist body within biologically based, ‘sex is no less a discursive
the promotional culture of late modern construct than gender’ (1995: 291).
America, faithfully invoked Foucault’s under- Strangely, in recent times Foucault has been
standing of the normalizing epistemic regimes largely neglected by the growing band of pro-
that pervade modern society. ductive scholars interested in examining the
Moving from the media spectacles to the relationship between sport and the male/mas-
material experience of female sport culture, culine form. This oversight would appear des-
Markula’s (1995) engaging ethnography tined to be rectified, as Foucauldian theorizing
grounded Foucauldian theorizing within the offers blatantly fruitful strategies for challeng-
experiences of female aerobicizers. Acknow- ing the blithe, uncritical celebration of sport’s
ledging the panoptic power arrangements at status as a natural male domain, by problema-
work within the cultural space of aerobics, tizing the mutually constitutive discursive
Markula asserted the ambivalence of women linkage between sport and masculinity.
126 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

Foucault has influenced research focused on Kellner, 1991: 111), ‘Jimi Hendrix’ (Levin, 1996)
the intersections between race and masculinity and even the ‘drag queen’ (Ashley, 1997: 49) of
within contemporary sport culture. John M. the postmodern Left. The elevation of
Sloop’s dissection of the dominant cultural dis- Baudrillard to the status of a postmodern intel-
courses which enveloped Mike Tyson’s trial for lectual icon has been attributed to the hasty
the rape of Desiree Washington, brazenly conclusions circulated by the first generation
emerged ‘in the interstices of Foucault’s of North American readers of his work
archaeological and genealogical methods’ (Genesko, 1994). While it is true Baudrillard’s
(Sloop, 1997: 105). Following Foucault, Sloop idiosyncratic attention has long been drawn to
sought to decipher the discursive rules, the much-vaunted postmodern ‘civilization of
regimes of truth and social conventions the image’ (Kearney, 1989: 1), it is important
through which Tyson was ‘positioned rhetori- not to overlook his post-structuralist lineage.
cally’ in relation to the customarily pejorative According to Christopher Norris, ‘Baudrillard
signifiers ‘boxer’ and ‘African American’ was waiting at the end of the road that struc-
(Sloop, 1997: 107). Regardless of his innocence turalism and post-structuralism had been trav-
or guilt (which obviously had not been ascer- elling for the past three decades and more’
tained during the build-up to, or the unfolding (Norris, 1992: 25). Not that Baudrillard has
of, the trial), Tyson’s discursively demonized been an apologist for post-structuralism. As
subject position cast him as representing the indicated by his pointedly titled manuscript
type of person whose guilt would be viewed as Forget Foucault (1987), Baudrillard has been
being ‘highly feasible, indeed probable’ by the highly critical of his post-structuralist contem-
majority of the American viewing public. As poraries. Nevertheless, in terms of his critical
well as being influenced by the sedimented engagement with the work of Ferdinand de
manifestations of cultural meaning, the medi- Saussure, Georges Bataille, Henri Lefebvre,
ated dialogue surrounding the Tyson trial has Roland Barthes and Guy Debord (cf. Genesko,
clearly come to influence the way we ‘frame 1994; Gottdiener, 1995; Kellner, 1989), and
our cultural understanding of future actors in radically problematizing the very nature
walking onto the stage’ (Sloop, 1997: 119). of modernity and modern subjectivity,
Lastly, within her cogent interrogation of Baudrillard is every bit as much a representa-
Michael Jordan’s position within the contem- tive of French post-structuralist thought as
porary American imaginary, Cheryl Cole Derrida and Foucault. Albeit taking it in an
(1996) blended a Foucauldian approach to ever-more radical direction, Baudrillard has
modern disciplinary power, identity and the certainly made an important contribution to
body with a Derridean comprehension of sov- the post-structuralist debate. For, while
ereignty and presence. Cole (1996) demon- Derrida deconstructed the epistemological and
strated how the commercially crafted ontological foundations of modernity, and
‘American Jordan’ was both a product, and Foucault excavated modern disciplinary
producer, of the discursive knowledges that knowledges and institutions, Baudrillard her-
governed the popular American imagination. alded the ‘end of modernity and the transition
Jordan’s iconic status as part of the American to a new stage of society and history beyond
national fantasy (Berlant, 1991) was produced modernity’ (Kellner, 1989: 94).
and stabilized in opposition to the ‘location, Like that of Derrida and Foucault,
containment and visualization of the deviant’ Baudrillard’s work has produced extreme reac-
(Cole, 1996: 373) urban African American tions amongst the global academic community,
youth. Jordan’s venerated mediated identity as evidenced by both the enthusiasm of his
was thus complicit in criminalizing the African numerous advocates, and the vociferousness of
American youth populace, in a manner that his many detractors. During the course of his
conveniently diverted popular attention – and intellectual development, Baudrillard’s writing
thereby party political obligation – away from has evolved from relatively conventional acad-
addressing the profound socially deleterious emic discussions of his innovative synthesis of
effects of anti-welfarist politics and transna- Marxist political economy and semiology,
tional economics (Cole, 1996). to a kind of science-fiction-like cosmology,
projecting visions of futuristic worlds which
expose, through ironic exaggeration, the
Jean Baudrillard: the Hyperreality technologically driven nature of everyday
of Postmodern Sport culture (Hebdige, 1988). In a 1983 interview,
Baudrillard forthrightly admitted ‘My work
Jean Baudrillard has been described as the has never been academic, nor is it getting
‘high priest’ (Willis, 1990: 152), ‘guru’ (Best and more literary. It’s evolving, it’s getting less
 POST-STRUCTURALISM AND ANALYSIS OF SPORTING CULTURE 127

theoretical, without feeling the need to furnish became an influential and well-connected
proof or rely on references’ (Baudrillard, 1993a: figure within Parisian intellectual circles.
43). In adopting this radical approach, Between 1967 and 1970 he was closely
Baudrillard’s work has veered toward an involved in the sociology of urbanism group,
undertheorized abstraction, shallow provoca- and their journal Utopie. In 1975, and along
tion and apolitical nihilism, which has exasper- with such other intellectual luminaries as
ated and infuriated his many critics (cf. Michel de Certeau and Paul Virilio, he became
Callinicos, 1990; Kellner, 1989; Norris, 1992; a member of the founding editorial board of
Rojek and Turner, 1993). Nevertheless, while the Centre Georges Pompidou’s cultural
Baudrillard’s later work continues to be cri- theory journal, Traverses. From 1969 to 1973
tiqued, often to the point of ridicule (cf. Baudrillard was also affiliated with the Centre
Sturrock, 1990; Woods, 1992), there remains a d’Études des Communications de Mass at the
sentiment amongst some cultural commenta- Ecole Pratique des Hautes Études (Genesko,
tors that it would be disadvantageous to cate- 1994). Following his retirement in 1987,
gorically abandon it. Certainly, Baudrillard’s Baudrillard embraced a new intellectual mode,
relevance to the analysis of contemporary sport for which he had seemingly been preparing
culture should not be underestimated. As himself since the mid-1970s. Now liberated
Charles P. Pierce commented, the American – from the responsibilities of a formal academic
and increasingly the global – sports industry is post, Baudrillard assumed the mantle of a
dominated by ‘media-driven celebrity enter- full-time roving intellectual, prodigiously doc-
tainment’ which means in the future ‘for most umenting his global observations and experi-
people, sports will be even more exclusively a ences in a series of fragmented postmodern
television phenomenon than it is today’ (1995: travelogues.
185, 187). This rapid and global growth of While Baudrillard’s primary institutional
postmodern sport culture represents a particu- affiliation remained unusually constant during
larly important point of engagement for his academic career, the evolution of his intel-
Baudrillard’s ontological, epistemological and lectual work has been marked by a series of
political provocations. significant transformations. As with any
Jean Baudrillard was born in the French attempt to periodize a shifting intellectual pro-
cathedral town of Reims in 1929. Although his ject, there is a tendency to create artificial
grandparents were peasants, his immediate boundaries between works that often corre-
family experienced a significant measure of spond considerably more than they differ.
upward social mobility resulting from his par- This is perhaps expressly true of Baudrillard,
ents’ forging careers in the French civil service whose often impressionistic, idealized and
(Levin, 1996). After a period of teaching in sec- ungrounded later narratives continue to incor-
ondary schools, it was following his move to porate important aspects of the more con-
Paris in 1966 that Baudrillard’s intellectual cretized theorizing which characterized many
career took off. Having defended his thesis in of his earlier exertions (Gottdiener, 1995). With
sociology, entitled Le système des objets, at the this proviso in mind, it is nevertheless possible
Université de Nanterre (Paris X) in March to dissect Baudrillard’s project into at least five
1966, he accepted a position as an assistant lec- necessarily related phases. In examining the
turer in sociology at Nanterre beginning in nature of modern consumer society, and
October of the same year. Apart from a number specifically the regulating commodification of
of periods of visiting lectureships – most everyday life (1968, 1970), Baudrillard’s earli-
notably perhaps, his sojourns to the United est studies supplemented the classical Marxist
States – Baudrillard spent the entirety of his critique of political economy with a semiologi-
formal academic career at the Université de cal theorizing of the sign (Kellner, 1994).
Nanterre. Indeed, he remained on the faculty Baudrillard’s innovative conflation of materi-
there until his retirement from the position of ality and ideology within The System of
junior lecturer in the Faculté des Lettres et Objects (1996c) (original 1968) even prompted
Sciences Humaines in 1987. As Baudrillard Gottdiener to cite it as ‘one of the most impor-
noted in a 1991 interview, as far ‘as the normal tant books of post-structuralist cultural criti-
stages of a career are concerned, I’ve always cism’ (1995: 35). Within his next major study,
missed them, including the fact that I was For a Critique of the Political Economy of the
never a professor’ (Baudrillard, 1993a: 19). In Sign (1981) (original 1972), Baudrillard first
following a more circuitous route to intellec- began to question the value of Marxist political
tual notoriety, and while never attaining the economy as a tool for interpreting modern
same degree of formal academic recognition or culture. In many ways, this work proved to be
status as Foucault or Derrida, Baudrillard still an intermediary point between Baudrillard’s
128 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

neo-Marxist and post-Marxist incarnations. mediated simulations. Since any information

The publication of The Mirror of Production which ‘reflects or diffuses an event is already a
(1975) (original 1973) represented a public degraded form of that event’ (Baudrillard,
condemnation of Marxist political economy 1980: 141), information communicated by the
for being a ‘repressive simulation’ of that televisual media is necessarily an imploded,
which it seeks to overthrow, namely capitalism reformulated and bastardized interpretation of
(Baudrillard, 1975: 48). Within Symbolic the real. Hence, the order of appearance within
Exchange and Death (1993b) (original 1976) this semiurgic society ‘is no longer that of a ter-
Baudrillard turned to a post-Marxist and post- ritory, a referential being or a substance. It is
Saussurian radical semiurgy. This approach to the generation by models of a real situation
understanding a society dominated by the dig- without origin or reality’ (Baudrillard, 1983b:
ital and cybernetic logic of the televisual code, 2). The advent of an ‘implosive socius of signs’
was elaborated within subsequent works that (Best, 1989: 33), has resulted in the obliteration
keyed on Baudrillard’s ‘Holy Trinity’ (Best and of the opposition between the medium and the
Kellner, 1991: 118) of simulation, implosion real. Baudrillard’s semiurgic culture is thus
and hyperreality (see below for relevant infused with simulated codes and models that
works). Lastly, Fatal Strategies (1990b) (original actually produce the reality which they pur-
1983) has been cited as Baudrillard’s last piece port to represent (Seidman, 1994). Or, as
of serious intellectual work since, over the past Baudrillard famously put it, the ‘real is not
decade, its model of provocative and nihilist only what can be reproduced, but that
pataphysics has been almost playfully which is already reproduced. The hyperreal’
‘replayed and recycled’ (Kellner, 1989) within (Baudrillard, 1983b: 146–7).
Baudrillard’s numerous commentaries on the According to Baudrillard, the ‘endless redu-
fin-de-millennium scene (cf. Baudrillard, 1988a, plication of signs, images and simulations’
1988b, 1988c, 1990a, 1990b, 1993c, 1994a, 1995, (Featherstone, 1991: 15) has spawned a cyber-
1996a, 1996b). netic culture: a closed systemic structure
Of central importance to Baudrillard’s post- prompted by the reigning televisual code:
Marxist, post-Saussurian, radical semiurgic
Every image, every media message and also every
approach to the complexities of contemporary
surrounding functional object is a test. That is to
culture (cf. Baudrillard, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983b,
say, in all the rigour of the term, it triggers
1985, 1990c, 1993b), was his conceptualizing of
response mechanisms in accordance with stereo-
the four orders of simulacra, each of which
types or analytical models ... Both object and
equated to the relation between appearance and
information already result from a selection, an
representation within a given socio-historical
edited sequence of camera angles, they have
epoch, and thus informed how reality is consti-
already tested ‘reality’ and have only asked ques-
tuted and experienced within that context.
tions to which it has responded . . . Thus tested,
Baudrillard identified four loosely historical
reality tests you in return according to the same
orders of simulacra, based on natural, commer-
score-card, and you decode it following the same
cial, structural and fractal laws of value, which
code, inscribed in its every message and object like
corresponded to four regimes of representation
a miniature genetic code. (Baudrillard, 1993b: 63)
based on the processes of counterfeit, produc-
tion, simulation and proliferation. This discus- In effect, the popular media test the mainstream
sion focuses on Baudrillard’s understanding of cultural mores of consuming subjects: which
the society of simulation (his third order of sim- are themselves a priori verifications of the
ulacra), which incorporated some of his most same televisual code. It is in this sense that
fruitful ideas and among his most promising Baudrillard (1994b) asserted, ‘There is no longer
research directives for the sociology of sport. a medium in the literal sense: it is now intangi-
Baudrillard’s third order of simulacra can be ble, diffused, and diffracted in the real, and one
characterized as one in which the simulated can no longer even say that the medium is
codes and models of media, computer and altered by it’ (Baudrillard, 1994b: 30).
information systems have replaced material Within Baudrillard’s implosive postmodern
production as the organizing principle of mediascape, individuals lose their ability to
social existence (Best, 1989; Best and Kellner, differentiate between the medium and the real;
1991; Bogard, 1996). The passage from a between their active and passive responses to
metallurgic to a semiurgic society (Baudrillard, mediated codes; and between themselves as
1981) has been expedited through advances subjects or objects of the mode of information
made in communications and information (Poster, 1990). Betraying his post-structuralist
technology, and has advanced a ‘new reality affiliation, and in familiar pataphysical tone,
logic’ (Luke, 1991: 349) centered around Baudrillard thus announced the death of the
 POST-STRUCTURALISM AND ANALYSIS OF SPORTING CULTURE 129

modern subject, through its absorption into the Baudrillard’s periodic commentaries on
black hole of the imploding hyper-media aspects of contemporary sporting culture vin-
(Baudrillard, 1983a), and its subsequent meta- dicated his implosive postmodernism (Chen,
morphosis into the masses ‘that space of ever 1987), and attested to the structure and influ-
greater density into which everything societal ence of postmodern sport. To this end,
is imploded and ground up in an uninter- Baudrillard drew attention to the French
rupted process of simulation’ (Baudrillard, public’s transfixation with the televisual
1982: 8–9). Hence, according to Baudrillard, the drama of a qualifying game for the 1978 World
triumph of the televisual code signals that the Cup, and apathetic indifference toward the
human subject has entered into a state of extradition of the German lawyer Klaus
absolute manipulation, and has become ‘a pure Croissant on the same evening: ‘A few hun-
absorption and resorption of the influence net- dred people demonstrated in front of the Santé
works’ (Baudrillard, 1988b: 27). Baudrillard prison, there was some furious nocturnal activ-
also declared the end of modern representative ity on the part of a few lawyers, while twenty
power, and its replacement with circulating million people spent the evening in front of
simulations or illusions of power: ‘“power” their TV screens’ (Baudrillard, 1980: 143).
(under erasure) is at once everywhere, in every Baudrillard argued that the French masses
code and simulation, and nowhere, in no par- should not be castigated for privileging a
ticular centralized locus’ (Kellner, 1989: 140). football match over a politico-legal occurrence,
Given the indeterminate nature of postmodern since the depthless and aestheticized
power, Baudrillard argued that modern politi- hyperreality of the third order of simulacra
cal struggles against supposedly identifiable (Featherstone, 1991) has seduced the masses
sites of authority were completely futile. into resisting the imperatives of rational com-
Instead, and to the disbelief of adherents to munication, in favour of the affective return of
more conventional strategies of oppositional a ‘dramatic sequence’ (Baudrillard, 1980: 143).
politics (cf. Harris, 1996; Jarvie and Maguire, Baudrillard also passed comment on the tragic
1994; Kellner, 1989) Baudrillard encouraged events at the Heysel Stadium, Brussels, in 1985,
the practice of hyperconformity, or deliberate which resulted in the death of 39 Juventus sup-
passivity, as an act of ‘strategic resistance’ porters. Attacking the parasitic barbarism of
against the domineering televisual code the global televisual media, he controversially
(Baudrillard, 1983a: 108). condemned ‘not the violence per se but the way
Sara Schoonmaker (1994: 186) has justifiably in which this violence was given worldwide
critiqued Baudrillard’s third-order simulacrum currency by television, and in the process
for its ‘technological determinism, formalism, turned into a travesty of itself’ (Baudrillard,
and epistemological confusion’. Added to his 1990b: 75). Although openly condemning such
political nihilism, it is clear to see why many displays of violence, the media also cynically
cultural commentators have renounced celebrated such acts through the instantaneous
Baudrillard’s work in toto. Nevertheless, and as global dissemination of video footage which
one of his sternest detractors even acknowl- augmented the dramatic content of the ‘world-
edged, there is an important reason for ‘not wide spectacle of sport’, and thereby acted as
ignoring Baudrillard’ (Norris, 1992: 25). global ‘fodder for TV audiences’ (Baudrillard,
According to Christopher Norris, despite its 1990b: 77). Lastly, Baudrillard spoke to the
flaws, Baudrillard’s work is replete with future of the sporting event through reference
‘canny diagnostic observations’ pertaining to to a European Cup match played in Madrid,
the influence of the mass media in shaping Spain, between Real Madrid and Naples in
contemporary existence (1992: 25). For this September 1987. Due to the unruly behavior of
reason, Douglas Kellner implored readers to Madrid supporters in a previous game, the
adopt a critical stance in order that they may football authorities ordered this match to be
distinguish the ‘valuable from the foolish, the played in a stadium devoid of spectators, but
important from the unimportant elements of relayed to the adoring masses on television.
Baudrillard’s work’ (1994: 20). So, while it may Thus, this ‘phantom football match’ took place,
be foolhardy to take Baudrillard’s exaggerated and surgically prefigured the future of post-
postmodern musings too literally, not taking modern sport: where no one will directly expe-
them literally enough would seem to deny the rience events, ‘but everyone will have received
sociology of sport community an important an image of them’ ... in this setting, sport
source of theoretical insights into a post- becomes a ‘pure event ... devoid of any refer-
modern sport culture, dominated by a prolifer- ence in nature, and readily susceptible to
ating economy of mass-mediated sporting replacement by synthetic images’ (Baudrillard,
commodities, celebrities and spectacles. 1990b: 80, 79).
130 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

In denouncing his proclivity for ‘calculated many of which can be found within North
exaggeration’, Chris Rojek (1990) likened America, ‘the engine which drives most parts
Baudrillard’s entry into the field of leisure of the machine of global popular culture’ (Bale,
studies to that of a garish postmodernist gate- 1994: 169).
crasher barging into a modernist party. This Moving from the general to the particular,
sentiment is equally applicable to Baudrillard’s Steve Redhead (1994, 1998) appraised the rele-
intrusion into the sociology of sport, which has vance of Baudrillard’s postmodern musings as
been marked by expressions of dismissive dis- a tool for realizing a popular cultural studies
regard from those researchers more firmly critique of the 1994 World Cup tournament
anchored in modern epistemic, political and held in the United States. Despite his acknowl-
sporting logics. Although not explicitly dis- edgement that Baudrillardian theorizing
cussing Baudrillard’s work, within his lengthy should be taken ‘seriously but with a good
expression of incredulity toward the apparent deal of caution, too’ (1994: 302), Redhead con-
postmodern ‘drift’ within critical sport studies, cluded that Baudrillard’s postmodern travel-
Morgan (1995) best captured the general dis- ogue America (1988a), in tandem with elements
dain that lies in wait for those seeking to of his dissection of the Gulf War simulacra
appropriate elements of Baudrillard’s project (1995), provided a suggestive basis for inter-
when examining contemporary sport culture. preting USA ‘94 as a global media event: a
His use of terms such as ‘facile’, ‘abnormal’, simulated and hyperreal spectacle devoid of a
‘sophomoric’, ‘relativist’ and, most revealingly, ‘real referent’ (Redhead, 1994: 298). Influenced
‘trendy’ as descriptors of the ‘postmodernist by similar Baudrillardian sources, David
drift’ within the sociology of sport, is indeed Andrews (1998) identified how NBC’s cover-
damning. Yet, Morgan is circumspect enough age of the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in
to concede that there needs to be further Atlanta manufactured a simulated model of
enquiry into these ‘strange new theories’ (1995: Olympic reality, that was explicitly designed to
41), and would no doubt be encouraged by the constitute, and thereby seduce, the female
small but growing number of studies which viewing subject. Lawrence Wenner (1998) has
have appropriated, in deliberate fashion, furnished perhaps the most innovative
Baudrillard’s oeuvre as a tool for theorizing the engagement with Baudrillard’s theorizing in
complexities of postmodern sport. While dis- his spatial-geography of the hypermediated,
parately focused, these studies vindicate Mike hypercommodified, hyperreal postmodern
Gane’s guarded affirmation of Baudrillard’s sports bar. As Wenner noted, this ‘new genre is
work as something worth pursuing with care a high concept theme park ... a cultural bin of
and trepidation, since although ‘vulnerable to simulations, a bunch of “important real
the most harsh judgements . . . the overall things” that are put together for us to decon-
impression we are left with is of a consistency struct by a helpful corporate sponsor’ (Wenner,
and persistence of critical imagination which 1998: 323–4).
produces, sometimes, remarkable insights’ The centrality of symbolic value within
(Gane, 1991: 157). Baudrillard’s thought has also attracted schol-
Up to this point in time, Geneviève Rail has ars interested in the complex commodity-sign
formulated the most informed and instructive economy of contemporary sport. Rob Van
Baudrillardian understanding of postmodern Wynsberghe and Ian Ritchie (1998: 377) pro-
sport ‘as producer and reproducer of the vided a compact, yet highly instructive, dis-
culture present in postmodern society, and as cussion of Baudrillard’s research as a
privileged object of over-consumption’ (Rail, grounding to their postmodern semiotic analy-
1998: 156). In charting the implosion of sport sis of the Olympic Games’ five ring logo. The
and aesthetic, corporal and media realms, Rail authors then graphically demonstrated how,
developed a suggestive theoretical synthesis of within a postmodern culture dominated by the
the early (1970, 1975, 1981), middle (1980) and semiotic detritus of the media, advertising and
later (1988a) phases of Baudrillard’s writing. marketing industries, the Olympic logo has
Rail’s discussion is particularly imaginative been severed from the pseudo-sacred ideals
and enlightening when substantiating the that defined its modern signification. Within
anti-mediatory, aesthetic populist, fragmented, the postmodern mediascape, the Olympic logo
depthless and history-effacing nature of has become a polysemic hypercommercial sig-
the ‘model used to mediate sport’ (Rail, 1998: nifier: ‘used to represent virtually any product,
154). Complementing Rail’s work, John Bale advertisers could construct any story they
(1994) mobilized numerous Baudrillardian wanted around such a symbol, while at the
concepts in depicting the future of sport as a same time it would mean something different
world of material and televisual simulations, for diverse groups of people’ (Van Wynsberghe
 POST-STRUCTURALISM AND ANALYSIS OF SPORTING CULTURE 131

and Ritchie, 1998: 377). Lastly, in her While the post-structuralist project has much
broad-ranging discussion of sport mascots, to offer the sociology of sport, it would be
Synthia Slowikowski (1993) referred to Native remiss not to point out the dangers of post-
American mascots (such as ‘Chief Illiniwek’ structuralist theory being taken up in the soci-
at the University of Illinois at Urbana– ology of sport in potentially unproductive
Champaign) as nostalgically framed hyperreal ways. Many fields of enquiry have been
simulations. These commodified ‘Native swamped by vapid and superficial engage-
American simulacra’ evoked the dominant, ments with the variants of post-structuralism,
and habitually subjugating, signifiers of Native something that Stuart Hall characterized as ‘the
American peoples drawn from the popular endless, trendy recycling of one fashionable
American imagination. In a Baudrillardian theorist after another, as if you can wear new
sense, they were thus hyperreal fabrications of theories like T-shirts’ (1996b: 149). It is perhaps
‘the absolute fake’ of postmodern American more productive to view post-structuralism
culture (Slowikowski, 1993: 28). less in terms of becoming an exclusively
Derridean, Foucauldian, or Baudrillardian
scholar, and more in terms of adhering to post-
CONCLUSION: TOWARD A structuralism’s particular type of politically
POST-STRUCTURALIST SOCIOLOGY informed intellectual practice. In this sense, I
believe the practice of post-structuralist intel-
OF SPORT lectualizing is closely allied to that of cultural
studies (which itself has increasingly been
Finally, post-structuralist approaches lead us to informed by post-structuralist theorizing).
recognize that no theoretical paradigm is flawless, Therefore, brief consideration of Lawrence
and no theoretical paradigm is forever. But post- Grossberg’s (1997) six-pronged characteriza-
structuralisms that remain attentive to history and tion of cultural studies would appear to be a
power relations allow us to understand and, per- profitable way of delineating the post-struc-
haps, to transform our worlds. Provisionally, they turalist project for future research. For as with
are the best we have . . . at least for now. (Kondo, post-structuralism, the ‘more people jump onto
1995: 99) the cultural studies bandwagon’ the more ‘it
needs to protect some sense of its own speci-
Although merely scratching the surface of this ficity as a way into the field of culture and
vast topic, hopefully this discussion will have power’ (Grossberg, 1997: 7).
demonstrated the strength of the growing In short, Grossberg (1997) believed cultural
body of post-structuralist informed scholar- studies – and by implication, a post-structuralist
ship within the sociology of sport. More than sociology of sport – should be: disciplined (far
anything, post-structuralist influenced analy- from wallowing in relativism, it constantly
ses have demonstrated that sport’s language, seeks new forms of intellectual authority); inter-
practice and structure ‘can no longer be con- disciplinary (its focus demands the straddling of
sidered ideologically, educationally, socially or traditional disciplinary boundaries); self-reflective
politically “neutral” and “innocent”’ (Bannet, (never complacent in its intellectual authority, it
1989: 264). Post-structuralism’s overriding realizes the inadequacies and potential contra-
concern with subversion, dissent and the dictions of the knowledge it produces); political
‘destabilising of certainty’ (Docker, 1994: 142) (fundamentally concerned with understanding,
confounds critics who have vilified it as a with a view to transforming, people’s lived
‘dead end for progressive thought’ (Epstein, realities); theoretical (while not dogmatically
1995; cf. Callinicos, 1990; Dews, 1987; adhering to one theoretical position, it stresses
Habermas, 1987; May, 1989). Nowhere is this the necessity of theory); and radically contextual
more ably evidenced than in the way post- (the object, method, theory and politics of criti-
structuralist theory has been used to critically cal enquiry are inextricably tied to the context
explicate sport’s embroilment in contemporary within which it is embroiled). By following
formations of language, power and subjectiv- these directives, a post-structuralist sociology
ity. Clearly, the variants of post-structuralism of sport would confound Camille Paglia’s
offer important interpretative vehicles for dis- sardonic indictment of ‘Post-structuralism, that
rupting the stifling and oppressive formations stale teething biscuit of the nattering nerds of
of sporting (post)modernity, by developing trendy academe ... [which] ... cannot rival the
alternative modes of thought, more progres- dazzling analytic complexity of football’
sive vehicles of expression and, ultimately, (Paglia, 1997: 22), by demonstrating its vitality
more potentially enabling experiences of the as a tool for critically analysing the dazzling
(post)modern sporting self. complexity of sport in general.
132 MAJOR PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT

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Baudrillard, J. (1985) ‘The masses: the implosion of
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Andrews, D.L. (1993) ‘Desperately seeking Michel: Baudrillard, J. (1987) Forget Foucault. New York:
Foucault’s genealogy, the body, and critical Semiotext(e).
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 PART TWO

CROSS-DISCIPLINARY
DIFFERENCES
AND CONNECTIONS

EDITORS’ INTRODUCTION

Scholars in the sociology of sport have been currently have one or more journals devoted to
trained and work primarily in sociology and sport-related research and enquiry. Economics,
physical education departments. But they also geography and political science, each for
come from anthropology, sports studies and different reasons, lack professional organiza-
cultural studies departments and programmes. tions representing scholars with interests in
This mix of backgrounds among scholars has sport, and of these, only economics has a jour-
created openness to using work on sport and nal devoted exclusively to research on sport or
society from a range of social science disci- sport-related topics. Table I (p. xxiv) lists the
plines. Furthermore, most scholars in the field journals associated with the sociology of sport
have realized that multiple disciplinary per- and each of the disciplines included in this
spectives are required if they wish to under- section.
stand more fully the complexities of sport as a The chapters in Part Two provide explana-
social and cultural phenomenon. When schol- tions of the theory and research in seven disci-
ars focus on a particular issue, problem, or plines. As you read them, you will notice
sphere of life there is a tendency to seek infor- differences manifested in terms of vocabulary,
mation from all relevant disciplines. In the case concepts, issues addressed, approaches used
of sport, scholars travel on a regular basis and literature cited. We believe strongly
across disciplinary lines. This crossing of disci- that each of these disciplines has generated
plinary lines has been institutionalized in con- important research and analyses of sport and
nection with sports studies programmes where society that are related substantively and sig-
colleagues in the social and behavioural nificantly to the sociology of sport. These
sciences are supportive of one another and col- chapters illustrate collectively the richness,
laborate on certain projects. It is important, diversity and breadth of scholarly enquiry on
though, to add that attempts are also made to sport and society. They also illustrate the
synthesize different perspectives and, in that complementarity and interconnections that
way, making sports research a simpler and exist between the interests of scholars who
more coherent task. Structuration theory and do research and develop theory related to
figurational sociology are recent attempts at sport and society. Because there was no way to
synthesis. It must be recognized, though, that order these chapters in terms of substantive
agreement on their value is far from universal. criteria, we have presented them alphabeti-
It should be noted that four of the disciplines cally by discipline.
highlighted in the chapters below have one or
more professional associations that reflect
discipline-based scholarly interests in sport, CHAPTER OVERVIEWS
and most of these professional associations
sponsor regular conferences for members. The Kendall Blanchard's chapter on ‘The Anthro-
disciplines with professional associations pology of Sport’ provides a description of
are anthropology, history, philosophy and the breadth and diversity of anthropological
psychology. All these except anthropology enquiry. In his overview of research, Blanchard
140 CROSS-DISCIPLINARY DIFFERENCES AND CONNECTIONS

notes that games in traditional cultures have tradition, partly because the research is more
attracted the attention of some anthropologists accessible in English and partly because the
over the past century. More recently, attention analyses they present often require explana-
has been given also to play and sport. tion. In his overview of labour economics,
Blanchard explains that anthropologists have Lavoie synthesizes and summarizes research
dealt with sport most often as a cultural on salary determination, salary discrimination
institution and studied sports in comparative and the distribution of earnings. Most of this
or cross-cultural perspective. Full-length literature focuses on professional sports in
ethnographies of sport as well as journal arti- North America because precise quantitative
cles have become increasingly common since measures of individual output and productiv-
the early 1980s. Anthropologists interested in ity are available for these sports. The avail-
the study of sports have come together in The ability of salary data for individual athletes,
Association for the Study of Play, and also in more characteristic in North America than in
organizations based in Europe and Asia. Europe, also permits complex analyses of
Recent research on sports has involved a wide labour economics. Sociologists have frequently
range of topics. There have been cultural used economic studies of salary discrimination
descriptions and analyses of sports in pre- in their discussions of race and ethnic relations
literate, tribal cultures. There have been studies in sports. Lavoie also synthesizes and summa-
of the relationships between sport and play rizes research on the economics of the firm. He
and sport and ritual. The definition of sport highlights studies of profit maximization (as
has been discussed in cross-cultural and com- opposed to maximizing winning), event att-
parative terms. Applied anthropology has endance, restrictions on players' mobility,
focused on problems associated with sports in revenue-sharing schemes and salary caps, and
a range of cultural and international contexts. the financial impact of professional sport fran-
Archaeological evidence has been used in chises on host communities. He concludes by
descriptions of sport in prehistory and early noting that most economics research focuses
history. Human performance has been studied on professional and other elite-level sports,
in terms of anatomy, physiology and genetics. and it revolves around the use of econometric
And there is currently an emphasis on theory- methods and the construction of economic
based explanatory and interpretative research. models. He predicts that future research will
Blanchard concludes by listing topics deserv- most likely continue along these lines.
ing research attention in the future. He calls for In his chapter on ‘Human Geography and
ethnographies documenting the diversity of the Study of Sport’, John Bale begins by noting
sport forms around the world, for theoretically that sports studies involve at least some forms
informed research on the meaning and role of of disciplinary synthesis. This is especially evi-
sports in societies, for the use of new archaeo- dent in connection with research on the rela-
logical data in cultural research, and for stud- tionship between space and place and sport.
ies of the relationships between sports and Bale focuses his chapter on ‘achievement sport’
violence and sports and international relations. rather than on recreation and leisure. He out-
In the chapter on ‘Economics and Sport’, lines the basis for geographical concerns with
Marc Lavoie provides an overview and sum- sports, and notes that, despite the centrality of
mary of research on issues related to labour space and place issues related to and inherent
economics and the economics of the firm (that in sports, the geography of sport remains on
is, leagues/fixtures, franchises and teams). He the margins of geography as a whole. He
notes that two traditions have emerged in this explains that geographical research on sports
work. One is a North American, or more has focused generally on four major topics.
widely Anglo-Saxon, tradition with a micro- First, there have been efforts to map variations
economic focus that centres on the individual in the production and distribution of athletic
and the firm and utilizes concepts of supply talent and to identify actual and ideal locations
and demand to construct and test models of of facilities, clubs and franchises. Secondly,
behaviour for individuals in sports, especially there has been research on the spatial dynamics
professional sports. The other is a Continental of sports. This work has focused on the diffu-
European tradition that relies on descriptive sion of sports and sports innovations, the
statistics rather than econometrics, and focuses migratory flow of sports participants, and the
on presenting descriptive tables and ratios on re-location of clubs and franchises. A third col-
the economics of amateur and recreational lection of studies has sought to identify the
sports more than on professional sports. environmental and spatial impact of sports.
Lavoie emphasizes studies done in the former This research overlaps with economics research
 EDITORS’ INTRODUCTION 141

and is often informed by social and cultural 1 Studies of ordinary life and society among
theories used in the sociology of sport. people in Latin America, Africa, most of
Fourthly, there has been a growth recently in southern and central Europe, and Asia;
research on sport and landscapes. This research 2 Comparative, cross-cultural studies of
moves beyond cartographic concerns. It is the- social relations, structural conditions and
oretically informed and utilizes cultural studies social meanings associated with sports;
approaches. It focuses on issues related to terri- 3 Studies of sports as cultural practices asso-
toriality and power, place and social control, ciated with broader systems of behaviour
place and meaning and pleasure, and the sym- and meanings;
bolic character of landscapes. Bale closes by 4 Studies of the dynamics of persistence,
noting that the future of the geography of sport change and transformation of sports over
depends on geographers becoming increas- long periods of time.
ingly aware that sport is a significant part of
culture and that the spatial dynamics and envi- Struna’s bibliography highlights key sources
ronmental issues associated with sports are published recently, especially since 1990.
worthy of serious attention. In his chapter on ‘The Philosophy of Sport’
Nancy Struna's chapter entitled ‘Social William Morgan notes that philosophers, like
History and Sport’ illustrates clearly the close scholars in the social sciences, began to give
connection between social historians and soci- concerted attention to sport-related enquiry in
ologists. Struna explains that social historians the 1960s. As physical education began to give
view sports as practices, formations and texts way to sport studies, space in the form of aca-
that are constitutive features of societies at spe- demic appointments was opened for philoso-
cific points in time. Recent work in social phers of sport. Although the analytical and
history is heavily informed and guided by the positivist approaches that have been dominant
same social theories used by sociologists. in philosophy have discouraged enquiry into
Struna notes that historical research done prior sport, some philosophers in the 1960s and
to the 1980s tended to be descriptive and 1970s gave attention to play, games and sports.
empiricist rather than analytical, critical and Morgan presents a conceptual overview of the
theoretically grounded. Despite this weakness, philosophy of sport in terms of the major ques-
it still provides detailed and usable empirical tions addressed by philosophers. He explains
‘maps’ of some people and some sports around that philosophers deal with ontological issues
the world. Since 1980 historians have been as they probe the question ‘What is reality?’.
more likely to produce three complementary They deal with epistemological issues as they
but different genres of studies. First, there have probe the question ‘What is knowledge?’ And
been studies of the deep, internal history of they deal with axiological issues of ethics and
sports. These studies focus on sporting experi- aesthetics as they probe the question ‘What is
ences as identifiably distinct social experiences value?’ In connection with the first of these
related to larger social movements and issues. questions, philosophers of sport probe the
Secondly, there have been studies of sports and metaphysics of sport and debate issues related
society in which the histories of sports are told to the nature and characteristics of sport and
in connection with the web of social activities relationships between sports and games. In
and processes characteristic in a society at par- connection with epistemological questions,
ticular points in time. Thirdly, there have been they probe the origin and organization of
studies of sports as forms of popular culture or knowledge about sport. In connection with
leisure through which are revealed various axiological questions, they consider issues
ideological interests, social relations and struc- related to ethics and aesthetics. Enquiries into
tural conditions. Struna then presents a review ethics focus on sportsmanship, the competitive
of recent historiography research. She notes character of sport and cheating, gender
that social historians have focused on issues of identity and equity, the moral standing of ani-
cultural production and reproduction as well mals in sports, and the use and detection of
as issues of agency and power relations in performance-enhancing substances in sports.
much of their recent work. She highlights Enquiries into aesthetics focus primarily on
sources that have focused on conflict and whether sports are best understood in artistic
struggle around issues of class relations, gen- terms and as art forms. Morgan explains that
der relations, the body, racial and ethnic rela- axiological enquiry has attracted the bulk of
tions, and ideology. Finally, she suggests four attention among sport philosophers in recent
lines of enquiry that address previously under- years. He concludes on an optimistic note by
studied topics in social history. These are: suggesting that the philosophy of sport will
142 CROSS-DISCIPLINARY DIFFERENCES AND CONNECTIONS

continue to grow because of a recent revival of themes that will appear in the politics and
pragmatism in philosophy and an upsurge of sports literature. He foresees analysis of policy
moral studies in society and academia as a issues related to equity of participation oppor-
whole. Furthermore, as scholarly attention tunities and to the political environment of
turns more to a consideration of cultural prac- sport itself, especially related to doping and
tices, philosophy provides useful tools of doping control. There will also be research on
reform and renovation. context issues including the future roles of
Barrie Houlihan’s chapter on ‘Politics and government, major international sport bodies
Sport’ begins with examples of the diverse and commercial interests in sports that are
ways that politics and sports have intersected. becoming increasingly global in scope and
These include everything from protest and impact. He emphasizes that this research and
terrorism to government policy and power the theory that guides it will bring scholars
relations in sport organizations. Houlihan dis- together from multiple disciplines including
tinguishes between politics and sport and poli- political science, sociology, economics, geogra-
tics in sport and then discusses research and phy, history and philosophy.
analysis related to each of these two topics. He Diane Gill’s chapter on ‘Psychology and the
notes that the bulk of past research has focused Study of Sport’ highlights the development,
on the former topic, especially on the role of growth and organization of the discipline more
the state in sport. Research has highlighted at than its literature. Gill notes that the psychol-
least six domestic and foreign policy motives ogy and sociology of sport have overlapped
associated with government intervention in frequently in terms of substantive content and
sport. For example, intervention may be issues. However, psychology's focus is clearly
designed to control (outlaw or regulate) partic- on individuals and the psychology of sport has
ular sports or to facilitate military prepared- given priority to application. Furthermore, of
ness. It may be motivated by a desire to all the social and behavioural sciences, psy-
promote social integration or national identity, chology is most closely aligned with the so-
especially in nation-states where ethnic identi- called ‘hard sciences’, a fact reflected in the
ties challenge the priority given to national continuing commitment among many scholars
identity, where shifting political boundaries in the psychology of sport to emphasize exper-
have accentuated diversity rather than unity, imental research. Gill explains that the disci-
or where there is a need to project a national pline of sport psychology has grown primarily
identity on an international stage for purposes in the context of exercise and sport science
of internal or external reaffirmation. In more rather than in the context of psychology.
recent years it may be motivated by concerns Although traditional psychology theories have
with economic development as it occurs in been used widely, sport psychologists have
connection with tourism and boosterism. And developed their own sport-specific theoretical
finally, it may occur in connection with inter- models and methods. Gill identifies the inter-
national diplomatic efforts intended to build national, European and North American ori-
relations between enemies, maintain good rela- gins of sport psychology and notes that the
tions with allies, register disapproval of poli- field has traditionally encompassed motor
cies enacted by other states, signal readmission learning and motor control as well as sport
into the international community, or promote psychology. She outlines the history of the field
national self-interest. Houlihan notes that beginning with efforts to build the knowledge
research by political scientists and others has base through research, forming professional
examined the efficacy of such policy interven- organizations, publishing journals and estab-
tions. Research on politics in sport has become lishing graduate programmes to train future
more common in recent years. It focuses on generations of sport psychologists. Since the
the political goals of sport organizations such 1970s the field has given less emphasis to
as the IOC and international and national motor development and more to applied
federations. It explores issues of access to issues related to sport performance, health and
participation, especially as they are related to the enhancement of experiences in physical
gender and ethnic relations and forms of dis- activities. Since the late 1980s when the field
crimination in society. It has also begun to focus research and the applied emphasis of many
on issues related to sharing revenues generated sport psychologists captured the interest of
by sports and to the complex relationships and the public as well as many students, there
dynamics associated with commercialization has been increased interest in sports as settings
and new forms of funding and sponsorship. for clinical and counselling work. Applied
Houlihan closes with a discussion of future interests gave rise also to the increased use
 EDITORS’ INTRODUCTION 143

and legitimacy of idiographic, introspective countries offer undergraduate or graduate

and interpretive research methodologies. courses in the psychology of sport. In closing,
Specialization among scholars has led to Gill explains that sport psychology is clearly a
the formation of different organizations and global discipline characterized by a high
journals. Gill notes that sport psychologists degree of diversity in research and purpose,
have become formally recognized within but that there has been a gradual trend
the organization of the American Psycho- towards the merger of research and practice in
logical Association, although few psychology the field.
departments in the United States or other
 8
THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF SPORT

Kendall Blanchard

Anthropology is the most comprehensive of social anthropologists have sometimes

the social sciences. Its focus spans the entire referred to their discipline as the branch of
range of human behavior, from the biological sociology that studies primitive people
to the cultural and from the past to the (Evans-Pritchard, 1962).
future. Physical anthropologists study human 2 A primary focus on process as opposed to
anatomy and physiology, genetics, non-human results. For example, physical anthropol-
primate biology and behavior, the fossil record, ogists are more likely to highlight the
and evolution in all of its many manifestations. process of evolution than a particular
Archaeologists in most cases are anthropol- moment in evolutionary time. Likewise,
ogists who study prehistory, the many cen- cultural anthropologists are more likely to
turies of human life that predate the advent of emphasize the importance of the culture
writing systems and the emergence of history. change process than a specific time or event
Anthropological archaeology relies on a vari- in cultural history.
ety of skills, methodologies and supporting 3 The frequent use of cross-cultural compari-
sciences (such as paleontology, geology, paleo- son as a methodology. The comparison of
botany, paleozoology). Linguistic anthropol- two or more cultures, particularly along
ogists study human language as a process and the lines of a single institution (such as
specialize in describing unwritten languages marriage), is a way of better understanding
and reconstructing those languages no longer culture and validating or discrediting gen-
spoken or those not recorded in written eralizations about human behavior.
history. Cultural anthropologists, also known 4 The use of fieldwork as the most common
as social anthropologists, ethnologists, or methodology for basic data collection. For
ethnographers, study human behavior from the cultural anthropologist this involves
the perspective of culture and social structure. living and working among the people being
In short, every facet of human life and history studied and assuming the role as ‘partici-
is a legitimate subject for anthropology. Its pant observer’. In other words, it means
theories and methodologies have roots that becoming a part of the group yet at the same
extend across the entire academic community. time maintaining a scientific objectivity.
Thus it is not surprising that the discipline has 5 A tendency to identify with the concerns
been called ‘the most humanistic of the and causes of its research subject, fre-
sciences’ and ‘the most scientific of the human- quently minority or disadvantaged peoples
ities’ (Wolf, 1964). in the developing areas of the world.
Anthropology in general is characterized by
the following reasonably consistent themes
that give the discipline a distinctive flair. ANTHROPOLOGY OF SPORT
1 A tendency to give primary attention to
people who live in small-scale societies (for The anthropology of sport is the application of
example, tribal, folk, traditional, band and the perspectives, theories and methodologies
pre-state societies). For this reason, British of the discipline to the study of sport. By
 THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF SPORT 145

implication, sport is viewed as a distinctive traditionally played a racket game sometimes

component of culture, not unlike marriage, referred to as the parent game of lacrosse. The
religion, or music. It is treated as a separate racket game was widely known and played
institution, but, like all cultural institutions, it among Native American tribes during the
is thoroughly integrated with the other institu- eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The
tions that characterize any given culture. Sport Cherokee version of the game was similar to
in this context is analyzed from a cross-cultural that of other tribes. Each player was equipped
or comparative perspective. Particular atten- with two ball sticks, hickory staffs with
tion is paid to the description and interpreta- pouches of twisted bear sinew at the end. The
tion of sport in small-scale, traditional or tribal ball, less than two inches in diameter, was
societies. made of tightly packed deer hair and covered
By implication, the anthropology of sport is with deer hide. Two teams of players com-
an academic enterprise engaged in only by peted in the attempt to throw or carry the ball
anthropologists. However, in reality, the up and down a lengthy field and strike the
anthropology of sport is more of a perspective opponent’s goal and thus score points. The
or an approach than a subdiscipline of anthro- first team to reach an agreed-upon total was
pology. Scholars of various academic back- the winner. Rules for the sport were minimal.
grounds from countries around the world are The most important and most frequently
bringing to the analysis of sport an anthropo- enforced rule was one which prohibited a
logical perspective and in this sense doing the player from touching the ball with his hand.
anthropology of sport. These scholars include The racket game among the Cherokees, as
historians, kinesiologists, psychologists, geo- among other tribes, was an important commu-
graphers, sociologists and political scientists. nity event with cultural implications that went
To call their work ‘anthropology of sport’ is well beyond the sport itself. Traditionally, it
not simply to co-opt these efforts, but rather to involved elaborate preparation by the entire
recognize the importance of their contribu- community, fasting, religious ceremonies and
tions, even though the authors themselves celebrations, incantations and magical manip-
might not think of themselves as doing anthro- ulations, and heavy wagering on the outcome
pology or of their writings as anthropological of the game. Mooney’s contribution was
in nature. important in that it documented first-hand the
game and its cultural context. In addition, and
perhaps more importantly, it analyzed the inte-
Historical Background gral relationship between the sport and its
social setting, recognizing that sport is not
The anthropology of sport has it roots in played in a cultural vacuum.
the work of early European anthropologists. The early twentieth century witnessed an
For example, Sir Edward Burnett Tylor increased interest in games and sports among
(1832–1917), a British scholar sometimes anthropologists and other students of culture.
referred to as the father of anthropology, pub- One of the most important figures of this era
lished an article entitled ‘The history of games’ was Stewart Culin (1859–1929). Culin, a busi-
(1879) in which he described several simple, ness person, developed an interest in archaeol-
natural sports (for example, wrestling, ball ogy early in his career. This led eventually to a
tossing) and argued that these had been position as a museum curator. He was particu-
invented independently in many different geo- larly interested in games and as curator of
graphical settings. However, he viewed other ethnology at the Brooklyn Museum he col-
more complicated games, like the forerunners lected many sport and game artifacts from
of modern-day football (soccer), as not so eas- around the world and brought together vol-
ily invented. These he saw as evidence of pre- umes of information about those artifacts. Out
historic diffusion and contact among the major of these efforts came several important books
cultural centers of the world. on games, perhaps his most significant being
Although sport was not a central concern Games of the North American Indians (1907).
among nineteenth-century anthropologists, it Referred to by one biographer as the ‘major
did receive occasional attention from anthro- game scholar of the past 100 years ... in the
pologists other than Tylor. For example, James field of anthropology’ (Avedon and Sutton-
Mooney, an anthropologist and head of the Smith, 1971), Culin, like Mooney before him,
Bureau of American Ethnology, published in took the study and description of sport beyond
1890 a detailed description of the Cherokee that institution itself to elaborate on its full
ball game. The Cherokees, a Native American meaning for human society and culture. As
tribe located in the southeastern United States, one writer has noted:
146 CROSS-DISCIPLINARY DIFFERENCES AND CONNECTIONS

Mr. Culin’s studies . . . not only afford an description of the Polynesian dart match, has
understanding of the technology of the games and become a classic, in part because of the way in
their distribution, as well as their bearing on which Firth documented the important role of
history ... but they contribute in a remarkable sport and its many functions in small-scale
manner to an appreciation of native modes of society.
thought and of the motives and impulses that Lesser’s major contribution to the anthropol-
underlie the conduct of primitive peoples gener- ogy of sport was his The Pawnee Ghost Dance
ally. [Culin ] ... creates the science of games and for Hand Game: a Study of Cultural Change (1933).
the first time gives this branch its proper place in The Ghost Dance was a nativistic movement
the science of man. (Holmes, 1907: xl) that originated among the Paiute Indians of the
American Great Basin in the 1880s. It was
European anthropologists were also taking based on the premise that if American Indians
an interest in sport during the early decades of engaged in this ritual, the Ghost Dance, their
this century. For example, German ethnogra- ancestors would return from their graves and
pher Von Karl Weule wrote a lengthy article on help them recapture their lands from the white
sport that appeared in a volume on sport man and reestablish their dominance across
history that was published in 1925. In this arti- the North American continent. One of the
cle, entitled ‘Ethnologie des Sportes’ (Ethnology groups that became a part of the Ghost Dance
of sport), Weule wrote from the perspective of movement was the Pawnee Indians, who
the culture-history school popular in Germany played a distinctive hand game, a guessing
at that time to argue that the primary focus of game in which players hid special bones or
an ethnology of sport should be two-fold. On dice in their hands. In a short period of time
the one hand, it should trace culture, and sport after the introduction of the Ghost Dance into
as an aspect of culture, back to its beginning. Pawnee society, the hand game became highly
On the other, it should put sport into its proper stylized and ritualized and in many ways a
theoretical perspective. Treating sport as an part of the Ghost Dance ceremony itself.
element of culture that had developed and According to Lesser, what was originally a
evolved conjunctively with that culture, Weule game became under these circumstances a rit-
argued that there were real differences ual. Lesser used the Pawnee case to argue
between the sports of so-called primitive and against an earlier assertion of Culin (1907) that
modern peoples. Early humans, he claimed, the games of North American Indians were
the peoples of the pre-state world, used sport either rituals themselves or games that had
as a means for coping with the immediate evolved from rituals. Lesser demonstrated that
problems of adaptation, survival and defense. the reverse could be the case.
Modern peoples, on the other hand, use sport During the 1940s and 1950s there were other
for purposes of perfecting the human body, contributions to the literature on sport and
competing and pleasure. The ritual and practi- culture by anthropologists (for example, Opler,
cal aims of sport in a preliterate society have 1944, 1945) and scholars from other areas (for
been supplanted by a new set of objectives example, Brewster, 1956; Frederickson, 1960;
endemic to life in industrial society. Although Stumpf and Cozens, 1947). Perhaps the most
his work was notable for its excellent descrip- critically important publication of this era was
tion, Weule remained largely dependent on an article entitled ‘Games in culture’ which
secondary sources and maintained an implic- appeared in a 1959 issue of the journal
itly racist view of what he called primitive American Anthropologist (Roberts, Arth and
society. Bush). This article was the first effort by
Also indicative of the interest in sport anthropologists to deal with the issue of games
among anthropologists during this era is the from a strictly theoretical perspective. In this
work of scholars such as Elsdon Best, article the authors defined a game as ‘a recre-
Raymond Firth and Alexander Lesser. Best was ational activity characterized by (1) organized
relatively generous in the attention he gave to play, (2) competition, (3) two or more sides,
sports in his ethnographic description. His (4) criteria for determining the winner, and
1924 two-volume work on the Maori is replete (5) agreed upon rules’ (1959: 597). They also
with details regarding the sport and play activ- classified games in three categories: those of
ities of this group of native New Zealanders. (1) physical skill, (2) strategy and (3) chance.
Firth (1930/31) likewise gave full attention to From here, the authors went to the Human
sport and games. In 1931, he published a Relations Area Files (HRAF), a systematic
lengthy article in the journal Oceania entitled collection of basic ethnographic data from
‘A dart match in Tikopia: a study in the sociol- hundreds of groups from around the world
ogy of primitive sport’. This article, a detailed (Murdock et al., 1961). Selecting 50 of these,
 THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF SPORT 147

they attempted to correlate the nature of games potential economic reward. Ultimately, the real
with other aspects of culture. As a result of this value of the article is the way in which it illus-
analysis, it was suggested that there is a signif- trates the complexity, depth and broad mean-
icant relationship between games of strategy ing of sport in human society.
and social complexity; in other words, the Among the works written by non-
more complex a society, the more likely the anthropologists during the 1970s that address
group to engage in games of strategy (chess, sports anthropology themes, perhaps the most
for example). They also found that games of widely read is Allen Guttmann’s From Ritual to
chance appear to be associated with religious Record: The Nature of Modern Sports (1978).
activities and that environmental conditions Guttmann, an historian, argued that so-called
may affect the type and number of physical primitive sports are not sports in the strictest
skill games engaged in by any particular sense. These activities were more than ritual or
group. Perhaps the most important contribu- pure religious expression. However, modern
tion of ‘Games in culture’ is the fact that it sports are different in that they are invariably
brought attention to games and sports as quantified and involve the pursuit of a record.
important cultural phenomena and as legiti- In his words,
mate subjects for anthropologists.
When we can no longer distinguish the sacred
The 1960s witnessed the publication by
from the profane or even the good from the bad,
anthropologists of various articles that had
we content ourselves with minute discriminations
sport themes. One of the best known from that
between the batting average of the .308 hitter and
period is Robin Fox’s essay on ‘Pueblo base-
the .307 hitter. Once the gods have vanished from
ball: a new use for old witchcraft’ (1961). This
Mount Olympus or from Dante’s paradise, we can
piece is a description of how baseball was
no longer run to appease them or save our souls,
introduced among the Cochiti Pueblo of New
but we can set a new record. It is a uniquely mod-
Mexico and how it provided for a new form of
ern form of immortality. (Guttmann, 1978)
expression for old forms of witchcraft. Of equal
importance was Leslie White’s 1964 presiden- Throughout the course of anthropology’s
tial address to the American Anthropological history, writers have frequently given some
Association. One of the most highly respected attention to sport within the context of mono-
anthropologists of his time, White gave added graphs devoted to the description of particular
credibility to the study of sport by suggesting cultures (for example, Boas, 1888; Hoffman,
that anthropology was an appropriate theoret- 1896; Howitt, 1904; Perry, 1923; Spencer and
ical model for the analysis of professional Gillen, 1927). Few dealt with sport as their pri-
sports, in particular baseball, which he saw as mary focus, although there were some (for
a microcosm of the larger American cultural example, Stern, 1949). However, it was not
system. until the 1980s that full-length works devoted
During the 1970s and 1980s the study of to the ethnographic description and analysis of
sport from a cross-cultural perspective and an sport became common. Some of these were
interest in folk or traditional sport became written by anthropologists, for example,
increasingly popular among scholars in Azoy’s Buzkashi: Game and Power in Afghanistan
Europe and North America. In particular, (1982); Blanchard’s The Mississippi Choctaws at
American anthropologists developed a greater Play: the Serious Side of Leisure (1981);
appreciation for the phenomenon. One of the Lawrence’s Rodeo: an Anthropologist Looks at the
most important publications of this period was Wild and Tame (1982); and MacAloon’s This
Clifford Geertz’s (1972) essay on the Balinese Great Symbol (1981). Some of these were writ-
cockfight (‘Deep play: notes on the Balinese ten by scholars from other disciplines, for
cockfight’). In this article, Geertz described example, James’s Beyond a Boundary (1984);
the cockfight and the betting and other Lever’s Soccer Madness (1983); Mandle and
intrigue that surrounds it. Painting a detailed Mandle’s Grass Roots Commitment: Basketball
picture of the event, he analyzed the nature of and Society in Trinidad and Tobago (1988);
the wagering behavior that, though illegal, is Oxendine’s American Indian Sports Heritage
an important part of the event. He then argued (1988); Poliakoff’s Combat Sports in the Ancient
that what may appear to the outside observer World (1987); and Sansone’s Greek Athletics and
to be irrational economic behavior is actually the Genesis of Sport (1988).
behavior driven by moral imperative more This trend continued into the 1990s. From
than by greed. In other words, it is as though this decade, work of particular importance to
there is a deep-seated moral compunction that social scientists who study sport are Klein’s
drives participants to take great risks even Sugarball: the American Game, the Dominican
though such risks may not be justified by the Dream (1991); Lewis’s Ring of Liberation: a
148 CROSS-DISCIPLINARY DIFFERENCES AND CONNECTIONS

Deceptive Discourse in Brazilian Capoeria (1992); held in Bonn, Germany, in 1992, an innovation
Guttmann’s Games and Empires: Modern Sports that has continued.
and Cultural Imperialism (1994); and Vennum’s
American Indian Lacrosse (1994). THE MAJOR ISSUES
The growing popularity and importance of
sport themes in cross-cultural studies among
anthropologists and others is reflected not only The major issues addressed within the frame-
in the volume of publications but also in the work of the anthropological approach to the
number of persons involved internationally in study of sport that has emerged over the past
organizations and special events that highlight few decades include the following.
the study of sports culture and folk or tradi-
The Study and Description of Sports
tional sports. In the 1970s, the Association for
Activities in Preliterate, Tribal, Non-Western,
the Anthropological Study of Play (TAASP)
or Developing Societies Consistent with
was organized by a group of scholars, largely
anthropological tradition, the anthropology of
American and Canadian, and included many
sport tends to target the activities of simple or
persons whose primary interest was sport. In
small-scale society. As indicated earlier, folk or
recent years this organization has changed its
traditional sport has been of particular interest
name to the Association for the Study of Play
to scholars in Europe and Asia in the past
(TASP), its membership has broadened to
decade. The literature that has been amassed
include scholars from around the world, and
over the past several decades is a treasure trove
it has begun holding some of its annual meet-
of ethnographic descriptions of both sports
ings in Europe as well as in Canada and the
behavior and its cultural context as these are
United States.
part of traditional societies from around the
In Asia, under the leadership of the Japanese
world. Almost every area of the world is repre-
Office of Foreign Ministry and members of the
sented in this literature: Afghanistan (Azoy,
academic community, a new traditional sports
1982; Balikci, 1978); Africa (Baker and Mangan,
movement has begun (Ogura, 1992). It is a
1987; Gini, 1939; Raum, 1953; Scotch, 1961;
movement whose goal is to describe, analyze
Stevens, 1973, 1975; van der Merwe and Salter,
and preserve traditional sports (that is, those
1990); Australia (Harney, 1952; Howell and
sports that have not as yet been tainted by
Howell, 1987; Moncrieff, 1966; Taylor and
commercialism and that are tied to traditional
Toohey, 1995; Roth, 1902); Caribbean (Klein,
cultures in areas around the world). It is also a
1991; Mandle and Mandle, 1988; Manning,
movement designed to use sport as a mecha-
1981); China (Giles, 1906; Kanin, 1978; Knuttgen
nism for enhancing international communica-
et al., 1990; Kolatch, 1972; Sasajima, 1973; Tien
tion. In many ways, it can be viewed as an
and Matthews, 1977); Traditional Europe
effort to rediscover the original spirit of the
(Renson, 1981; Renson et al., 1991; Renson and
Olympics. The Japanese government and
Smulders, 1978); Japan (Bull, 1996; Sogawa,
Japanese scholars have sponsored a variety of
1991); Latin America (Arbena, 1988, 1989;
special programs and exhibitions in recent
Humphrey, 1981; Miracle, 1977; Pina Chan,
years, such as the International Conference on
1968; Stern, 1949); Micronesia (Royce and
the Preservation and Advancement of
Murray, 1971); Native North America (Blanchard,
Traditional Sport, held in Tokyo in 1993.
1981; Cheska, 1981; Culin, 1903, 1907;
Likewise, in China, meetings devoted to the
Danielson, 1971; Eisen and Wiggins, 1995; Fox,
study of traditional ethnic sports are now held
1961; Mathys, 1976; Vennum, 1994); New Guinea
annually (see Beijing Review, 1995a, b, c).
(Leach, 1976); New Zealand (Melnick and
The Europeans have also developed a new
Thomson, 1996; Stumpf and Cozens, 1947;
enthusiasm for the study and preservation of
Sutton-Smith, 1959); Polynesia (Dunlap, 1951;
traditional sports and games. Members of the
Firth, 1930/31; Johnson and Johnson, 1955);
academic community, professionals who are
and Turkey (Frogner, 1985).
part of private or public sports organizations,
and amateur sports enthusiasts are working The Relationship Between Sport and
together to give new prominence and exposure Play Sports studies have evolved in tandem
to the folk sports of Europe. A committee for with the study of play. The reasons for this
the Development of Sport (CCDS) has hosted a relationship are obvious. However, definitions
variety of seminars on the topic in recent and theoretical clarity as they relate to the con-
years. Also, there have been many special exhi- cepts of sport and play are not so obvious.
bitions featuring traditional sport. One of the Anthropologists have generally dismissed the
most important of these was the First idea that work and play are antonyms or points
International Festival of Traditional Sports, at opposite ends of a work–play continuum
 THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF SPORT 149

(for example, Blanchard, 1995; Stevens, 1980). example, Culin, 1907) and by others as a
Work is viewed as goal-driven activity and is stand-alone phenomenon that has in some
generally viewed as the opposite of leisure cases evolved into ritual (for example, Lesser,
behavior, activity in which the goal of the 1933).
activity is the activity itself. Anthropologists Ritual can be defined as culturally patterned
are not so consistent in their efforts to define behavior, ‘the symbolic dimension of social
‘play’. The effort to understand the nature activities that are not specifically technical in
and meaning of human play has been well nature’ (Blanchard, 1995). ‘Technique has eco-
served by the work of comparative primatolo- nomic consequences which are measurable
gists and their studies of monkeys and apes and predictable; ritual on the other hand is a
(for example, Bekoff, 1972; Carpenter, 1964; symbolic statement which says something
Fagen, 1981; Lawick-Goodall, 1971; Manson about the individuals involved in the action’
and Wrangham, 1991; Miller, 1973; Oakley, (Leach, 1954). In this sense ritual can be either
1976). In fact, it was the observation of sacred or profane. Like language, ritual serves
monkey play that led Gregory Bateson (1972) to transmit culture and exercises a ‘constrain-
to a theory of play that many anthropologists ing effect on social behavior’ (Douglas, 1973).
find convenient. Observing monkeys playing For this reason, it is easy to see why anthropol-
at the Fleishhacker Zoo in San Francisco, he ogist William Arens would call American
observed football a ritual:
a phenomenon well known to everybody . . . ... football, although only a game, tells us much
young monkeys playing, that is, engaged in an about who and what we Americans are as a
interactive sequence of which the unit actions or people, and if an anthropologist from another
signals were similar to but not the same as those of planet visited here, he would be struck by the
combat. It was evident, even to the human American fixation on this game and would report
observer, that the sequence as a whole was not on it with the glee and romantic intoxication
combat, and evident to the human observer that to anthropologists normally reserve for the exotic rit-
the participant monkeys this was ‘not combat’. uals of a newly discovered tribe. This assertion is
based on the theory that certain significant sym-
Bateson then suggested that play was paradox: bols are the key to understanding a culture; foot-
what the monkeys appeared to be saying was ball is such a symbol. (Arens, 1975)
they were not doing what they in fact seemed
to be doing, fighting. This is the message of Nevertheless, it is not generally agreed that
play, what Bateson (1972) calls ‘metacommuni- simply because behavior is repetitive and sym-
cation’, communication about communication. bolizes the basic values of a particular society
Play defined as paradox is a state that can in that it is ritual. Clearly, though, sport has
some cases characterize sport. Certainly, one certain characteristics of ritual and because
can play at sport. However, one can also of its risks and uncertainties invites various
engage in sport in ways that cannot be viewed types of ritual, such as magic (Gmelch, 1972;
as playful. For that reason, it has been sug- Stevens, 1988).
gested that sport, depending on the context Perhaps more useful than the assertion that
and the state of mind of the participants, can be sport is ritual, is the observation that like rit-
characterized as play, not-play, work or leisure ual, sport is a window on culture. Sport
(Blanchard, 1995). However, sport is not play becomes a vehicle for the manifestations of
nor is it a form of play. It is simply an activity those norms and values fundamental to the
that can be play-like. culture of the society within which it is per-
formed. Thus it is when the Trobriand
The Relationship Between Sport and Ritual Islanders of New Guinea play cricket, a game
Anthropologists have debated over the meaning they learned from the British in the early part
of this relationship for several decades. Sport is of this century, they play it in such a way that
treated by some as secular ritual (for example, it becomes a Trobriand sport (Leach, 1976).
Lawrence, 1982; Miracle and Southard, 1993). What one observes during Trobriand cricket
On the other hand, it has also been argued that matches is a slice of Trobriand life. The same
the idea of secular ritual is of little practical thing can be said about the baseball played by
value and that rather than being ritual, sport is the Japanese (Kusaka, 1987; Whiting, 1982), the
an independent institution that is ritual-like basketball played the Navajo Indians of the
with a penchant for attracting a variety of ritual American Southwest (Blanchard, 1974), and
activities (for example, magic, fetishes, etc.; the soccer played by the Zulu of South Africa
Blanchard, 1988). Sport is viewed by some as an (Scotch, 1961). In this regard, one might argue
activity that has evolved out of ritual (for that sport is more perspective than ritual.
150 CROSS-DISCIPLINARY DIFFERENCES AND CONNECTIONS

The Definition and Description of Sport from Toltecs, Maya (pok-ta-pok) and Aztecs (tlachtli)
a Cross-Cultural Perspective A one- is perhaps the best documented (for example,
size-fits-all definition of sport, one that works Blom, 1932; Coe, 1966; Ekholm, 1961;
in any cultural setting, has proven as illusive as Humphrey, 1981; Schroeder, 1955; Stern, 1949).
a single definition for an institution like Much attention has also been given to the early
religion. The subtleties and nuances of sport history of sport as the institution first emerged
behavior in any given cultural setting are diffi- and developed among such groups as the
cult to encompass in a transcultural definition Egyptians, Etruscans, Greeks and Romans (for
of ‘sport’. Likewise, the diversity of theoretical example, Gardiner, 1930; Harris, 1972; Howell
orientations that social scientists bring to the and Sawula, 1973; Ioannides, 1976; Miller,
study of sport make it difficult for any one 1991; Mutimer, 1970; Poliakoff, 1987; Sansone,
definition to find widespread acceptance. 1988; Sasajima, 1973; Sweet, 1987).
Nevertheless, some definitions, such as the fol-
lowing, are cited more frequently than others: The Analysis of Human Performance from
the Perspective of Anatomy, Physiology and
[Sport is] ... a physically exertive activity that is Genetics Physical anthropologists have
aggressively competitive within constraints studied body types, morphology and function
imposed by definitions and rules. A component of for decades. Some of this work has been done
culture, it is ritually patterned, gamelike and of with particular reference to sport and sports
varying amounts of play, work and leisure. performance (for example, Adrian and Cooper,
(Blanchard and Cheska, 1985: 60) 1989; Carrier, 1984; Kukushkin, 1964; Malina,
1972; Malina and Bouchard, 1986).
The Application of Sports Study Results to the The Application of Theory to the Analysis of
Solution of Real Problems The applied Sports Behavior The anthropology of sport
anthropology of sport frequently grapples with is not done in a theoretical vacuum. As is true
problems of social and cultural change (for exam- of all the social sciences, it works from within
ple, Allison and Lüschen, 1979; Glassford, 1976; paradigms, models and theories to attempt to
Tindall, 1975a); education (for example, Glamser, understand better its primary subjects, in this
1988; Miracle and Rees, 1994; Tindall, 1975b); case, sport. The wide range of theoretical mod-
physical education, recreation, and health (for els employed by social scientists as well as
example, Blanchard, 1977; Cheska, 1978; Cozens others are contexts within which those study-
and Stumpf, 1951; Johnson, 1980); violence (for ing sport from an anthropological perspective
example, Collings and Condon, 1996; Sipes, frame their fundamental questions. Such mod-
1973; Zoni and Kirchler, 1991); gender issues (for els can be either explanatory or interpretive. In
example, Howell, 1982); the analysis of popular other words, they can suggest cause-and-effect
culture (for example, Chandler, 1978, 1988); relationships or simply expand the subject and
international relations (for example, Heinila, provide alternative ways of understanding.
1985); immigration and adaptation (Allison, 1979;
Blanchard, 1991; Frogner, 1985; Robinson, 1978); The anthropology of sport literature is shaped
the Olympics (for example, MacAloon, 1981; in many ways by the nature of the theoretical
Wright, 1977); and the anthropology of sport in arguments that underlie the description and
the college classroom (for example, Miracle and analysis. Questions about the nature and
Blanchard, 1990). meaning of sport are addressed from these per-
spectives and debates over the meaning of
The Description and Analysis of Sport in sport, particularly sport in small-scale, Third
Prehistory and Early History Unfortunately, World, or developing societies, are waged
the anthropology of sport has been better at along theoretical lines and in many cases these
asking than answering the questions attendant debates become a battle among theories. As
to the origins and prehistoric development of examples of the way in which sport is analysed
sport (Fox, 1977). The archaeological evidence with an aim toward explanation, there is the
remains scanty, and, with some exceptions, evolutionary perspective (for example,
much of the discussion about origins depends Guttmann, 1978), the functionalist perspective
on early historical references and is sometimes (for example, Gmelch, 1972), the structural-
speculative (for example, Guttmann, 1978; functionalist perspective (for example, Fox,
Palmer and Howell, 1973). One sport that 1961), the cultural materialist perspective
archaeologists and prehistorians have studied (for example, Blanchard, 1979) and the conflict
extensively is the Mesoamerican ballgame. perspective (for example, Klein, 1991). Sport
Among all the sports known from human pre- is also studied with an eye toward interpreta-
history, the rubber ballgame of the Olmecs, tion from such perspectives as symbolic
 THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF SPORT 151

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 9
ECONOMICS AND SPORT

Marc Lavoie

The economics of sport were given their first focus, centering on the individual and the
credentials when, 40 years ago, S. Rottenberg firm, applying the standard supply and
(1956) published his ‘trailblazing’ article on the demand tools of micro-economics in an
economics of the baseball labor market, in a attempt to formally model the behavior of the
leading journal of economics, the Journal of various participants in the world of sport.
Political Economy, edited by members of the North Americans, and their Anglo-Saxon col-
Department of Economics at the University of leagues from Britain and Australia, usually
Chicago. The department is well known for focus their attention on professional sport,
believing that the (neoclassical) principles of more specifically men’s team sports. They use,
economics can be applied to all subjects and whenever they can, the theories of statistics
that free markets have the ability to achieve applied to economics, that is, econometrics
desirable outcomes, a somewhat ironic belief and regression analysis. On the other hand,
given the geographical location of the univer- economists from Continental Europe make
sity, surrounded by run-down residential black little use of econometrics, relying rather on
ghettos. At the time Rottenberg first tackled the descriptive statistics, with tables of numbers
economics of professional baseball, the future and the computation of various ratios. Their
Nobel Prize recipient, Gary Becker, was deal- work is usually more of an institutionalist sort,
ing with the economics of discrimination, the that is, more descriptive, sometimes relying
economics of marriage and the economics of on more unorthodox economic theories.
the household. Although they are also concerned with the
From an historical viewpoint, one could thus implications of professional teams, Conti-
see the development of the economics of sport nental Europeans are much concerned with
as part of the growing imperialism of econom- the economics of amateur and recreational
ics over other social sciences. This has been sport, and with the economics of the sports
accompanied by the ever-increasing media industry.
attention over financial issues involving The present chapter will attempt to cover
professional sport teams or athletic stars, their both of these traditions, but due to the
profits or their earnings, both in North sheer number of publications within the
America and in Europe. The players’ strike in North American approach, a disproportionate
baseball and owners’ lock-out in hockey also amount of space is devoted to the Anglo-Saxon
hyped up the media’s attention towards the tradition. This chapter will be divided into two
economics of sport. broad sections, both mainly devoted to profes-
An attempt to give a broad picture of the sional team sports. We shall first deal with
economics of sport quickly forces one to real- labor economics, while in the second section
ize that two traditions have emerged in the we shall deal with the professional club seen as
field. One may say that there is a North a firm. The latter section will end with a theme
American, or Anglo-Saxon tradition, and a covered by both traditions in the economics of
Continental European tradition.1 The Anglo- sport: the development impact of major sport-
Saxon tradition generally has a micro-economic ing events on a city or a region. We shall
158 CROSS-DISCIPLINARY DIFFERENCES AND CONNECTIONS

conclude with a brief assessment of the future first put into operation by Scully (1974a) for
outlook of the discipline. baseball. Three steps are involved. One must
first estimate by how much an additional win
increases team revenues, having taken into
LABOR ECONOMICS account other factors such as metropolitan
population. Then one must estimate how
Salary Determination improved athletic performance – in baseball,
better pitching and better batting – increases
Many, if not most, economists attracted to the the likelihood of a win. From the individual
economics of sport are labor economists. The performance statistics, one can then proceed
main fascination with the sports industry is to the third step, estimating the marginal
that there are reliable measures of output and revenue products of each individual player
productivity per individual, something which is and comparing them with the actual salaries.
usually lacking in other industries. Although it With this first approach, a very restrictive set
is possible to obtain huge data matrices about of performance variables is usually chosen,
the characteristics of individual employees, it often one per sort of player.
is usually very difficult to have adequate and Things are different with the second app-
direct measures of their productivity. In sport, roach, more positive than normative, which
the reliable measures of individual output purports to explain how salaries are actually
are, of course, the individual performance determined. In this second approach, salaries
statistics, about which sports fans are so fasci- are explained by the location characteristics
nated. There used to be one drawback, how- of the team, the characteristics of players and
ever: whereas in other industries it was often their performance of the previous year. The
possible to have the salaries of individual set of variables considered as determinants
employees, in sport it was very difficult to of salaries is then enlarged, despite the prob-
obtain a sufficiently large set of salary data, lems this might create because of collinearity,
and their reliability could always be ques- that is, because a performance measure may
tioned. The situation has changed considerably be highly correlated with another, thus mak-
since about 1980. First, due to legal court ing it impossible to properly identify the con-
actions, salary data were collected and made tribution of each. In a brilliant article, Pascal
available (Fort 1992); secondly, players’ associ- and Rapping (1972) were the first to proceed
ations have gradually come to realize that with this approach, again applied to baseball.
salary secrecy was only to the advantage of the As is to be expected, it was shown that
employer, and this has led to the media gain- salaries depend on various measures of per-
ing access – officially or unofficially – to the formance and on experience. Despite some
salaries of all players on major league teams, claims to the contrary, the more recent studies
with entire lists of them being published at on salary determination have shown only
once. In fact this explains why very little marginal additional ingenuity, repeatedly
empirical work on this topic – in contrast to coming down to similar findings.3 The real
attendance determination – has been per- improvement is in the extent and reliability of
formed in Europe: besides stars, the salaries of the salary data set. Most measures of perfor-
professional or semi-professional players there, mance in these salary regressions rely on
whatever the sport, are highly confidential. offensive statistics, such as slugging or on-
There have been two approaches to the base average for baseball, or points per game
issue of salary determination in professional in basketball and in hockey. American foot-
team sports.2 The first approach, closer to ball, where individual prowess is more elu-
micro-economic theory per se, attempts to sive, has been less subjected to salary analysis
verify whether players are exploited by their (but see Ahlburg and Dworkin, 1991 and
employers, or it attempts to estimate which Kahn, 1992). There has been some reluctance
sort of player is being most exploited – star to use and also some difficulty in finding
players or journeymen, those with or without statistically significant defensive statistics,
bargaining power. This normative approach is but some regressions do find a role for these
based on the neoclassical concept of the mar- lesser-known performance measures: in basket-
ginal revenue product. The idea is that a ball (Koch and Vander Hill, 1988) and in hockey
worker should be paid according to the addi- (Lavoie and Grenier, 1992), the former with
tional revenue that his work generates. The blocks and saves, and the latter with an indica-
degree of exploitation is then defined as the tor of short-handed play, and even in baseball,
ratio of the actual salary of the player to his when considering golden gloves recipients of
marginal revenue product. This approach was awards for defensive play (Johnson, 1992).
 ECONOMICS AND SPORT 159

Coming back to the approach based upon there is salary discrimination. In one procedure,
marginal revenue product, it should be first applied to sports by Scully (1974b), salary
pointed out that salary regressions based on regressions are run separately for the majority
this approach have been used in the arbitration and the minority groups (say whites and
hearings between the Major League Baseball blacks), and the estimated parameters of the
Players Association and the Major Leagues, variables for the two regressions are compared.
when the union filed a grievance against the If, for instance, the salary increase for a one per
owners, accusing them of collusion in refusing cent increase in batting average is lower for a
to compete for the hiring of free agents in the black baseball player than for a white one, we
mid-1980s (Zimbalist, 1992: 110). Scully (1989: may conclude, as did Scully, that there is
169) reports that in 1986 and 1987 ‘the free evidence of salary discrimination against
agents’ salary is a much smaller fraction of blacks. But what if an extra year of experience
their contribution to team revenues than is the is more highly rewarded for black than for
case of the non-free agents’, thus giving statis- white players, as Scully also found? Is there
tical support to those claiming the existence of still salary discrimination?
owner collusion. MacDonald and Reynolds Because its results avoid this sort of ambigu-
(1994) reach the same conclusions, showing ity, the most popular procedure is the one
that players who were forced or chose to take followed by Pascal and Rapping (1972). A sin-
the arbitration route wound up with signifi- gle salary regression is run for all players, with
cantly higher salaries than those who declared a dummy variable identifying the players from
themselves free agents. These results are not the minority group. If the parameter of this
robust, however. Zimbalist (1992) and Oorlog variable is negative and statistically different
(1995) come to opposite conclusions, by using from zero, then there is straightforward evi-
procedures that are broadly similar, but with dence of salary discrimination. Pascal and
different variables or hypotheses. Their regres- Rapping found no evidence of salary discrimi-
sions show that the degree of exploitation is nation in baseball. This finding has been
smallest for free agents, intermediate for those repeatedly rediscovered by others, in baseball
who could go to arbitration, and highest for (Kahn 1991: 400) and in football (Kahn, 1992).
those without any salary arbitration rights, a The case of basketball is more complex.
ranking that one would tend to expect.4 This The current view is that there is no evidence of
only shows that there are limits to what econo- widespread salary discrimination in basketball
metrics can prove. Whereas straightforward (Jenkins 1996; Hamilton 1997). However past
salary regressions tend to be robust – the studies, based on data of the early and mid-
significance and sign of most performance or 1980s, as reported by Kahn (1991), had shown
experience variables will be consistent – this is significant salary discrepancies in favor of
not so when more complex theoretical and white athletes, for given levels of performance.
empirical constructions are being put to task. This was rather surprising in a game now
At least in baseball, it is relatively simple to dominated by black athletes. But this domina-
relate individual performance to winning; in tion is precisely the explanation that has been
other team sports, it is not so.5 advanced: white spectators want to see at least
some white players. It has been shown repeat-
edly that attendance rises when the proportion
Salary Discrimination of whites on the team increases (Kahn 1991:
410; Hamilton 1997: 289). More precisely,
Whereas measures of exploitation appear to be still in basketball, Burdekin and Idson (1991:
fragile, measures of salary discrimination have 185) note that there is a tight link between
turned out to be highly resilient. The issue of attendance and the racial composition of the
salary discrimination is clearly a matter where team. Also, the greater the racial match
the interests of sociologists and economists between the team and its metropolitan popula-
of sport have overlapped. Again, sport pro- tion, the larger is average attendance.
vides an extraordinary laboratory to identify This explanation, based on customer dis-
and measure discrimination against minority crimination, is reinforced by several other
groups, because sport provides direct or quasi- pieces of evidence. Although there is no evi-
direct measures of individual labor produc- dence of salary discrimination in baseball and
tivity, something that cannot really be obtained football, it has been shown that in baseball the
in studies of discrimination pertaining to other salaries of white players are positively linked
industries, where evidence can only be indirect. to the proportion of black players on the team,
Once again there are two procedures that whereas the salaries of black players are nega-
can be followed to estimate whether or not tively linked to their representation on the
160 CROSS-DISCIPLINARY DIFFERENCES AND CONNECTIONS

team (Johnson, 1992: 200). For football, Kahn greater access to salary data it has been
(1992: 307) finds that players make more possible to compute reliable Gini coefficients,
money the greater the proportion of their race that is, measures of inequality in the distribu-
in the local population. Fans in the 1980s were tion of earnings among professional athletes.
not color-blind! Furthermore, evidence col- This Gini coefficient must stand between zero
lected from the trading of the baseball cards of and one. A perfectly equal income distribution
past players shows that fans in general – and would bring down the Gini coefficient to zero;
not only those who go to watch the games – and the higher the Gini coefficient, the more
prefer to purchase cards of white rather than unequal the income distribution. As back-
black players, for given performance achieve- ground information, the Gini coefficient for
ments (Nardinelli and Simon, 1990; Andersen family income in most industrialized countries
and La Croix, 1991). However, the market is in the 0.300 to 0.350 range, while in the
prices of baseball cards picturing current play- United States it exceeds 0.380. While the focus
ers show no such customer discrimination of attention has been again professional team
(Gabriel et al., 1995). Younger fans may be sports, Scully (1995: 74) has shown that earn-
color-blind after all! ings in golf were much more unequally dis-
Salary discrimination is not necessarily tributed than in team sports, the Gini
limited to race. Language may also be an issue. coefficients both for the men’s and the ladies’
While Latin baseball players have been sub- tours being around 0.630. However, if one
jected to some scrutiny, but with little result. takes only the best 150 players, which one may
There have been studies of salary determination liken to the athletes playing in the major
in ice hockey which have shown that French- leagues in contrast to the minor leagues, then
speaking Canadian players are sometimes sig- the Gini coefficients of individual sports are in
nificantly underpaid, compared to their English the range of those of team sports. As one
Canadian or American counterparts (Lavoie would expect, the earnings of the top 150
and Grenier, 1992). More recent evidence, based female athletes in tennis and golf are much
on the use of crossed variables, shows that such more skewed than those of the top male ath-
salary discrimination, when it occurs, arises letes in those two sports.
from teams located in English Canada, and not In team sports, baseball has the most
from teams located in the United States unequal distribution (with a Gini of 0.510), fol-
(Longley, 1995). This seems to indicate that the lowed by basketball (0.420), hockey (0.400) and
observed differentials are due to discriminatory football (0.370). Where comparisons are possi-
behavior rather than the linguistic costs ble, namely in baseball, basketball and hockey,
imputed to French-speaking players. the inequality of earnings has risen consider-
ably since the mid-1970s. An obvious cause of
the above is the advent of free agency, that is,
The Distribution of Earnings the possibility for star players to offer their tal-
ent to any team. This is particularly so in base-
While salary discrimination can certainly mod- ball, where there has been hardly any
ify the distribution of labor earnings between expansion in the number of major league
various groups of players, the overall question franchises. By contrast, in basketball and
of the distribution of earnings generated hockey, there has been a two-fold and a four-
increased attention in the 1990s than before. fold increase respectively in the number of
Before we leave the topic of discrimination, major league teams. As a consequence, talent
it should be pointed out that entry and exit has been diluted and the dispersion in the
discrimination are important means of modify- number of points scored per player has
ing the structure of income. Although they have increased considerably since the mid-1970s,
written several pages on the topics, economists both in basketball and in hockey. The increase
have given less attention than sociologists have in the Gini coefficient of salary earnings is thus
to entry discrimination and the phenomenon of to some extent a reflection of the increase in the
stacking. Once again, the classic references are Gini coefficient pertaining to performance and
the papers by Pascal and Rapping (1972) and talent.6
Scully (1974b), and Kahn’s (1991) survey article. While players’ earnings from professional
By denying access to the major leagues, where sports teams have become more unequal, this
salaries are so much higher than in the minor does not mean that the economic situation of
leagues, entry discrimination has substantial the benchwarmer or that of the journeyman
repercussions on income distribution. has deteriorated. Although mean salaries are
Two other issues around the distribution of biased upward because of salaries from star
earnings have attracted some interest. With players, the evolution of these salaries shows
 ECONOMICS AND SPORT 161

that there has been a tremendous increase in ECONOMICS OF THE FIRM

the standard of living of the average major
league athlete. In baseball for instance, salaries Profit Maximization
in the second half of the 1950s were around
$US 14,000, in current dollars (Quirk and Fort, An obvious characteristic of sporting leagues
1992: 211). This represents approximately $US is their cartel nature. This brings us immedi-
82,950 (in 1999 dollars). In 1999, baseball aver- ately to the issue of profit maximization by the
age salaries were $US 1,700,000, more than 20 firm versus profit maximization by the cartel
times the salaries of the 1950s. Similarly, in as a whole, where the latter may constrain
hockey, salaries were around $US 8,000 in the individual firms ‘in the best interests of the
late 1950s, or about $US 47,500 in 1999 dollars. league’. While this distinction carries interest-
Mean salaries for the 1999/2000 season were ing issues, some of which are to be examined
$US 1,350,000, nearly 30 times the salaries of later, the crucial issue to be discussed here is
the 1950s. These multi-fold increases in pur- whether profit maximization by the firm con-
chasing power can be contrasted to the small stitutes an appropriate assumption for sport-
increases in the real earnings of the average ing firms. Profit maximization is the standard
American. Consider for instance the produc- assumption in mainstream neoclassical eco-
tion worker or non-supervisory employee in nomics. There are, however, famous models of
manufacturing. Average annual earnings were the firm where sales rather than profits are
about $US 4,300 in 1957, in current dollars. assumed to be the maxim, on the grounds that
This represents approximately $US 25,500 in high sales may bring more satisfaction to the
1999 dollars. The annual mean earnings of the managerial staff than high profits. In dynamic
same kind of worker in 1999 are only $30,160 terms, the question is whether firms try to
(in 1999 dollars).7 Whereas in 1957 the ratio maximize their rate of profit or their rate of
between the earnings of the average major sales growth. With respect to sporting firms,
league player and the average blue-collar the issue is whether professional clubs try to
manufacturing worker was somewhere maximize profits or winning, that is, whether
between 2:1 and 4:1, this ratio is now 55:1 for profits or victories bring more satisfaction to
baseball and 45:1 for ice hockey. In basketball, club owners.8
where the average salary is reported to exceed At first sight, this seems a moot point. One
two and a half million dollars per year, this would expect winning teams to induce more
ratio is now over 80:1. No wonder sport(s) spectators, and hence more revenues and more
fans often think athletes are overpaid cry- profits. Although it might be so, economists do
babies when they go on strike or threaten to not expect such a simple relationship to hold
go on strike! on. Two broad reasons can be advanced, one
Although the representative athlete from all related to the demand side and the other to the
major league sports has seen his earnings dra- supply side. First, after some point, an extra
matically increase, it should be pointed out win may not generate many additional specta-
that these increases have not been simultan- tors or revenues; the revenue elasticity of win-
eous. The average earnings in some sports, ning may become weak. Secondly, it may
relative to those of others, sometimes take off, become very costly to generate additional vic-
only to be caught back later. What are the tories; the cost elasticity of winning may
factors that explain these wide discrepancies? exceed unity. When a team is already loaded
Undoubtedly, the popularity of the sport, that with all-star players, hiring an extra superstar
is, the demand for the sport – as reflected in the may barely increase the probability of winning.
ticket prices that spectators are willing to dis- This is an instance of the well-known law of
burse and in the fees that the television net- diminishing returns. Thus, beyond some point,
works and the advertisers are willing to profits start to decrease although revenues still
expend – explains the increase in sports increase. This point is the point of profit maxi-
salaries (Quirk and Fort, 1992: 219). There are, mization. Until this point is reached, the addi-
however, other important factors, such as the tional revenue (marginal revenue) generated by
presence or the threat of a rival league an extra win exceeds the additional cost (mar-
(Ahlburg and Dworkin, 1991: 62; Lavoie and ginal cost) required to engineer this extra win.
Grenier, 1992: 166), the availability of neutral Profit maximizers and winning maximizers
salary arbitrators (MacDonald and Reynolds, behave differently on many fronts, as recalled
1994: 444), and the lack of constraints on the by Cairns, Jennet and Sloane (1986: 7) in their
mobility of players. We shall deal with the lat- exhaustive survey of the economics of profes-
ter factor in the next section, when we analyse sional team sports. While the latter will strive
the sports team as a firm. to win ‘at all costs’, or as long as they do not
162 CROSS-DISCIPLINARY DIFFERENCES AND CONNECTIONS

suffer heavy financial losses, the former will be costs related to additional sales are necessarily
content to remain in contention. Profit maxi- non-negative, profit-seeking behavior requires
mizers will have self-imposed limits on team minimally that the price elasticity be equal to
strength, while winning maximizers will try to or above one. It turns out that most studies on
dominate the league standings and reduce the team attendance show price elasticities below
uncertainty of outcome. Profit maximizers will unity, and even near zero (Cairns, 1990: 9). An
sell or trade away good players, merely to increase in the price of tickets would generate
unload heavy salaries and increase their pro- more revenues and hence more profits, for
fits, whereas winning maximizers will trade lower costs would be associated with the
players in an attempt to improve the team. It is smaller number of spectators. This price inelas-
highly important to know what are the true ticity of attendance thus yields little evidence
objectives of sporting firms – profit or winning of genuine profit-maximizing behavior. There
maximization – for all or most models evaluat- are, however, some authors who find price
ing the economic and competitive impact of elasticities near unity, thus claiming the pres-
diverse institutional rules and features of ence of profit-maximizing behavior on the
sporting leagues assume that owners attempt grounds that there are hardly any additional
to maximize profits. Whether firms maximize costs associated with more spectators, for a
profits or winning is thus crucial when dis- given winning percentage, and hence that
cussing the effects of reserve clauses, free profit maximization coincides with revenue
agency, rookie drafts, revenue-sharing arrange- maximization (Ferguson et al., 1991).
ments or salary caps. The statistical analysis of attendance also
Unfortunately, it is very difficult to distin- yields some interesting insights vis-à-vis the
guish empirically between winning and profit- interests of the cartel versus those of the team.
maximizing behavior. As Cairns et al. (1986: 9) In the previous subsection, it was mentioned
recall, various authors have claimed that the that the league may want to impose restric-
predictions of their theoretical or statistical tions on its team members, in particular to pre-
models have given support to the standard serve a viable level of competition and to
neoclassical profit-maximizing assumption. A prevent the wealthier teams from dominating
careful examination of their claims usually the league. Many different variables have been
shows that either alternative behaviors have introduced to meter outcome uncertainty, but
not been considered, or that their results are to no avail (Borland and Lye, 1992: 1058;
not inconsistent with winning maximization. Cairns, 1990). If competitive balance is not a
An attempt at empirically settling this issue determinant of attendance, then league offi-
showed that owners in baseball have cials running the sporting cartel have no eco-
responded more to profit than to winning nomic grounds to impose restrictions such as
incentives (Porter 1992). There have also been reserve clauses upon teams and their players,
interviews of club officials, where their goals since the financial viability of the cartel as a
were being ascertained. Generally speaking, it whole does not depend upon it.
would seem that profit-seeking behavior – per- Of course, this does not mean that the qual-
haps in contrast to profit-maximizing as such – ity of the home team has no impact on atten-
is a feature of North American teams, whereas dance. All studies have shown, as one would
winning would be a more dominant objective expect, that a better home team attracts more
in European and Australian professional sport. spectators, but it should also be pointed out
For instance, some rich European soccer teams, that good visiting teams also generally attract
such as Real Madrid, pay talented players more spectators. Hence winning draws addi-
huge sums to sit on the bench, to prevent tional revenues, even when visiting, if there is
poorer rival teams from dressing them up, thus gate-sharing. In addition, being in contention
preventing their rivals from challenging their for a playoff spot draws more spectators.
dominance over the national championship One peculiar set of studies on attendance is
(Bourg, 1989: 160). the one done for ice hockey, linking atten-
dance to violence. This is certainly a theme
that is of interest to sociologists, and it may
Attendance give some ammunition to those who argue
that violence in European soccer is condoned
Micro-economists show that for the marginal or mandated by team owners because it is
revenue of a firm to be above zero, the price profitable (Brohm, 1993). Jones (1984) has
elasticity of demand must be above one. At a shown that when a team with a fighting repu-
unitary price elasticity, revenues – but not tation is playing, it draws some 1,500 to 2,500
profits – are maximized. Since the additional additional spectators. When acting on the
 ECONOMICS AND SPORT 163

quality side, to draw as many additional league would lose credibility, players would be
spectators the home team needs to improve its perceived as mercenaries, poorer clubs in less
standing in the league by approximately ten populous areas would become consistent
positions. A team may thus wish to pursue losers, their attendances would drop, and the
two strategies to increase revenues: a winning league might be forced to fold or to reduce its
strategy or a strategy of violence. The winning operations. Many sport analysts and a handful
strategy is a risky one: chosen players may not of economists (such as Daly, 1992) support this
perform up to expectations, while if they do, appraisal.
their salary cost may skyrocket. The fighting Since Rottenberg’s (1956) ground-breaking
strategy, by contrast, is less risky: goons fight article, economists have systematically
when they are asked to, and they are much objected to the reserve clause or other similar
less expensive than talented stars. In addition, restrictions on players’ mobility. Rottenberg’s
from the point of view of the cartel, the fight- claim is that profit-maximizing club owners
ing strategy would seem to be the optimal one. will behave in such a way that the distribution
Winning is a zero-sum game: all teams cannot of talent will remain the same, whether restric-
have winning records, whereas all teams can tions are kept in place or removed. Thus,
encourage fights. There is thus some economic whether there are restrictions or not, big-city
incentive for league officials not to ban fight- franchises should have winning teams while
ing in professional hockey, despite moral pres- small-city franchises should have losing teams.
sures to do so, because fighting and violence The competitive imbalance is invariant to the
are profitable.9 restrictions designed to alter it. However,
because of the constraints already noted in the
section dealing with the objective of profit
Restrictions on Players’ Mobility maximization, the differences in the revenue-
generating capacity of franchises should still
No subject has generated more controversy yield a sufficient degree of sporting competi-
than the restrictions that sporting leagues tiveness. The only real effect of restrictions on
impose on the mobility of players. Among players’ mobility is to reduce the share of rev-
these restrictions, the better known are: the enues going to these players, while increasing
draft of junior, college or amateur players, the share going to club owners. When there are
where the negotiating rights of a young player restrictions, the player can negotiate a salary
are assigned to one team only; the reserve that is somewhere between his reservation
clause, where a player may play with only one wage – the salary that would induce him to
team, unless that team decides to trade the abandon professional sport – and his marginal
player; free agency with compensation, where revenue product to the team that owns his
a player may decide on his own to switch rights. Under total free agency, the player can
teams, but where the new host team must com- negotiate a salary which is in between the
pensate the previous team by trading away highest and the second highest marginal
some equivalent talent or future rookie draft revenue products attributed to him by any
picks. All leagues, whether in North America team in the league (Quirk and Fort, 1992: ch. 6).
or in Western Europe, now have free agency The issue is one of income distribution: who
for veteran players. What differentiates one gets the rent (the extra profits) generated by
league from another is the accessibility to extraordinary athletic ability: club owners or
salary arbitration – when free agency status is athletes?10 This is most obvious in European
yet to be achieved – and the definition of vet- soccer, where huge cash transfer payments are
eran: one may become a free agent once the pocketed by the club when it still owns the
first professional contract has expired, that is, rights of the player, whereas they are pocketed
after say three, five or six years; or the player by the player, as a signing bonus, when the
may need to reach a certain age, say 32 years contract has expired.
old, as in ice hockey. In Europe in particular, a While the statements in the above paragraph
cash transfer fee may also be required. constitute the representative opinion of eco-
As is well known, team owners defend the nomists, there has always been a minority cur-
rookie draft and the reserve clause on the rent of contrary opinion on some of these
grounds that unrestricted player mobility statements. Furthermore, the arguments related
would destroy competitive balance: wealthy to small franchises versus big franchises have
clubs, located in areas with large populations, been refined. First it should be pointed out, as
would attract star players with lucrative did, along with many others before them,
salaries and endorsement opportunities, and Cairns et al. (1986: 33) and Quirk and Fort
would thus purchase championships. The (1992: 279), that Rottenberg’s claim assumes a
164 CROSS-DISCIPLINARY DIFFERENCES AND CONNECTIONS

profit-maximizing behavior. If owners do try efforts should be made by local public officials
to maximize profits, small-franchise owners to keep the franchise in town, an issue that will
who have drafted players who turn out to be be discussed later in the chapter.
highly productive superstars will have an
incentive to unload them to richer franchises,
because the owners of these richer franchises
will offer huge cash amounts, knowing that Revenue-sharing Schemes
these superstars can generate large increases in and Salary Caps
revenues, as a result of the potentially larger
attendance. If club owners maximize winning – Although the problems of small market teams
and this may be not at all irrational in a league seem to have been exacerbated recently, the
where there are playoffs or additional revenue- issue is not a new one and it has generated
generating games as in European soccer cups – some responses. Two broad answers to the
or if the league forbids the sale of players and problem have been or can be provided. The
unfair trades, Rottenberg’s claim does not hold first possibility is to provide a revenue-sharing
anymore: restrictions will make the league scheme that will allow small market teams to
more balanced.11 have access to the financial benefits inherent in
However, even with free agency, large markets with large metropolitan populations.
market teams may not necessarily dominate Gate-sharing, where attendance revenues are
small market ones. This is the new view of split between the host and the visiting team,
economists on the topic, a view which has been and sharing in national broadcast revenues are
put forth by Porter (1992) and Vrooman (1995). such revenue-sharing schemes. The second
Again there are two sides to this claim. First, it possibility is to devise some formula that will
may be that the salaries needed to be paid by directly restrict the amounts spent on salaries.
teams located in big cities are much higher Salary caps are such a measure, but proposals
than those necessary to induce players to for taxes on salary expenditures – positive
migrate to small-city franchises. The revenue taxes for teams with large payrolls and nega-
advantage of large market teams may thus be tive taxes for teams with small payrolls – were
wiped out by a cost disadvantage. There is as also proposed during the baseball 1994 strike
yet no empirical evidence of this supply-side and the ice hockey lockout of 1994–5. While,
effect however.12 By contrast, there is empirical indeed, all of these schemes should improve
evidence that the fans of various franchises the financial situation of small market teams,
react differently to the performance of their the issue is whether they would help to estab-
team. If attendance is winning-elastic, that is, lish more balanced competition in the league.
‘if fans demand a winner and express their dis- On intuitive grounds, one would be
taste for losing by staying away from the tempted to answer ‘yes’ right away, and
game’ (Porter, 1992: 75), additional revenues indeed Scully (1989: 80) does so. Surely, if all
generated by extra wins will be high, and this teams have more equal revenues, their capa-
will induce profit-maximizing owners to city to hire good players should be equalized,
search for more talented players. On the other and this ought to be a good thing for the sport.
hand, if attendance is winning-inelastic, that is, In fact, this is the standard argument made by
if fans are loyal, there will be little incentive for league officials who have endorsed these
club owners to improve the team. Small schemes. The standard opinion of economists,
market team owners with winning-thirsty fans however, is full of qualifications. Economists
may thus be forced to be competitive with claim that under some circumstances the
large market teams with loyal fans. revenue-sharing schemes will not help to
This encouraging result for small market achieve a more competitive balance, and fur-
team fans has, however, some drawbacks. thermore, that these schemes modify income
First, it should again be pointed out that if club distribution in favour of club owners, at the
owners do not maximize profits, these results expense of players.
do not hold. If club owners of large market Take the gate-sharing scheme. Let us
teams maximize winning, they will deplete the assume, as is standard, that team owners max-
ranks of small market teams, especially those imize profits. Their decisions to hire talented
that have recently achieved success with bright players will be based on the marginal revenue
rising stars. Secondly, a small market team procured by the additional wins generated by
needs a core of loyal fans, otherwise there will the supplementary performance of these
be an incentive for the owners to move the players. If the revenues from attendance are
franchise to some other, more complacent shared, however, the large market team
city.13 This brings in the issue of whether or not will only get a portion of the increase in gate
 ECONOMICS AND SPORT 165

revenues at home, and marginal revenues has been much more balanced between small
when visiting will decrease whenever it wins market and large market teams than it has been
away. Because winning is a zero-sum game in basketball, despite the salary caps of the
within the league, the implications of gate- latter (Gramlich, 1994). These opposite opin-
sharing will be identical for the small market ions no doubt explain that both the salary cap
team (Fort and Quirk, 1996). This is the and the payroll surtax were highly contentious
revenue-sharing paradox. As long as all teams items during the labour stoppages in baseball
are subject to the same sharing formula, and as and ice hockey in the mid-1990s. What kind of
long as the shared revenue responds to world is it, where capitalist owners want to
win–loss records, revenue-sharing has no effect impose rules and restrictions upon themselves
on competitive balance (Vrooman, 1995: 978). In whereas employed players want free markets
other words, revenue-sharing is useless to to prevail?
equalize the field as long as the shared rev-
enues are winning-elastic.
In addition, gate-sharing has unexpected The Impact of a Franchise
negative consequences for players. Because it in Professional Sport
is winning-elastic and diminishes the marginal
revenue product of each player for each team, With the advent of free agency, and with the
gate-sharing induces profit-maximizing teams increase in popularity of professional team
to reduce their salary offers to players. As a sport, the salaries of professional athletes have
consequence, the share of revenues going to skyrocketed. As a result, the future of several
players should be reduced. Owners would small market franchises has been questioned.
pocket a larger fraction of the rent generated Besides the league-wide schemes presented in
by the talent of athletes. the preceding section, this has induced the
On the other hand, it can be surmised that owners of these teams to pressure local public
national media revenues are revenue-inelastic authorities, in the hope of getting public subsi-
from the point of view of each individual team. dies or other financial benefits.
The distribution of lump sums from national The retention of major league teams has not
media revenue-sharing should thus promote been the only source of controversy between
competitive balance and should have none of club owners, sports fans, city officials and
the above negative consequences on the share economists. As A.T. Johnson (1993: 1) notes, the
of income distribution of players. There is a acquisition of sport franchises, be they at the
conflict, however, with the interests of the minor or major league levels, has become
cartel: one would presume that national media the objective of sports entrepreneurs and local
would be tempted to funnel more funds into politicians in communities of all sizes. In North
contracts with professional leagues when these America, cities try to attract franchises from
leagues are dominated by large market teams. as high a league level as they can. In Europe,
A greater number of spectators would be where teams are promoted and relegated
happy to watch the network and its advertisers according to their standings, city officials
when their favourite large market team decide whether or not they will offer large
triumphs.14 subsidies that will allow their local team to
There is still some controversy about the purchase better players and help them to be
impact of a salary cap. Quirk and Fort (1992: promoted to an upper-grade league. In both
291) argue that the salary cap helps to equalize continents, the renovation, construction, siting
competition, as long as the cap is enforced. and use of public sports stadiums or arenas
They also show that the overall revenues of the quickly become an issue on the political
league would be reduced, since large market agenda.
teams, with high marginal revenues due to Arguments of five sorts are usually
their large potential audience, would win less advanced to justify the use of public money for
often than without the cap, thus generating less what is basically a private endeavour. First, it
winning-elastic revenues. On the other hand, is claimed that the presence of the sports fran-
Vrooman (1995: 980) believes that salary caps chise will directly create additional (low-paid)
and a payroll surtax allow the league to act as a jobs: the ushers, the clerks at the sales booths,
cartel. This helps the league to keep down the parking attendants, etc. When a stadium is
salary costs and increase the degree of exploita- built or renovated, there will be a temporary
tion of the players. In addition, the salary cap increase in employment and tax revenues.
would increase, rather than decrease, the com- Secondly, there will be indirect benefits, those
petitive inequality between teams. Some that can be linked to the famous income multi-
authors have noted that competition in baseball plier. The public expenditures on the stadium
166 CROSS-DISCIPLINARY DIFFERENCES AND CONNECTIONS

will be injections in the economy, that will economy by each of these two professional
induce further spending by those who work on teams were largely overturned by the sums of
the construction site, or by those who provide money leaking out of the local economy
goods and materials. These will produce fur- because of these professional sporting clubs.
ther tax revenues to cover the granted subsi- These leaks were due in large part to the play-
dies. Thirdly, the franchise will be a business ers spending only a portion of their salaries
attraction, enticing visitors from outside, who within the local community. Most of these
will spend money inside the community, thus salaries, which constitute a large chunk of the
helping local business to be more profitable. clubs’ expenses, were either taxed by the
Fourthly, the presence of a sports franchise will French government or saved by the players.
bring regional, national or international media The little that was spent was either spent in
attention and recognition to the city. This Paris, for the soccer players, or in the States,
should help local firms to export their products for the American stars of the Limoges basket-
and services, and more specifically it should ball team. There was no room for any positive
help the tourist industry. Sport is thus seen as multiplier effect, for the multiplicand was
a strategic ploy for regional economic develop- negative!16
ment. Finally, even if all these benefits are There are obvious lessons to be drawn for
dubious when netted out against the costs of North American cities desperately seeking to
servicing a newer or bigger stadium or arena, obtain a franchise in major league sports. There
there remains for the citizen the positive psy- are also obvious lessons to be drawn for cities
chic and sociological benefits of being associ- wishing to organize major sporting events
ated with a sports franchise and possibly a such as the Olympic Games, the Pan-American
winning team. With this last claim, profes- Games, or the Commonwealth Games, as
sional sport is said to be a public good, akin to Gouguet and Nys (1993) show. Indeed, tour-
good health. ism may even drop during such games, as
While economist consultants hired to assess tourists fear being crowded out.
the economic impact of sports teams and their In general one must beware of economic
stadiums on host communities systematically consultants shuffling multiplier effects and
find a positive impact, this is not so with acad- complex input–output models. Whatever their
emic economists. The latter are usually highly degree of sophistication, by their very method,
sceptical of the economic benefits associated these studies of economic impact cannot but
with a new franchise, and a new or renovated predict substantial financial benefits to the
stadium. The consensus among academic organization of large sporting events or to the
economists is that most of the benefits, if they arrival of major league franchises. But similar
exist, are intangible, and related to civic pride results would be obtained whenever any pro-
(Johnson, 1993: 4). The better known studies ject with similar additional expenditures is
have been done by Baade and Dye (1988, 1990). being proposed. Studies of economic impact
Looking at major leagues with the help of only demonstrate that a reduction in unem-
regression analysis, they show that a new fran- ployment is a profitable venture. If such is the
chise, a new stadium or a renovated stadium, goal being pursued, then one must decide
have no impact on the level of metropolitan what sort of public expenditure is more desir-
income or retail sales. The only possible excep- able. Building a new stadium with a large
tion is that of baseball.15 The opinion that major number of private luxury boxes, filled with
league sports have little, if any, impact on local corporate executives and paid for by the con-
economic activity has been reinforced by a sumers of the products that these corporations
study that has shown that the baseball strike of produce, may not be the most appropriate
August and September 1994 had no negative choice.
economic impact on cities with baseball fran-
chises (Zipp, 1996).
An interesting case study is that of Gouguet
and Nys (1993: 230–9). They look at two widely
CONCLUSION
different cases: the city of Limoges, which has
a basketball team that is highly successful at Despite the extraordinary development of the
the European level; and the city of Rennes, economics of sport, it is clear that much of its
which has a soccer team usually ranked in the focus has been on the economics of profes-
bottom half of the top French soccer league, sional team sports. There are basically three
always on the verge of being relegated down to reasons for this: the topic offers many instances
the second division. In both cases, it turns out of micro-economic conundrums that can be
that the sums of money injected in the local solved; economists thrive on numbers, which
 ECONOMICS AND SPORT 167

professional sport generates; the topic is means to test these interpretations have been
popular whereas amateur sports are not (in found.19
North America). Of course, many other topics What are future poles of research? There is
which have attracted the attention of econo- still a great deal of uncertainty about the true
mists could have been covered. On the micro- impact of salary caps for competitive balance
economic front there have been studies on the and the welfare of players regulated by such
cost of practising sport (Michon and Ohl, caps. There is also a great deal of uncertainty
1989), the logic of which has inspired the so- about the future of small market teams, and
called ‘economic hypothesis’ purporting to how their financial situation can be improved
explain positional segregation in team sports, without damaging that of the players. The
that is, stacking (Medoff, 1977, 1986). Others reverse-order rookie drafts have only been
have also tried to predict the demographics of given scant attention, but they may be the only
professional tennis, giving economic explana- restriction still promoting competitive balance:
tions as to why young players would dominate should they be partially removed, like the
the sport, or as to why older players would reserve clause, limiting the draft to only the
remain longer on the tour (Galenson, 1993, best prospects?20 Finally, leaving theory for
1995). A problem with these hypotheses is that practice, one may predict that if professional
they can predict just about anything. On the athletes dared to go on strike in various coun-
macro-economic front, there have been qualita- tries to increase their share of the revenues gen-
tive and quantitative studies on the increasing erated by professional sport, the day cannot be
globalization of sport, both for athletes and for too far off when the so-called amateur athletes
the sporting goods being produced and will threaten to go on strike in order to get their
exported (Andreff, 1989; Harvey and Saint- share of the huge revenues generated by world-
Germain, 1995). wide mega-events such as the Olympic Games.
What is the future of the discipline? On the
pedagogical front, the discipline has now
reached the point where it is possible to have NOTES
whole courses devoted to the economics of
sport. Bruggink (1993) shows how one could 1 For a similar opinion, see Heinemann
build a first-year introduction course on the (1991). For examples of the Continental tra-
principles of micro-economics, with illustra- dition, see Malenfant (1982), Andreff and
tions taken entirely from the economics of base- Nys (1986) and the articles in Andreff
ball.17 Obviously, a special topics course on the (1989).
economics of baseball, or the economics and 2 See Quirk and Fort (1992: 369–71) for a
business of any other professional team sport, simple ‘how to’ presentation of salary
could also easily be constructed. Estenson regressions, in particular the meaning of
(1994) describes how students were asked to semi-log regressions.
maximize profits while pretending to be base- 3 There are always some minor improve-
ball team owners in search of free agents. ments to be made. For instance, when deal-
What about the academic front? As reported ing with pitchers in baseball, Lavoie and
by Johnson (1995: 505), in 1991 the keynote Leonard (1990) and Fort (1992) take into
speaker at a conference on the economics of account the fact that the productivity of
baseball ‘declared that everything important starting pitchers and relief pitchers is not
and interesting about the economics of profes- judged on identical criteria.
sional sports had already been said, and no 4 See also Gustafson and Hadley (1995).
further work was necessary’. Since then 5 For instance there are estimates of mar-
dozens of books and articles on the economics ginal revenue product in hockey that show
of baseball and the economics of sport have that no such exploitation existed when the
been published. It is true that many of the more rival World Hockey Association was con-
recent articles deal with arcane or trifling fronting the dominant National Hockey
issues, or rely on highly dubious hypotheses to League, and that indeed journeymen were
arrive at some practical result. There is no lack being overpaid (Jones and Walsh, 1987).
of ingenuity, however, in some of the newer With new estimates based on a new
articles. Just as one would think that an old approach and data from the 1990s,
model cannot be improved any more, someone Richardson (1997) concludes that the play-
comes along with an innovation that gives ers in the first and the fifth salary quintiles
more insights or that makes the model more are underpaid, while all the others are
robust.18 Where objections have been raised overpaid. As in baseball, these estimates
about previous interpretations of the data, new may not be robust.
168 CROSS-DISCIPLINARY DIFFERENCES AND CONNECTIONS

6 See Quirk and Fort (1992: 238) and Scully 15 See also Baade (1996), Baim (1994),
(1995: 79). Data on hockey also provided Euchner (1993), Rosentraub (1997), and
by Richardson (1997) and the author. Noll and Zimbalist (1997).
7 Historical data on consumer price indices 16 See also the study of Colclough,
and wages taken from the web site of the Daellenbach and Sherony (1994). With a
Bureau of Labour Statistics, www.bls.gov similar methodology, they show that
8 Sporting clubs may also try to maximize the benefits of a new minor league base-
winning on the field because the visibility ball franchise, although positive, were
due to winning championships allows the greatly exaggerated by the promoters of
owners to maximize profits in their busi- the franchise.
ness of origin, for instance the beer indus- 17 There is a textbook by Cooke (1994),
try. See Porter (1992: 70). apparently designed to teach the prin-
9 Gruneau and Whitson (1993: 186) argue ciples of economics to students of sport
that this is a misleading strategy, for if and leisure, but while its level of difficulty
hockey would stop celebrating violence, a is well targeted, the book contains few
new wave of spectators would flow into concrete examples.
the arenas, along with lucrative American 18 I have two examples in mind: the Scully
TV network deals. Jones gives another (1974a) model of the marginal revenue
look at this issue in Jones, Stewart and product and the Quirk and El Hodiri
Sunderman (1996), trying to put the blame (1974) model of competitive balance,
on violence-prone American fans. highly improved recently by Oorlog (1995)
10 The same occurs in team sports at the and Vrooman (1995) respectively.
college or amateur level, especially in bas- 19 See, for instance, Longley (1995) and
ketball and mostly in football. Collegiate Richardson (1997) in hockey, but there are
rules forbid the jeopardizing of the ama- many more in all sports.
teur status of the student athlete, but the 20 See Grier and Tollison (1994).
main objective of these rules is to allow
universities to collect the rent associated
with the talent of their best performing
athletes. Brown (1993) estimates that the
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14 Incidentally, from a purely economic wel- Baim, D. (1994) The Sports Stadium as a Municipal
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 10
HUMAN GEOGRAPHY AND THE STUDY
OF SPORT

John Bale

A number of academic disciplines, for example of sport in the Swedish National Atlas. These
sociology, philosophy, psychology and history, writers are but the tip of a large pyramid of
each have their sport-related subdiscipline geographers involved in contributing to sports
with its academic journals, regular conferences studies. In addition, it is worth noting that
and academic associations. The same cannot be scholars in sports history and sports sociology
said of geography.1 Yet it would be difficult to have been discovering space and place at the
deny that a geography of sport exists and that same time as geographers have been discover-
it constitutes a corpus of scholarship that ing sports. In the 1990s collections edited by
focuses, in particular, on regional, spatial and scholars outside geography were published on
landscape aspects of sports. Inevitably there is Sport in Space and Time (Weiss and Schultz,
an overlap between the work of geographers 1995) and Sport and Space (Riiskjær, 1993); a
qua geographers and those undertaking work special issue of the International Review for the
of a geographical nature in cognate disciplines; Sociology of Sport covered the same subject
and as disciplinary boundaries begin to col- (Púig and Ingham, 1993). From the contents of
lapse, this tendency is likely to continue. This these publications it is often unclear to which
chapter will concentrate mainly – but not academic ‘disciplines’ the various contributors
entirely – on the work of professional geo- are nominally attached. The same is true of
graphers and their approaches to the study of other edited collections to which geographers
achievement sport. The considerable geo- have contributed, on such diverse subjects as
graphical coverage afforded recreation and the global migration of sports talent (Bale and
leisure cannot be included in the space avail- Maguire, 1994) and the significance of the sta-
able here, even if it is accepted that the distinc- dium to the modern city (Bale and Moen,
tion between sport and recreation is, at times, 1995). Indeed, these kinds of projects seem to
somewhat blurred. (Patmore, 1970, 1983) reflect the sort of ‘disciplinary’ synthesis
The contributions made by geographers to between the history, geography and sociology
interdisciplinary studies of sport during the of sport for which Maguire (1995) has called.
past several decades are relatively easy to see. This review2 is structured around five
For example, in the United States Rooney themes. First, I outline the emergence and con-
(1975) contributed to the collection of essays in text of a geography of sport, including a brief
Ball and Loy’s sociological overview of sports; consideration of the rationale of a geographical
Bale (1991a, 1991b, 1992a, 1993a, 1998) has con- approach. The second section of the chapter
tributed to various collections of essays on describes the dominant paradigm in sports-
European soccer; in France Matthieu (1991), geographic writing, that of geographical varia-
Praicheux (1991) and Augustin (1995) have tions in sporting attributes. This is followed
vigorously supported various interdisciplinary by a section on the spatial dynamics of
initiatives; and in Sweden Moen (1993) and sports. A fourth area focuses on the spatial-
Aldskogius (1993a) have ensured the inclusion economic and environmental impact of sports,
172 CROSS-DISCIPLINARY DIFFERENCES AND CONNECTIONS

examining the nature of the impacts and their that ‘the conditions predominating in any
spatial dimensions. The final section explores given field of study dictate which subdisci-
the landscape of sports. These are not discrete pline is more or less fruitful’. They added, as
entities and obviously considerable overlap an example, that ‘the geography of the sport of
exists. They do, nevertheless, serve as a useful soccer governs key aspects of political, social
organizing framework. and economic conditions of Rio de Janeiro,
rather than vice versa’. It has also been argued,
in relation to Dear’s comments, that insights
RATIONALE AND DEBATES about the workings of human society can often
be found from the most marginal of sources.
Hence, a case can readily be made for studying
The basic rationale for a geography of sport is (what many regard as the ‘marginal’ phenom-
that sports exist in time and space. While histor- enon of) sport, which may be
ical studies of sports have been relatively well
developed, they have often been insensitive to exceedingly helpful as we try to unravel the mys-
the geographical dimensions of the historical teries bound up in how geographical knowledge is
trajectories which they describe (though see, constructed outside of the academy, and in how
for example, Metcalfe, 1990). The same might the everyday senses that people possess of them-
be said of sociological and anthropological selves, their societies and their worlds have rolled
studies of sport where, until recently, the spa- into them sensations of bodies in movement
tial (geographical) dimension has been muted. through immediate surroundings as well as feel-
It is also clear, however, that sports and geo- ings of commonality sedimented in collective
graphy share some conceptual bases. In sports events, games, rituals and spectacles which so
two fundamental geographical concepts, space often embrace a sports component. (Philo, 1994)
and place, are central essences. Sports are What should be added, however, is that sports
struggles over space; indeed, in most other are not only significant as ‘representations’ of
areas of our lives space limitations are rather places and as ‘rituals and spectacles’ but also
opaque, while in sports they are made the- as examples of ‘disciplinary mechanisms’.
matic and integral; spatial rules govern us in The ways in which geographers have treated
more arbitrary ways in sport than in everyday the study of sports cannot be understood out-
life (Hyland, 1990). And sports teams almost side the changes that have occurred in geogra-
always represent a place; people identify with a phy itself. An early paper in The National
place through sport, arguably more so than Geographic Magazine (Hildebrand, 1919)
through any other form of culture; we talk of explained the games and sports which people
‘representational’ sports. The centrality of played as being related to the physical envi-
space and place in sports suggests that there is ronment in which they lived. Such an
potential for a geographical theory of sports, approach was understandable, given the pre-
but little has been done to probe further in this vailing geographical paradigm of environ-
direction. mental determinism. In academic writing this
There is a general feeling within geography organizing framework continued to link sport
that the geography of sport is a marginal sub- and geography as late as the 1950s (Richards,
discipline. It was only in the third edition of 1953) and still lingers on in popular writing.
The Dictionary of Human Geography (Johnston From the late 1960s onwards, however, geo-
et al., 1994) that it earned a modest, but unsat- graphy has been subjected to a number of
isfactory, entry. Nevertheless, some debates on philosophical shifts (Johnston, 1991), illus-
the subdiscipline have occurred and these raise trated by the large number of ‘adjectival geo-
interesting questions and provide important graphies’ and ‘specialty groups’ which have
insights about sport – and the nature of scien- sprung up to accommodate the geography of
tific enquiry. The widely perceived marginality almost anything.
of a geography of sport formed the subject of a An early attempt to provide an organizing
minor debate around Dear’s (1988: 271) view schema for sports-geographic study was
that a ‘geography of sport is not central to the Rooney’s (1975) ‘conceptual framework for the
structure and explanation of geographical geographical analysis of sport’. This was not a
knowledge’. Dear prioritized fields such as geographical model or theory of sport but a
political, social and economic geography – framework for its exploration. He suggested
ignoring the fact that sport is political, social three possible approaches. These were:
and economic and therefore part of each of
these geographies. Scott and Simpson-Housley 1 a topical approach which starts with a sport
(1989) challenged Dear’s view by observing (or sport per se) and identifies the location
 HUMAN GEOGRAPHY AND THE STUDY OF SPORT 173

of its prototypes and points of origin, its geographical journal and to apply widely the
spatial diffusion, spatial organization and geographer’s tool of the map in describing his
regionalization; findings. His work also inspired a long line of
2 a regional approach which, having drawn studies that imitated his approach. Rooney’s
up an inventory of an area’s sports, analy- basic research problem, replicated in his book
ses their spatial organization, the spatial on the geography of American sport (Rooney,
variation and regionalization of involve- 1974), was to identify geographical variations
ment and interest, the internal and external in the ‘production’ of élite sports participants.
spatial interaction associated with sport, He did this by establishing the number of high-
an assessment of sports’ impacts on the school athletes per state who were recruited by
landscape, and prescriptions for spatial NCAA Division 1 colleges and universities in
reorganization; each of the major sports. He adjusted each
3 an approach focusing specifically on the state’s absolute ‘output’ by taking into account
changing landscape of sport through the state population and represented varia-
time and the impact of changes in sport tions from the national average with a per
technology. capita index of state production. He applied
the same technique to the county scale. A typi-
Although undoubtedly helpful in assisting cal map which represents this genre is shown
with many sports-geographic studies, there is in Figure 10.1.
little in this framework that draws specifically A wide variety of sports have been analysed
on the inherently geographical nature of sport through the use of the ‘per capita’ or ‘regional’
itself. It could be used for the analysis of virtu- approach. From examples taken almost at ran-
ally any terrestrial phenomenon. It does not dom, these range from the spatial analysis of
seek to construct a theory out of the geograph- rugby players in South Africa (Marais, 1979)
ical concepts which are intrinsic to modern to that of the world production of tennis
sports – those of space and place. Nor does it players (Dumolard and Robert, 1989) and from
draw on two of the norms of sport which have the geographic origins of footballers at
clear geographical manifestations – fair play Pennsylvanian colleges (Schnell, 1990) to the
and achievement-orientation. This is a theme spatial pattern of production of race horses in
to which I will return in the final section of the Ireland (Lewis and McCarthy, 1977).
chapter. An advantage of the data used in studies
such as those outlined above is that they allow
comparisons of geographic variations in player
A FETISH OF CARTOGRAPHY? production (and, for example, facility provi-
sion) over time. This has enabled Rooney’s
Despite the eclecticism of geographical 1960s analyses to be regularly updated with
enquiry, it is clear that since the late 1960s the geographic shifts in the centres of production
major focus for sports-geographic writing has for each sport being monitored (Rooney and
been one which explores regional variations in Pillsbury, 1992). Other such studies have
sports attributes. This approach marries geo- included the changing geographical origins of
graphy’s regional framework (that is, a concern British soccer players, which showed that
with regional variability) with a positivist philo- although in 1950 and 1980 most players per
sophy which seeks to find general patterns of capita came from the North (per capita indices
spatial distribution. Hence, Rooney – unques- of 2.45 and 2.05 respectively), by 1980 the
tionably the father of modern sports geo- polarization of production between North and
graphy (Louder, 1991) – and a large number of the South had been reduced (the respective
his followers, have tended to identify a geo- indices for the South East being 0.39 and 0.69).
graphy of sport with the search for ‘sports Indeed, in absolute terms, Greater London had
regions’, using the map as the principal tool of become the major producer, with 13.4 per cent
analysis. Rooney’s (1969) seminal study of the of professional footballers coming from the
geographical implications of football in the metropolis compared with only 6.2 per cent in
United States illustrates such an approach. 1950 (Bale, 1989). A similar approach has been
Although Rooney’s general approach had been used in analysing the geography of profes-
anticipated by a sociological study of the geo- sional footballers in France (Matthieu, 1991)
graphical origins of professional baseball play- and, taking a much longer time period, the
ers (Lehman, 1940) and a medical anthropol- changing pattern of birthplaces of major
ogist’s ‘geographical’ analysis of the 1952 league baseball players from 1875 to 1988
Olympics (Jokl, 1965), he was the first to (Ojala and Gadwood, 1989). The number of
publish his findings in a mainstream academic such studies is potentially endless.
174 CROSS-DISCIPLINARY DIFFERENCES AND CONNECTIONS

Figure 10.1 Geographical variations in the per capita origins of major college football players: a
traditional sports-geographic approach (Rooney, 1975)

It is not only the analysis of where players number of which have emerged in recent
come from that has attracted geographical years. These are national atlases of sport. As
interest. Variations in the distribution of facili- might be expected, that for the United States
ties are also worthy of analysis. Whereas (Rooney and Pillsbury, 1992) is the largest and
knowing where players grew up assists in their most ambitious. It contains the work of a num-
recruitment, knowing where facilities are ber of Rooney’s former students and covers a
found alerts planners or developers to gaps in very wide variety of American sports. It repre-
the market. Multi-factor regionalization pro- sents the pinnacle of sports-geographic
vides evidence of ‘sports regions’ which are of research from this particular perspective. More
use in marketing. The geographical variations modest sports atlases have been produced in
that exist in the provision of sports facilities France (Matthieu and Praicheux, 1987) and
such as sports halls, running tracks or golf Canada (Dudycha et al., 1983). In Sweden,
courses traditionally attracted the interest of sections on various aspects of sports are found
geographers whose primary interest was in in the volume of the national atlas dealing
recreation and leisure (for example, Patmore, with cultural life, recreation and tourism
1970, 1983). Among geographers of sports, (Aldskogius, 1993a).
Rooney (1993; Adams and Rooney, 1989; A somewhat different approach attempts to
Rooney and Higley, 1992) has been particularly predict where sports franchises or clubs ought
active in analysing the changing geographical to be according to certain norms. In the United
patterns of golf provision in the United States. States, such an approach has been developed
An allied group of studies have been con- most elegantly by McConnell and McCulloch
cerned with the location of sports clubs and (1992), who produced a model of a ‘geograph-
franchises. These have adopted a similar ically rational’ National Football League in the
approach to that outlined above (for example, United States. They drew attention to the geo-
Bale, 1982a; Matthieu, 1991; Matthieu and graphical irrationality of the NFL, pointing
Praicheux, 1989; Moen, 1993). They basically out, for example, that only eight of the
describe where things are. League’s 28 teams were located in the same
The cartographic approach logically lends geographical division (that is, ‘regional’ organi-
itself to a particular genre of publication, a zation) as their nearest neighbours. In order
 HUMAN GEOGRAPHY AND THE STUDY OF SPORT 175

to minimize the distances between nearest on an economic hierarchy (for example, town
neighbours, various scenarios were drawn up size) and its distance from the initial adopter of
which served to minimize aggregate travel dis- the innovation. This model has been used in
tance per season and produce compact divi- two contexts by Bale (1978, 1982b). The first
sions within conferences. In the constitution of explored the spatial diffusion of professional-
sports leagues such modelling is valuable in ism in English soccer. The twin hierarchical
suggesting more economically appropriate and distance-based model was found to fit the
locations. Another study utilized one of geo- pattern of diffusion of the innovation as it
graphy’s most well-known theories to investi- spread away from the ‘culture hearth’ of pro-
gate the premise that the Canadian city of fessionalism in Lancashire. At the regional – if
Saskatoon had the potential to support a not the national – level, town size was also of
National Hockey League franchise despite the importance. The second study took different
fact that central place theory predicted that its sports (soccer, athletics and gymnastics) as
fixed ‘threshold population’ was too small innovations and explored their spatial diffu-
(Geddart and Semple, 1987). It was argued sion in Europe. Again, hierarchical and
that, despite a small metropolitan population, distance-based components were observed
fan interest levels were very high, that there (Bale, 1982b). A similar study, which took reli-
was a tradition of long-distance travel to gious orientation as the dependent variable,
Saskatoon by an affluent hinterland popula- was undertaken by Hurtebize (1991). The
tion, and that the competition from alternative problem with these kinds of studies is that of
entertainment options was minimal. Similar operationalizing the notion of ‘adoption’.
studies have been undertaken by scholars in Taking the date of foundation of a national
cognate disciplines, such as one which sought governing bureaucracy for a sport as a surro-
to identify the optimal location of new entrants gate for its adoption can produce spurious
to the English Football League (Rivett, 1975). evidence of spatial regularity in the ‘diffusion
process’. De facto adoption could have occurred
much earlier than the date indicated by the for-
THE SPATIAL DYNAMICS OF SPORTS mal bureaucratization.
A somewhat different approach to geo-
graphical diffusion has been adopted by the
The static patterns described in the maps such Australian geographer Clive Forster (1986,
as Figure 10.1 are complemented in a number 1988). He focuses on the development of a spa-
of other studies that explore the time–space tial pattern of country cricket in South
dynamism of the world of sports. Such studies Australia from the 1830s to the 1910s and finds
focus on a number of themes, for example, the that the changing character of clubs’ fixtures –
diffusion of sports and of sports innovations, ‘the problem of applied geography in organi-
migratory flows of sports participants from zing a cricket season’ – reflected changes in
one region to another and the re-location of population density, transport provision and
sports clubs. They can be dealt with here under economic prosperity. More recently, it has been
each of those sub-headings. recognized that such approaches are better
replaced by those that are much more sensitive
Geographical Diffusion and Sport to the role of carriers of the innovation
(Mangan, 1986) and the social processes
Social scientists have shown a long-standing through which information flows are differen-
interest in the geographical diffusion of sports tially constituted (Bale and Sang, 1996).
and games (Tylor 1880) but only a small num-
ber of studies have applied explicitly geo-
graphical approaches to this subject. The most Sports Talent Migration
well-known model of geographical diffusion is
that formulated by Torsten Hägerstrand (1968). A logical outcome of the kinds of studies pio-
Essentially, the model predicts an ‘adoption neered by Rooney has been the analysis of the
surface’ upon which the contours marking the migration of sports talent. From Rooney’s
time–space extent of different ‘waves’ of maps (for example, Figure 10.1) it is obvious
innovation diffusion can be mapped. It is basi- that some regions produce more (say) foot-
cally argued that an innovation is adopted in ballers than their in-state universities can con-
relation to both hierarchical and distance- sume while others do not produce enough for
based factors. In other words, the unit of adop- their in-state needs. Using this notion of sur-
tion (for example, a city or nation) will adopt plus and deficit regions, Rooney was able to
an innovation depending on its position both map the inter-regional flows of sports talent
176 CROSS-DISCIPLINARY DIFFERENCES AND CONNECTIONS

between states. Through this approach he also basketball, basing his approach on figurational
addressed the problem of the abuses which sociology. Among geographers, Bale (1991c)
exist in the USA in the recruiting of high- explored the recruitment of foreign students by
school sports talent to the nation’s universities US colleges and universities; Genest (1991,
(Rooney, 1987). Sports sociologists Sage and 1994) has examined the global migration of
Loy (1978), inspired by Rooney’s approach, Canadian ice hockey players; and Bale and
applied his general ideas, with considerable Sang (1996) have seen Kenyan track and field
sociological embellishment, to the study of the athletics as the outcome of a wide variety of
geographical mobility patterns of US college long- and short-term global flows, both in and
sports coaches. out of the country. A set of interdisciplinary
A more technical approach to sports talent essays on this subject tend to differ from the
migration was adopted by McConnell (1983, more traditional geographical approach in that
1984) who, in a study of the migration of colle- ‘patterns on the map’ are not seen as unprob-
giate footballers from Florida, attempted to lematic (Bale and Maguire, 1994).
predict such migration patterns by use of the
‘gravity model’ which was used to test the
hypothesis that the number of Floridians var- The Re-location of Sports Clubs
ied directly with gravitational attraction (that and Franchises
is, distance from Florida and size of state). The
model was generally successful, gravitational The re-location of sports clubs and franchises is
attraction ‘explaining’ about 57 per cent of the a topical subject in many countries of the
variation in the number of players from Western world. As a result of a variety of pres-
Florida. sures resulting from planning and economic
A somewhat different approach to migration considerations, professional sports clubs are
involved the question of whether the escala- increasingly seeking to relocate at both urban
tion in player earnings, following the adoption and national scales. International relocation
of ‘free agency’ in US baseball, had led to a already exists in North America and has been
change in the migratory behaviour of baseball mooted in Europe.
professionals. It was hypothesized that the Relatively little work has been undertaken
attachment between players and the cities they by geographers into this phenomenon, despite
‘represented’ through their teams had weak- the fact that locational change takes place at a
ened following the successful challenge to the variety of scales. At the intra-urban scale Moen
‘reserve clause’. It was found that with (1990) undertook an exhaustive analysis of the
increased wealth the players no longer felt changing intra-urban pattern of sports sites in
committed to the city in which their team the Swedish cities of Borås and Uppsala. He
played and would reside elsewhere during the observed a twin process of suburbanization
off-season. They did not have to change their and increased clustering of sports facilities at
residential location, as had occurred in the this level of scale. At the state level, Leib (1990)
days of the reserve clause and the geographical showed the instability of the geographical dis-
linkage between player residence and the team tribution of Minor League baseball club loca-
he played for had weakened (Shelley and tions in Pennsylvania from 1902 to 1989 but it
Shelley, 1993). has been left to sociologists and economists to
Talent migration in sport is not restricted to explore in a more interpretive way the loca-
the national scale. Ojala and Gadwood (1989) tional dynamics of sports teams and franchises
noted that during a 112-year period, Puerto at the continental level. For example, Euchner
Rico, Cuba and the Dominican Republic had (1993) has carefully charted the rationale for
each supplied more baseball players to the US team relocation and new stadium develop-
Major Leagues than many of the states in the ments in the United States. The most detailed
USA itself. Such international migration of analysis of the urban-political structures and
sports talent has attracted considerable agencies involved in locational change in fran-
research in recent years among geographers chises is probably that of Schimmel (1995),
and others (Bale and Maguire, 1994; see whose detailed study of the move of the
Chapter 23 by Maguire in this book). For exam- Baltimore Colts football outfit to Indianapolis
ple, Klein (1991) has researched the impact on not only includes the geographical details of
the Dominican Republic of the long-standing the move but also the urban-political machina-
migration of the nation’s baseball players to tions and an excellent review of urban eco-
the US. He recognizes such migration as a form nomics and political economy (see also Ingham
of ‘underdevelopment’. Maguire (1994a) has et al., 1987). The situation for the US is
examined the flow of Americans into English summed up as follows:
 HUMAN GEOGRAPHY AND THE STUDY OF SPORT 177

Overwhelming evidence shows that sports These have been the most typical kinds of
franchises and facilities do little to revive a local geographical studies of achievement-sport.
economy, but states and cities continue to spend Such work has not gone unrecognized.
hundreds of millions of dollars to get teams. Rooney’s (1969) seminal paper was warmly
Boosters promise the revival of neighborhoods, applauded by none other than the writer James
higher tax revenues, the attraction of new firms to Michener (1976: 303–6), who found it the most
the city, and even the amelioration of racial and interesting of all the books he consulted for his
ethnic strife. Ignoring the evidence, cities accept mammoth Sports in America. However, while
the grandiose claims. (Euchner, 1993: 185) undoubtedly interesting and painstakingly
researched, such studies have not been without
In Britain, the recommendations of the criticism from geographers and others who
Taylor Report (1990) into the football (soccer) have sought to locate a geography of sport
industry have led to scenarios for stadium within the broader academic arena of social
relocation coming into conflict with planning and cultural studies. For example, Ley (1985)
policy and practice (Black and Lloyd, 1992, observed that
1994). The way in which the notion of ‘com-
munity’ is invoked by both the relocating club While the maps are of great interest and their com-
and those opposing its relocation on the pilation is no small task, they exemplify a research
grounds that it constitutes a ‘noxious facility’ is style where description takes precedence over
explored in a study of the relocation plans of interpretation. Maps of the spatial origins of pro-
Portsmouth FC in England (Burnett, 1994). fessional sports players, to take one theme, invite
In addition to the physical relocation interpretive accounts of the places and practices
of clubs it is also possible to observe the which produced such ‘social facts’. (p. 417)
relocation of success. Using various geo-
He then noted that such a research agenda
statistical analyses, Waylen and Snook (1990)
could be found by referring to work in the
noted that while the composition of the League
sociology of sport. Badenhorst (1988) critiqued
had been more or less constant from 1920 to
the geography of sport for exploring diffusion
1987, there had been a marked southward shift
patterns to the exclusion of processes and
in the location of the more successful teams. A
noted the relative isolation of scholars in the
similar analysis of shifts in regional soccer suc-
subdiscipline of sports geography from the
cess has been undertaken in The Netherlands
broader field of cultural geography. Likewise,
(Volkers and Van Dam, 1992).
the sports sociologists Jarvie and Maguire
The above analyses form a group of geo-
(1994) pointed to the reification of space in
graphical studies which often go under the
such studies. Nevertheless, more interpretive
collective term of ‘spatial analysis’. This can be
accounts which draw on social and cultural
reduced to a series of patterns made up alter-
theory (Springwood, 1996), as well as the ‘new’
natively of points, lines, flows, movements and
cultural geography (Philo, 1991) will be found
surfaces which provide some of the basic con-
in studies described in later sections of this
cepts of a ‘spatial’ approach to geography. A
chapter.
detailed analysis by Loïc Ravenel (1997) integ-
rates these spatial analytic concepts and
applies a variety of spatio-statistical tech-
niques as part of a monumental study of top- SPORT AND SPILLOVERS
class football in France (see also Ravenel, 1998).
There is another form of such spatial analytic A group of studies somewhat different from
studies which geographers have addressed, those noted above seek to identify the spatial
but at a rather different level of geographic and environmental impact of sports events.
scale – that of the field of play. One of the pre- The place of sport in regional economic devel-
mier geographers in the United States, Peter opment has been most comprehensively
Gould (Gould and Gattrell, 1979; Gould and reviewed, citing mainly French evidence, by
Greenwalt, 1981) has researched such studies, Goiugnet and Nys (1993), and only a few
which focus on the micro-spatial interaction of examples of the kind of geographical work in
players themselves. In doing so, he used a sta- this area can be noted here. They draw their
tistical technique called multidimensional scal- inspiration, not only from regional and welfare
ing which sought to explore the asymmetries economics but also from more humanistic
in team interaction and, hence, ‘the structure of sources.
a game’. By far the largest number of ‘spillover
The spatial analytic studies outlined above studies’ of sports have addressed what are
follow positivist scientific philosophies. termed ‘hallmark events’. These are global or
178 CROSS-DISCIPLINARY DIFFERENCES AND CONNECTIONS

continental sporting spectacles where the Yi-Fu Tuan (1974), Bale (1991b, 1993b) used
preparation for the event, as much as the Tuan’s notion of ‘topophilia’ (a love of place) to
effects of them at the time they are held, can describe the love and affection fans have for
induce considerable landscape change. A ‘their stadium’. He used ‘softer’ indicators
lengthy book of essays on The Planning and than those used by economists, taking, for
Evaluation of Hallmark Events (Symes et al., example, the words of fans from football pro-
1989) includes contributions on the economic grammes and fanzines. A strong attachment to
and environmental impact of events such as these places gives them ‘meaning’; they
the America’s Cup on Freemantle, the become places to be defended against destruc-
Adelaide motor cycling Grand Prix, and the tion and the sense of place they engender is
Calgary Winter Olympics. The latter study close to being in love with a place, with a
argued that the impact of the 1988 Winter strength of attachment often underestimated
Games went well beyond the construction of by planners. A particularly dramatic case in
new facilities and the events themselves Britain was that of the popular activism of fans
(Hiller, 1989). Because of the limitations on of Charlton Athletic to return the club to its
spectators and the limited duration of the ‘home’ at The Valley in the face of pressures for
event, the media became the key in redefining the club to ground-share in another part of
and projecting to the world the image of the London (Everitt, 1991).
city of Calgary as one which had come of age Such expressions of localism reflect the
through recent economic development. strength of the sport–place bond. The success –
Studies of the spatial impact of, say, an even the existence – of a local ‘representative’
annual ice hockey tournament (Marsh, 1984) in the form of a sports team may create a sense
utilize ideas such as the regional multiplier to of place and provide ‘psychic’ income.
arrive at the wealth generated in a region as a The feel-good factor as generated by sports
result of the event. What such a study is basi- success has been explored in the context of
cally doing is to establish the economic Sunderland’s surprise FA Cup Final victory in
spillover effects of a sporting event on the local 1973 (Derrick and McRory, 1973). It was found
area in which it takes place. Likewise, studies that the improved fortunes of the local football
of the construction of new facilities for a ‘hall- team had been associated with a decrease in
mark’ event can indicate the job-creation vandalism in the town, better behaviour of
effects of the construction of facilities (Foley, football crowds, a boost to the city’s image and
1991). The tacit objective of such studies is to increased output in local factories. A more sen-
explore the positive economic spillovers, that is, sitive and in-depth ethnographic analysis by
income or jobs generated within the region as a Bromberger (1995) into the partisan passion for
direct or indirect result of the event. It is widely football in Marseilles, Naples and Turin pro-
regarded that the impact of stadium develop- vides a model for such studies, while Hague
ment, in particular, is much less than is widely and Mercer (1998) recognize that through the
perceived. Studies into such impacts have been modest Scottish football club of Raith Rovers,
relatively widespread in the United States the town of Kirkcaldy is mediated through
though they have been undertaken mainly by texts of ‘geographical memory’. At the global
scholars from economics (Baade, 1995; Baade scale, sport is often thought to serve a similar
and Dye, 1990) rather than geography. A function in bonding diffuse groups and forging
Swedish study by Aldskogius (1993b, 1994, ‘national identity’ (Maguire, 1994b).
1995) best illustrates the geographical Ideas borrowed from welfare economics,
approach. The small town of Leksand is well applied during the 1970s in the subfield of
known in Sweden because of the dispropor- welfare geography (Smith, 1977), have
tionate significance of its ice hockey team. attracted considerable interest from geogra-
Aldskogius (1993b, 1994) was able to show that phers who have applied them in studies of the
the impact of Leksand was felt well beyond the negative effects of sports events. This interest
town itself, supporter club affiliations extend- was influenced, to a large degree, by the crisis
ing, for example, from the north to the south of in the British football industry during the
the country. It was indeed the case of a great 1980s. Such studies have explored the nega-
club in a small town. tive externalities of football stadiums, as per-
These positivistic studies have been comple- ceived by local residents, and sought to
mented by more humanistic explorations identify which spillovers were perceived as
which have sought to explore non-financial being the most serious. In addition they iden-
benefits of the presence of sports clubs on local tified the distances from stadiums that various
fans and residents. Basing his ideas mainly on nuisances were recognized (for example,
the work of the Chinese-American geographer Figure 10.2). Based on an examination of the
 HUMAN GEOGRAPHY AND THE STUDY OF SPORT 179

50
0

m
Nuisance is not present
CITY
CENTRE
Nuisance is present but no problem
00
1

0m
Nuisance is a problem
Nuisance is a severe problem
20

m
0

Figure 10.2 The spatial extent of nuisances generated by football around Portman Road ground,
Ipswich (after Chase and Healey, 1995)

football-induced nuisances consumed by local by rock concerts, football-induced nuisances

residents living near 37 League football were perceived to be a greater problem overall
grounds, Bale (1990) concluded that football (Chase and Healey, 1995).
nuisances, as perceived by those who unwill- The impacts of the kinds described above
ingly consumed them, were less serious than have a spatial and environmental dimension.
expected by a sample of the general public. In The latter provides a point of contact between
addition, the main nuisances were car parking human and physical geography. Sport as a
and traffic congestion. Hooliganism was form of pollution is a problem addressed
rarely seen as the major nuisance, a finding by observers of events such as the Winter
confirmed by a number of other studies (for Olympics and golf course development
example, Humphrys et al., 1983). Studies (McCormack, 1991). Eichberg (1988) sees
reflecting ‘rational’ solutions to the football achievement-sport as inherently anti-nature, a
stadium ‘problem’ are illustrated by a compar- view supported by ‘deep’ ecologists such as
ison of the nuisances generated by a tradi- Galtung (1984). The impact of sport has cer-
tional, inner-city ground with that of a new tainly led to replacement of natural or semi-
suburban stadium. Mason and Moncrieff natural landscapes by those of concrete, steel
(1993) found that relocation at the urban edge and plastic. Such a dystopian view of the
in the case of St Johnstone FC in Perth, impact of sport is not shared by everybody,
Scotland, had not eliminated the football- however, as the next section shows.
generated nuisance effects, though because
about three-quarters of the new stadium’s
externality field was made up of non-residential
areas, the number of people experiencing SPORT AND LANDSCAPE
football-generated nuisances was less than
that at the club’s former inner-city location. In The shift in sport-geographic studies from the
addition to suburbanization, a ‘solution’ to ‘cartographic fetish’ to a more sensitive land-
English football’s economic ‘crisis’ was to scape approach can be summarized by noting
increase the number of days per year when the two papers by Richard Pillsbury. An early essay
stadium was in use. This initiative, under- on stock car racing in the American ‘South’
taken at Luton Town FC’s ground, led Mason focused on the geographic origins of stock car
and Robins (1991) to compare the negative racing drivers. His maps revealed a concentra-
externality fields of football and non-football tion of such ‘good ol’ boys’ in the cultural
uses. They found that non-football activities heartland of the sport in the Carolinas and
had less intense and more spatially restricted Georgia (Pillsbury, 1972). Over 20 years later,
‘nuisance fields’ than those generated by foot- Pillsbury (1995) was still writing about the
ball matches. Another study, specifically com- same subject but his maps had been replaced
paring rock concerts with football, showed by photographs while his text sensitively and
that despite the greater noise levels generated evocatively sought to compare the old, unique,
180 CROSS-DISCIPLINARY DIFFERENCES AND CONNECTIONS

southern dirt tracks, with the more ‘efficient’ readings of the sports stadium as a
and rational arenas of the modern era.3 ‘Foucauldian landscape’ have been under-
It is in such studies of the ‘ordinary’ land- taken by Bale (1993b) and Tomkins (1995),
scapes of sports that the most interpretive of though the former’s inspiration comes pri-
sports-geographic studies have been under- marily from the work of Robert Sack (1986)
taken and it is arguably the area which has bor- and his view of territoriality as a form of
rowed most vigorously from cultural and power.
social theory. The sports landscape is viewed A less pessimistic view of the landscape of
broadly. It is basically interpreted as every- sport is outlined by the American geographer
thing that is sensed at a sports event. Although Karl Raitz (1987a, 1987b, 1995). Influenced by
the geographer Jay Appleton (1975) suggested, Edward Relph (1976), who used the term
through fleeting allusions, a landscape focus ‘placelessness’ to describe many of the land-
for sports-geographic studies, the first to seri- scapes of modernity, Raitz observed that there
ously address the landscape of sport was the is more to a sports event than simply watching
American cultural geographer Philip Wagner the game. He suggested that the sports land-
(1981), who seemed to view sport as a combi- scape is made up of a ‘landscape ensemble’.
nation of culture and geography. He described The field of play is a relatively constant milieu,
sports places as eminently spatial phenomena, verging on predictability and placelessness,
struggles over space possessing ‘elaborate spa- but around it are a wide variety of elements
tial strictures’ where ‘the infractions and the which bring distinctiveness and uniqueness to
measurement of spatial progress in play are of particular sporting locations. Raitz suggested
great importance’. He added that sports were that the greater the variety within the ensem-
‘dramas acted out within minutely prescribed ble, the greater the spectators’ (and possibly
spatial frames’, requiring ‘exactly specified players’) gratification from the sport experi-
and formalized environments, for in most ence. Raitz’s emphasis on the ‘place-making’
cases the contest explicitly concerns domi- qualities of many sports venues provides a
nance of territory or mastery of distance’ starting point for an interpretation of sport via
(Wagner, 1981: 92). This does not go quite so far the landscape perspective.
as the neo-Marxist view that ‘the reduction of The trajectory of modern sport may, how-
space to geometry, the abstraction of what is ever, be seen differently from both Raitz’s
concrete, real and tangible in nature, is carried notion of the sports landscape as a source of
to the ultimate in sport’ (Brohm, 1974), but it is (mainly) visual pleasures and the suggestion
along the same lines. that sports landscapes possess prison-like
These observations imply that the landscape qualities. Drawing on further ideas from Tuan
of sport is a world of modernity – straight (1984), Bale (1994) has applied the metaphors
lines, measurement, rationality and perfor- of the garden and pet to the stadium and ath-
mance. Following Le Corbusier, the sports lete respectively. Stadiums and athletes – like
landscape can be seen as a ‘machine’ for sport. gardens and pets – are uneasy mixes of nature
Most sports places also show a tendency and culture. They are, in Tuan’s terms, exam-
towards confinement, segmentation and arti- ples of dominance and affection with neither
fice. Hence, a second ‘reading’ of the sports being taken to an extreme. Sports places are
landscape might see a gradual tendency examples of a blending of architecture and hor-
towards its spatial confinement, individualiza- ticulture, of dominance with a human face.
tion and surveillance. One has only to look at Much of this interpretation comes close to that
the sports stadium to see the transition from of Giamatti (1989), who sees the baseball park
games played in an open space with limited, if as a modern, adult version of the kindergarten.
any, separation between players and specta- However, the multifaceted character of mod-
tors, through the process of separation of play- ern sports landscapes is one of ambiguity
ers from spectators, the enclosure of the field of (Kayser Nielsen, 1995) in which boundaries
play, the segregation of spectators, their con- and borders are often liminal in character
finement in individualized seats, and their sur- (Shore, 1995). The ambiguity of the modern
veillance by video camera (Bale, 1993b). The sports landscape is addressed by Allen Pred
relevance of the work of Michel Foucault (1995) in a fascinating analysis of the
(1977) is difficult to ignore. So too is the imagi- Stockholm ‘Globe’ (‘a spectacular space for
native scholarship of the eclectic ‘cultural soci- commodified entertainment spectacle, for the
ologist’ Henning Eichberg (1986, 1989, 1990; consumption of commodified bodies’). Pred
Bale and Philo, 1998), whose studies of the sees this late modern structure as a source of
spatiality of sport have been inspirational for (hyper)modernity – an ambiguous landscape
some geographers (Philo, 1994). Geographical that accommodates local pride and globalized
 HUMAN GEOGRAPHY AND THE STUDY OF SPORT 181

sport, ‘where the spectacle is made available as idiosyncratic ‘home field’, for example.
an everyday item of consumption’. Likewise, ‘achievement-orientation’ or at least
The sports landscape can also be seen as ‘record seeking’ also requires such a placeless
symbolic in character. Sport-landscape sym- landscape. All sites should be identical. If sports
bols are projected in such media as paintings, sites differ, they may provide favourable or
cartoons, poetry and other literary texts as well unfavourable environments for records. It is not
as in soil, timber and concrete. Baseball and difficult to see the tendency towards placeless-
cricket connote images of the rural – even if ness in sports space, and scenarios for such
the reality is essentially urban (Bale, 1994). dystopian futures have been presented in the
Drawing on the work of a number of geogra- writings of Baudrillard (1993) and Virilio (1991).
phers, the cultural anthropologist Charles Yet the question remains about how far fans can
Springwood (1996) sees place, space and land- continue to be active participants in appropriat-
scape as central to his exploration of the cul- ing and resisting such cultural changes.
tural environments of the two mythical
baseball-centred sites/sights of Cooperstown,
New York and Dyersville, Iowa. In what is FUTURE DIRECTIONS?
arguably the best piece of sport-geographic
writing yet produced, Springwood’s ‘dual
ethnography’ of these two places teases out A geography of sport has made a modest mark
their ‘meaning’, mysteries and conservative in both sports studies and cultural geography.
ideologies. Symbolic landscapes can also be However, given the current geographical inter-
applied to the forging of national identity, the est in such themes as the spectacle, sites of
exposure of class tensions and the identifica- resistance and globalization (Cosgrove and
tions of ‘landscapes of hate’. This is exempli- Rogers, 1992), and the recognition that the
fied by an examination of the campus of ‘ordinary’ landscapes of sports have great
Liberty University, a fundamentalist Christian symbolic significance (Cosgrove, 1989), every
institution founded by the televangelist Jerry likelihood exists that sports-geographic stud-
Falwell. Gallaher (1997) reads this as a training ies will increase in number and achieve greater
ground for the normalization, maintenance visibility than hitherto. Given the mania for
and reinforcement of a fundamentalist identity. ‘stadiumisation’ and sports-complex gigan-
Liberty appropriates sports symbols to nor- tism, spatial and environmental impact studies
malize its identity position while, at the same will continue to develop. Geographers are cer-
time, enforcing difference. It can succeed in tainly responding to the challenge of sports
NCAA basketball competitions but at the same and globalization in various ways (for exam-
time exclude alcohol consumption. The cam- ple, Bale and Sang, 1996; Donaghu and Barff,
pus landscapes of sports are identified as 1990) and an incipient interest exists in forging
sources of a masculinist form of solidarity links between sport, geography and post-
building and the creation of a group and insti- colonial studies (Bale, 1996) and geography
tutional memory which seems to reinforce fun- and the sportized body (Johnston, 1998). But
damentalist identity. In a somewhat different the future lies in the recognition by geo-
vein, a splendid essay by Bowden (1994) reads graphers that sport is a significant part of
the landscape and place imagery in two sports culture and that in it they may find many
movies (The Loneliness of the Long Distance exemplars of their contemporary concerns.
Runner and Chariots of Fire) as metaphors for
the deeply embedded British class system.
Finally, it can be suggested that landscapes of NOTES
sport illustrate a tension between space and
place. This tension may, in a sense, form the 1 A sports-geographical journal, Sport Place,
basis for a geographical theory of sport (Bale, was published from 1987 through 1996, in
1998). It can be argued that the two norms which time 18 issues appeared. At the time
of sport, that is, fair play and achievement- of writing it is unclear whether the journal
orientation, predict that sports should theoreti- will continue to be published.
cally take place in ‘pure space’ or ‘non-places’ 2 Several other reviews of the geography
(Augé, 1995). This is because, logically, ‘fair play’ of sport have been authored (Augustin,
can only be achieved if extraneous factors such 1995; Bale, 1988, 1989, 1992b; Buursink,
as the vagaries of the physical environment, on 1993; Rösch, 1986; Volkers and Van Dam,
the one hand, and of spectators on the other, are 1992). The references included therein may
isolated from the sports event. Individual play- be used to complement those in the pre-
ers and teams should not be favoured by an sent, more extensive and up-dated, review.
182 CROSS-DISCIPLINARY DIFFERENCES AND CONNECTIONS

3 Pillsbury’s two views of southern stock car Bale, J. (1990) ‘In the shadow of the stadium: football
racing and Rooney’s (1993) golf paper, are grounds as urban nuisances’, Geography, 75:
reprinted in Carney (1995). 325–44.
Bale, J. (1991a) ‘Angstzone Fussball?’, in R. Horak
and W. Reiter (eds), Die Kanten des Runden Leders.
Vienna: Promedia. pp. 62–70.
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 11
SOCIAL HISTORY AND SPORT

Nancy L. Struna

The history of sport history stretches far back histories as distinguishable ventures, albeit ones
in time. Cave dwellers placed pictographs of with some common interests. As Larry Gerlach
their sporting pursuits on the walls of caves has suggested in a review of baseball history –
and shared their stories orally. Subsequently, in and thus he was not addressing social history
societies such as ancient Crete, Greece, Egypt, directly – such distinctions are deceptive, how-
China and Rome, people recorded their experi- ever. Any good history of a sport, of the eco-
ences via symbols, hieroglyphics and other nomic dimensions of sports, or of ideas about
forms of writing. Centuries later in the West, health, the body, or sport, ‘is necessarily about
late medieval and early modern chroniclers – more’ than a sport, economics, or ideas
Richard Carew and Joseph Strutt in Britain and (Gerlach, 1994: 135). Such a history will also dis-
the Flemish artist Jan Bruegel, for example – cuss the broader social setting, if not fully situ-
maintained the tradition of constructing scenes ate a practice in its complex social context, and
of popular sports. Many of us have used the it will identify social issues and trends even if it
records left by these people; they have become does not draw out the multiple levels of interac-
historians’ evidence. We should not forget, tion between and among sporting perfor-
however, that before these pictographs, hiero- mances, agents, structures and processes and
glyphics, sagas and paintings were forms of the other dimensions of human social existence.
historical evidence, they were histories. Precisely what do social historians of sport
Moreover, to their makers they were social his- think and do? They examine sports as social
tories. They were stories people told of them- practices, as social formations, or as social texts
selves in their times and places. for the purpose of understanding both the
These ‘stories’ of peoples’ experiences sports and the society. Social historians ask and
located and understood in the context of their answer questions about the nature and ‘fit’ of
times and places are a part of the domain of sports in given times among given peoples,
contemporary social historians. Of course, we about how and why people constructed partic-
also construct larger stories from these particu- ular forms of sport, about the meanings that
lar stories, stories about patterns of change and human agents assigned to sports, about con-
persistence over time, stories that are critical to flicts and social contests evident or played out
our understanding of social production and in sports, about patterns of continuity and
reproduction. A more succinct definition of the change in sporting experiences and structures,
field comes from the British scholar Harold and about the social significance of sporting
Perkin: ‘Social history is . . . all history from the practices in the context of other practices,
social point of view’ (Perkin, 1973: 433). It is so, processes and dynamics. We assume that
explained Eric Hobsbawm, because ‘the soci- sports are constitutive features of societies and,
etal aspects of man’s [sic] being cannot be sep- if a truth be told, we also assume that any
arated from other aspects of his being’ given society would be quite different without
(Hobsbawm, 1974: 5).1 its sports from what it was or is.
Such positions will undoubtedly discomfort What follows in this chapter is a three-part
some sport historians; they see social and sport essay about the social history of sport that
188 CROSS-DISCIPLINARY DIFFERENCES AND CONNECTIONS

draws on many historians’ studies, whether or practices. Other sports evolved from necessary
not they were consciously written as social his- endeavors; hunting and horse racing are clas-
tories. It attempts, first, to discuss some of his- sic examples. Still other forms emerged as
toriographical trends evident in the literature, individuals contested for place in a society, or,
both past and present. Secondly, it reviews as did ball games, in the course of religious
some of the recent research in sport as this rituals and festivals. Indeed, given the signifi-
bears on social history.2 Finally, it suggests cance of religions in these early societies, many
lines of inquiry for the future, most of which sports occurred in the context of festivals that
cross traditional disciplinary boundaries. honored the gods and became ritualized
Throughout, the chapter reflects this author’s themselves.6
own boundaries, especially in terms of lan- Not surprisingly perhaps, the Middle Ages,
guages; the histories consulted are English- which stretched for nearly a millennium
language publications that concentrate on between c. 500 and 1500 CE, constituted a
Western experiences.3 This chapter also relies second stage in the evolution of sports, accord-
on books and some of the journal literature. ing to this approach. During these centuries as
Thus the story constructed in the following societies multiplied and became more com-
pages is by no means a complete story; it is not plex, not only did the evolution of ancient
even a comprehensive review of the field of sports continue but newer ones also emerged.
sport history. Given their persisting belief in evolution, his-
torians continued to find the roots of more
recently organized sports in ordinary tasks and
religious festivals. Northern people added
HISTORIOGRAPHICAL TRENDS sports like skiing and skating, both derived
from modes of transportation, to the record.
Before the 1980s one approach dominated Villagers in many places developed locally
Western sport historiography.4 Historians often popular versions of football and many gam-
intended to reconstruct the past, and they bling games that pitted one’s luck or skill
focused on particular events such as the against the fates. Elites continued to transform
Olympics, the origins and developments of their martial practices into sports; examples
particular sports (especially modern ones), include jousting and tilting in England. Animal
individuals and organizations, and occasion- sports such as cock fighting also emerged as
ally the social bases for and attitudes that sup- ritual battles tied to conflicts among ethnic
ported sports. The resultant histories tended to groups.
be descriptive rather than analytic; they told The Middle Ages came to a close as a series
who did what at what point in time. They were of processes – expanding trade, communica-
also largely uncritical, in all senses of the word, tion, exploration, education, nation-building,
owing in part to the dominant empiricist religious ‘reformation’, and inventiveness –
framework.5 Researchers assumed that histori- moved human society into a third and climac-
cal evidence existed independently of the his- tic period in human history, at least in the
torian, that the past as it had occurred could be West: the modern era. This period, especially
reconstructed from that evidence, and that the century and a half after 1800, witnessed the
change over time was both inevitable and pro- development of industrial capitalism, large
gressive. What interpretations emerged drew urban areas, and complex, highly organized
both from biology, especially biological evolu- sports. Outside of Europe, where earlier peri-
tion, and structural-functional sociology. The ods retained their significance to sport schol-
broader society appeared in references to ars, historians have concentrated on sports in
milieu, the backdrop, rather than by way of modern societies. Not surprisingly perhaps, it
context, or the ensemble of behaviors, mean- is precisely this historical type of sport, ‘mod-
ings and events in which something occurred ern’ sport, that has served for years as the clas-
and must be examined and understood sic, even paradigmatic definition of sport.7
(Thompson, 1972). Historians operating in this empiricist,
The picture that resulted from these descrip- descriptive approach examined three major
tive histories had a distinctive beginning in questions about modern sports. First, where,
ancient societies and, if not quite an end, cer- when, by whom and in what steps were mod-
tainly a climax in modern, industrial societies. ern sports developed? Second, how and where
Participation in recognizable sports was clearly did the organization, commercialization and
evident in places such as Sumer, Egypt, Greece institutionalization of sports proceed? Finally,
and China. Some forms – archery and chariot how did major public sports in various coun-
races, for example – developed out of martial tries reflect and express national interests and
 SOCIAL HISTORY AND SPORT 189

characteristics? What resulted were articles some adherents, particularly in the United
and, to a lesser extent, books that described States.
particular sports, the lives of significant What has also become clear in recent years is
individuals, and broader movements that sup- that historians employ these theoretical frame-
ported, opposed, or even impeded develop- works in distinct genres of social-historical
ments in sports. In many countries as well, analyses. The most common form is the deep,
historians uncovered sport clubs, chronicled internal history of sport. Commonly such
the workings of sport federations and detailed works hold that sporting experiences were dis-
the ideological underpinnings of sports in tinctive and separable sets of social experi-
schools and religious and military organiza- ences that bore on the making of society, even
tions. Still others probed the role of the media as they were affected by and exemplified larger
in shaping and promoting sports, the develop- social movements and issues. In effect, schol-
ment of transportation and communication ars maintain, sports had particular internal his-
infrastructures that permitted the geographic tories that warrant telling, and in fact, the
spread and cultural power of sports, the beliefs history of a society is incomplete until its sport
that institutional agents held about sports and history is understood. No subject thus is too
the ways in which institutions embraced and small for social historical analysis: particular
promoted sports. games or other contests, organizations, move-
In Britain, Europe and North America espe- ments (including those related to health and
cially, these descriptive works reached their the body), ideologies and sets of attitudes.
apogee in the late 1970s, and they resulted in a Such studies also often address the interests
fairly detailed map of some people and some and experiences of dominant and/or subordi-
sports. It was also a map with clear limits, not nate groups in sport contexts, as well as issues
the least of which were meaningful explana- such as control and power, in comparatively
tions and generalizations. However, some his- short time frames.
torians had already begun to reconcile the This genre owes much to British historians,
field’s traditional interest in the particular with especially James Walvin and Tony Mason, who
the need to generalize, both across time and recognized quite early in the modern history of
across societies and social groups. They had social history the importance of particular
also begun to draw on social theories that sports in the experiences of ordinary people.
helped in the search for explanations and Their respective works on soccer, The People’s
encouraged a conscious reframing of ques- Game (Walvin, 1975) and Association Football and
tions, of evidence, and of historians’ relation- English Society, 1863–1915 (Mason, 1980), set a
ships to the data. standard for impeccable scholarship and
During the past 15-plus years, much of the secured a place for sports in social history,
published historical research about sport has especially insofar as it was history ‘from the
been theoretically grounded, even if it has not bottom up’. Wray Vamplew’s Pay Up and Play
aimed at grand theorizing and prediction à la the Game (1988), which explored the class and
sociology.8 Some scholars have drawn on vari- commercial bases underlying the development
eties of historical materialism to ask questions of professional sport, and Sport in Britain
about social relations, processes, structures (Mason, 1989), an anthology whose con-
and significations. Gramscian historical blocs tributors identified the social bases for and the
and hegemony, Giddens’s structuration, the patterns of many sports, extended our under-
French Annales school and the approaches of standing of both the place and the significance
E.P. Thompson and Raymond Williams and, in of sport in British life.
central Europe, Louis Althusser, are influential. Scholars have also analysed the develop-
Other historians have turned to a number of ment of modern sports as an historically spe-
feminist perspectives and to post-structuralist cific social formation in the context of a
theorists such as Lacan and Foucault; both per- nation’s history; the internal history thus is a
spectives are particularly apparent in the story of a movement rather than a sport. A
research on women, gender and the body. Still number of fine books explore how and why
others have employed concepts and methods modern sports were shaped, commercialized,
from cultural anthropology, especially its sym- institutionalized, promoted and politicized, as
bolic structures frameworks. From French well as how this historically specific type and
social history Pierre Bourdieu’s social fields style of sport affected the larger society.
and his earlier system of schemes, which theo- Richard Cashman, for example, explored all
rizes how people dealt with contingencies in these processes in Australia in his Paradise of
the past, have become influential. Finally, the Sport (1995), while many of the articles in Sport
positivist modernization theory has retained and Society in Latin America (Arbena, 1988)
190 CROSS-DISCIPLINARY DIFFERENCES AND CONNECTIONS

focused on the introduction, spread and the social, ideological and industrial transfor-
impacts of modern sports in South and Central mations of England during the nineteenth and
America. Alan Metcalfe’s Canada Learns to Play early twentieth centuries. More recently,
(1987) remains the classic work on the social in Sport and the British (1989a) Richard Holt
patterns and dynamics and the process by examined patterns of persistence and change
which modern sports became the dominant in popular sporting experiences and accounted
forms in capitalist, industrializing Canada for critical nineteenth- and twentieth-century
through 1914. Bruce Kidd’s The Struggle for transformations in the context of larger struc-
Canadian Sport (1996) explored the Canadian tural and ideological processes occurring in
story after the First World War and attributes Britain. Outside of the British sphere, in Judas
the making of the country’s major sports and at the Jockey Club (1987) William Beezley
its sport system, which are integral dimensions explored the social locus and base for and
of Canadian life and society today, to four tensions evident in sporting contexts during
major organizations. In the United States, a dynamic period in Mexican history, a
urban rather than national social histories rep- period marked by conflicting traditional and
resent this genre.9 Melvin Adelman’s A emergent modern patterns and interests.
Sporting Time (1986) and Steven Riess’s City My own People of Prowess: Sport, Leisure, and
Games (1989) both explicated how and why Labor in Early Anglo-America (Struna, 1996a)
modern sports emerged in urban areas and examined the making of sports and the
how facilities, teams, entrepreneurs and popu- dynamics of sporting practices as contested
lar interests shaped the city and urban living. domains in the context of transformations in
A similar urban focus emerged in Robert labor and leisure practices and relationships in
Edelman’s Serious Fun: a History of Spectator the Anglo-American colonies of the early
Sports in the USSR (1993).10 modern period.
The second genre is more akin to classic The third genre frames sport within the
Western social histories. Such works address study of popular culture or leisure. These
sports and society, with the conjunction signi- kinds of works are first and foremost histories
fying equal attention, in contrast to the interior of popular culture or leisure. An insightful
histories’ sports in society perspective. One of work in this vein is Phyllis Martin’s Leisure and
the goals of this kind of social history is the Society in Colonial Brazzaville (1995), which
telling of a ‘large’ story about the nature, fit explored the interplay of indigenous and
and meanings of sporting practices as these imperial interests and patterns of leisure and
were embedded in society; hence, the common sport. Other authors frame popular sports as a
focus on the making of sporting life as an inex- set of instances or practices of leisure or popu-
tricably linked dimension of the making of a lar culture, and they intend to explore a range
nation, a people, or a sub-period. These works of experiences in which a people engaged in
also often draw upon other social histories to order to understand the ideological interests,
compare and contrast sporting forms, relations social relations and structural conditions in a
and structures with other social practices. In locale. Such is the case with Donald Wetherell’s
effect, such histories describe and analyse and Irene Kmet’s Useful Pleasures: The Shaping
sporting life, or at least some episodes, in the of Leisure in Alberta, 1896–1945 (1990), Workers’
context of a web of social activities and Culture in Imperial Germany: Leisure and
processes, an effort that facilitates the histo- Recreation in the Rhineland and Westphalia
rian’s quest to assess sport’s historical social by Lynn Abrams (1991), and Richard
significance. Waterhouse’s Private Pleasures, Public Leisure:
In writing these histories of sport and A History of Australian Popular Culture (1995).
society, British historians again defined the Anthologies in this genre also permit a the-
genre and set the standards. One of the earliest matic approach to popular experiences and
and most important books was Robert thus describe experiences that actively link
Malcolmson’s Popular Recreations in English sports and other forms of leisure. Workers’
Society, 1700–1850 (1973). Malcolmson simul- Worlds: Cultures and Communities in Manchester
taneously challenged conceptions of linear and Salford, 1880–1939 (Davies and Fielding,
change and demonstrated the social power 1992), for instance, located and analysed orga-
of sports in local experiences and social rela- nized betting in the context of street life. It thus
tions and on institutions and individuals. tantalized a reader with clues about how
Subsequently, Peter Bailey (1978) and Hugh sports might be connected within the web of
Cunningham (1980) produced fine books that social practices, as well as about how popular
explored sporting movements as dimensions interests and traditions might have shaped
of leisure patterns, which they situated within sporting practices.
 SOCIAL HISTORY AND SPORT 191

I have emphasized the differences among Egypt (Decker, 1992) and China (Sports and
these kinds of social-historical studies because Games, 1986; Xihuan, 1991).
I believe that they are real and substantial. At For medieval sports, the recent literature is
the very least, the genres represent different more limited, both in terms of numbers and
ways of framing both sports and the relation- geographies. As a body, the research focuses on
ships among sports, other social practices and European societies and primarily therein on
formations, and societies. Beyond the pale of feudal structures and relations (for example,
difference, however, we should also realize Carter, 1984). A significant book by Thomas
that these genres are actually complementary, Henricks (1991) employed symbolic analysis
rather than antagonistic. Indeed, considered as and presents sports as identity ceremonies, or
a body of literature, these works have pro- display vehicles. The traits various generations
duced considerable knowledge about the par- displayed were primarily the products of
ticulars of sports and for generalizations about larger political, economic and social move-
the processes of social production and repro- ments, he argues. More descriptive and less
duction across sports and across countries. It is well contexted are three works on various
to these particulars and processes, via a topical dimensions of medieval sporting experiences,
discussion, that this chapter now turns. formalized English tournaments (Young,
1987), the violence of low and high culture
sports in England (Carter, 1992), and the
impact of the code of chivalry (Ziegler, 1993).
RECENT HISTORIOGRAPHY Finally, and perhaps most compelling, are
Compton Reeves’s (1995) broadly framed
The recent literature in sport history can be examination of English popular culture prac-
read as a primer on social history writ large. tices, including sports, and Joachim Ruhl’s
Physical spaces and places, traditions, demog- (1990) investigation of German tournament
raphy, community building, the construction regulations in the fifteenth century.11 The latter
of social categories and discourses, social in particular is an artful exploration of an his-
structures and structuring and more, constitute torically specific process of sport-making that
research interests that cross scholars’ national augments our understanding of how a people
and political interests. Further, as the discus- constructed a sport from what had become a
sion of genres suggests, the broader realms of residual military skill.
work and leisure, popular culture, national Ruhl’s work hints at the potential for explor-
ideologies and movements such as industrial- ing processes of social production and repro-
ization and globalization have also received duction that scholars may find in prior
the attention of historians. centuries. Certainly this is the case in the
These social-historical interests cut across early modern period in the West (that is, the
periods, as some of the recent research on sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries).
sports in ancient and medieval societies makes For Britain, Europe and North America espe-
clear. Drawing on both new and traditional cially, these centuries witnessed important
sources of evidence, ancient historians have transformations in demography, economic
attempted to locate sporting practices in the action and relations, political structures, ideo-
contexts of the social experiences and systems logical systems (including religion), popular
of their subjects rather than to find the ‘roots’ culture and ordinary life, even as some tradi-
of modern sports in such places or to produce tional patterns persisted. Two British histori-
ahistoric idealizations. Informed by post- ans, Dennis Brailsford (1969, 1991, 1992) and
structuralist and critical theories, historians of Robert Malcolmson (1973), recognized the sig-
ancient Greece, for example, have offered new nificance of this period quite early; their books
interpretations of class relations (Kyle, 1993; examined how and why customary sports per-
Miller, 1991), events as texts (Kyle, 1995), state sisted, the ways in which sports figured in
support for athletes (Crowther, 1996; Young, broader social and political contexts, and the
1985), and the social and cultural bases for and social and economic bases for emergent pat-
significance of violence (Poliakoff, 1987). This terns of sports. Recent studies have augmented
latter theme, along with that of the political our understanding of this dynamic period by
signification of events in arenas, is also evident exploring such topics as emergent professional
in new works on Roman sports (Auguet, 1994; practices that were tied to changes occurring in
Plass, 1995; Wiedemann, 1992). Theoretically theaters (McElroy and Cartwright, 1986), the
less telling but containing valuable informa- social locus and meanings of multiple persist-
tion about the social bases of sporting practices ing practices (Holt, 1989a; Möller, 1984), the
are books about understudied societies in impact of cultural collisions and acculturation
192 CROSS-DISCIPLINARY DIFFERENCES AND CONNECTIONS

(Salter, 1995), and changes in economic ways and expectations collided with emergent
production and popular consumption that ones. Such studies have at once deepened our
underlay the standardization and popularizing understanding of the making of particular
of particular forms of sport (McKendrick et al., modern sports and made clear that earlier
1982). In the context of Anglo-American colo- interpretations about the social functions of
nial experiences, People of Prowess (Struna, sport in the making of modern society, such as
1996a) explored the determining impact of the that of social control, are simplistic at best. In
rhythms and relations of ordinary life on industrial, capitalist and urban societies, tradi-
sports, how and why some traditional sports tional practices were immensely powerful, and
either persisted or were adapted over time, the construction of modern forms did not
and how the construction of labor and leisure occur overnight or without contesting and
as separable realms of experience affected negotiations.
sporting practices and the social relations Some of the most telling research on persist-
forged in sporting contexts. ing traditional experiences focuses on men
As has the research on ancient and medieval who were members of the working classes in
sport, so too have studies of the early modern many countries. In the United States Elliott
period contributed to our understanding of the Gorn (1986) explored the experiences of mostly
social history of sport and social processes over unskilled laborers in New York City as it was
the long dureé in several important ways. First, undergoing profound economic and demo-
they have provided some detail about the ways graphic changes in the mid-nineteenth century.
in which ordinary people constructed social Gorn suggested that traditional forms of bare-
categories – rank, race and gender – in sporting knuckle prize fighting expressed the values
performances and in physical culture more and relations of these men (as opposed to those
generally. Secondly, they have heightened the of the dominant culture) and was one of the
significance of the locale as a major site for few venues in which they could exert their
social production and as a major source of vari- agency. In a similar vein, Alan Metcalfe (1982,
ations in social life. Particular practices, modes 1988, 1990a) examined the persistence of tradi-
of organization and social relations, in other tional sports, including potshare bowling,
words, were rooted in the affairs and rhythms among miners in the north of England, and
of ordinary life, modes and relations of produc- N.L. Tranter (1990a) explored quoits play
tion, traditions, physical environment and among miners, industrial laborers and crafts-
mentalité of the people(s) in an area. Even in the men in central Scotland. Both sets of work
modern period when particular sports have revealed the traditional interests of the work-
emerged as international social practices, local ers in displays of physical prowess, which
variations – in styles of play, meanings, symbols were partly about achieving honor within the
and attendant celebrations – are still evident. community, and the ongoing importance of the
Finally, the early modern studies have sug- pub as a sporting site in which publicans were
gested that some social and economic processes sports promoters.
and conditions – capitalization and emergent Many other studies of male working-class
capitalism, boundary-making, standardization patterns have been completed in recent years,
and codification of behaviors, and specializa- and as a group they confirm and extend the
tion, for example – once associated only or pri- conclusions drawn by Gorn, Metcalfe and
marily with modern sports had begun long Tranter.13 Especially in the nineteenth century,
before modern sports were fully constructed. working men in many countries had distinc-
Some modern historians, especially in Britain, tive sporting styles that drew from particular
Europe and Australia, also realize that some of interests, traditions and labor–leisure rhythms
the traditions invented by early modern people and relations. Their styles in turn often incor-
persisted over time and remained meaningful as porated traditional sports that remained mean-
dimensions of the stories that later generations ingful and were not residual in the sense of
told about themselves. being mere residues of past formations; they
Indeed, many historians of sports in the were also at odds with those of the dominant
modern period, including some historians of middle and upper classes. Importantly, these
modern sport, have attended to both persis- studies elevate the agency of members of
tence in time and continuity over time.12 This the working class in the context of modern
trend is most noticeable in the research on the sports, and, in so doing, they reinterpret class
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, relations and challenge older notions of the
where historians have examined the persis- ‘trickle down’ transmission of modern sports.
tence of traditional sporting styles, as well as Resistance and negotiations were complex
the tensions that emerged when traditional processes engineered by the working classes as
 SOCIAL HISTORY AND SPORT 193

they retained traditional practices and became the construction and popularizing of netball in
involved in emergent ones. On this latter New Zealand. In Germany Gertrud Pfister
point, several studies suggest that members (1990) has explored dimensions of the physical
of various working classes were agents in culture and sport contexts and experiences
the construction of some modern team among women, as have scholars of women in
sports, especially baseball, rugby and soccer Scandinavia, Finland, Russia and North
(Goldstein, 1989; Hargreaves, 1986; Holt, 1990; America (Hult and Trekell, 1991; Laine, 1993;
Jones, 1986, 1988; Vamplew and Stoddart, LeCompte, 1993; Riordan, 1991b). In time,
1994). In so doing they confirmed earlier argu- perhaps, these and the studies yet to come may
ments that working-class men negotiated with also affect historians’ constructions of sport in
middle- and upper-class organizers, promoters the past.
and entrepreneurs for membership of teams One important effect of the research on
and about ways of playing. Research also sug- women is already clear: gender has become an
gests that professional sports, especially, important analytic concept. Even historians
depended on working-class producers and who persist in treating sport as a predomi-
consumers and that workers’ sport movements nantly male domain no longer wince at the
were far more complex and conflict-ridden possibility that it was and is a gendered
than we have assumed in the past (for exam- domain, nor do historians of women as com-
ple, Holt, 1990; Krüger and Riordan, 1996). monly interpret gender to mean women’s
Another research focus that has altered our experiences as they once did. Owing in part to
view of sport and society in the nineteenth and the early work of Helen Lenskjy (1986), histori-
early twentieth centuries involves women. ans began to explore the once taboo subjects of
Much of this work has moved beyond the ear- sex and sexualization. Richard Cashman and
lier practice of identifying particular women as Amanda Weaver (1991) and Marion Stell
sport heroines or as victims of patriarchy; it (1991), for example, examined in Australian
focuses instead on women’s agency in the pro- contexts the ways in which the media sexual-
duction and consumption of sports.14 Two ized sport and marginalized women. More
important books, Women First by Sheila recently, Susan Cahn (1994) has explored the
Fletcher (1984) and Able-bodied Womanhood by making and impacts of sexual orientations,
Martha Verbrugge (1988), are particularly gendered expectations and power relations
telling about the agency of middle-class, even more fully in her study of American
educated women as revealed in their fashion- women in sport (1994). The research of three
ing of professional physical education in the sociologists, Jennifer A. Hargreaves (1986,
nineteenth century on both sides of the 1994), Ann Hall (1993, 1996) and Nancy
Atlantic Ocean. Kathleen McCrone added Theberge (1987, 1994), has also encouraged his-
depth to Fletcher’s picture in Playing the Game torical questions about the gendering of sports
(1988), in which she examined women’s efforts and the social construction of gender. Perhaps
to liberate themselves as they shaped a distinc- the most influential research in history and on
tive set of sporting experiences in English historians, however, has been that of Patricia
schools. Not all women, however, realized the Vertinsky (for example, 1990, 1994b). In her The
social emancipation they sought through phys- Eternally Wounded Woman (1990), Vertinsky
ical education and sport, as Fan Hong and explored how the body was socially con-
James A. Mangan (1995) made clear in their structed at given points in time, as well as how
study of women in early twentieth-century important particular constructions were to
China. Catriona Parrat (1994) also made the women’s experiences and to the control over
case for the constraining impact of persisting their bodies on which personal freedom
structural boundaries on the aspirations hinged. Roberta Park (for example, 1987, 1991)
and experiences of working-class women in also published a number of historical works
England, even as she documented changes that focused on the body, which is central to
resulting from women’s agency. modern conceptions of sport, and to the gen-
Other recent works have addressed the dering of sport and the construction of gen-
shaping of distinctive sporting experiences by dered relations in sport. On this latter theme,
and for women in narrower but national con- her ‘Sport, gender, and the body in a transat-
texts. Several chapters in Sport in Australia lantic Victorian perspective’ (Park, 1985) was
(Vamplew and Stoddart, 1994) trace the experi- particularly important.15 It also heightened
ences and roles of women in the making of interests in historical examinations of the ways
sports ranging from lawn bowls to Australian in which conceptions of and concerns for man-
Rules football, while John Nauright and Jayne liness, if not quite the process of masculiniza-
Broomhall (1994) examine women’s agency in tion, were expressed and figured in the making
194 CROSS-DISCIPLINARY DIFFERENCES AND CONNECTIONS

of modern sport (Krüger, 1991; Maguire, 1986; to realize their interests in these sports (for
Mangan and Walvin, 1987; Riess, 1991). example, Captain, 1991; Gissendanner, 1993;
A third group of studies that have sharpened Roberts, 1983; Sammons, 1988; Tygiel, 1983;
our understanding of the multiple frames and Wiggins, 1977, 1979, 1983, 1986). A few studies
framing of sport in the past is the recent have also investigated the making of sports in
research on racial groups. Some of these stud- African American communities (Coates, 1991;
ies rely on ethnographic or ethnohistorio- Ruck, 1987), and as does some of the research
graphic methods to acquire data about the past on women’s and working-class experiences,
experiences of indigenous peoples, some of these argue against over-generalizations,
whom became minorities only recently in their against universal race-based experiences and
histories. As do many of the studies of the even against race as a universal construct.16
working classes, the research on racial groups Important, too, is a smaller body of research
provides us with a more deeply textured pic- on the experiences of modern ethnic groups.
ture of the rootedness of traditional sports in Much of the work on previously unexamined
ordinary life. Studies of patterns among groups – Tartars, Ogu Bushmen, Samis, and
Africans before colonization, for example, sug- Zhuang and Miao, for example – appears in
gest that many sports were deeply embedded two books that resulted from a conference on
in the life schemes and customary rituals of ‘Sport and Minorities’, sponsored by the
ordinary people (for example, Baker and Finnish Society for Research in Sport and
Mangan, 1987). Moreover, although the physical Physical Education and the International
movements and other practices such as Society for the History of Physical Education
gambling resembled those incorporated in and Sport in 1992 (Laine, 1991, 1993). Not
modern sports, traditional practices often dif- unexpectedly, much of this work is descriptive,
fered in terms of both form and structure. but some articles also analyse some traditional
Recent scholarship on colonial Zaire (Martin, practices and the experiences of ethnic groups
1995), South Africa (Bose, 1994; Jarvie, 1992), with majority populations. Other works have
Spain (Mitchell, 1991) and Australia (Daly, explored expressions and impacts of ethnic
1994; Paraschak, 1992; Taz, 1995) also suggests and religious prejudices in and on sporting
that such patterns persist even in the face of rivalries, as the basis for typecasting and deny-
modern sport and that customary sports are ing opportunities, and in the construction of
critical tradition-maintaining practices. Among separate programmes (Eisen and Wiggins,
native Canadians Vicky Paraschak (1990, 1995) 1994; Finn, 1991; O’Farrell, 1987; O’Hara, 1994;
has documented similar patterns, but she has Whimpress, 1992). The most compelling exam-
also explored some of the strategies native peo- ination of the experiences of an ethnic group in
ples have recently employed as they attempt to modern sport may be Peter Levine’s Ellis Island
come to grips with modern sport. to Ebbet’s Field (1992), which focused on Jewish
In the Americas as well, people of African immigrants to the United States in the early
descent have received increased attention twentieth century. Among these people, Levine
from historians over the past decade and argued, participation in sports popular within
a half. Building on the now classic essay by the dominant society encouraged assimilation
C.L.R. James (1963), Michael Manley (1988), without threatening many Jewish traditions;
Brian Stoddart (1987) and the contributors to hence their embrace of modern sports helped
Liberation Cricket (Beckles and Stoddart, 1995) to make Jewish Americans.
explored the history, including the social base All of this recent research on the experiences
and structures, and meanings of sport in the of members of working classes, women, and
Caribbean and the complex social relation- racial and ethnic groups has contributed to a
ships negotiated in sporting practices such as deeper understanding of the complexities of
cricket. Richard Burton (1985) also clarified the sport and society-making in the modern
impacts of the larger affairs and traditions of period. Few historians today suggest that
carnival in the construction of a style of cricket women, workers and other segments of a pop-
distinctive to the West Indies. ulation simply adopted some other group’s
To the north, in the United States, studies of sports. Rather, as agents in their own right,
the experiences of African Americans have also they engaged in a range of actions, including
become more common and more telling. Much maintaining traditional patterns, resisting
of this research focuses on specific sports, such efforts to impose dominant styles, negotiating
as boxing, baseball, or track and field, and it accommodations with dominant groups, and
illuminates not only the interests and agency of constructing alternative styles.
African-descended people but also the con- But this literature also points to a persisting
flicts and struggles they faced as they sought historiographical issue. Some of the research
 SOCIAL HISTORY AND SPORT 195

on non-dominant groups – non-dominant in benefit of one set of experiences) (Abrams,

historians’ but not necessarily historical terms – 1991; Cahn, 1994; Cashman, 1995; Lester, 1995),
frames members of ethnic, religious and racial and the negotiations within clubs and among
groups as minorities and even as subordinated organizations, entrepreneurs and politicians
people. Given the central questions about the (Holt, 1990; Jones, 1988; Kidd, 1996). A third set
making of modern sport – how and why this of studies has focused more broadly on local
type came to be, how and why it became the communities, both as geographic and shared-
dominant form, and what the social, economic interest units, to examine how and why partic-
and political consequences were – this framing ular sports root in particular places and among
is neither surprising nor entirely inaccurate. particular people (for example, Holt, 1990;
Still, some people became minorities only rela- Kirsch, 1989; Lowerson, 1993; Vamplew and
tively late in their histories and only in the con- Stoddart, 1994). Attuned as they are to struc-
texts of modern societies and modern sports. tural and ideological variables, these kinds of
Certainly this is the case in many countries in studies can accommodate important local
South America, Africa and Asia where non- sources of variance – conditions, interests, rela-
Caucasians were and remain numerical majori- tions. They can thus account, for example,
ties; they also likely had rich histories of for why football dominated in industrial towns
indigenous sports.17 Consequently, such a in nineteenth-century Germany (Gehrmann,
framing may obfuscate much of a people’s 1989) but not in a town like Givors, France in
history and many of the negotiations that actu- the early twentieth century (Holt, 1989b),
ally occurred prior to the points when modern where cycling flourished.
versions of society and sport emerged. The Other clues about the processes of social pro-
possibilities for social hybridization, both of duction and reproduction lie in the environ-
sports and of society, are not ones that many ment, both physical and social, as some recent
historians have considered. Nor have we suffi- research on space suggests. Not too long ago,
ciently explored people’s movements away historians of ancient sports and societies were
from traditional styles of life and sport, which the primary investigators of the natural and
may be a critical process that occurred before the built environments. This is no longer the
or along with the more commonly cited case, in part because historians of other eras
instances of resistance, contestation, appropri- have come to recognize the ways in which soci-
ation or adaptation. eties’ physical realities shaped and mediated
Indeed, for many countries and groups of both the limits and possibilities of social forms,
people at many points in time, the particulars structures and relations. Across time, the actual
of social production and reproduction and the forms of games, races and matches depended
processes by which societies did and did not in part on the physical environment, on
change remain unclear. We have much to learn, whether there were hills or lakes, unenclosed
for example, about how particular groups or or fenced fields, tracks or courses. Historians
individuals exerted their agency, what bound- of urban sport as well have argued that the
aries and constraints they faced and did or did physical environment of a city both shaped
not overcome, and why a particular set of rela- and was shaped by sporting facilities. Then,
tions and not others resulted. Some clues have too, in both modern urban, industrial and
emerged from analyses of local sports, clubs, older rural, agricultural societies, access to
movements and communities. Importantly, facilities such as parks and fields was a central
demographic research, which charts in space political issue between various groups, and the
and time club formation and membership, has control of these facilities affected local power
re-emerged, especially in the context of the relations and commercial opportunities
nineteenth century. Such studies clarify who (Cobley, 1994; Hardy, 1982; Metcalfe, 1990b;
participants were and the social directions of a Riess, 1989). An important recent article by
sport’s ‘development’ and spread; in so doing, Henning Eichberg (1990) made a case for an
they speak to larger social processes of adop- even more dynamic view of space. In his study
tion, adaptation and hegemony, if not yet of nineteenth- and twentieth-century Berlin,
hybridization (for example, Gehrmann, 1989; Eichberg argued that not only did space and
Tranter, 1987, 1990b). Other research has facilities express the interests of and help to
focused on some of the mechanisms by which account for a number of historically specific
ordinary people gained access to facilities and movements but they also belied a distinctive
opportunities (Hardy, 1982; Rosenzweig, 1983), sport (or gymnastics or body) discipline that
the roles of institutions and agents of com- was central to the experiences of each move-
merce in mediating and opposing sporting ment’s members. In all, Eichberg suggested,
interests and experiences (invariably to the facilities served as both a base for and a
196 CROSS-DISCIPLINARY DIFFERENCES AND CONNECTIONS

window on a maze – a labyrinth, in his words – of this vein is Grant Jarvie and Graham Walker’s
social processes. Scottish Sport in the Making of the Nation (1994),
Indirectly at least, Eichberg’s analysis impli- which argued that sport was an integral ideo-
cates another dimension of social experience logical and experiential dimension of local and
that has long been central to Western social national identity. It also revealed the fact that
history. This is the study of mentalité, or world- sport, and particular sports, figured in various
view and attendant values, beliefs and ideas. local, and sometimes conflicting, identities. In
Today historians often use the word ideology other words, sport was a part of what it meant
rather than mentalité, but similar assumptions to be Scottish, but local sporting preferences
operate. As are physical spaces, ideologies are also translated into contests among Scots.
at once conditioners of and windows on social As Jeff Hill (1996) has recently suggested,
experience and the transformations, or lack of these complex matters of identity and
them, over time; they also suggest purposeful meaning – meaning in the sense of both mean-
human action amidst structural boundaries. ingfulness and historical significance – may
Sport historians have long sought to under- provide historians with a variety of questions
stand the ideologies, or at least the values and and research directions. The questions he sug-
ideas, expressed in and shaped by individuals, gests, especially about multiple and occa-
clubs, larger organizations and movements. sionally conflicting meanings of a performance
Consequently, we are aware that particular as text, about the power relations in which
world-views in part account for the differing meanings are embedded, and about the media-
styles of sport popular among the ancient tion of messages, meanings and relations, may
Greeks versus the Romans (Auguet, 1994; be particularly fruitful for historians and espe-
Kyle, 1993), for the construction of the amateur cially in the context of the construction of mass
code in English public schools (Mangan, 1981) sport and society and its post-industrial after-
and its adoption in American universities math. Some explorations of the ways in which
(Smith, 1988), for the ways in which the regu- sporting meanings and experiences are shaped
lar medical establishment constrained and mediated in the social environment, espe-
women’s exercise options in the late nineteenth cially via the sporting goods industry, the
century (Vertinsky, 1990), and, as noted earlier, media and the state in the twentieth century,
for the persistence of traditional sports among have already appeared. Stephen Hardy (1990),
working-class men even when modern sports for example, produced a fine analysis of the
were available to them. Historical studies ways in which the emergent sporting goods
focusing on ideologies have also sharpened industry in the United States encouraged stan-
our understanding of the ways in which civil dard sporting behaviors and expectations and,
governments shape and control sporting in the process, augmented the social power of
movements to their advantage. On these mat- modern sport and of the urban middle classes.
ters, German historians have done some bril- Two intriguing works on the media, both
liant work, especially in the context of Nazism newspapers and television, have suggested
(Krüger, 1991), as have scholars of British that these organs created and controlled,
imperial interests (Mangan, 1985). Much of the respectively, the messages consumers gleaned
research on twentieth-century sporting move- from and about sports (Oriard, 1993; Whannel,
ments, organizations and the emergence of 1992). Finally, as John E. Hargreaves (1986) and
mass sport and society has also addressed Bruce Kidd (1996) argued, the central govern-
ideology-making and conflicts among compet- ments of both Britain and Canada not only
ing ideologies and ideologues (for example, legitimated particular sport forms, messages,
Dyreson, 1989; Mrozek, 1983). and organizations but also embraced them for
Recently, sport historians have subsumed political ends. A similar conclusion might be
explorations of ideologies in more broadly drawn about the United States, as well as other
framed studies. Implicitly if not explicitly, such nations and national governments whose hege-
research recognizes that ideologies operate and mony is bound up with dominant Western
need to be understood within larger historical sports (Guttmann, 1994).
processes and experiences such as national
identities (Van der Merwe, 1991), power-
making (Metcalfe, 1991; Riordan, 1991a), the
making of traditions (Korr, 1990; Holt et al.,
SOME FUTURE DIRECTIONS
1996; Roper, 1985), the significance of heroes
and myths (Jarvie, 1991; Mangan, 1995), Virtually every recent assessment of historians’
changes in sport policies (Baker, 1995), and dif- scholarship has ended with recommendations
fusion (Brown, 1987). An important work in for future research, and I commend these
 SOCIAL HISTORY AND SPORT 197

reviews and their proposals to readers. I shall question ‘Why sports?’ Why not other forms of
not repeat them here; rather, I shall suggest social practice? Similarly, research that
four additional lines of enquiry that have the explores broader work and leisure patterns,
potential for enriching our social-historical rhythms and relations might provide addi-
understanding of sport and society. tional, and ultimately more significant, clues
One critical need lies in the un- and under- about how people constructed the sports they
studied regions and peoples of the world. We did, as well as why sporting patterns varied at
certainly know very little about the content different points in time and among different
and course of ordinary life and society – and groups of people. Such studies might also
the forms and relations of sport therein – encourage us to revise our constructions of
among people in Latin America, Africa, sport, of the experiences (or lack thereof) of
central and southern Europe (Germany particular groups, especially women, and even
excepted), and Asia. Even in Western, indus- of the making of professional and amateur pat-
trialized societies, the inhabitants of rural terns and practices.
areas and small towns and villages have Finally, more research over the long dureé is
received little scholarly attention. This need warranted. British and German scholars espe-
extends as well to the multiple periods in cially have raised important questions about
people’s history, rather than just their recent the role of traditions, the persistence of cus-
experiences. Only with such investigations tomary practices, and other behavioral, ideo-
can we really come to grips with the ways in logical and structural continuities in the
which people created social forms and rela- making of sport and society over time. These
tions and with the dynamic processes of social need to be explored in other countries, if we
production and reproduction. Indeed, these are to understand fully the making of sports in
unknown experiences are the necessary test- and across time, as well as precisely what it is
ing grounds both for contemporary construc- that a given generation or group generates
tions of sport and for social theories. anew or borrows and adapts from the past.
Comparative, cross-cultural studies consti- Strategies for change may well be influenced
tute a second potentially fruitful line of by a people’s collective memory, as, too, may
enquiry for similar reasons. These might focus be gender, class, and ethnic or race relations.
on segments of a population in several Persisting expectations, relations and behav-
countries – laborers in China, Britain and iors may also help to account for visible con-
Mexico, for example – in a given period. Sport temporary differences in sport forms,
clubs and particular sports themselves could structures and meanings across nations and
also be investigated in this fashion. In either social blocs. We need, in other words, to begin
case, historians might be able to refine our to attend to continuities, as well as discontinu-
understandings of class and class relations, ities, over time rather than focusing on what
how local relations and traditions bear on appears to be new in time. In so doing perhaps,
experiences in a sport, and what the full range we might understand better what, if anything,
of structural constraints that bore on human is ever new in the world of sport.
agency were. Such studies might even enable
us to see that given sports acquired different
forms and meanings in different countries; NOTES
hence a sport is really not the same sport world-
wide. In turn, this finding would generate new 1 I find myself in agreement with Jean
questions about the impact of locales, tradi- Harvey’s (1995) discussion of social history
tions and popular meanings. and his premises for the social history of
Another kind of comparative studies might sport. A recent book by Joyce Appleby,
also provoke new understandings and ques- Lynn Hunt and Margaret Jacob (1994) has
tions. These are ones that locate sport within also influenced my thoughts.
an ensemble of social activity and are in the 2 I would like to thank a number of col-
vein of studies of popular culture and work leagues for their assistance in locating
and leisure. As noted earlier, some research has social historical materials from outside the
already suggested the ways in which popular US and Britain: Joe Arbena, Richard
culture bore on sporting patterns, but we still Cashman, Gertrud Pfister, Wray Vamplew
know very little about the fit of many sports and Kevin Wamsley.
within a people’s broader system of behaviors 3 Fortunately, several reviews assess some of
and meanings. Nor do we understand in much the non-English language historical litera-
depth why people constructed sports; more ture; see, for example, Krüger (1990) and
simply, we have not adequately answered the Holt (1989b).
198 CROSS-DISCIPLINARY DIFFERENCES AND CONNECTIONS

4 One has only to read various review essays and its themes in far more detail than
to realize that no two historians define the space permits here.
term ‘approach’ in precisely the same way. 14 For a fairly complete review of the litera-
In my mind, one approach is distinguished ture on gender and sport, see Patricia
from another on the grounds of the ques- Vertinsky’s article in the Journal of Sport
tions one asks, the kinds of evidence one History (1994a).
uses and what one assumes that evidence 15 Roberta Park (1994) has recently examined
to be evidence of, and the assumptions one what is a large body of historical literature
makes about things like agency, structure, on health, fitness and exercise.
causality and meanings. 16 In what was the last of a series of literature
5 Important exceptions to this approach did reviews in the Journal of Sport History in
exist in Britain and Europe. 1994–5, Jeffrey Sammons examined the
6 Some of the literature that I have drawn research and other writings on race and
on in this and the next three paragraphs sport, primarily in the context of the
was the subject of critical assessments by United States. He also raises and discusses
North Americans in the 1980s: see, for at greater length the limits of a universal
instance, Adelman, 1983; Baker, 1983; construct of race.
Guttmann, 1983; Hardy and Ingham, 1983; 17 Latin America may prove to be par-
Kyle, 1983; Morrow, 1983; Struna, 1985. ticularly fertile ground for important
7 One of the most influential discussions of examinations of traditional, indigenous
the historical bases for and characteristics practices and of the social processes of
of modern sport is Allen Guttmann’s From adaptation, resistance and negotiation.
Ritual to Record: the Nature of Modern Sport Some research has begun to address
(1978). dimensions of continuity and change
8 Jeffrey Hill has developed this point more there, especially in the twentieth century.
completely in his cogent review of recent See, for instance, Arbena, 1988; Carvallo
British historiography (1996: 14). For a et al., 1984; Pettavino and Pye, 1994.
more complete review of changes in theo-
retical directions in sport history in the
United States, see Struna, 1996b.
9 Stephen Hardy has published a massive
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 12
THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPORT: A HISTORICAL
AND CONCEPTUAL OVERVIEW
AND A CONJECTURE REGARDING ITS FUTURE

William J. Morgan

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND of sport but ranged them alongside the

philosophical, historical and sociological study
of sport. This displacement of science and ped-
The philosophy of sport is, like its counterparts, agogy as the mainstays of the curriculum
the history and sociology of sport, a relatively made possible, then, a more abiding study of
recent invention, having appeared on the intel- the cultural and historical contexts of sports.
lectual scene in North America, its birthplace, In this regard, the publication of Eleanor
only in the middle to late 1960s. These, of Metheny’s Movement and Meaning (1968) and
course, were heady times for North American Howard Slusher’s Man, Sport, and Existence
colleges and universities, times of economic (1967) solidified the place of the philosophy
expansion and physical growth, of political of sport in these burgeoning sports studies
unrest and revolt, and of intellectual experi- programs.
mentation and development. One important The second development was the long
consequence of this political and intellectual overdue consideration of sport by philoso-
agitation on college campuses was that old and phy proper. The neglect of sport by philoso-
revered academic disciplines found them- phy is, alas, a long-standing one. Although
selves under constant attack by a swelling stu- there was a well-established tradition within
dent body of baby boomers distrustful of philosophy of interrogating forms of life vital
anything old and revered – indeed, distrustful to societies and peoples (to wit, the philoso-
of anybody, as the popular saying went, over phy of religion, art, science and education),
the age of 35, and eager for change and alter- sport, despite its influence on cultures as
native academic experiences. It is hardly sur- diverse as ancient Greece and modern-day
prising, therefore, that new academic fields America, managed somehow to avoid serious
like the philosophy of sport got their start dur- philosophic scrutiny. There were, of course,
ing this period.1 exceptions. For instance, Plato and Aristotle
However, two developments in particular wrote approvingly, even at times enthusiasti-
were crucial to the academic debut of sport cally, of play and sport, and modern philoso-
philosophy. The first was the emergence of phers such as Nietzsche and Heidegger used
sports studies out of the old and staid field of play as a metaphor to define their own dis-
physical education. Whereas the traditional tinctive world-views, and contemporary
field of physical education was based exclu- philosophers such as Sartre and Wittgenstein
sively on the medical and pedagogical study of employed notions of sport and game to expli-
physical activity and sport, the new, upstart cate their influential conceptions of human
field of sports studies championed a more existence and language respectively. In the
ambitious intellectual agenda, one that main, however, most philosophers simply
retained the medical and pedagogical study ignored sport, convinced that it was too
 THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPORT 205

marginal an undertaking to warrant philo- unintelligible to non-specialists.3 Secondly, in

sophic attention. their effort to purify philosophic enquiry, to
This dismissive regard for sport, and by make it suitably rigorous, they successfully
implication anything having to do with the marginalized alternative forms of philosophic
body, however, was not just a byproduct of enquiry like Continental philosophy, which
philosophy’s past, of its close association with kept in closer touch with public social prob-
religion and its contemplation of matters eter- lems and stressed interpretation over verifica-
nal. It was also a byproduct of philosophy’s tion. Finally, analytic philosophers were
present, in particular, of fairly recent changes sufficiently strong in number and influence to
in its main paradigms that hindered the devel- establish new forms of graduate study, fully in
opment of new philosophical subdisciplines place by the 1960s, which made the study
like the philosophy of sport. I am speaking in of logic the centerpiece of the curriculum,
this instance of the emergence and dominance de-emphasized the history of philosophy, and
of analytic philosophy in the Anglophone eliminated most requirements for the study of
world, which supplanted the early twentieth- foreign languages (on the brash and plainly
century pragmatic conception of philosophy chauvinistic presumption that the only philo-
(one that stressed the critical application of sophical work worth reading was that
intelligence to social problems) with a scientific authored by English-speaking philosophers on
conception of philosophy (one that stressed both sides of the Atlantic).4
rigor and precision, and so, the study of tech- In spite of these significant impediments,
nical questions that admit of such rigor and however, the tide slowly began to change and
precision).2 The idea that philosophy should philosophers finally started to take notice of
model itself after the sciences rather than, say, sport, play and game. Though this shift
the arts is what united the two different occurred ever so gradually, and, alas, with
strands of analytic philosophy that developed modest effect to date, it is no surprise that phi-
in England and America. In its first, positivistic losophy journals sympathetic to Continental
strand, analytic philosophers focused on the philosophy (Philosophy Today and Man and
logical analysis of concepts and propositions World come immediately to mind), and that
that were thought to unlock the complex struc- Paul Weiss, a major philosopher with ties to
tures of reality itself. These positivistic philoso- the American pragmatic movement who wrote
phers not only aspired to scientific rigor in the influential book Sport: a Philosophic Inquiry
their logical analyses but viewed philosophy (1969), led the way. Weiss’s book was arguably
as essentially continuous with science, that is, the more important influence here given his
as answering problems that arise directly out high acclaim in the philosophic community.
of the practice of science. In its second, post- Indeed, that a philosopher of Weiss’s interna-
positivistic strand, the preoccupation with, tional reputation considered sport a topic
some would say fetishization of, science fell worthy of his time and talents was not lost on
out of favor as analytic philosophers concen- his colleagues, even his analytically inclined
trated their attention instead on the concepts colleagues.
used by ordinary speakers, concepts that were It was not until the early 1970s, however,
supposed to be the keys to resolving long- that the philosophy of sport got its sea legs.
standing philosophical disputes. Even in this The crucial year here is 1972 , for that is the
second strand, however, analytic philosophers year in which scholars from both sports studies
continued to define philosophy as a narrow and philosophy banded together to form the
technical subject that demanded a rigor Philosophic Society for the Study of Sport
approaching that of science. (PSSS), an international scholarly organization
What was problematic about this triumph of devoted to the philosophical analysis of sport.
analytic philosophy in the Anglophone intel- Paul Weiss was installed as its first president in
lectual world, especially to aspiring subjects the same year. In 1974 the Society began pub-
like sport philosophy, is that it narrowed the lishing the Journal of the Philosophy of Sport,
purview of philosophy and insulated its prac- which remains to this day the most important
tice. This was apparent in a number of scholarly vehicle for the serious philosophic
respects. To begin with, because analytic study of sport.
philosophers were caught up in the effort to
develop an autonomous disciplinary matrix
for philosophy, they not only withdrew from CONCEPTUAL OVERVIEW
the rest of the Academy but from the larger
public as well – content to converse with While historical sketches are useful for chart-
one another in a technical jargon largely ing the intellectual development of subjects
206 CROSS-DISCIPLINARY DIFFERENCES AND CONNECTIONS

like the philosophy of sport, they shed little it be distinguished from mere beliefs.
light on the intellectual issues that preoccupy Additionally, they might investigate how dif-
them and that distinguish them from one ferent knowledge-claims can be squared with
another. So we need to address straightaway one another and arranged in some logically
just what are the central questions and abiding coherent manner (for example, appeals to reli-
issues that concern philosophers of sport. I gious beliefs, scientific evidence, reasoned
should say that trying to answer this question arguments, basic intuitions). And finally, they
by coming up with a tight and convincing def- might enquire as to the means by which we
inition of the philosophy of sport will not obtain knowledge of things, whether, for
prove helpful for the same reason it has not example, knowledge is rooted in sense experi-
proved helpful to those who have sought a ences and/or in abstract concepts that tell us
similar definition of philosophy. The reason is, what the world is really like and what other
as is apparent even from our brief historical people who share that world with us are really
overview, that philosophers tend to fret more like.
about the nature, scope and aim of their intel- The third, and last, major question that
lectual craft, about what precisely it is that they philosophers probe is ‘What is value?’, which
do, than other intellectual workers in the vine- goes by the formal name of axiology. This
yard, which means that their resultant concep- question can be put in two more particular
tions of philosophy usually end up being ways. In the first way, we understand value to
contested rather than accepted. But, fortu- mean judgments of goodness and badness, of
nately, this dissensus regarding the definition right and wrong conduct. This way of framing
of philosophy need not concern us here, for the question is known as ethics, and the point
while there is little accord over the definition of of ethical enquiry is to enquire as to how peo-
philosophy there is almost complete accord ple ought to treat one another, and in more col-
over the sorts of questions that philosophers lective terms, how people ought to comport
pose and try to answer. This suggests that the themselves with regard to the common good
best way to convey what the philosophy of (social and political ethics). So defined, ethics
sport is all about is to first attend to these cen- is a prescriptive rather than a descriptive form
tral philosophical questions and, then, to con- of enquiry, that is, it is concerned with how
sider their implications for cultural practices people ought to treat and relate to one another
like sport. (with prescribing norms of conduct), rather
The major questions that philosophers than with how in fact they are treating and
address are three in number and correspond to relating to one another (with describing pre-
the three major branches of philosophic vailing norms of conduct). However, by value
enquiry. The first question is ‘What is reality?’, we also might mean judgments that have to do
and goes by the formal name of metaphysics. with matters of aesthetic worth and signifi-
Metaphysical enquiry can assume any one of cance, with, for example, what qualifies a par-
three forms depending on what is meant by ticular artifact or performance as a work of art
‘reality’ in the above question. Reality might as opposed to something else. Questions of this
refer to nature, in which case it is called cos- type involve the study of what is formally
mology; it might refer to a spiritual substratum known as aesthetics.
of the material world, in which case it is called Now if my supposition that the question
theology; finally, it might refer to some set of ‘What is the philosophy of sport?’ can best be
features of being-human, of the human condi- answered by considering what these three
tion, in which case it is called ontology. How- questions come to when asked of sport, then
ever, since the study of nature has for all we should be able to make clear just what the
intents and purposes been appropriated by the abiding and controversial issues and concerns
natural sciences, and theology and philosophy of this philosophical sub-field are with greater
have gone their separate ways for roughly a precision and effect. To begin at the beginning,
century, the study of reality in philosophy then, with the metaphysics of sport, the princi-
today is largely an ontological matter, that is, a pal question here is what makes a given phys-
study of (human) being qua being. ical activity a sporting activity as opposed to
The second major question that philoso- some other related human movement activity
phers grapple with is ‘What is knowledge?’, (play, game, dance)? In other words, what are
which goes by the formal name of epistemol- the basic features that mark off sports from
ogy. As in the first question, this question can other forms of physical enterprise that ascribe
also be broken down into yet more particular value and significance to particular forms of
questions. Thus, epistemologists might ask human movement? This question gives rise to
what constitutes valid knowledge and how can two other central questions: ‘What differences
 THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPORT 207

and distinctions can be drawn between sport by both its rules and its ethos. The ethos of
and other related human movement phenom- sport has to do with those social conventions
ena?’ and, lastly, ‘What similarities and com- that govern how the rules of a sport are to be
monalities can be drawn between sport and interpreted and applied in particular instances.
other related human movement phenomena?’ Contextualists argue that we need to account
The main controversies that attend meta- for these social conventions in our definitions
physical investigations of sport fall into three of sport because it is these conventions, and
areas. The first area has to do with the kind of not the rules, that determine what counts in the
conceptual analysis metaphysicians employ in final analysis as a legitimate instance of sport.
their efforts to define sport. Critics like The third, and last, area of controversy deal-
MacAloon (1991), for example, have attacked ing with conceptual analyses of sport has to do
the kind of clarity and precision such philoso- with a specific feature of definitional accounts
phers seek in their definitional enquiries, a pre- of sport, with, that is, the particular relation
cision, he argues, that glosses over the messy between sports and games. In his seminal
but subtle historical shifts that mark our cul- essay ‘The Elements of Sport’, Bernard Suits
tural conceptions of sport and that signal (1973) argued that the basic elements of games
important changes in their meanings. This are essentially, but not totally, the same as the
quest for certainty and contempt for impreci- basic elements of sports, which he summed up
sion explains, then, according to MacAloon, in the claim that all sports are games but not all
why philosophical definitions of sport are vir- games are sports. However, in later papers
tually useless, why it is that the lifeless abstrac- (1988, 1989) Suits amended his earlier view of
tions that pass for definitions in such this relation, which in the meantime had
metaphysically freighted discourse fail to pen- become the received view, by arguing that only
etrate the historically embedded meanings of some sports are games. In particular, he argued
sport. Defenders of philosophical definitions of that sports come in two varieties rather than, as
sport (Morgan and Meier, 1995: 3) counter such he earlier argued, one: what he called ‘athletic
attacks as caricatures of the kind of clarity con- performances’ (gymnastics, diving, free-style
ceptual analyses of sport aspire to. They argue skiing) and ‘athletic games’ (soccer, basketball,
that while it is true that definitional enquiry baseball). He defined athletic performances as
does aim to cut through the messiness and practices that are constituted by ideals of per-
imprecision of our historical conceptions of formance rather than means-limiting rules. It is
sport, the point of doing so is to explicate and because performances lack such rules that
sharpen those historical meanings not to explains, according to Suits, why they are not
bypass or to distort them. After all, much of games, and further why they do not require
what is said about sport in our cultural con- referees to ensure rule compliance but judges
versations, and this is especially true of forms to assess the artistry of the performance – how
of popular culture, is said in confused and closely it comes to its constitutive ideals. By
politically charged ways that often conceal contrast, athletic games are rule-governed
more than they reveal. So efforts to uncover practices in just the sense specified in Suits’s
such confusions and obfuscations are best earlier essay: they rule out certain useful ways
understood, when, of course, properly under- of reaching their goals (it is useful, but forbid-
taken, as ways of getting clear about what such den to hand-carry the ball to the cup in golf). It
historical shifts in our cultural notions of sport is because these sports have such rules that
mean and signify rather than as attempts to explains, according to Suits, why they are
seek after an impossible precision. games, and further why they require referees
The second area of controversy regarding to check for rule observance as opposed to
conceptual analyses of sport concerns whether judges to check for excellence achieved. It was
cultural practices like sport are best defined in this reworking of his account of games and
formalist terms (Suits, 1973), or contextualist sports, then, that sparked a spirited debate
terms (D’Agostino, 1981; Lehman 1981). between Suits and critics such as Kretchmar
Proponents of formalist definitions of sport (1989) and Meier (1988, 1989), who argued that
maintain that the purpose, meaning and signif- Suits had got it right the first time, that indeed
icance of sport practices can be read off of their all sports are games because all sports possess
formal rules. So what counts as playing a sport, the requisite kind of means-limiting rules.
as an action in a sport, as an instance of sport, Turning to the epistemological study of
and as winning in a sport are all determined, sport, the central question here, or so the liter-
on this view, by citing the formal rules of that ature suggests, has to do with how one gains
sport. Proponents of contextualist accounts of knowledge of human movement forms like
sport, contrarily, maintain that sport is defined sport. In short, must one have an actual, lived
208 CROSS-DISCIPLINARY DIFFERENCES AND CONNECTIONS

experience of sport to claim knowledge of it, or should treat sentient beings) in a sport setting.
is it the case that one can gain such knowledge The second question asks how athletes should
by other abstract, intellectual means, by reflec- comport themselves, individually and collec-
tion, for instance, on others’ first-hand experi- tively, in their pursuit of athletic excellence;
ences of sport? A related question concerns the more specifically, it asks what forms of conduct
organization of knowledge appropriate to and aids to performance are compatible with
sport. The issue here is not the psychological good (in the moral sense previously specified)
one of when is someone (psychologically) athletic practice. The first question raises a host
ready to learn sporting skills or strategies, but of issues that deal with sportsmanship, compe-
the logical one of how different forms of tition, cheating, gender issues, and finally,
knowledge of sport can be fitted together into issues regarding the use of animals in sports.
some sort of coherent pattern (for example, a The second question raises a more limited set
coherent curriculum). of issues that focus on the use of performance-
It is difficult to say much more about this enhancing drugs in sport and on the moral
realm of sport philosophy since its literature is problems such usage poses.
not well established – one important mark of The moral literature in sport, in stark con-
which is that there are no controversies cur- trast to its epistemological counterpart, is volu-
rently raging within it that might better define minous, and growing by leaps and bounds.
and enliven its study. This dearth of literature This literature naturally divides into a number
is not easy to explain, if only because episte- of clusters that correspond to the two ques-
mology is a dominant, some would say the tions just mentioned. The first cluster, which
dominant, topic in contemporary philosophy. includes the work of Keating (1964), Arnold
Two explanations, however, might account for (1983), Feezell (1986) and Dixon (1992), deals
its underdeveloped status. The first is that with the issue of sportsmanship. In particular,
questions regarding the logical organization it asks what sort of virtues and qualities it
and integrity of knowledge have been largely instantiates, and what specific forms of con-
ceded to the philosophy of education and to duct it prescribes. The second cluster, which
what remains of the field of the philosophy of includes the work of Pearson (1973), Delattre
physical education, a field which, unlike the (1975), Leaman (1981), Fraleigh (1982) and
philosophy of sport, has always considered Hyland (1984), focuses on the competitive
itself a subsidiary of the philosophy of educa- character and complexion of sport and the per-
tion. In short, questions regarding the logical vasive problem of cheating. More specifically,
basis of curriculum theory have long ceased to it asks what would constitute a morally defen-
be, if indeed they ever were, important con- sible notion of competition; what would make
cerns for philosophers of sport. The second for a morally corrupt form of competition;
reason why epistemological investigations of what counts as cheating; and what ought to be
sport, especially those dealing with what kinds our moral posture toward cheating?
of knowledge are crucial to participation in The third cluster examines gender issues in
sports, have not fared as well as other kinds of sport. This body of work, which includes the
philosophical investigations of sport is that essays of English (1978), Belliotti (1979), Young
many potential enquirers may well have (1979), Messner (1988), Francis (1993–4), Simon
been persuaded by Paul Ziff’s (1974) forceful (1993–4) and Duncan (1994), takes up two
thesis that sport poses no special or significant main themes. The first has to do with how
epistemological problems. Whatever the rea- women’s identities, their sense of themselves
son, however, it is regrettable that we do not as individuated and socialized bodily beings,
have more studies like Steel’s (1977) and are constructed and deconstructed in practices
Kretchmar’s (1982), studies which have pene- like sport and exercise. The second has to do
tratingly analysed the kinds of ‘tacit’ knowl- with the equally vexing issue of women’s
edge and abstract thinking that go on in sport, equity in sport. That is, how are women going
and that have shown the striking parallels that to achieve equal opportunity in the world of
obtain between these kinds of athletic knowing sport when the very sports that dominate that
and, for example, those kinds of knowing world appear to privilege males (calling as
particular to scientific practices. they do on the typically male physical features
The ethical study of sport, which, it will be of strength, power and speed) and to purvey
remembered, is one offshoot of axiological distinctly masculine features of physical con-
(value) enquiry, pivots on two pressing and duct (aggression and violence)?
highly controversial questions. The first ques- The fourth cluster of essays, which includes
tion asks how athletes should treat one another such authors as Singer (1973), Regan (1983),
(and in the case of animal sports, how they King (1991) and Scherer (1991), explores the
 THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPORT 209

moral standing of animals (whether they have even though there are many objects in the
specific rights or particular properties that universe that summon our aesthetic attention
command our respect and regard) in order to (mountains, sunsets), only a select sub-set of
assess the moral standing of sports that feature those objects (namely, those created precisely to
them as objects of athletic exploit. Three cat- elicit such an aesthetic response) qualify as
egories of animal sports come under scrutiny works of art. The question, then, is whether it
in this regard: makes more sense to lump sport in with this
latter, more narrowly defined, category of arti-
1 sports in which humans use animals in facts or with the former, much larger, category
their athletic pursuits (equestrian events, of objects and artifacts.
horse racing, polo);
2 sports that pit humans against animals in
tests of athletic mettle (hunting, fishing,
bull fighting); A CONJECTURE REGARDING
3 sports in which animals are pitted against THE FUTURE OF PHILOSOPHY
other animals either in contests of deadly AND THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPORT
combat or in contests to assess superior ani-
mal athletic prowess (cock fighting, dog I want to close my historical and conceptual
racing). survey of the philosophy of sport with an
The fifth, and last, cluster of essays targets upbeat prognosis of its future. My interest in
the use of drugs by athletes to boost their per- doing so is not born of wishful thinking, of a
formance. This body of work, which includes desire to put this subject in a flattering light
the essays of Thompson (1982), Perry (1983), that belies the facts, but of contemporary
Brown (1984), Simon (1984), Lavin (1987) and developments within philosophy proper and
Gardner (1989), examines three moral issues the philosophy of sport that augur well, or so I
that are raised by such drug use in sports. The argue, for their entwined future. Oddly
first issue concerns the hidden and not so hid- enough, the first of the two developments I
den technical imperatives and values of high- have in mind here actually takes a page out of
performance sport that impel athletes to take philosophy’s past, to be exact, out of its prag-
drugs in spite of the obvious threats to physi- matic American past, and insists, as it did ear-
cal, psychological and social well-being they lier in this century, that cultures and their
involve. The second issue centers on the moral signature social practices have priority over
permissibility of using drugs to improve per- philosophy, and that, therefore, the main job of
formance and of efforts to outlaw or, short of philosophy is, in Dewey’s words, to apply crit-
that, to carefully regulate such use. And the ical intelligence to the resolution of social prob-
third and last issue looks into the moral justifi- lems. The second development concerns the
cation of mandatory drug testing programs recent upsurge of moral studies of sport, a
designed to detect, mainly for punitive pur- trend apparent in our above review of its liter-
poses, the presence of both performance- ature, which suggests further that the chief
enhancing and recreational drugs. point of applying critical intelligence to the
Studies of the aesthetic features of sport, problems of social life is to get a better moral
which comprise the other major part of axio- fix on these problems.
logical enquiry, and which feature the works of What do I mean by the priority of culture
Kupfer (1983), Cordner (1984, 1988), Roberts and its practices, and in what sense does it
(1986) and Best (1995), focus on two main ques- enjoin that philosophy be reconceived as a tool
tions. The first concerns whether sports require of social reform and renovation? Mainly this:
an aesthetic reception, that is, a qualitative view that philosophy does not possess its own spe-
of their forms of movement, grace and style, in cial stock of suprahistorical categories, cat-
order to understand adequately and appreciate egories which, while they belong to no
fully what they are about. The second question particular culture or tradition or historical
asks whether certain sports might not only period, somehow hold the key to understand-
require an aesthetic regard but might them- ing every culture or tradition or historical
selves qualify as bona fide works of art. The period known to us. That means that in order
issue here is not so much whether sports must to get a handle on these culturally laden,
be viewed mindful of their aesthetic properties, historically embedded categories and the
but rather whether sports are intentionally con- language-games that enframe them, the
ceived and crafted for aesthetic effect, and philosopher has to get a handle on the forms
whether they are, both structurally and contex- of life that give them their meaning. This is
tually speaking, suited for such a purpose. For what Wittgenstein (1953: 174) meant when he
210 CROSS-DISCIPLINARY DIFFERENCES AND CONNECTIONS

said that ‘understanding a language-game makes available to them. In this, I concur with
is sharing a form of life’, and that concepts Gorn and Oriard’s contention that ‘the study of
are best thought of as ‘patterns which recur, sport can take us to the very heart of critical
with different variations, in the weave of issues in the study of culture and society’, but
our life’. add as a caveat: only if we let that study take
If the concepts philosophers use to do their us there.5
work derive from the forms of life they study, A final worry. In championing the recent
then it follows that the task of philosophy is pragmatic turn in philosophy and the moral
the chastened one Dewey suggested above of emphasis that turn has taken in recent work in
solving social problems by critically interrogat- the philosophy of sport, it might be asked if
ing those forms of life. For while philosophy I am, wittingly or not, championing a chauvin-
has no special concepts, methodology, or van- istic agenda for future work in both of these
tage point of its own, it can respond critically areas. After all, pragmatism is an American
to developments in society by comparing, con- movement and thus reflects a distinctly
trasting and pointing up the internal strengths American, and so a distinctly limited, vision of
and weaknesses of the reasons, beliefs and val- what philosophic work in sport ought to look
ues that inform society at any given time. All of like in the future. But I think this worry is
this is anticipated in Rorty’s (1995: 199) remark unfounded and that it need not dampen our
that ‘philosophy is always parasitic on, always optimism about the future of the philosophy of
a reaction to, developments elsewhere in cul- sport. My reasons for thinking so are three –
ture and society’. What the moral emphasis two of which I have lifted directly from Rorty.
that characterizes much of the present work First, whereas it is true that pragmatism is an
that is going on in sport philosophy con- American phenomenon closely linked to the
tributes to this pragmatic turn in philosophy is American experiment in liberal democracy,
two things: first, just as there are no super con- there is no reason to think, as Rorty (1982: 70)
cepts there are no super practices. That means nicely puts it, ‘that the promise of American
that the cultural developments philosophy democracy [and the pragmatic spirit that
responds to cannot and should not be confined nourished it] will find its final fulfillment in
to one sphere of culture (for conservatives, reli- America, any more than Roman law reached
gion; for liberals, politics; and for dyed-in-the- its fulfillment in the Roman Empire or literary
wool analytic philosophers, science). Second, culture its fulfillment in Alexandria’. Secondly,
that the problems philosophy is and ought to although pragmatism is largely an American
be responsive to are not technical ones but invention, I think Rorty (1995: 203) is pretty
moral ones, problems that call into question much right when he says that philosophy is
our divergent and even conflicting conceptions not well suited to nationalist expression, to
of social justice and of the ‘good’ life. narratives of national exploit (unlike philoso-
However, if philosophy is to play this force- phy, however, sport is an especially powerful
ful moral role, then issues regarding its disci- form of nationalist expression).6 Thirdly, and
plinary autonomy and professional standing lastly, the pragmatic emphasis on cultural and
will have to cease to be issues. They will have social reform is already close in spirit to the
to cease to be issues because in order to fulfill public commitments that define much of conti-
its task as an instrument of social reform, phi- nental European philosophy (it is, for example,
losophy will have to blur the boundaries that common practice for philosophers and intellec-
are said to separate it off from the likes of cul- tuals on the continent to write for local news-
tural and social criticism. What goes for phi- papers and political opinion journals), and, in
losophy proper here goes as well, of course, for fact, has ignited a renewed interest in conti-
the philosophy of sport. For if it is to make its nental European philosophy. Appearances to
larger mark in society then it, too, will be the contrary, then, these three reasons all seem
obliged to go historical and sociological with to indicate that this new pragmatic spirit of
its moral concerns and not worry about philosophy will flourish wherever it takes root,
whether in doing so it has transgressed its dis- and so should boost our optimism and enthu-
ciplinary boundaries. As I see it, the only real siasm for the future of philosophy and the phi-
worry that should concern philosophers of losophy of sport.
sport as they go about their critical and moral
work, and the same can be said of historians
and sociologists of sport insofar as we are still NOTES
able to make these distinctions, is whether or
not they have sufficiently tapped the full range 1 As we shall soon see, however, not every-
of cultural resources that the study of sport thing about these times was propitious for
 THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPORT 211

the emergence of the philosophy of sport as Best, D. (1995) ‘The aesthetic in sport’, in
an academic subject. W.J. Morgan and K.V. Meier (eds), Philosophical
2 This sketch of American philosophy is Inquiry in Sport. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
heavily indebted to Richard Rorty’s discus- pp. 377–89.
sion in Consequences of Pragmatism (1982), Brown, M. (1984) ‘Paternalism, drugs, and the nature
and to the section on analytic philosophy in of sports’, Journal of the Philosophy of Sports, XI:
the Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy 14–22.
(Audi, 1995). Cordner, C. (1984) ‘Grace and functionality’, British
3 Gruneau has written perceptively and Journal of Aesthetics, 24: 301–13.
forcefully of the similar debilitating effects Cordner, C. (1988) ‘Differences between sport and
of the professionalization of sociology, art’, Journal of the Philosophy of Sport, XV: 31–47.
effects of which, ironically, are manifest in D’Agostino, F. (1981) ‘The ethos of games’, Journal of
the proliferation of academic subdisci- the Philosophy of Sport, VIII: 7–18.
plines like the sociology and philosophy of Delattre, E. (1975) ‘Some reflections on success and
sport. See the introduction of his Class, failure in competitive athletics’, Journal of the
Sports, and Social Development (1983). I will Philosophy of Sports, II: 133–9.
come back to this point when I consider the Dixon, N. (1992) ‘On sportsmanship and “running
future directions of sport philosophy. up the score”’, Journal of the Philosophy of Sport,
4 I can personally vouch for these changes in XIX: 1–13.
the graduate programs of philosophy Duncan, M. (1994) ‘The politics of women’s body
departments. For when I was a Masters stu- images and practices: Foucault, the Panopticon,
dent in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and and Shape magazine’, Journal of Sports and Social
a doctoral student in the mid-1970s, Issues, 18: 48–65.
courses in formal and informal logic domi- English, J. (1978) ‘Sex equality in sports’, Philosophy
nated, and even when coursework was and Public Affairs, 7: 269–77.
offered in ethics it consisted largely of con- Feezell, R. (1986) ‘Sportsmanship’, Journal of the
ceptual analyses of concepts like the ‘good’. Philosophy of Sports, VIII: 1–13.
In particular, I can vividly recall a meeting Fraleigh, W. (1982) ‘Why the good foul is not good’,
I had as a doctoral student with the chair of Journal of Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance.
a philosophy department at a major uni- pp. 41–2.
versity. When I informed him I wished to Francis, L. (1993–4) ‘Title IX: Equality for Women’s
do a dissertation on Heidegger’s theory of Sports?’, Journal of the Philosophy of Sports, XX–XXI:
time, he began to squirm noticeably in his 32–47.
seat. And when I added that I planned to Gardner, R. (1989) ‘On performance-enhancing sub-
use Heidegger’s notion of time to investi- stances and the unfair advantage argument’,
gate certain features of sport, he almost fell Journal of the Philosophy of Sports, XVI: 59–73.
out of his seat. Needless to say, it was not a Gorn, E. and Oriard, M. (1995) ‘Taking sports seri-
productive meeting, and I never again ously (Point of View)’, Chronicle of Higher
mentioned my interests either in Heidegger Education. p. 52a.
or sport to him or to any of my other phi- Gruneau, R. (1983) Class, Sports, and Social
losophy professors. Development. Amherst, MA: University of
5 This is one, among other reasons, why we Massachusetts Press.
have decided at my home institution, the Hoberman, J. (1995) ‘Sport and the technological
University of Tennessee, to move our image of man’, in W.J. Morgan and K.V. Meier
sports studies concentration into a cultural (eds), Philosophical Inquiry in Sport. Champaign, IL:
studies unit. Human Kinetics. pp. 202–8.
6 This is, for example, one of my current Hyland, D. (1984) ‘Opponents, contestants, and com-
major research interests. petitors: the dialectic of sport’, Journal of the
Philosophy of Sport, XI: 63–70.
Hyland, D. (1990) Philosophy of Sport. New York:
REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING Paragon House.
Keating, J. (1964) ‘Sportsmanship as a moral
Arnold, P. (1983) ‘Three approaches toward an category’, Ethics, LXXV: 25–35.
understanding of sportsmanship’, Journal of the King, R. (1991) ‘Environmental ethics and the
Philosophy of Sport, X: 61–70. case against hunting’, Environmental Ethics, 13:
Audi, R. (1995) Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy. 59–85.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Kretchmar, S. (1982) ‘Distancing: an essay on abstract
Belliotti, R. (1979) ‘Women, sex, and sports’, Journal of thinking in sport performances’, Journal of the
the Philosophy of Sport, VI: 67–72. Philosophy of Sport, IX: 6–18.
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Kretchmar, S. (1989) ‘On beautiful games’, Journal of Roberts, T. (1986) ‘Sport, art, and particularity: the
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 13
POLITICS AND SPORT

Barrie Houlihan

In 1968, at the height of the protest against (Moodie, 1984: 23). The focus for study would
racial inequality in the United States, John then be the process of governmental decision-
Carlos and Tommy Smith gave the ‘black making and policy implementation and
power’ salute while on the Olympic victory involve, for example, an examination of the
podium at the Mexico City Games. The protest decision by the Argentine military government
outraged Avery Brundage, President of the to spend 10 per cent of the country’s national
International Olympic Committee, who had budget on preparations for hosting the 1978
them expelled from the Games, but generated soccer World Cup (Mason, 1995: 71) or the
overwhelming support among the African decision, in 1949, by Walter Ulbricht, State
American population. Twelve years later, the Council Chairman, to ‘create an exemplary
occasion of the Olympic Games was again performance oriented sport culture’ in the
used by Americans as a platform for protest. German Democratic Republic (Hoberman,
However, this time the protest was led by 1984: 202). This view tends to confine politics
Jimmy Carter, President of the United States, to specific institutions or arenas such as parlia-
and the eventual boycott was directed at the ments, courts, cabinets, central committees and
actions of the Soviet Union in invading political parties.
Afghanistan in 1979. More recently, in 1994, six In contrast, there are those who reject this
Catholics were killed by Unionist terrorist gun- focus on governmental processes as overly
men while they watched the Republic of narrow and based upon an artificial, and
Ireland play Italy in a soccer World Cup match largely unsustainable, distinction between the
at a local bar in Loughinisland, Northern public and private spheres. For Renwick and
Ireland. Swinburn politics ‘takes place wherever con-
There are many more examples that could be flict exists about goals and the method of
added to these three where politics and sport achieving those goals’ (1987: 14). This is a view
have intersected. Yet it is far from clear what supported by Ponton and Gill, who argue that
criteria have to be fulfilled for a particular deci- politics is about the arrangements for ordering
sion or set of actions to be classified as the social affairs and consequently ‘the student of
intertwining of politics and sport. The above politics cannot in principle exclude the possi-
episodes include examples of individual bility of political activity in any sphere of
protest, organized terrorism and government human life at any level, from the smallest of
policy where sport has been used in part as a groups, such as the nuclear family, to the activ-
resource and in part as an arena for political ities of international organizations’ (1993: 8).
action. The lack of uniformity in the three Such a broad definition has the virtue of allow-
examples highlights the problem of providing ing an examination of the use of power within
a precise and inclusive definition of politics. a range of non-governmental sports organiza-
For many, politics is defined in terms of the tions ranging from the IOC (International
actions of government: the authoritative use of Olympic Committee) and the major interna-
power to make rules and laws that have prece- tional federations (IFs) through the domestic
dence over rules from other sources in society governing body to the local sports club.
214 CROSS-DISCIPLINARY DIFFERENCES AND CONNECTIONS

A final complexity in any attempt to discuss and class advantage would all be legitimate
the relationship between politics and sport is foci for examination.
the need to acknowledge that the definition While consideration of government policy
adopted is itself an ideological product. It is and the politics of the Olympic movement, for
not surprising that in liberal democracies the example, will be found in most recent social
primary unit of political analysis is usually the scientific studies of sport, the explicit examina-
individual, as reflected in Lasswell’s often- tion of the relationship between politics and
quoted definition of politics as concerning sport is comparatively recent. However, this
‘who gets what, when and how’ (1958), or omission is not due to a wilful myopia by polit-
society, as indicated by Crick’s definition ical scientists as few of the social sciences can
which sees politics as a way of ‘ruling divided boast a significant literature dealing with sport
societies’ (1964: 14). Marxists, however, would before the 1970s. For students of politics the
reject both these conceptualizations in favour stimulus for interest in sport was a product of
of one that viewed politics as a reflection of two major issues in international politics,
class power and a phenomenon particular to namely the Cold War and the campaign
capitalist societies (Callinicos, 1984). against apartheid in South Africa. The return
There is little to be gained by attempting to of the Soviet Union to Olympic competition in
engineer a consensus from these competing the early 1950s and its subsequent domination
conceptualizations of politics. Rather, it is of the Summer Games during the 1960s, and
important to acknowledge the variety of defin- the use of sport by ‘East Germany’ for pur-
itions and the tensions that exist between poses of nation-building and the promotion
them. For present purposes a distinction will of its claim to recognition as the German
be made between politics and sport and politics Democratic Republic, created an awareness of
in sport. The study of politics and sport directs the value of sport as a political resource. The
our attention to the use made by governments use of sport by the communist bloc also acted
of sport and the process by which public policy as a stimulus to the development of public
is made and implemented. In democratic states policy towards sport in Western Europe and
our attention is focused on the interplay of the major democracies. The development of
political parties, representative bodies and the international campaign against apartheid
interest groups in shaping policy outcomes. In in sport reinforced the perception of sport
authoritarian regimes our attention may be as a valuable political resource. Both the Cold
drawn, for example, to the interaction between War and the anti-apartheid campaign raised
the state bureaucracy and the ruling elite. For the profile of the International Olympic
all regimes, whether democratic or not, we Committee and the major international federa-
would also be concerned to identify the policy tions as potential, if not actual, actors in inter-
objectives that the government hoped to national politics.
achieve through intervention in sport. The Paralleling the rise in the profile of sport in
study of politics and sport is therefore con- international politics, but also stimulated by it,
cerned largely with an examination of the rela- was a growing concern with equity issues
tionship of politics to sport in the public in sport. The initial emphasis was on racial
domain defined by recognized institutions equality in sport and was most powerfully
of state. expressed by Edwards (1970; but see also
A focus on the politics in sport is predicated Davis, 1966) in a study that contextualized the
upon a view of politics which does not recog- Carlos and Smith protest at the 1968 Olympic
nize the demarcation between the public and Games. By the late 1970s the focus on racial
the private and which treats politics as a ubi- equality was complemented by similar con-
quitous aspect of all social institutions, includ- cerns related to gender (see, for example,
ing schools, sports clubs and governing bodies. Mitchell, 1977), class (see, for example, Brohm,
Within this conceptualization, the power to 1978; Hoch, 1972; James, 1963) and space (see,
act politically is derived from a variety of for example, Bale, 1989, 1994; Dulles, 1965;
resources, including expertise, money and Hardy, 1981). Although the broadening of the
legitimacy, which are distributed across a wide focus on politics and sport may be seen as a
range of social institutions. A focus on politics dilution of the analysis of public policy and the
in sport leads to a consideration of issues con- role of the state, it may also be argued that the
cerned with the way in which organizations wider focus enables a more sophisticated
use power to pursue their own sectional inter- examination of the inter-penetration of sport-
ests at the expense of other social groups. ing and non-sporting organizations and the
Issues of gender equity, racial discrimination public and private spheres of social activity.
 POLITICS AND SPORT 215

POLITICS AND SPORT: THE ROLE of the Council of Europe on ethics in sport
OF THE STATE rely on government support for effective
implementation.
A second motive for government involve-
Attempting to make generalizations about the ment which pre-dates the postwar enthusiasm
role of the state in sport should be a daunting for more systematic state intervention was the
prospect. Variations in political systems, wealth, improvement of military preparedness. The
sports traditions, educational systems and the poor quality of conscripts during the First
extent of non-state institutional complexity World War and the conventional assumption
should produce patterns of public policy char- that the next major war would be similarly
acterized by their diversity rather than simi- labour-intensive led many countries to intro-
larity. Yet it is surprising how similar public duce legislation aimed at improving the
policy outputs are irrespective of whether the quality of volunteer recruits and conscripts.
state is authoritarian or democratic, affluent or Canada, Britain and France all used legislation
poor, or politically stable or volatile. For some, in the 1930s or early 1940s to create opportuni-
the similarity of state intervention in sport, ties for physical training and fitness. Although
particularly in capitalist economies, is the military rationale for government involve-
explained as the product of class conflict and ment in sport declined in prominence in
the state’s strategic concern to protect bour- the 1950s, it remained significant in those
geois class interests and to ‘rigorously [regu- countries where territorial security was per-
late] the use made of free time through the ceived to be still under threat. In the Soviet
state repressive apparatus’ (J.A. Hargreaves, Union, for example, the GTO (Ready for
1985: 220; see also Brohm, 1978 for a similar Labour and Defence) scheme, which provided
analysis). A contrary view is that of Travis, a framework for sports development for most
who sees the accumulation of sport policy out- of the Soviet period, contained shooting as one
puts as an incremental process that ‘should not of the set range of sports up until the decline of
be seen as a normative planning and manage- the GTO in the late 1980s.
ment process’, but rather as ‘a scatter of isolated A third domestic motive for state involve-
legislation’ (1979: 1 and 2). Between the Marxist ment in sport (and one of the most common) is
explanation of policy similarity as the product the belief that participation in sport facilitates
of the structural tensions inherent in capitalist social integration. Social integration is a loose
systems and an explanation that views policy term which can cover a diverse range of policy
choice as more haphazard, it is important to objectives including combating juvenile delin-
note the likely impact of diffusion in explaining quency, establishing a sense of community
policy similarity. For the vast majority of coun- during periods of rapid urbanization and the
tries public policy relating to sport is a postwar integration of diverse ethnic groups. For some,
concern, when the opportunities to borrow social integration is extended beyond simple
policy solutions were comparatively easy. social stability and is defined as integration
One of the earliest modern forms of policy into the work routines of a capitalist/industrial
intervention in sport was in order to control or economy through an acceptance of the codifi-
outlaw particular sports. In Britain and the cation, rationalization and authority structures
United States legislation has been used to out- (governing bodies) of modern sport (Brohm,
law blood sports (Gorn and Goldstein, 1993; 1978; Gruneau, 1983; J.A. Hargreaves, 1982;
Holt, 1989), while professional boxing is illegal J.E. Hargreaves, 1986; Hoberman, 1984;
in Sweden. Generally, explicit legislative inter- Mandell, 1984). In Britain, successive govern-
vention by governments to prohibit or pro- ments have invested in sports facilities and
mote particular sports is rare. However, programmes as a solution to urban unrest
governments are coming under increasing (Coghlan, 1990; Henry, 1993; Houlihan, 1991)
pressure, both domestically and from interna- and in Northern Ireland there was an extensive
tional sports bodies and some international programme of investment in public sport
governmental organizations, to regulate and recreational facilities aimed at bridging
aspects of sport such as drug abuse, the free- the gap between the Catholic/nationalist and
dom of movement of sportsmen and women Protestant/unionist communities (Sugden and
between teams, the behaviour of monopolistic Bairner, 1993). In France sport was seen as
leagues, and the treatment of young athletes making a contribution to ‘social discipline and
(Wilson, 1994). The success of the IOC’s anti- a means of regenerating French youth’ (Holt,
doping campaign requires close cooperation 1981: 58). A similar motivation for government
with governments while the recommendations involvement may be found in an analysis of
216 CROSS-DISCIPLINARY DIFFERENCES AND CONNECTIONS

Chinese (PRC) public policy where sport diversity. Cultural reference points derived
cultivates ‘a sense of collective honour and the from military history or religion are often
virtues of unity and mutual effort’ (Xie, 1990: sources of division, thus making the malleabil-
30) and also in the development of policy in ity, low cost and high media visibility of sport
Brazil (Lever, 1983; Levine, 1980), and in especially attractive to poorer states. However,
Argentina (Humphrey, 1994; Krotee, 1979; the use of sport for nation-building purposes
Mason, 1995). However, while there are some tends to skew public investment away from
who argue strongly for the integrative effect of facilitating mass participation and towards a
sport (Lever, 1983), it must be acknowledged narrow focus on a very limited range of elite
that sport has also provided an opportunity for sports. For example, Peru spent 80 per cent of
political opposition, especially in repressive its national sports budget on women’s volley-
regimes. The support given by Muscovites to ball (Anthony, 1991: 332; see also Morton, 1982,
Spartak Moscow, the soccer team that was not and Peppard and Riordan, 1993 for similar
sponsored by either the security services (as conclusions relating to the Soviet Union).
Dynamo Moscow was) or the army (as CSKA There is also considerable ambiguity regarding
Moscow was), carried with it an implicit ges- the effectiveness of sports symbolism in
ture of opposition to the communist establish- nation-building with the need to set the suc-
ment. In a similarly repressive South Africa, cess of Irish sportive nationalism against the
the visits by foreign teams provided black clear failure of attempts to use sport for nation-
South Africans with the opportunity to voice building in the former East Germany, the for-
their opposition to the white government by mer Soviet Union, the former Yugoslavia and
cheering for the visitors, whoever they hap- Canada. Finally, the ease with which subna-
pened to be. Finally, support for the Barcelona tional groups can exploit the symbolism of
soccer team during the period of Franco’s dic- sport to further their separatist claims is amply
tatorship, particularly when playing Real demonstrated in Northern Ireland, Catalonia
Madrid, symbolized not only Catalonian and Quebec (Broom, 1986; Hargreaves, 1996;
opposition to rule from Madrid, but also oppo- Sugden and Bairner, 1993) and tends to suggest
sition to the absence of democracy. that it is easier to reinforce a bottom-up ethnic
A closely associated domestic motive con- identity through sport than to support top-
cerns the attempt to use sport to build a sense down state management of identity through
of national identity. Irish history probably pro- sport.
vides the first example of sport being used as a Closely related to the use of sport for nation-
political resource in a nationalist and anticolo- building was the use of international sport to
nial movement. The role of the Gaelic Athletic project a positive image of the nation abroad. If
Association in the late nineteenth and early governments were solely concerned with rein-
twentieth centuries in promoting traditional forcing national distinctiveness and unity then
ethnic sports and challenging English cultural they would be more inclined to foster the idio-
hegemony, and the use of sport from 1922 by syncratic and unique features of the ethnic
the newly established independent Irish state culture. However, modern states want not only
to reinforce its identity is well documented national unity and distinctiveness but also an
(Mandle, 1977, 1987). More recently an increas- international stage on which to project that
ingly wide range of states have sought to pro- identity. Hence the paradox of states utilizing
mote nation-building and to overcome the an increasingly common array of cultural sym-
centrifugal forces of strengthening ethnic iden- bols (flags, currencies, anthems, stamps, armed
tity. The Soviet Union attempted to use sport to forces, military uniforms and Olympic sports)
submerge a broad range of ethnic communities to demonstrate their individuality. Success in
within a Soviet identity (Riordan, 1978, 1988). sports events, and particularly the hosting of
During the period from 1968 to the late 1980s sports events, provides a benign and uncritical
the Canadian federal government invested backdrop for the parade of national achieve-
heavily in sport in order, in part, to develop ment. As Mandell noted ‘the Soviets learned ...
symbols of national identity to which both the that socialist citizens cannot cheer industrial
francophone and anglophone communities Stakhanovites in stadiums and that there are
could subscribe (Macintosh et al., 1987). no international festivals for steel workers’
Using sport as a source of unifying symbol- (1976: 262, quoted in Cantelon, 1982). The
ism has also proved attractive to a very broad intensive investment in recent years by Britain,
range of ex-colonies who often face the Canada and Australia in elite programmes and
problem of having to cope with arbitrarily specialist academies confirms the continuing
imposed territorial boundaries and ethnic allure of international sporting success.
 POLITICS AND SPORT 217

A more recent motive for government diplomatic value. The USA was not a highly
involvement is to support economic develop- ranked table tennis nation, whereas the
ment. At a national strategic level Mexico, PRC had consistently produced some of the
Japan and South Korea used the hosting of the world’s finest players. As the USA was not
Olympic Games as opportunities to project expected to win, its defeat would not result in
images of modern technological and organiza- any loss of prestige. Similarly, basketball is a
tionally sophisticated societies and economies. minority sport in China and no loss of dignity
Other states have selectively developed those would be attached to a Chinese defeat (Kropke,
sports that helped to promote tourism. In 1974). These sporting exchanges were an
Ireland, for example, the government has acceptable means for building contacts
invested heavily in the provision of opportuni- between the two countries, a process which led,
ties for golf, fishing and long-distance walking in 1972, to the visit by President Nixon
routes following tourist board surveys which (Nafziger, 1978). Sport was used in a similar
found that one-third of all tourists participated fashion during a period of great tension
in sport when on holiday and that the avail- between the United States and the Soviet
ability of sports opportunities influenced their Union. In the late 1950s US troops were in the
holiday choice. However, it is more common Lebanon and British forces were in Jordan
for bids to host major sports events to be part ostensibly to forestall Soviet expansion, and
of a regional or metropolitan economic strat- Khrustchev talked of the world being on the
egy. The link between ‘civic boosterism’ and brink of catastrophe. At the same time the
sport in the United States and Canada is well USA and the USSR initiated an annual track
documented (Baade and Dye, 1988; Johnson, and field competition which, while at times
1985, 1986, 1993; Riess, 1989; Scully, 1995) and reflecting the tensions of the Cold War, gener-
is also evident in Japan (Horne and Jary, 1994; ally provided opportunities for diplomatic
McCormack, 1991) and many Western bridge-building (Peppard and Riordan, 1993).
European countries. Sport is more commonly used as a means
As should be clear from the above discus- of maintaining good relations with allies or
sion, it is not always possible to isolate the neighbours. The importance of the Common-
domestic from the foreign policy motives for wealth Games has increased as the significance
state intervention in sport. The rapid inter- of the Commonwealth in global politics has
nationalization of sports competition in the declined (Houlihan 1994). The quadrennial
past 50 years and the advances in media tech- francophone games provide France with an
nology of the past 30 years have combined to important opportunity to renew its past colo-
make sport an increasingly attractive diplo- nial links and also to promote its claims to a
matic resource. Its primary attraction to gov- global role. Rather than organizing specific
ernments lies in its combination of high sports events, the Soviet Union undertook an
visibility and low cost. However, while some elaborate programme of bilateral sporting con-
argue that sport provides a versatile and effec- tacts with its non-communist neighbouring
tive resource (Houlihan, 1994; Macintosh and states and Warsaw Pact allies as part of a strat-
Hawes, 1994) others would agree with Kanin egy of sports diplomacy (Peppard and
(1980) that sport is peripheral to international Riordan, 1993). Similarly, but on a much
relations and provides, at best, weak symbol- smaller scale, the United States pursued sport-
ism. Nevertheless, sports diplomacy retains its ing links with states in Central and South
attraction to governments, partly because America as well as with Japan in the period
international sport adds to the repertoire of leading up to the Second World War (Crepeau,
tools available for the pursuit of foreign policy 1980). President Harding hoped that continued
goals but also because of the subtlety and mal- sporting contact through baseball between
leability of sports diplomacy. Japan and the United States would help to
One of the most significant uses of sports improve relations (Sinclair, 1985). Unfor-
diplomacy is as a device for building closer tunately the power of baseball was not as great
relationships between enemies. The most cele- as Harding had hoped.
brated example of this use of sport occurred in A more common use of sport is as a means of
the early 1970s when, as part of the gradual registering disapproval of a state’s actions,
thawing of relations between the People’s either through attempts to isolate a state from
Republic of China and the United States, the international sporting competition or by the
latter sent a table tennis team to the PRC, boycott of particular sports events. In 1995
followed a year later by a basketball team. Nigeria was the most recent state to be subject
The sports were carefully chosen for their to sports sanctions because of its continued
218 CROSS-DISCIPLINARY DIFFERENCES AND CONNECTIONS

and serious abuse of human rights. But using Olympic Committee (SAN-ROC), successfully
sport as a sanction has a long history and orchestrated a highly public debate on sports
includes the decision not to invite the major apartheid to establish the immorality of the
defeated states to the Olympic Games that fol- regime and used the more easily accessed
lowed the two world wars, and the Soviet international sports bodies, such as the IOC,
Union’s withdrawal from the 1974 World Cup the Commonwealth Games Federation and the
rather than play against Chile so soon after the IAAF, as stepping-stones to more powerful
military overthrow of the democratically organizations such as the Commonwealth
elected communist government of Salvador Heads of Government Meetings and the
Allende. United Nations. Sport’s value was therefore
A major illustration of the use of sports sanc- primarily in providing a point of access to the
tions followed the invasion, in 1979, of agendas of major global political actors.
Afghanistan by the Soviet Union. The invasion Israel has much in common with South
prompted a chorus of international criticism Africa: both have been faced with hostile
mainly because Afghanistan was considered to neighbours, both are relatively powerful in
be outside the Soviet Union’s traditional their region (and, in Israel’s case, has powerful
sphere of influence. The dilemma facing the allies), and both have had to contend with sus-
USA was how to demonstrate its disapproval tained campaigns to exclude them from inter-
while not disrupting, too seriously, the delicate national sport. In the early years of Israel’s
relationship between the two superpowers. existence it sent athletes and teams to a num-
According to Kanin ‘Sport, that most periph- ber of international sports competitions,
eral and most publicised form of international including the regional Asian Games which
relations, provided the perfect answer’ (1980: 6). take place under the auspices of the IOC
President Carter decided that boycotting the (Simri, 1983). In 1962, however, the Games
forthcoming Olympic Games to be hosted by were awarded to the predominantly Muslim
the Soviet Union would be an appropriate country of Indonesia which, despite expres-
diplomatic response. Despite the logic of a sions of goodwill, failed to allow Israeli ath-
sport boycott being almost as unclear as the letes to participate. Israel attended the next
USA’s diplomatic objectives, Carter eventually two Asian Games (both in Bangkok) but the
secured a boycott by 62 states, including Japan, earlier problems recurred when the Games
PRC, West Germany and Canada. were awarded to Iran in 1974. Although Israeli
The boycott of the 1980 Moscow Games is athletes did attend they were faced with some
only one of a number of occasions when sport boycotts by individual athletes. More worry-
has been used to show diplomatic displeasure. ing for Israel was the emergence of a concerted
Both South Africa and Israel have been faced attempt to exclude them from future competi-
with concerted attempts to exclude them from tions. Between 1974 and 1976 Israel was
world sport. The attempt to isolate South excluded from the Asian Football Confederation
Africa because of its policy of apartheid is well (soccer) and from participation in future Asian
documented (Booth, 1998; Guelke, 1986, 1993; Games. Israel’s experience highlights the
Kidd, 1988; Krotee, 1988; Lapchick, 1979). The particular role of international sports organi-
South African case is important for a number zations, such as the IOC and FIFA. Both these
of reasons, particularly because it provides an organizations expressed their opposition to
opportunity to consider the value of interna- Israel’s exclusion but backed away from
tional sport as a resource in diplomacy and the expelling the countries supporting the
interaction of domestic sport policy with the boycott, thus avoiding a direct confrontation
actions of international political actors. Much with Asian, and particularly Islamic, sports
has been made of the powerful symbolism of organizations.
sport to white South Africans, but an under- The politics of the Israeli sports boycott is
mining of the opportunity to experience that still inadequately researched and the definitive
symbolism through the application of a boy- analysis of the attempt to isolate South Africa
cott was, in itself, an irritation rather than a from world sport has yet to be written. Both
major threat to apartheid. More important was would provide valuable insights into the utility
the way in which the groups opposed to (and limitations) of sport as a diplomatic
apartheid used international sport as an resource. Even a brief review of the US boycott
activity, and international sports organizations of the Moscow Olympic Games makes appar-
as fora, to promote the issue of apartheid. In ent the variation in the interweaving of
essence the anti-apartheid organizations, sporting and foreign policy objectives in differ-
especially the South African Non-Racial ent states. The response to Carter’s call for a
 POLITICS AND SPORT 219

boycott provides an interesting insight into the the conduct of the country against which it is
motives for the decisions made by the targeted directed’ (1993: 81). These views are overly
states and the extent to which sport is a cipher pessimistic. By concentrating on the capacity
for the underlying pattern of relations between of sports boycotts to change the behaviour of
states. In Europe, for example, France, tradi- the target state they underplay the range of
tionally suspicious of US motives, opposed the other functions that the diplomatic activity
boycott, as did traditionally neutral Ireland; surrounding the boycott can fulfil. Taking the
Finland, probably due to its close proximity to Moscow boycott as an example, it was impor-
the Soviet Union and its delicate relationship tant in providing an opportunity for a large
with the superpower, also opposed the boy- number of states to send diplomatic signals to
cott; Greece, hoping to become the permanent each other on a very public stage. States used
host of the Games was also opposed; the the episode to demonstrate independence
British government strongly supported the and/or solidarity, to build stronger links with
Americans, but could not convince its athletes particular states or groups of states or to
who, with some exceptions, decided to attend. loosen ties with particular power blocs, and to
Outside Europe, in South America for exam- demonstrate commitment to causes. The call
ple, the boycott call was also interpreted with for a Moscow boycott provided a major arena
regard to foreign policy priorities. For most for the exchange of diplomatic information
South American states it was the superpower within a low-risk context. In other words, one
to the north rather than the Soviet Union could argue that the lead-up to the 1980
that was the cause of greatest concern. Olympic Games enabled states to try out
Consequently, apart from Chile, all other coun- developments in foreign policy when the
tries accepted the Soviet invitation to Moscow, stakes were relatively low. It should also be
some, no doubt, desiring to demonstrate their borne in mind that while the Moscow boycott
independence from the USA and others with may confirm the sceptical view of negative
an eye on their standing in the non-aligned sports diplomacy held by Peppard and
movement. Riordan, it is less easy to dismiss the contribu-
Just as sport can be used as a vehicle for reg- tion of sports sanctions to the ending of
istering disapproval of a state, it can also be an apartheid in South Africa.
effective vehicle for signalling the re-admission A different motive for the utilization of
of a state to the ‘international community’. The sports diplomacy is for the promotion of indi-
hosting of the 1964 Olympic Games by Tokyo vidual state interests. Clearly the response to
marked the state’s return to diplomatic the various boycott campaigns was mediated
respectability. The location of the 1972 Games by self-interest: but for many states they were
in Munich, a centre of National Socialism, not reacting to the initiatives of others. Sport also
only indicated West Germany’s status as a provides a number of opportunities for the
trusted member of the ‘West’, but also helped pursuit of a range of foreign policy objectives.
lay the ghost of Nazism. More recently, the Mention has already been made of the per-
visit by the South African cricket team to India ceived value of hosting major sports events,
in November 1991 and the attendance of a particularly the soccer World Cup and the
South African team at the Barcelona Olympic Olympic Games. Some states, such as Cuba
Games in 1992 confirmed the emergence of a (Sugden et al., 1990), have also used sport to
new non-racial South Africa. assert the superiority of their ideology, while
Reviewing the use of sport in diplomatic others, such as the PRC, have used sport to
relations one is tempted to agree with Kanin support their claim to global or regional diplo-
and those who see sport as part of the matic leadership (Pauker, 1964; Sie, 1978).
ephemera of international relations. According Others, who have more limited diplomatic
to this view, sport may be dismissed as a low- resources and more limited diplomatic aspira-
cost, low-threat resource to be used casually by tions, will use sport as a cheap and easily
governments. The assessment of Peppard and deployed resource. Very often the objective of
Riordan differs insofar as they see positive sports diplomacy is simply to seek acknowl-
sports diplomacy as being valuable, but not edgement of their existence within the interna-
necessarily successful. ‘Negative sport diplo- tional system. Many of the sub-Saharan states
macy, on the other hand, is virtually guaran- found in apartheid an issue which brought
teed to fail, because the breaking off of with it the advantages of regional unity
sporting relations or the announcement of a and a voice at the Commonwealth Heads of
boycott can serve only as an expression of Government meetings and the United Nations
righteous indignation, which cannot change that they otherwise would not have had. The
220 CROSS-DISCIPLINARY DIFFERENCES AND CONNECTIONS

two clearest examples of states using sport to impossible to ignore the significance of sports
further their foreign policy objectives concern organizations in affecting access to, and the
East Germany and the PRC. The GDR, with nature of, sports opportunities for individual
powerful support from the USSR and the other sportsmen and women or of groups which
Warsaw Pact states, used its ‘diplomats in track may be defined, for example, geographically,
suits’ to pursue its claims to formal diplomatic or by sport or gender: they are in effect part
recognition very successfully (Strenk, 1978 and of what Wilson aptly refers to as the private
1980). In a similar fashion, both the PRC and government of sport. Among the issues which
Taiwan used sport as an element in their strug- currently dominate the character of politics in
gle for recognition of their claims to each sport are commercialization, gender, and race
other’s territory (Chan, 1985; Guttman, 1984). and ethnicity. None of these issues is discrete;
each overlaps and intertwines with the other,
and each has both a domestic and a global
political aspect. As most of these issues are dis-
POLITICS IN SPORT cussed elsewhere it will be sufficient to iden-
tify the main contours of the debates.
The discussion so far has made clear the vari- Commercialization involves examining
ety of domestic and foreign policy motives that sport as both a source of profit and also as a
lead governments to use sport as a resource. As vehicle for the transmission of capitalist
should also be clear, governments frequently values. For a growing number of multinational
seek to achieve their policy objectives through corporations (such as Kodak, American
the cooperation (whether willing or otherwise) Express and British Airways) sport sponsor-
of sports organizations. At the domestic level ship is part of a global marketing strategy
the attempts by many governments to solve, in for non-sports goods and services. Other cor-
part, social or economic problems of urban porations, particularly the major television
decay through sport requires liaison with companies, have a closer interest in sports pro-
sports-governing bodies and local clubs whose grammes as products, but they also see sport
cooperation is often achieved through the as a means of selling advertising. Thirdly, there
manipulation of tax arrangements or grant is a set of corporations, such as Adidas, Nike
conditions. Similarly, international organiza- and Puma, that produce sports goods and have
tions, such as the IOC, FIFA and the IAAF, are a clear interest in the growth in interest in
subject to intense political pressure by govern- the particular sports they manufacture for.
ments and interest groups. However, to con- Fourthly, all capitalist enterprises have an
ceptualize the relationship as one where interest in the capacity of sport to contribute to
branches of the state politicize sports organiza- the assimilation of capitalist values in general
tions by drawing them into a process of politi- and consumerist values in particular. Finally,
cal bargaining and competition for power over there are the sports organizations, ranging
decisions would be to misunderstand and from individual clubs and leagues to the IOC
romanticize the objectives and operation of and the major national and international feder-
sports organizations. Some sports bodies, such ations, who operate in an increasingly compet-
as the IOC and the Commonwealth Games itive environment and are concerned to secure
Federation, have either explicit political goals a growing market share for their particular
as part of their charter, as has the IOC, or have club, sport or group of sports.
an explicit political rationale in their origin, as The impact of the growth in for-profit clubs
with the CGF. Other sports bodies are an inte- and leagues, the increase in sponsorship, the
gral part of the state bureaucracy either purchase of television rights and the expand-
because of the authoritarian nature of the ing world market for sports goods on the
regime or, more commonly, because of the development of sport has been considerable
problems of establishing an independent and includes changes to the rules of sports to
organizational structure for sport without state suit sponsors (Goldlust, 1988; Whannel, 1992),
financial support. But even those organizations the marginalizing of non-Western and espe-
that eschew formal references to political cially non-Olympic sports (Glassford, 1981;
objectives or are financially independent of the Paraschak, 1991), and the undermining of the
state are none the less immersed in a range of ethical basis of sport in the interest of more
political issues that arise within sport itself. dramatic (aggressive) and more sensational
If Lasswell’s definition of politics, that it sport (Coakley, 1998; Lawrence, 1986)). At a
is concerned with the study of ‘Who gets broader level, the increased commercialization
what when and how’, is accepted, then it is of sport raises the prospect of continued
 POLITICS AND SPORT 221

asset-stripping of poorer countries and their coaching, administration and management in

reduction to a market for imported sports. sport. The most significant gap, though, is
Increasingly, Africa and South America are the level of representation in those organi-
becoming sources of sporting talent for the rich zations that exercise increasing influence
countries. Most top-class Brazilian soccer play- over the future shape and direction of sport,
ers play abroad (five of the national squad in namely the television companies, corporate
the mid-1990s played their soccer in the marketing units and sports goods manufactur-
Japanese league) (Mason, 1995); nearly all the ing companies.
successful Cameroon side in the 1990 World That there are still important debates about
Cup played their professional soccer outside the practice of ‘stacking’ (the location of black
their home country, and the Dominican athletes in particular team positions due to
Republic has long been a source of elite players stereotypical assumptions about temperament
for the North American baseball league (Klein, and ability), and the particular sports deemed
1991). Whether the sporting relations between suitable for women is a reflection of the contin-
business and rich and poor countries are best uing salience of these issues to the achieve-
defined as cultural imperialism or some less ment of greater equality of opportunity in
clearly articulated form of cultural globalization, sport. However, what is worthy of note is the
it is clear that power is being deployed in a extent to which these issues have remained the
way that promotes the interests of some organi- subject of domestic, rather than international,
zations, especially the MNCs, at the expense of politics. Few international federations or organi-
others. Apart from the vulnerability of eco- zing bodies have given prominence to racism
nomically weak countries, the other potential and sexism on their policy agendas beyond rit-
victims of increasing commercialization are the ual condemnation. There are three possible
domestic and international governing bodies reasons for this omission. The first is that the
whose control over sport is undermined by issue of equality has a low priority in the IOC
their need to attract sponsors, the increasing and the major international federations as
pressure from athletes for a greater share of illustrated by the general reluctance of the
commercial income and a greater say in international sports bodies to adopt a clear
decision-making, and from the growth in policy on apartheid and South African involve-
profit-orientated clubs and leagues. The future ment in international sport. The second is that
direction and impact of commercialism, the the high profile of the apartheid issue enabled
consequences of greater commercial sponsor- most sports bodies to claim the moral high
ship for state patronage and the long-term con- ground on an issue tightly focused on one par-
sequences for governing bodies are all issues ticular state. In other words, opposition to
that require further investigation. apartheid was seen as obviating the need for
A second major issue within sport is the more elaborate policy statements on similar
question of equality of access, and especially forms of discrimination. Finally, action to
the relationship between gender and race, and ensure equality of access to sports competition
sporting opportunity. Much has already been for women has been inhibited by the unwill-
written about the discrimination against ingness to risk offending Islamic states and los-
women’s sport and women in sport, the slow ing their considerable financial contributions
pace of change and the degree of inequality to Asian sport.
that remains (J.A. Hargreaves, 1994; Hult,
1989). There is a similarly large literature on
race and ethnicity and sport (Eitzen, 1989;
Hoberman, 1997; Lapchick, 1988; Schneider
FUTURE THEMES
and Eitzen, 1989). Both these aspects of sport
are covered in detail in this volume, and it is The likely future themes in the study of politics
sufficient here to emphasize the extent to and sport can be divided into two categories:
which both these dimensions of inequality are first, continuing and emerging political issues
intensely political insofar as they can have a within sport; and secondly, developments in
profound impact on individual choice and the political environment of sport. As regards
career opportunity. For both ethnic minorities the first category, the issue of equality of
and women there has been a general, if slow, access in sport, particularly at international
improvement in opportunities to compete both level, is likely to emerge as increasingly signif-
in domestic leagues and at the highest interna- icant. The theme will be expressed in a number
tional level. However, significant progress of different ways, including challenges to the
remains to be made in terms of access to continuing Eurocentrism of many international
222 CROSS-DISCIPLINARY DIFFERENCES AND CONNECTIONS

sports bodies, particularly the IOC, the relative Moving away from specific policy issues to
under-representation of athletes from poorer the context within which they are shaped, there
countries at elite levels, and the limitation on are three developments of interest. The first
the opportunities for women to participate in concerns the future role of government. The
sport and its organization. late 1980s saw the disappearance of two major
The second issue concerns anti-doping motivations for government involvement in
policy. By contrast to the issue of equality of international sport, namely the ending of the
access, the major international sports bodies Cold War and the collapse of apartheid. It is
have made significant efforts, in conjunction plausible to suggest that the loss of the stimu-
with a number of governments, to construct a lus of ideological confrontation and apartheid
policy aimed at eliminating drug abuse by would result in a reduction in government
athletes. In recent years the introduction of investment in sport, reflecting the decline in
out-of-season testing and the development of the value of sport as a diplomatic resource.
international testing teams have greatly However, this seems far from being the
strengthened the anti-doping policy. The major case, particularly among developed states,
problem lies in the implementation of the where government investment has generally
policy and especially whether the IOC and the increased. That sport should remain a valued
major federations have both the resources and resource for governments in domestic politics
the will to support the policy. Resources are is not surprising, while its continued utility in
necessary to ensure that testing procedures international politics is a reflection of the
keep pace with the increasing sophistication of strength of the resurgence of nationalism and
drug abusers. More importantly, the major the politics of identity at the turn of the
sports organizations will need sufficient twentieth century (Cable, 1994; Parekh, 1994).
resources to ensure compliance and coopera- A second area of interest concerns the future
tion by individual governments. Finally, the role of the major international sports bodies.
IOC and the IAAF in particular will need to The control that they have exercised over the
continue to demonstrate that they have the will development of sport is coming under increas-
to implement the policy rigorously. There ingly severe challenge, not only from individ-
remain serious doubts regarding each of these ual governments (which they are well used to
aspects of policy implementation. There is little coping with) and from commercial, particu-
indication that either the IOC, the major feder- larly television, interests, but more recently
ations or individual governments are commit- from players’ unions and agents, and interna-
ting sufficient resources to research to ensure tional governmental organizations such as the
that the newer, hormone-based drugs, can be European Union, the Council of Europe and, to
detected accurately. There are also growing a lesser extent, UNESCO. The capacity of the
doubts that the scale of penalties agreed by IOC and the major international federations to
international sports bodies can be applied uni- plot the course of sports development has
formly in member states. The attempt to always involved a compromise with other
impose four-year bans on German athletes interests, but the entry of international govern-
foundered on the decision of the German mental organizations (IGOs) and the increas-
courts. Finally, it is questionable whether the ing assertiveness of international athletes will
IOC and the federations are prepared to move weaken further that capacity, possibly in
beyond a cosmetic response to the problem. important areas such as sports aid to poorer
Much of the evidence given to the Dubin countries and anti-doping policy.
Enquiry (1990) following Ben Johnson’s failure The third significant development in the
of a drug test at the 1988 Seoul Olympics political context of sport is the increasing
and the account given by Voy (1991) suggest prominence of commercial interests. Sport has
that there is, at the very least, a lack of firm always been dependent on patronage, whether
commitment to eradicating drug abuse. The of employers, governments, churches, or the
World Anti-Doping Agency, established in media and sports businesses. The increasing
1999 and to be jointly funded by the IOC, the significance of corporate sponsorship and
international federations and governments sports broadcasting is not necessarily a malign
may mark a watershed in anti-doping policy, influence, particularly where governing bodies
but the level of disagreement and acrimony are relatively powerful or where the state
between partners that accompanied its forma- acts as a counterbalance. However, the less
tion indicated the depth of mutual suspicion popular sports and sport in poorer countries
and hostility that persists among key policy are both vulnerable to pressure from commer-
actors. cial interests and may be unable to prevent the
 POLITICS AND SPORT 223

distortion of sports development strategies to (1991). Finally, Houlihan (1997) examines the
provide elite competition and performers. The politics and policy of sport in five countries,
evolution of the relationship between govern- Australia, Canada, Ireland, the United
ing bodies and their international federations, Kingdom and the United States.
governments and commercial interests is likely There is a limited, but growing, number of
to remain a major concern for the foreseeable single-country studies of sports foreign policy
future. including Canada (Macintosh and Hawes,
1994), USA (Hulme, 1990; Kanin, 1980), and the
former Soviet Union (Peppard and Riordan,
POLITICS AND SPORT LITERATURE 1993). There is also a growing literature on spe-
cific sports policy issues and themes. Those
with the most extensive literature include
Although the literature on politics and sport is drug abuse (Black Report, 1990; Donohoe and
extensive and growing rapidly it is important Johnson, 1986; Dubin, 1990; Goldman and
to note that the overlap of interests between Klatz, 1992; Houlihan, 1999; Voy, 1991), the
political scientists and sociologists in particu- Olympic Games (Espy, 1979; Guttman, 1984,
lar, but also geographers, philosophers and 1992; Hill, 1992, 1996; Hoberman, 1986;
historians is extensive and that there is much Segrave and Chu, 1988), and South Africa and
of interest for the study of politics and sport to apartheid (Black, 1999; Booth, 1998; Bose, 1994;
be found in a broad range of social science Guelke, 1986, 1993; Hoberman, 1991; Keech
literature. This is especially true regarding and Houlihan, 1999; Kidd, 1988; Krotee, 1988;
theoretical perspectives on domestic sports Lapchick, 1976, 1979; Ramsamy, 1991).
policy-making. Brohm (1978), J.E. Hargreaves Finally, there are a number of edited collec-
(1986), Hoch (1972), and Cantelon and tions that are valuable sources, including
Gruneau (1982), provide analyses from a con- Allison (1986, 1993), Arnaud and Riordan
flict/Marxist standpoint; a critical analysis is (1998), Landry et al. (1991), Lowe et al. (1976),
provided by Sage (1990) and by Henry (1993) Redmond (1986), Riordan and Krüger (1999),
who also provides an interesting overview of and Wilcox (1994).
competing approaches; and Houlihan (1991)
proposes a pluralist analysis. Galtung (1971,
1984, 1991) is one of the most stimulating ana-
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 14
PSYCHOLOGY AND THE STUDY OF SPORT

Diane L. Gill

ORIENTATION TO A PSYCHOLOGY and tensions between sport psychologists who

PERSPECTIVE identify as sport science scholars and those
who identify as psychologists. The sociology of
sport has experienced parallel growing strains.
Sport psychology, as discussed in this chapter, is Although most of the other cross-disciplines
a branch of exercise and sport science that are younger and less expansive, readers may
focuses on individual behavior in sport and well find that some of the issues and trends in
exercise. Before expanding on this definition, let this psychology chapter parallel those of other
us consider the psychology perspective on sport related perspectives.
and society. Like the other cross-disciplinary Although we share some topics and profes-
perspectives in this section, psychology overlaps sional issues, psychology is not sociology, and
and has much in common with the sociological psychology offers a different perspective on
perspectives of most sport and society scholars. sport and society. The classic difference, as
First, many specific topics typically included recited in most sport psychology texts and
within sport psychology are issues for sport courses, is that psychology focuses on the indi-
and society. For example, most sport psychol- vidual, whereas sociology focuses on society.
ogy texts and courses include information on Like most dichotomies, especially those recited
aggression, gender and diversity, social influ- at the beginning of texts and courses, this one
ence and group dynamics. As well as sharing is false. As noted in the preceding section, psy-
some topics, psychology and sociology share chology and sociology overlap in content and
some traditions and current issues. In North issues. My own perspective on psychology
America both the psychology of sport and the clearly is social, and psychologists who
sociology of sport emerged as academic areas attempt to understand individual behavior
in the late 1960s as traditional physical educa- without recognizing the critical influence of
tion developed more specialized scholarly society cannot truly understand behavior.
sub-areas. In the historical review of sport psy- Similarly, sociologists who forget that society
chology in this chapter, you will notice schol- consists of individuals and considerable indi-
ars that we identify as sociologists. vidual variation, miss a great deal. This
As sport psychology and sociology devel- chapter may remind readers of the individual
oped their respective disciplines, they also variation, and contribute to the understanding
experienced similar tensions associated with of sport and society.
specialization and fragmentation. As sport As well as the focus on the individual,
psychology has continued to expand, it has sport psychology has some other features that
developed subspecialties with accompanying differ from other perspectives. Of the cross-
divergent views and professional debates. disciplinary areas included in this section,
Also, as sport psychology has gained recogni- psychology is the most developed and also
tion, we have attracted scholars and students the closest to the ‘hard’ sciences. Although
from the ‘parent’ psychology discipline. This some sport psychology scholars take more
development had led to further divergence social approaches, others take particularly
 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE STUDY OF SPORT 229

‘hard’ line approaches and emphasize anxiety (to be discussed later) illustrated the
controlled research, physiological mecha- value of sport-specific approaches, and other
nisms and traditional scientific methods. sport psychologists have developed other sport-
Finally, one of the key features of sport specific constructs and measures that provide
psychology today is the emphasis on applica- insights about sport behavior that cannot be
tion. As described in later sections of this gleaned from more general psychology
chapter, North American sport psychology has research. Sport psychology, then, borrows
shifted from its social psychology, research- selected, relevant information from its associ-
oriented origins to an emphasis on direct ated discipline of psychology, and also develops
application. That shift is evident in the number theoretical models and approaches that are
of sport psychologists and students interested unique to sport and exercise.
in consulting with athletes, in the public recog- Although the term sport psychology implies
nition of applied sport psychology, and even in that the field includes all aspects of psychol-
the research and scholarship. It should be ogy, that is not the case. The North American
noted that European sport psychology was Society for the Psychology of Sport and
much more applied and focused on competi- Physical Activity (NASPSPA), one of the main
tive athletics before North Americans made the professional organizations for sport psychol-
shift. In fact, as discussed in later sections, ogy, includes three areas:
European sport psychology has now shifted
from the overly applied focus to more diverse 1 Motor learning/motor control, which
sport and exercise research issues with diverse focuses on cognitive and perceptual
participants, so that most international sport processes involved in learning and per-
psychology now shares a similar research- forming motor skills.
application balance. 2 Motor development, which focuses on
developmental psychology issues related to
sport and motor performance.
3 Sport psychology. Sport psychology, as
THE DISCIPLINE OF SPORT commonly interpreted and as used in this
PSYCHOLOGY chapter, emphasizes certain sub-areas of
psychology, particularly personality and
As a branch of exercise and sport science, social psychology. Like social psychology,
sport psychology is part of a multidisciplinary sport psychology focuses on meaningful
field that draws upon varied disciplines, and social behavior rather than portions of
in my view, exercise and sport science is an behavior. Psychophysiology, cognition
applied field. That is, we try to integrate infor- and psychology areas that focus on por-
mation from the varied sciences to understand tions of behavior contribute to our under-
sport and exercise from a biopsychosocial standing of sport and exercise, but these
perspective. issues are typically addressed within
The sub-areas within exercise and sport motor behavior.
science incorporate information from related
disciplines (for example, physics, sociology), The three areas within NASPSPA reflect the
but they draw from the disciplines selectively. typical division in North America; we separate
Not all information in physiology and sport psychology from the related psychologi-
anatomy is equally applicable to exercise. And, cal areas within exercise and sport science.
not all aspects of psychology are equally Notably, European sport psychology, and most
applicable to sport. Exercise and sport scien- sport psychology around the world, includes
tists apply selected theories, concepts and cognition, perception and other motor behav-
methods from the basic disciplines to sport and ior topics within sport psychology, and psy-
exercise. chological work on these topics at the
Borrowing theories and information does not international level is more applied and directly
constitute a scholarly field of study. As a multi- related to sport than in North America.
disciplinary field, we integrate information and However, Biddle (1995), citing data from the
develop our own theories, concepts and Directory of European Sport Psychologists (1993,
methods to create unique knowledge. Many FEPSAC), reported that motor behavior topics
sport psychology scholars advocate sport- are relatively infrequent, and major research
specific theoretical models and methods to topics (for example, anxiety/stress, exercise
address the unique aspects of sport and exer- and health, motivation, mental training) are
cise. Rainer Martens’s work on competitive similar to those of North America.
230 CROSS-DISCIPLINARY DIFFERENCES AND CONNECTIONS

Sport and Exercise Psychology: scientific study of human behavior in sport and
A Definition exercise, and the practical application of that
knowledge in sport and exercise settings.
In a book published in 1986, I defined sport
psychology as the scientific study of human
behavior in sport and exercise (Gill, 1986). The Complexity of Sport
Today, that definition seems limited in several and Exercise Behavior
ways. First, most current sources refer to the
field as sport and exercise psychology to ensure In sport and exercise psychology we try to
that the exercise component is not overlooked, understand meaningful behavior, rather than
and to counter the perception that sport = ath- portions of behavior, and take a ‘holistic’
letics. Many sport and exercise psychologists approach. We want to understand sport and
focus on health-oriented exercise, with indi- exercise behavior as it occurs in the real world
viduals devoting research programs to such and apply that knowledge in sport and exer-
topics as psychophysiological aspects of exer- cise practice. This is no easy task. Human
cise and stress or exercise motivation. behavior in sport and exercise, like human
Secondly, ‘scientific study’ seems to exclude behavior everywhere, is complex. We cannot
many applied and professional concerns that find one clear source or ‘cause’ of behavior.
most sport and exercise psychologists consider And, even when we think we understand a
part of the field. Applied sport psychology has behavior (for example, why an athlete ‘choked’
mushroomed into the most visible aspect of the in the big game, or how to help a student learn
field and researchers are expanding the a skill), we may find that our explanation does
applied knowledge base. Thus, the definition not hold up a week later.
of the field should be altered to include both In trying to understand sport and exercise
the science and practice of sport and exercise behavior, sport psychologists typically keep in
psychology. Moreover, science is interpreted mind one theme: both individual characteris-
broadly to include alternative methods and tics and the social situation affect behavior.
sources of knowledge. This premise reflects a basic tenet of social psy-
Finally, although I consider sport and exer- chology set forth in a formal but simple way by
cise psychology a branch of exercise and sport Kurt Lewin (1935) as:
science, that is not the only perspective today.
A large number of sport psychologists have B = f (P, E)
psychology backgrounds, consider sport psy-
chology a branch of psychology, have no That is, behavior is a function of the person and
background in exercise science or physical the environment. As Lewin stated in his early
education, and do not relate to the overall field work, individual and environmental factors do
of exercise and sport science. not operate independently; they interact.
These extensions and qualifications in defin- Personal characteristics influence behavior in
ing sport psychology are not unique to me or to some situations and not others; situational
North America. Recently, the European factors (for example, spectators, teachers’ com-
Federation of Sport Psychology (FEPSAC) pub- ments) affect different people in different ways;
lished a position statement, ‘Definition of Sport and the person affects the situation just as the
Psychology’ (1996). FEPSAC specifically noted situation affects the person. Thus, relationships
a focus on human behavior, including affective, among person (P), environment (E) and behav-
cognitive, motivational and sensorimotor ior (B) are dynamic and change over time. For
dimensions of psychology, and defined sport as example, a 10-year-old baseball player makes a
physical activity in competitive, educational, costly error. If the child is anxious about com-
recreational, preventive and rehabilitative set- petition (P) and then hears critical comments
tings, including health-oriented exercise. The from the coach (E), the child likely will become
statement continued by noting that sport psy- even more anxious and make more errors,
chology draws upon: (a) sport practice, (b) psy- changing the situation for everyone. If the child
chology and (c) other sport sciences, and that is confident, receives constructive suggestions
sport psychologists have three interrelated from the coach and encouragement from team
tasks: research, education and application. mates, that child may be more alert the next
So, for this chapter, sport and exercise psy- time, and develop skills and confidence to carry
chology is defined as: into future games. We could list possible
scenarios indefinitely. Any particular behavior
Sport and exercise psychology is that branch takes place within the context of many interact-
of exercise and sport science that involves the ing personal and environmental factors, and all
 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE STUDY OF SPORT 231

those factors and relationships change over Today, most sport and exercise psychology
time. The dynamic complexity of sport and scholars identify with the larger discipline of
exercise behavior makes precise prediction exercise and sport science and share an under-
nearly impossible. But, with greater under- standing of the field. With more people enter-
standing of individual and social processes and ing the field from psychology, counseling or
their relationships with behavior, we can make other backgrounds, and with increasing spe-
informed choices and enhance the sport experi- cialization within sport and exercise psychol-
ence for all participants. ogy (for example, psychophysiological, social,
applied), the common ground is elusive. These
pressures present challenges and opportuni-
ties as today’s sport and exercise psycholo-
HISTORICAL REVIEW OF SPORT gists continue to advance the study of the art
PSYCHOLOGY and science of human behavior in sport and
exercise.
Interest in sport psychology is not new.
Participants, the public and the occasional
scholar have been intrigued by the mental side Early North American Foundations
of physical activities for some time. Still, the
‘disciplined’ study of sport and exercise psy- Although sport and exercise psychology as a
chology did not emerge in North America until discipline is relatively young, scholarly interest
the late 1960s, when, like the scholars in the in sport psychology extends further into the
other subdisciplines, sport psychologists past. As long as sport and exercise activities
turned away from the traditional practice- have been around, psychology has played a
oriented physical education, and looked to role. Throughout the history of psychology as
scientific psychology as a model. Although the a science, a few psychologists have applied
specific historical events, trends and emphases their theories to sport and exercise, and, as
differ, European sport psychology developed long as scholars have studied physical activity
its disciplinary organization over a similar or exercise and sport science, some of those
time frame. Within 20 years, academic sport efforts have involved psychological issues.
psychologists built a knowledge base and The most recognized early psychology
developed an identifiable subdiscipline with research with implications for sport psychol-
professional organizations, journals and spe- ogy is Norman Triplett’s (1898) lab study of
cialized graduate programs. social influence and performance, widely cited
Since the mid-1980s North American sport as the first social psychology experiment.
psychologists have regained their interest in Triplett’s study is a benchmark for sport and
practice, and applied sport psychology has exercise psychology because he used a physi-
captured the interest of many sport psycholo- cal task (winding fishing-reels), and even more
gists and the general public. Moreover, in because he was inspired by observations of
North America, Europe and around the world, sport. Specifically, Triplett, a cycling enthusi-
both the art and science have moved beyond ast, observed that social influence (pacing
competitive sport to include the psychological machine, competition) seemed to motivate
parameters of health-oriented exercise and cyclists to better performance, and designed
recreational sport activities. his experiment to test those observations.
In 1984, Wiggins noted, ‘It is apparent that Other researchers from both psychology and
the growth of sport psychology in both Canada physical education (often aligned with physi-
and the United States has been the result of cal training and medical schools) espoused
sustained efforts by physical educators’ (p. 10). psychological benefits of physical education
Today, his statement is questionable. Several of and conducted isolated studies of sport psy-
today’s sport psychologists were trained in chology issues. George W. Fitz (1895) of
general psychology, and lack specific training Harvard, operating from what may be the first
in either sport and exercise psychology or physical education research lab in North
physical education. For years, most sport psy- America, conducted experiments on the speed
chologists were trained and located in physical and accuracy of motor responses. Wiggins
education or exercise and sport science depart- (1984) also cites turn-of-the-century work by
ments. They borrowed theories and methods William G. Anderson on mental practice,
from general psychology while psychologists Walter Wells Davis’s studies of transfer of
ignored sport. Now, many psychologists and training, Robert A. Cummins’s investigation
psychology students look to sport as a setting of the effects of basketball practice on motor
for both research and practice. reaction, attention and suggestibility, and
232 CROSS-DISCIPLINARY DIFFERENCES AND CONNECTIONS

E.W. Scripture’s study of character develop- psychology, and he is widely described as

ment and sport. the ‘Father of sport psychology in North
America’. However, as Kroll and Lewis (1970)
note, Griffith was a prophet without disciples,
Coleman Griffith and ‘father’ is really a misnomer. Sport
psychology research and practice did not
Clearly, the first person to conduct systematic continue in North America after Griffith’s
sport psychology research and practice was pioneering work. Parallel efforts in Germany
Coleman R. Griffith. As a doctoral student at by R.W. Schulte, and in Russia by Peter Roudik
the University of Illinois, Griffith studied psy- and A.C. Puni, continued there, but did not
chological factors in basketball and football, influence North America.
and caught the attention of George Huff, As Ryan (1981) noted, from Griffith’s time
Director of Physical Welfare for Men at Illinois. through the late 1960s most physical education
Huff developed plans for an Athletics Research texts had sections on psychological aspects,
Lab, which was established in 1925 with and many physical education objectives were
Griffith as Director. Griffith was a prolific psychological, but research was sporadic.
researcher who focused on psychomotor skills, C.H. McCloy (1930) of Iowa examined charac-
learning and personality. Griffith taught sport ter building through physical education, and
psychology classes and published numerous Walter Miles (1928, 1931) of Stanford con-
research articles, as well as two classic texts, ducted studies of reaction time, but other work
Psychology of Coaching (1926) and Psychology waited until the post-Second World War exten-
and Athletics (1928). As many current sport psy- sion of psychological research on learning and
chologists advocate, Griffith ventured into the performance, when several scholars such as
field to make observations and interview ath- Arthur Slater-Hammel at Indiana, Alfred
letes. For example, he used an interview with (Fritz) Hubbard at Illinois, John Lawther at
Red Grange after the 1924 Michigan–Illinois Penn State, and Franklin Henry at Berkeley,
football game, in which Grange noted that he developed research programs in motor beha-
could not recall a single detail of his remark- vior that incorporated some current sport psy-
able performance, to illustrate that top athletes chology topics.
perform skills automatically without thinking In the 1960s more texts with psychology
about them. Griffith also corresponded with issues and information began to appear,
Knute Rockne on the psychology of coaching including Bryant Cratty’s (1967) Psychology and
and motivation. One quote from that corre- Physical Activity, and Robert Singer’s (1968)
spondence, taken from a Rockne reply to Motor Learning and Human Performance.
Griffith of 13 December 1924, illustrates strate-
gies of a successful coach and counters some
popular images: Organization of the Sport
I do not make any effort to key them up, except on Psychology Discipline
rare, exceptional occasions. I keyed them up for
the Nebraska game this year, which was a mistake, Sport psychologists began to organize in the
as we had a reaction the following Saturday late 1960s when a number of individuals
against Northwestern. I try to make our boys take developed research programs, graduate
the game less seriously than, I presume, some courses and, eventually, specialized organiza-
others do, and we try to make the spirit of the tions and publications.
game one of exhilaration and we never allow
hatred to enter into it, no matter against whom NASPSPA As individuals developed research
we are playing. (From the Coleman Griffith
and graduate programs, they began to orga-
Collection, University Archives, University of
nize, at first meeting in conjunction with the
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
American Association of Health, Physical
Education and Recreation (AAHPER) (now
When the Athletics Research Lab closed in American Alliance for Health, Physical
1932, Griffith continued as a professor of edu- Education, Recreation and Dance; AAHPERD).
cational psychology, but did not totally aban- Soon, they developed plans for a sport psy-
don sport psychology. In 1938 he was hired by chology organization, and the North American
Philip Wrigley as team sport psychologist for Society for the Psychology of Sport and
the Chicago Cubs. Physical Activity (NASPSPA) was officially
Griffith’s prolific research, publications and incorporated in 1967. John Loy, an early mem-
thoughtful insights place him among the most ber of NASPSPA as well as a sociology of sport
significant figures in the history of sport scholar, described the history of NASPSPA
 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE STUDY OF SPORT 233

prior to its first independent meeting in 1973, However, Ferruccio Antonelli (Italy), founding
and his account is published in those proceed- President of ISSP and organizer of the first
ings (Loy, 1974). International Congress in Rome in 1965, was
At the 1972 meeting, NASPSPA members the primary organizing force. The second inter-
decided to hold the annual meeting separately national Congress was held in Washington, DC,
from other organizations, and Rainer Martens in 1968, co-sponsored by NASPSPA and
and colleagues at the University of Illinois AAHPER. The 878-page proceedings of that
hosted the first independent meeting of congress (Kenyon and Grogg, 1970) includes
NASPSPA at Allerton Park, IL, in May 1973. papers by most of the sport psychology scholars
The Allerton meeting set the format that mentioned in this section, and provides a nice
NASPSPA still follows. The meetings extended overview of the emerging subdiscipline at that
over several days, included major invited time. The international congress has continued
addresses as well as submitted research to expand and meet every four years since then.
papers, and the special setting encouraged ISSP not only played a key role in the devel-
discussion before, during and after sessions. opment of NASPSPA, but also inspired sport
NASPSPA continued to be the major organiza- psychology organizations in Europe and
tional force in sport psychology through the Canada. The European sport psychology orga-
1970s and 1980s; most active researchers and nization, FEPSAC, formed in 1968, continues
their graduate students joined, the conference as an active international force. Although
drew high-quality submissions and the pro- NASPSPA has had a strong Canadian presence
ceedings included some of the best work in from its initial foundation, a separate
the field. Canadian organization formed in 1969 and
The NASPSPA organization reflected the developed in parallel with NASPSPA.
overlapping of sport psychology and motor
behavior of the 1960s and 1970s. Many of the
Publications Before organization of the disci-
pline, specialized publications were not
early sport psychology specialists branched
needed. Isolated psychology studies related to
out from motor learning, and NASPSPA
sports appeared in psychology journals, but
included sub-areas of motor learning, motor
were not really considered sport psychology
development and social psychology of physi-
research at that time. The major research jour-
cal activity (now the sport psychology area).
nal for the sport psychology work of North
Those three sub-areas remain in NASPSPA,
American physical education scholars was the
although each has changed and grown more
Research Quarterly (RQ), later renamed Research
specialized since NASPSPA’s foundation.
Quarterly for Exercise and Sport (RQES).
International Organization Although NAS- The International Journal of Sport Psychology,
PSPA clearly was the first and most prominent which began publishing in 1970, never served
organization in the development of sport and as the primary source or outlet for North
exercise psychology in North America, interna- American sport psychology scholars. The
tional sport psychology also organized and Journal of Motor Behavior (JMB) began publish-
influenced North American scholars. ing in 1969 and included some sport psychol-
In 1965 the International Congress of Sport ogy research related to social psychology, such
Psychology in Rome marked the beginning of as research on social influence and motor per-
the International Society of Sport Psychology formance. However, as sport psychology
(ISSP). Miroslav Vanek (1993), a key figure in diverged from motor behavior into a separate
international sport psychology, noted that the subdiscipline with differing issues, perspec-
use of psychology in sport was stimulated in tives and approaches, scholars sought special-
the 1950s by the sovietization of top-level ized publications.
sport. Thus, international sport psychology The most important publication outlet for
traditionally has aligned more with perfor- sport psychology research during the early
mance enhancement of elite athletes and has a years was the NASPSPA proceedings, which
clearer applied psychology foundation than included the most current research by leading
the more sport and exercise science-oriented scholars as well as invited addresses on impor-
discipline in North America. tant topics. Full proceedings of the 1973 (Wade
Several sport psychologists from Europe and and Martens, 1974) and 1975 (Landers et al.,
the Soviet Union were instrumental in forming 1975) conferences were published, and from
an international society, including Paul Kunath 1976 to 1980 the proceedings included only
(East Germany), Peter Roudik (Russia), papers evaluated favorably by reviewers and
Miroslav Vanek (Czechoslovakia), Morgan editors. Thus, from 1976 to 1980, Psychology of
Olsen (Norway) and John Kane (England). Motor Behavior and Sport was the primary
234 CROSS-DISCIPLINARY DIFFERENCES AND CONNECTIONS

refereed sport psychology publication in North ‘About smocks and jocks’, prompted many
America. sport psychologists to turn to more applied
In 1980 NASPSPA stopped publishing full research and practical concerns. Martens
papers, largely because of the 1979 appearance observed that ten years of sport psychology
of the Journal of Sport Psychology (JSP). JSP research, while often theory-based and
emerged from NASPSPA, particularly through methodologically sound, told us little about
the work of Rainer Martens and Dan Landers, sport behavior. Indeed, most of the research
and quickly became the primary outlet for the did not involve sport at all, but laboratory
sport psychology research. JSP (Journal of Sport tasks that were too far removed from sport to
and Exercise Psychology, JSEP, since 1988) has help teachers, coaches and participants.
served that purpose well. Through Dan Martens called for more research in the field,
Landers’s 7-year term, and the subsequent edi- on relevant issues, and with attention to the
torial terms of Diane Gill (1985–90), Jack development of sport-specific conceptual mod-
Rejeski (1991–4), Thelma Horn (1995–7) and els and measures.
current editor Bob Brustad, JSEP has been rec- Martens’s own work on competitive anxiety
ognized as the leading publication outlet for (Martens, 1977) illustrated that approach.
sport and exercise psychology research. Martens developed a conceptual framework,
combining psychology models of anxiety with
his own competition model; defined sport-
Recent Development: specific constructs; developed psychometri-
The Science and Art of Sport cally sound, sport-specific measures; and
and Exercise Psychology conducted systematic research in varied field
settings. Martens’s competitive anxiety work
The early organization of sport psychology served as a model for subsequent sport-specific
paralleled the development of NASPSPA. In research and measures such as Gill’s competi-
the late 1960s sport psychology scholars began tive orientation work (Gill, 1993; Gill and
to develop their own research base separate Deeter, 1988), Carron, Widmeyer and Brawley’s
from motor behavior, established graduate (1985) group cohesion work, and Martens’s
programs, held annual conferences to share continuing work on competitive anxiety
information, developed a research journal and (Martens et al., 1990).
gradually became the largest and most diverse Although some continued to emphasize
of the three areas within NASPSPA. Some soci- theory-driven, controlled experimental research,
ology of sport scholars, such as Gerald Kenyon many sport psychology scholars pursued
and John Loy, contributed to the early social applied issues with sport participants. One
psychology emphasis, but during the first ten notable example of this approach is the youth
years sport psychologists closely aligned with sport coaching work by Ron Smith and
motor behavior and looked to experimental Frank Smoll of the University of Washington.
psychology theories and research models for Smith and Smoll began their work in the late
guidance. 1970s, took a practical issue (effective coaching
Rainer Martens’s (1975) text Social Psychology in youth sports), conducted systematic obser-
and Physical Activity reflects the content and vations and field research, developed sport-
orientation of those years. Major psychological specific measures and approaches, and
theories (for example, inverted-U hypothesis, eventually developed coach education pro-
Zajonc’s social facilitation theory, Atkinson’s grams to put their research into practice (for
achievement-motivation theory) framed the example, Smith et al., 1979; Smoll and Smith,
content; most supporting research was from 1984, 1993).
psychology; and the sport psychology research Through the 1980s field research and applied
seldom involved sport, but typically involved issues moved to the forefront of sport psychol-
experimental tests of psychological theory ogy. Applied issues also captured the attention
with laboratory motor tasks such as the rotary of students and the public, and brought more
pursuit and stabilometer. people into the field. Most sport psychology
By the mid-1980s sport psychology had not researchers made some moves in more applied
only grown tremendously, but also changed directions, and a few took bigger steps to move
direction. While motor behavior scholars con- away from research and focus on work with
tinued to emphasize psychological theories athletes. This applied focus caught the attention
and experimental research, sport psychologists of some psychologists who began to see sport as
moved to more applied issues and approaches. a setting for clinical and counseling work.
Martens was a leading advocate for change, With more diverse students and psycholo-
and his 1979 article in the second issue of JSP, gists participating in sport psychology,
 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE STUDY OF SPORT 235

NASPSPA no longer fitted all interests. In With TSP focusing on applied research and
particular, many sport psychologists wanted professional issues, JSP focused on strong
more discussion of applied issues, such as anx- sport psychology research. In 1988, JSP added
iety management techniques or certification of ‘Exercise’ to the title (becoming JSEP) and
sport psychologists, as well as research infor- more explicitly sought research on health-
mation. NASPSPA did not respond to those oriented exercise as well as sport. JSEP and TSP
interests, prompting the development of sepa- continue to serve as strong complementary
rate organizations and publications to accom- journals. Each makes important contributions
modate applied interests and activities. John to the knowledge base, and most sport and
Silva was instrumental in organizing a 1985 exercise psychologists value both sources of
meeting, which marked the beginning of the information.
Association for the Advancement of Applied AAASP also started its own journal, the
Sport Psychology (AAASP). As summarized in Journal of Applied Sport Psychology (JASP) in
the first issue of the AAASP Newsletter (Winter, 1989 with John Silva as Editor. JASP serves
1986), the purpose of AAASP is to promote the many of the same purposes as TSP, and gives
development of psychological theory, research applied researchers another outlet. JASP also
and intervention strategies in sport psychology. provides AAASP information, publishes major
John Silva became AAASP’s first President, and addresses from the conference and has devel-
AAASP held its first conference at Jekyll Island, oped informative theme issues to add to the
GA, in October 1986. That first conference got literature.
AAASP off to a strong start and AAASP contin- The rapid rise to prominence of AAASP and
ues to hold an annual conference and maintains TSP is the most visible indicant of the growth
the basic structure set in 1985 with three inter- of applied sport psychology in the 1980s, but
related sections: intervention/performance some other organizations also added to this
enhancement, social psychology and health movement. In particular, several individuals
psychology. trained in traditional psychology programs
Martens’s address at the first AAASP confer- moved into sport psychology during this time,
ence, like his earlier ‘smocks and jocks’ paper, and psychology departments and organiza-
advocated major changes in sport psychology tions began to notice sport. Richard Suinn, a
research and practice and presented a chal- clinical psychologist and active member of the
lenge that many sport psychologists have American Psychological Association (APA),
accepted. Martens criticized sport psychol- did a great deal to bring sport psychology to
ogy’s reliance on orthodox science, and public attention. Suinn and other psycholo-
encouraged more diverse approaches to gists, such as Steve Heyman, helped sport psy-
science and knowledge, such as idiographic chology scholar William Morgan organize a
and introspective methods. sport psychology presence within APA. After
Many sport psychology scholars took up starting as an interest group, Division 47 –
Martens’s challenge, and a series of articles by Exercise and Sport Psychology – became a for-
Tara Scanlan and her colleagues (for example, mal division of APA in 1986.
Scanlan, Ravizza and Stein, 1989; Scanlan, NASPSPA, AAASP and Division 47 of APA
Stein and Ravizza, 1989) on their in-depth are the primary North American sport and
studies of enjoyment and stress in figure exercise psychology organizations, but sport
skaters, provided a model of sound research psychology also has a presence in some other
for other sport psychologists wishing to use exercise and sport science organizations.
alternative methodologies. Martens’s (1987b) AAHPERD, the original home of NASPSPA,
widely cited paper was published in the inau- includes a Sport Psychology Academy, and
gural issue of The Sport Psychologist (TSP), many sport psychology scholars, especially
which was developed to focus on the emerging those with interests in applications to physical
applied sport psychology literature and to be education teaching and coaching, participate
complementary to the successful JSEP. In his in that organization. The American College of
publisher’s statement in the first issue, Sports Medicine (ACSM), a large organization
Martens noted that TSP was both an applied dominated by exercise physiology and sports
research and interpretive journal, and specifi- medicine, has expanded its sport psychology
cally called for applied research using less tra- constituency and accommodated more sport
ditional methods, offering a publication outlet and exercise psychology scholars and presen-
for the alternative approaches he called for in tations in recent years.
his paper. TSP was endorsed by ISSP, with Suinn’s early work with skiers in the 1976
Dan Gould and Glyn Roberts serving as Olympics helped the US Olympic Committee
founding co-editors. (USOC) recognize the potential role of sport
236 CROSS-DISCIPLINARY DIFFERENCES AND CONNECTIONS

psychology. Several other sport psychologists Martens’s (1987a) Coaches’ Guide to Sport
began to work with teams, and in 1983 the Psychology, and Jean Williams’s (1986) excellent
USOC established an official sport psychology volume Applied Sport Psychology (now in 3rd
committee and a registry. Many sport psychol- edition, 1998).
ogists have worked with athletes, coaches and Sport and exercise psychology organizations
training programs through the USOC since and journals developed because the specializa-
then, and in 1987, the USOC hired Shane tion flourished within exercise and sport
Murphy as its first permanent full-time sport science departments. Many of the scholars
psychologist to work at the training center in who organized the discipline in the 1960s and
Colorado Springs. 1970s (such as Landers, Martens, Morgan,
The highly visible sport psychology pres- Singer) developed courses and began special-
ence in the Olympics, and the individual ized graduate programs to train the next gen-
efforts of several psychologists and sport psy- eration of sport and exercise psychologists.
chology consultants who worked with elite Sport and exercise psychology grew rapidly
athletes in universities, on professional teams through the 1970s and 1980s to become one of
and in private settings, raised new professional the most popular graduate specializations.
issues for sport and exercise psychology. Today, most major PhD programs in exercise
Conversations at conferences and in graduate and sport science offer a sport and exercise
student offices abounded with questions such psychology specialization. Undergraduate
as: Who is a sport psychologist? What training programs often include a ‘hands-on’ psycho-
do I need to become a sport psychologist? logical skills course, as well as a core course
Must sport psychologists be licensed clinical based on sport and exercise psychology theory
psychologists? When does the role of the sport and research.
psychologist working with athletes cross with The general core or survey courses at both
the role of the coach or the clinician? Such con- the graduate and undergraduate level continue
versations, and often heated debates, were to include the major topics that were intro-
especially prominent at AAASP meetings, and duced in the early courses, such as personality
AAASP expended considerable time and effort and individual differences, motivation, stress
attempting to define and set standards for and anxiety, aggression and moral develop-
sport psychology practice. At the 1989 confer- ment, social influence and group dynamics.
ence, AAASP approved the criteria for certifi- Specialized graduate programs have expanded
cation, and in 1991 began to confer the title, greatly and diversified far beyond the survey
‘Certified Consultant, AAASP’ on qualified courses of the early years. Scholars in graduate
candidates. AAASP’s certified consultants are programs often offer advanced seminars on
not licensed psychologists, and the consultant’s social, developmental, or psychophysiological
role is defined as an educational role empha- sport and exercise psychology, as well as both
sizing psychological skill training. Although research and practice-oriented applied courses
the AAASP certification criteria provide guide- and supervised experiences.
lines, the issues are by no means resolved. Interestingly, psychology departments have
Diverse, and often divergent, views are not incorporated sport and exercise psychol-
expressed, and the debates continue. ogy courses at either the undergraduate or
The expansion of applied sport psychology graduate levels. Many psychologists have
courses and workshops created a market for moved into sport and exercise settings for
more literature. Few sport psychology texts research and practice, but the development of
existed before the 1980s. Cratty’s books were the disciplinary knowledge base remains the
widely used, Martens’s 1975 Social Psychology task of the sport and exercise psychology spe-
and Physical Activity served its purpose, and in cialists in exercise and sport science programs.
the mid-1980s I wrote Psychological Dynamics of
Sport (Gill, 1986) to fit the needs of undergrad-
uate and graduate sport psychology courses. Summary: a Century of Sport
By the late 1980s, though, the market for sport Psychology History
psychology literature extended beyond physi-
cal education and graduate sport psychology The preceding sections reviewed 100 years of
programs, and many books appeared with an events and trends in the development of sport
applied focus, such as Robert Nideffer’s (1976) and exercise psychology. Formal organization
The Inner Athlete, Dorothy Harris and Bette was preceded by 70 years of isolated studies,
Harris’s (1984) The Athlete’s Guide to Sport which retrospectively can be labelled sport
Psychology, Terry Orlick’s (1980) In Pursuit of psychology. Although Coleman Griffith’s
Excellence (now in 2nd edition, 1990), Rainer sport psychology work, from 1925 to 1932,
 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE STUDY OF SPORT 237

punctuated this period, sport and exercise organizations and professional journals, each
psychology did not emerge as a discipline until with its own orientation, reflects this diversity.
the late 1960s, when several scholars with Most likely both the research and practice sides
sport psychology interests initiated research of sport and exercise psychology will remain
meetings and formal organizations. During the strong and continue to grow and change in the
next ten years graduate programs and research immediate future. The main question is
expanded, creating a knowledge base as well whether these two sides of the field will grow
as specialized organizations and publications. together or apart. As Martens (1987b) sug-
During the 1980s sport psychology turned gested, scholars must conduct sound research,
toward applied research and practice. but that research must be relevant and aimed
As the twenty-first century begins, sport and at answering questions about sport and exer-
exercise psychology is very different from the cise behavior. Sport and exercise psychology
discipline that emerged in the 1960s. The practitioners must have a grounding in the
young discipline remained aligned with motor research and theory base, including knowl-
learning and performance, and relied heavily edge of the science and the art, but must also
on experimental social psychology theories incorporate their experiential knowledge as
and research models in the early stages. Sport well as listen to participants to help develop
psychology made a strong move to sport- and use the knowledge base. Researchers and
relevance about ten years later, as research practitioners, sport and exercise psychologists,
moved to the field and scholars developed physical educators and psychologists, sport
sport-specific models and measures to build a psychologists and sport participants, must
more relevant psychology of sport and exercise value the knowledge and skills of each other if,
behavior. Shortly thereafter, with an influx of as Martens (1987b) advocated, we are once
individuals from psychology and with more again to have one sport psychology.
direct applied concerns, sport psychologists As sport psychology moves into the new mil-
began to apply information more directly in lennium, we are not only merging research and
education and consulting work. practice, but also moving toward a global sport
psychology. With the electronic information rev-
olution and increased international collabora-
SPORT AND EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY tion in conferences and projects, international
TODAY – MOVING TO A GLOBAL communication and interaction have expanded
exponentially, moving us toward shared
FUTURE
research and professional identification as well
as greater familiarity with cultural diversity.
As applied interests continue to expand, acad- First, sport psychology has expanded
emic and research interests also are expanding beyond its North American and European
and changing. Sport and exercise psycholo- bases to become a truly international disci-
gists have responded to the public concern for pline. European sport psychology, particularly
health and fitness with increased research in the former soviet USSR and East Germany
on health-oriented exercise. Healthy, active (GDR) was centrally controlled and focused on
lifestyles, and preventive or rehabilitative exer- training elite athletes until recently. European
cise programs involve behaviors, and today’s sport psychology has continued to develop
exercise instructors and health professionals from its roots, but current issues and
recognize the value of the psychological com- approaches encompass more diverse activities,
ponent of exercise and sport science. especially health-oriented exercise, with more
Although sport and exercise psychology is diverse participants. For example, Kunath
not an especially large subdiscipline (com- (1995) a key organizer of European sport psy-
pared to exercise physiology, for example), it is chology and faculty member at the former
incredibly diverse in both research and prac- GDR’s German Academy of Physical Culture
tice. Some researchers emphasize theory-based at Leipzig, described the historical emphasis
basic research with tight controls and search on training coaches and elite athletes, and wel-
for underlying physiological mechanisms. comed the current expansion of sport psychol-
Others shun traditional research, using inter- ogy to leisure sport, exercise for people with
pretive approaches and searching for experien- disabilities and health-oriented exercise.
tial knowledge. Some are not concerned with Biddle made similar points in the introduc-
research at all, but seek information on strate- tion to his welcome contribution to interna-
gies and techniques to educate, consult or clin- tional dialogue, an edited volume of diverse
ically treat sport and exercise participants. The European perspectives on sport and exercise
expansion of sport and exercise psychology psychology (Biddle, 1995). Biddle noted the
238 CROSS-DISCIPLINARY DIFFERENCES AND CONNECTIONS

former emphasis on elite sport, but also con- issues. For example, Chung (1996) noted that
firmed the changes in former state-controlled although research has typically been quantita-
sport psychology programs as well as in most tive, some Koreans are taking more qualitative
of Western Europe. The volume includes sev- approaches to study motivation and peak per-
eral chapters on exercise and health topics as formance; Fournier (1996) commented on
well as sport topics, with diverse contributions attention to certification criteria and consulting
by authors from several European countries. ethics in France; and Stambulova (1996) noted
Moreover, sport and exercise psychology the decline in the emphasis on elite sport with
work is not confined to North America and increased interest in exercise for health in
Europe. Australia has many scholars and pro- Russia.
grams similar to those of Europe and North As well as exchanging information on pro-
America, and the rise of sport and exercise psy- fessional issues and current topics, the
chology in Asian countries is particularly increased international dialogue has enhanced
notable. Japan and Korea have developed sport and exercise psychology research. For
strong sport and exercise psychology pro- example, the topic of anxiety has long been a
grams, as they have developed politically and major issue, and research has been conducted
economically. The 1989 ISSP conference was by scholars in several countries. Recently, that
held in Singapore, and that meeting certainly work has been shared more readily, interna-
enhanced mutual recognition of sport psychol- tional scholars cite each other’s work, and
ogy research and approaches on the part of some international collaborative efforts have
both Asian and Western countries. In 1994 I taken place. Jones (1995), in a chapter review-
was fortunate to be invited to make a presenta- ing competitive anxiety research, cites the
tion at the International Conference of the Martens work on SCAT and more recent multi-
Korean Alliance for Health, Physical Education, dimensional models (Martens et al., 1990), his
Recreation and Dance as well as at the Korean own and Lew Hardy’s work (UK) on catastro-
Society for Sport Psychology. I was able to phe models (for example, Jones and Hardy,
meet and learn from many scholars from Korea 1990) and the work of Yuri Hanin (formerly of
and other countries, and also to visit several USSR, now Finland) on zone of optimal func-
universities and the Korean Sport Science tioning (for example, Hanin, 1989). Dieter
Institute. Korea has several university pro- Hackfort of Germany is one of the most promi-
grams and sport psychology scholars who nent sport psychology scholars doing anxiety
participate in international conferences and research, and along with Spielberger of the
publish in top journals. Many Korean sport United States, he co-edited an excellent
psychologists, like those of many countries, volume on anxiety and sport that includes
received their graduate training in North contributions from many of these and other
American universities. However, as with sev- international scholars (Hackfort and
eral other countries, the expanded number of Spielberger, 1989).
programs and scholars should lead to more International dialogue and participation in
attention being paid to unique concerns and sport and exercise psychology likely will
cultural variations. increase even more in the near future.
The increased international presence at sport Conferences are increasingly international, and
psychology conferences around the world, with easy access to communication networks,
along with the long-overdue travels of some information is increasingly shared even when
North American scholars to other parts of the travel is prohibitive. North America, Europe,
world, should only add to the international Asia and Australia/New Zealand have inter-
dialogue. The AAASP recently implemented nationally active sport psychology communi-
an international initiative under the direction ties now, and other countries have some
of former president Tara Scanlan. The 1996 activity. For example, South America and
conference emphasized the international Africa are less recognized internationally, but
theme, with several invited speakers from ISSP includes representatives from those areas,
around the world. As well as major speakers, and several countries have developed organi-
a symposium entitled ‘Sport and exercise zations and increased their sport and exercise
psychology: a global perspective’ included psychology activity. As sport and exercise psy-
panelists from Australia, France, Korea, chology activity expands around the world, we
New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Spain and the will likely see continued recognition of com-
United Kingdom (Gould, 1996). Although pan- mon themes in both our research and practice.
elists noted specific features of sport psychol- However, increased international dialogue
ogy in their countries, common themes clearly should also decrease some of the North
emerge in both the research and professional American/European dominance, and add
 PSYCHOLOGY AND THE STUDY OF SPORT 239

greater insights into cultural variations and Jones, G. and Hardy, L. (1990) Stress and Performance
diversity. Overall, a more global sport and in Sport. Chichester: Wiley.
exercise psychology should enhance all our Kenyon, G.S. and Grogg, T.M. (1970) Contemporary
scholarship, and in turn enhance the sport and Psychology of Sport. Chicago: The Athletic Institute.
exercise experience for all participants. Kroll, W. and Lewis, G. (1970) ‘America’s first sport
psychologist’, Quest, 13: 1–4.
Kunath, P. (1995) ‘Future directions in exercise and
sport psychology’, in S.J.H. Biddle (ed.), European
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R.S. Weinberg (eds), Psychological Foundations of Wiggins, D.K. (1984) ‘The history of sport psy-
Sport. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. pp. 371–86. chology in North America’, in J.M. Silva and
Smoll, F.L. and Smith, R.E. (1993) ‘Educating youth R.S. Weinberg (eds), Psychological Foundations of
sport coaches: an applied sport psychology Sport. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. pp. 9–22.
perspective’, in J. Williams (ed.), Applied Sport Williams, J.M. (1986) Applied Sport Psychology. Palo
Psychology, 2nd edn. Mountain View, CA: Alto, CA: Mayfield. (3rd edn, 1998).
Mayfield. pp. 36–57.
Stambulova, N. (1996) ‘Sport and exercise psychol-
ogy in Russia’, Journal of Applied Sport Psychology:
1996 AAASP Abstracts, 8: S7.
 PART THREE

KEY TOPICS

EDITORS’ INTRODUCTION

The authors of the following 18 chapters were Sports’. Guttmann identifies the origins of
chosen because of their expertise related to the modern sports as he outlines the transforma-
topic in question. We asked authors to write tions that occurred in physical leisure activities
‘user-friendly, jargon-free, state-of-the-art’ dis- in Western Europe from the Renaissance to the
cussions of theory and research on their topics. eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. His
We also asked them to include, where relevant, analysis is grounded primarily in a theoretical
analyses of debates and controversies. Finally, framework informed by the work of Max
we encouraged them to keep their discussions Weber. In line with this approach, he notes that
of general theoretical matters to a minimum modern sports were associated with and char-
because these matters would be discussed in acterized by the following:
the chapters on theoretical perspectives.
Subsequent conversations with authors • An emphasis on progress as manifested
emphasized that each chapter should provide through the measurement of performance
readers with the following: and the recording of achievements and sta-
tistics for individuals and for events.
• An accessible introduction to important • Increasing specialization in the games
sociological issues related to the topic. played, the roles of game participants and
• An overview of the primary literature the spaces in which games were played.
related to the topic combined with a biblio- • Rationalization in the form of explicit rules,
graphy useful to fellow experts and to those rule enforcement, and the standardization
reading about the topic for the first time. of the conditions of competition.
• References to theoretical debates and con-
troversies that have informed research on Although Guttmann notes that it may not be
the topic. possible to identify precisely a single origin for
• A brief discussion of theorizing and modern sports, he points out that the diffusion
research that, in the author's mind, needs to and growth of these sport forms were aided by
be done in the future. increasingly efficient modes of transportation
and by other technology. This growth was
Of course, the authors used these guidelines in accelerated through the twentieth century,
their own ways. Therefore, each chapter is especially in connection with processes of
unique in that the content represents how the globalization and the capitalist promotion of
author has read the literature and incorpo- global spectacles presented through terrestrial
rated it into his or her approach to the topic in and satellite television. Guttmann sees both
question. capitalism and modern sports as outgrowths of
The following paragraphs provide brief the seventeenth-century scientific revolution in
sketches of each chapter. These sketches do not Europe, and he concludes by noting that dom-
summarize the content of the chapters as much inant global sport forms at the changeover to
as they provide a general sense of their sub- the third Christian millennium remain charac-
stantive and conceptual parameters. terized by the instrumental rationality associ-
ated with that revolution.
In his chapter on ‘Political Economy and
CHAPTER OVERVIEWS Sport’, George Sage clarifies the different
meanings of political economy as they have
Part Three begins with Allen Guttmann’s been used in classical, neoclassical and radical
chapter on ‘The Development of Modern theoretical approaches. Drawing on examples
242 KEY TOPICS

primarily from the United States, he discusses his introduction Whannel notes that work on
the political economy of mass sport, school sport and the media has been informed by
sports, intercollegiate sports and professional sociological and semiological traditions. The
sports. His discussions emphasize issues former has focused on the three major aspects
related to state intervention, access to sport of the communicative chain: production,
participation and the connections between message, and audience reception. The latter has
physical leisure activities, such as sport, and focused on the process of meaning production
work. He highlights issues related to sports as in terms of the organization and representa-
business and athletes as worker–entertainers tional issues underlying media images and dis-
and discusses topics of monopoly (one-seller courses. The major topics and debates
markets), monopsony (one-buyer markets) identified by Whannel include the processes of
and alienated labour and sport. Sage concludes commercialization and commodification that
with a discussion of global political economy have accompanied the development of media
in which he examines the organization and sport. He focuses much of his attention on
consequences of sporting goods production, issues related to commercial television cover-
especially in Asian and Latin American age and its impact on the production and con-
countries. sumption of sport around the world. Whannel
The chapter on education by Roger Rees and also summarizes work done on media sport
Andrew Miracle deals with ‘sport as educa- and the social construction of gender, race and
tion’ as well as ‘sport in education’. Rees and national identities. He takes care to note the
Miracle note that competitive sports are rarely ways in which media representations are
included as a formal part of school pro- implicated in power relations in connection
grammes, but that many people around the with each of these topics. In closing, Whannel
world believe that sports serve educational explains that much of the current and future
functions for athletes at all levels of participa- research on media sport has dealt and will
tion, especially during childhood and adoles- continue to deal with the topic of globalization
cence. After referring to data showing that and the topic of sport and the body.
educational functions are not automatically In the chapter ‘Theorizing Sport, Social Class
served by sport participation, they provide an and Status’, John Sugden and Alan Tomlinson
historical overview of how and why sport review and raise questions about ‘classical
became integrated into educational institutions theories of social stratification as they relate to
in Britain and the United States. Rees and sport’. They begin with a review of how sport
Miracle provide a general review of the litera- participation through history has reflected and
ture related to sports as ‘differentiating rituals’ constituted various forms of social differentia-
in schools and the role of sports in ‘consensual tion and associated systems of power and priv-
rituals’ designed to reaffirm social values in ilege. Their point is that the emergence and
the schools. On the basis of studies done pri- growth of modern sports cannot be under-
marily in the United States, they conclude that stood apart from the dynamics of social class.
there is little support for the notions that sport Sugden and Tomlinson then turn their atten-
significantly enhances the academic lives of tion to how analyses of sport, social class and
interscholastic athletes or that it serves as a status have been influenced by the stratifica-
positive force in school life. In closing, they tion theories of Talcott Parsons, Karl Marx and
provide a critique of research on sport and Max Weber. Their review highlights analyses
schooling. They highlight the need for research that have focused most directly on sport in
in countries other than the United States and society and provided the most useful models
the need for sports and sport participation to and concepts for understanding the multiple
be taken more seriously by researchers in the dimensions of power relations between social
sociology of education and in physical educa- classes and other status groups. They give spe-
tion. They suggest that sports in schools might, cial attention to work informed by Gramsci’s
under certain circumstances, be sites for pro- hegemony theory and by Weber’s notion that
gressive social transformation. power dynamics in society are grounded in
Garry Whannel’s chapter on ‘Sport and the political and social as well as economic factors.
Media’ outlines the theoretical and conceptual In connection with the latter body of work they
approaches that have informed past research, highlight Bourdieu’s analysis of sports and
identifies the major topics and debates that sport participation as related to a combination
have been discussed in much of the literature, of economic and cultural capital. Bourdieu’s
and highlights research trends that character- version of the concept of habitus is introduced
ize current work being done on the media. In to aid understanding of the implications and
 EDITORS’ INTRODUCTION 243

expressions of social class under the conditions being a symbol and tool of cultural imperialism
of complex and highly differentiated forms of to being a symbol of Creole nationalism. Jarvie
capitalism. Sugden and Tomlinson emphasize then notes that the development of black femi-
that future analyses of power relations nist writings on sport would help challenge
between classes and other status groups much of the existing work on sport and race.
should extend the hegemony thesis and build He also notes that there is a need for a new
on insights inspired by Bourdieu’s work. vocabulary that acknowledges the fluidity of
The chapter on ‘Gender and Sport’ high- identity, the social construction of race and eth-
lights topics and issues that have elicited con- nicity and the articulation of race and ethnicity
siderable attention since the publication in with other categories such as class and gender.
1981 of the Handbook of Social Science of Sport.1 He concludes with a discussion of race rela-
Nancy Theberge notes that early forms of mod- tions as a form of established-outsider rela-
ern sports celebrated a version of masculinity tions. Using work grounded in the ideas of
constructed around competitiveness, tough- Norbert Elias, Jarvie notes that race relations
ness and physical dominance, and thereby may be understood in terms of power relations
served as sites for the construction of gender among socially identified groups in a society,
difference. Although athletic women have and that research should focus on how some
challenged hegemonic masculinity at various groups come to impinge on and have power
points since the late nineteenth century, over other groups. Finally, he notes that future
women’s sports participation has occurred research and theorizing on race relations
usually in the face of numerous constraints must avoid anti-historical and universalistic
and has been characterized by ambiguities and approaches.
contradictions. Theberge discusses contempo- The chapter by Lincoln Allison explores the
rary ideological struggles by using examples complex connections between ‘Sport and
from women’s ice hockey, professional golf Nationalism’. Allison notes that as organized
and aerobics. Her examples illustrate, respec- games became institutionalized, starting in
tively, the issues of what counts as ‘real’ sport, Europe and North America, through the nine-
constraints maintained by homophobia, and teenth and early twentieth centuries, there was
sexualized images of women’s bodies. She also a tendency for national identities to be associ-
discusses men’s sports as sites for the produc- ated with teams, contests and sports. However,
tion of masculinity and relatively rare attempts despite the manner in which nationhood has
within men’s sports to challenge masculine been emphasized recently through the
hegemony. She emphasizes that race and class Olympics, television broadcasts of interna-
are implicated in the gender construction tional sports and the commercial sponsorship
process that occurs in association with certain of national sports teams, the connection
men’s sports, and she closes with a review of between sport and national identity is neither
issues related to the compulsory heterosexual- automatic nor exclusive. The representational
ity and homophobia that exist in women’s and dynamics constructed around sports and
men’s sports. Theberge notes in her conclusion sports teams may incorporate many identities
that gender has become and continues to be a other than those associated with national affil-
key topic in research on sport and society. iation. For example, sports and teams may rep-
Grant Jarvie’s chapter on ‘Sport, Racism and resent identities grounded in club affiliations,
Ethnicity’ focuses primarily on race relations, local and regional loyalties, ethnic and racial
black identity and black feminism as they are heritage, social class, religious affiliation
related to an understanding of sport in society. and/or political ideology. As he explores
He discusses how popular arguments about issues related to nationalism and patriotism,
sport, racism and ethnicity have contributed to Allison notes that there are no standard or uni-
general ideas about skin colour and physical versal relationships between national sport
abilities. This is followed by a discussion of and political nationalism. Using figurational
how the concept of race, combined with theory as a guide, he explains that the connec-
racism, has been used as an explanatory prin- tion between sport, national identity and
ciple in analyses of moral, cultural and social nationalism must be analysed on a case-
differences between people from different skin by-case basis. Each analysis must take into
colour and ethnic backgrounds. He critiques account historical as well as unique social and
neo-Marxist and post-Marxist research tradi- cultural forces that are characteristic of the case
tions, and highlights the work of C.L.R. James in question. Allison closes with a discussion of
(Beyond a Boundary)2 to show how sports in cer- national responses to globalization. He notes
tain cultural settings have come full circle from that the connections between issues of national
244 KEY TOPICS

identity and nationalism on the one hand, and the relationships between sports and societal
the globalization of sports, sport organizations integration, the transmission of values and the
and sport events on the other hand, have not reproduction of gender and gender relations.
been studied long enough to identify distinct He then focuses on the issue of social control in
patterns. He concludes with the observation sports. Special attention is given to the organi-
that even though sports are sites for many dif- zational control of athletes and conditions of
ferent expressions of national sentiments, we sports participation. Eitzen explains that offi-
may never fully know all we wish to know cials, coaches and participants play key roles in
about the subtle and complex relationships social control processes. He closes with a dis-
between these two spheres of social life. cussion of future research in which he notes
In the chapter on ‘Sport and Globalization’, that studies of social control will be informed
Joseph Maguire highlights the challenges faced increasingly by paradigms and epistemologies
when trying to understand processes of global emphasizing interpretive methodologies, con-
interconnectedness while recognizing that cepts related to processes of human agency,
these processes are manifested differently in and decentred models of social realities.
different locations. This challenge is met, he The topic of violence has long captured the
notes, when we avoid dichotomous thinking attention of social scientists studying sports.
and monocausal explanations, and when we The 1981 Handbook contained a chapter by
take into account both the intended and unin- Gladys Engel Lang entitled ‘Riotous Outbursts
tended actions of people and the gender in Sport Events’ in which she used collective
dynamics underlying the power relations asso- behaviour theory to describe and explain
ciated with those actions. Maguire develops spectator violence. Kevin Young’s chapter on
critiques of modernization, Americanization ‘Sport and Violence’ in this volume empha-
and dependency theories, and then uses a fig- sizes that the concept of ‘sports violence’ is
urational approach to make the case that glob- multidimensional and difficult to define.
alization is best understood as a balance and Young begins his chapter with an overview of
blend of ‘diminishing contrasts and increasing the diverse manifestations and explanations of
varieties’. This balance and blend emerges in crowd violence and of player violence. He also
connection with changing, regionally unique includes a brief discussion of other intention-
sets of power relations in which powerful ally abusive and injurious acts, such as off-the-
transnational actors play an important role. field assaults perpetrated by athletes or
Finally, using a framework that takes into coaches, that may be understood best in con-
account the process of state formation, func- nection with dominant sport forms in the
tional democratization and the civilizing cultures in which they occur. Secondly, Young
process, Maguire outlines five historical phases provides an overview of issues related to poli-
of ‘sportization’ during which various forms of cing sports violence. He discusses the topics of
achievement sport have spread increasingly deterrence, litigation and social control, and
around the globe. He concludes by noting that identifies the complex issues faced when
sportization, at all points in history, is a process attempts are made to sanction and control
in which power and identity are contested in sports violence through state intervention and
the context of emerging social figurations. the use of criminal law. Finally, Young reviews
In the chapter on ‘Social Control and Sport’ the diverse body of research on sports violence
Stan Eitzen explains how processes of social and the media. He notes that media effects are
control are implicated in any attempt to under- difficult to identify, but that the discourses and
stand the foundations of social order, the nor- images presented through the media constitute
mative context of individual behaviour and a significant aspect of popular sport experi-
group life, or the expression and identification ences in many societies today. In his conclu-
of deviance in social life. He notes that norma- sion, Young summarizes the approaches that
tive conformity in social life is grounded in a hold the most promise for explaining various
combination of ideological and direct social aspects of sports violence, and he makes sug-
control. Ideological social control occurs pri- gestions for future research.
marily through socialization and operates at ‘Sport and health’ has usually been discussed
the level of individual consciousness. Direct in physiological terms. Ivan Waddington, how-
social control involves various forms of inter- ever, provides a sociological discussion of this
vention that impact on behaviour and relation- topic in his chapter. He begins with a critical
ships. Eitzen then identifies the ways in which assessment of pervasive twentieth-century
sports may be involved in both these forms beliefs about the health benefits of sports par-
of social control. He gives special attention to ticipation. He notes that these beliefs have been
 EDITORS’ INTRODUCTION 245

associated with the emergence of an ethos of surrounding the segregation and integration of
the healthy body and an associated ideology of people with disabilities in sports competitions.
‘healthism’ in many countries. This ideology Secondly, Nixon deals with issues related to
has significant political implications in that it disablement through sport. This section of the
identifies health as a matter of personal respon- chapter provides a useful complement to key
sibility to the point that external sources of points made in Waddington’s chapter on
health problems are often underplayed in ‘health’, Young’s chapter on ‘violence’, and
public consciousness and policy. He also draws Lüschen’s chapter on ‘doping’. Nixon dis-
attention to the contradiction between public cusses pain and injury as they are related to
beliefs about the health benefits of sports and gender, the culture of high-performance sports
the widespread sponsorship of commercial and the provision of medical care for athletes.
sports by tobacco companies. The theme He also discusses briefly the links between the
around which Waddington organizes much of use of performance-enhancing substances,
his critical discussion is that it is necessary to chronic injuries and disability. He concludes
distinguish between moderate, rhythmic forms with a discussion of injuries in youth sports
of exercise done by individuals, and forms of and school sports in the United States. In this
competitive sports in which participation final section he notes the difficulties in gather-
occurs in connection with other people. ing data on injuries and the need for more
Further, it is necessary to distinguish between accurate tracking of sports injuries and their
various types and levels of sport participation. impact on the lives of young people.
In the case of high-performance sports there is In the chapter on ‘Body Studies in the
a dubious connection between sport and Sociology of Sport’, Cheryl Cole provides a
health. Stress injuries, overuse injuries and the review of what she describes as ‘broad,
expectation that athletes play with pain and diverse, and theoretically incongruent investi-
injury are common in such sports. The health gations of the body and sport’. She divides her
risks of participation are greatest in heavy con- review into three sections: the modern sporting
tact sports and in those sports where male par- body, deviant and/or transgressive bodies and
ticipants use their bodies as weapons and commodified bodies. In the first section she
define violence and aggression as expressions summarizes the literature on sport and the
of masculinity. Waddington concludes by body. She focuses on how sport and the mod-
emphasizing that it is difficult to generalize ern athletic body are involved in the constitu-
about the relationship between sport and tion of individual, group and national
health. He notes that discussions of this topic identities; how science and technology are
should identify the type and level of sport par- involved in the production of modern sporting
ticipation, the extent to which individuals have bodies; and how modernist moral discourses
control over their participation and the forms of frame different athletic bodies. In the second
exercise involved in the sport. section, Cole discusses how athletic bodies
The chapter on ‘Sport and Disability’ covers come to be inscribed as deviant or serve to
a range of topics that are relatively new to dis- push and challenge dominant ideas about
cussions of sport and society. Howard Nixon nature and the natural order when they are not
begins the chapter with explanations of the compatible with a discourse that assumes uni-
terms ‘impairment’, ‘disability’ and ‘handicap’ versal humanity and an essential notion of
and he makes conceptual distinctions between bodily perfection. Finally, Cole discusses sport-
‘temporary disability’ caused by acute sport ing bodies as they have been constituted and
injury and ‘permanent disability’ due to commodified in the sphere of industrial capi-
chronic impairment caused by factors outside talism. In this section she synthesizes investi-
sport. Being ‘handicapped’, he notes, is gations into the political implications of bodily
grounded in social processes through which a practices and celebrity bodies in sports.
person is discredited and stigmatized. The Through her entire review of the literature,
main body of the chapter is divided into two Cole raises questions about when, why, how
parts. In the first part Nixon deals with issues and to what ends the body is investigated in
related to disability and handicap in sport. He the sociology of sport.
discusses the exclusion and the participation The chapter ‘Doping in Sport as Deviant
barriers faced by people with certain disabili- Behavior and Its Social Control’ deals with
ties, and he describes the Special Olympics and what Günther Lüschen defines as one of
the Paralympics as examples of sports the key ‘social problems’ issues in sport at
designed to accommodate disabilities. He also the beginning of the twenty-first century.
outlines the complex and contentious issues Lüschen begins the chapter with a discussion
246 KEY TOPICS

of the social structure of doping in sport. He explains that emotions are related clearly to the
highlights the difficulties encountered by those formation and expression of sexual identities
who have attempted to define what constitutes in and through sports. She reviews informa-
doping by athletes, and he points out that def- tion on sports spectating and nostalgia and
initions have changed over time and from one notes that sports serve as sites for emotional
governing body to another. Lüschen explains experiences and expressions as well as sites for
that drug use among athletes has increased as the formation of emotional attachments to
there have been increases in access to sub- teams and athletes. She closes with a discus-
stances and in the stakes associated with com- sion of future research and the need for inter-
petitive outcomes; as usage has increased so pretive, biographical and phenomenological
have efforts to test for and control doping studies that focus specifically on emotions.
among athletes. Lüschen makes the case that Such studies are needed to increase our under-
doping in sport raises sociological issues standing of cultural and social variations in
related to deviance and social control. Using a emotional expression, disciplinary technolo-
classical sociological framework, he maintains gies and the management of emotions, emo-
that doping is clearly an example of deviant tional socialization and the links between
behaviour that not only jeopardizes the essen- emotional expression and moral behaviour in
tial character of ‘sport as contest’ but that also sports.
raises questions about the moral legitimacy of The chapter on ‘Management, Organizations
sport and sports organizations. He then uses and Theory in the Governance of Sport’ identi-
classical deviance theory to explain doping in fies and evaluates applied work and theory
sport and the rationalization of doping by ath- related to the management of public, quasi-
letes and sports authorities. Using social con- public and voluntary sporting organizations in
trol theory he notes that the containment of countries with developed economies. Ian
doping in sport depends on a combination of Henry and Eleni Theodoraki note that an
external and internal controls. After identify- understanding of sports organizations depends
ing the forms that these controls might take, on a general understanding of the overall
Lüschen outlines the issues and problems asso- social and cultural context of the industrialized
ciated with putting an international social con- societies in which the organizations are most
trol system into place as well as the necessity of prevalent. The shift during the 1980s and 1990s
having such a system. In his final section, from a cultural emphasis on social democracy
Lüschen reviews and critiques data on the and the provision of welfare services to an
magnitude of doping in sport. His conclusion emphasis on liberal individualism and the
emphasizes that doping in sport remains a privatization of public leisure services has
problem that is most accurately and effectively changed the context in which many sports
conceptualized in sociological terms. organizations exist. Henry and Theodoraki
The chapter on ‘Sport and Emotions’ deals point out that few people have done applied
with what Mary Duquin describes as the research on sports management but that there
multisensual epicentre of sport. Duquin makes have been studies of sports organizations in a
the case that emotions must be considered in few countries. After reviewing this work, they
analyses of the cultural, social and personal present an empirical analysis of the structural
impact of sport. Although the topic of emo- characteristics of all national governing bodies
tions has been considered only recently in (NGBs) recognized by the British Sports
research on sport and society, past research on Council (now Sport England). Although this
identity formation and expression provides analysis is limited to sporting organizations in
useful information on emotions and sport. As Britain, the authors provide a model of organi-
Duquin notes, there is research on emotions zational structures that is useful for construct-
and emotional displays used as markers of ing taxonomies of sports organizations in
meaning, values and identity at the cultural other countries. They note that the structures
level. Research on sport subcultures has of sports organizations vary widely and that
described the control and expression of emo- management dynamics in these organizations
tion as a key part of the dynamics of competi- are highly dependent on how they are
tion and teamwork. Research on the funded. Recent trends in these sports organiza-
structuring and restructuring of self-identities tions include a more professionalized, market-
in connection with sports highlights the facts oriented approach to management that reflects
that memories are grounded in emotions and a shift from social sporting goals to the finan-
that feelings make sport experiences and cial goals of economic efficiency and economic
events significant in people’s lives. Duquin return. Henry and Theodoraki conclude by
 EDITORS’ INTRODUCTION 247

noting that future organizational research will presented as a global media event by US cable
focus on various manifestations of this shift to network ESPN. He notes that the media cover-
‘new managerialist’ approaches in different age of these extreme sport forms has led many
local and national contexts. to see them as typical of alternative sports. His
In the chapter on ‘Emerging Arriving Sports: analysis leads him to identify eight contentious
Alternatives to Formal Sports’, Robert issues that commonly exist in connection with
Rinehart focuses attention on new sport forms new alternative sport forms. Among these
that various commentators and social scientists issues are resisting incorporation into main-
have referred to as alternative, lifestyle, whiz, stream sports, maintaining authenticity and
panic and extreme. He notes that these diverse legitimacy, defining the status of participants,
physical activities raise challenging questions dealing with corporate sponsorships, control-
for those concerned with defining sport. ling images and events and struggling over
Throughout the chapter Rinehart identifies forms of exclusion grounded in sexism, racism
numerous sport forms that might be consid- and homophobia. In his conclusion Rinehart
ered ‘alternative’ because they ‘have not suggests that new sport forms offer opportuni-
gained widespread attention from mainstream ties for research into youth cultures where an
audiences’. Generally, these sport forms con- emphasis on music, opposition, freedom and
sist of activities that have emerged and taken thrills informs action, relationships and
shape in connection with the lifestyles and lifestyles.
experiences of those who do them. The fact
that these activities exist outside traditional,
institutionalized administrative structures is NOTES
part of what makes them attractive to parti-
cipants and interesting to social scientists. 1 G. Lüschen and G. Sage (eds), Handbook of
Many new sport forms are associated with Social Science of Sport (Champaign, IL:
youth culture and anti-mainstream impulses. Stipes, 1981); see also discussion of this vol-
Participants tend to emphasize the experience ume in the General Introduction.
of participation rather than competitive out- 2 C.L.R. James, Beyond a Boundary (London:
comes or external rewards. Rinehart gives spe- Stanley Paul, 1963).
cial attention to the X Games, created and
 15
THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN SPORTS

Allen Guttmann

Although the descriptions and the paradig- quest for records (Guttmann 1978, 1988). Seen
matic explanations of the difference varied, from this perspective, eighteenth-century
the ‘grand theorists’ of sociology – Comte, England is the birthplace of modern sports
Marx, Toennies, Durkheim, Weber, Parsons, (Kloeren, 1935; Krockow, 1972; Mandell, 1976,
and Elias – all shared the conviction that there 1984; Schöffler, 1935). Both interpretations of
is a fundamental difference between modern the origins of modern sports deserve to be
society and the earlier forms of social organi- taken seriously, but a more persuasive case can
zation from which modern society evolved. be made for the second.
Premodern and modern sports exemplify that
difference more clearly than most institutions.
Among the ‘grand theorists’, Elias is the only
one to have written extensively on sports (Elias
RENAISSANCE SPORTS
and Dunning, 1986). He – like Marx (Wohl,
1973) and Weber (Guttmann, 1978) – has The transition from medieval to Renaissance
inspired a number of historical analyses of the sports is a textbook instance of ‘the civilizing
development of modern sports (Dunning, process’ (Elias, 1969). Medieval sports tended
1973; Dunning and Rojek, 1992; Dunning and to be quite violent; the sports of the
Sheard, 1979; Eichberg, 1978; Guttmann, 1986; Renaissance tended not to be. At the top of the
Stokvis, 1979). social hierarchy as at the bottom, there was a
Historians disagree about the origins of shift in emphasis from ‘force to finesse’ (Mehl,
modern sports. Their assertions about time 1993: 21). The twelfth-century tournament,
and place depend in large measure upon which was the aristocracy’s favorite sport, was
which of the formal-structural characteristics a loosely organized and poorly regulated mêlée
of modern sports they emphasize. Some, influ- that took place in open fields and meadowland.
enced by the ‘figurational sociology’ of Elias It claimed an extraordinary toll in dead and
(1969), have stressed the relative absence, wounded knights. Folk football, the medieval
in modern sports, of interpersonal violence peasantry’s holiday pastime, was similarly
on and off the field of play (Dunning, 1973; violent. It was described by Sir Thomas Elyot –
Dunning and Sheard, 1979). A strong case from the perspective of a Renaissance gentle-
can be made, from this perspective, for man – as ‘beastly fury, and extreme violence’
Renaissance Italy and France as the birthplace (Guttmann, 1986: 49). Twentieth-century stu-
of modern sports (Krüger and McClelland, dents of Elias characterize the British version of
1984). Other scholars, influenced by Weber’s folk football as ‘savage brawls’ engendering
analysis of the ‘disenchantment of the world’ ‘excitement akin to that aroused in battle’
and the dominance of ‘instrumental ration- (Dunning and Sheard, 1979: 25). Like the
ality’ (1920, 1922), have stressed such medieval tournament, the peasant’s sport usu-
formal-structural characteristics as secularism, ally took place in the countryside.
equality, rationalization, specialization, In the course of approximately three hun-
bureaucratization, quantification, and the dred years, these two sports were transformed
 THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN SPORTS 249

into strictly regulated contests closer to The fascination with geometrical space that
theatrical performances than to pitched battles. one observes in the game of calcio was even
In France, where the literary myths of Tudor more obvious in the Renaissance fencer’s art.
England exerted a powerful influence on the Treatises on the sport emphasized the aesthetic
tournament, the bloody combats of the appeal of the fencer’s elegant movements.
medieval mêlée evolved into highly conven- Camillo Agrippa’s Trattato di Scientia d’Arme
tionalized dramatic reenactments of the adven- (1533) and Girard Thibault’s L’Académie de l’e-
tures of King Arthur and the knights of the spée (1627) were, for instance, illustrated by
Round Table, with ingeniously designed numerous diagrams of the appropriate posi-
pageant cars and with gorgeous stage sets for tions to take before, during and after a match
lords and ladies impersonating Lancelot and (Eichberg, 1977, 1978). For his copperplate
Tristram, Gawain and Percival, Guinevere and print The Fencing Hall (1608), Willem
Morgan le Fay. By the late Renaissance, ‘ring Swanenburgh arranged his fencers around a
tournaments’ were popular and the clash of complicated geometrical pattern drawn in the
sword against armor had become the tinkle of middle of a tiled floor.
a lance as it speared a brass ring. The French To be fully effective, demonstrations of
were the leaders, but the English and the proper appearance require spectators to
Germans soon followed (Ariès and Margolin, appreciate them. The relationship between
1982; Fleckenstein, 1985). By the sixteenth Renaissance contest and spectacle is nicely
century, the English tournament was ‘a high- encapsulated in the era’s most influential con-
light of Elizabethan courtly life, but it was a duct book, Baldesar Castiglione’s Il Cortegiano
spectacle and a pageant, not a . . . realistic (1528). How should the courtier behave when
preparation for war’ (Vale, 1977: 11). at play? He should ‘strive to be as elegant and
In Italy, the peasant’s rough version of foot- handsome in the exercise of arms as he is
ball was reshaped into the Florentine gentle- adroit, and to feed his spectators’ eyes with all
man’s calcio, an urban game played in the those things that he thinks may give him
Piazza di Sante Croce. A contemporary print added grace’. He should ‘attract the eyes of the
depicts the church and its square, the sur- spectators even as the lodestone attracts iron’
rounding buildings, the rectangular playing (Castiglione (trans. Singleton), 1959: 99–100).
field and the stands, the low fence that sur- Not all Renaissance sports were character-
rounded the field, and the pikemen whose ized by the shift from force to finesse, by the
threatening presence indicated the limits of focus on appearance and decorum. French
‘the civilizing process’ (Heywood, 1904: facing peasants continued for generations to struggle
p. 170). for possession of a football ‘like dogs battling
In conducting the Renaissance tournament for a bone’ (Bouet, 1968: 257) and the humbler
and the game of calcio, a great deal of attention citizens of Venice fought with their fists to
was paid to the participants’ social status and seize or defend the bridges that spanned the
appearance. The Great Tournament Roll of city’s canals and linked its neighborhoods
Westminister commemorates a tournament (Davidsohn, 1927: vol. 4: 284–6; Gori, 1993;
staged by Henry VIII in 1511 to celebrate the Körbs, 1938: 13-15). None the less, the sports of
birth of his son by Catherine of Aragon. Thirty the aristocrat – if not those of the commoner –
of the Roll’s 36 pictures illustrate the entry and were submitted to the dictates of instrumental
exit processions of the splendidly colorful rationality. They were more carefully regu-
knights and their grandly caparisoned mounts; lated, far more standardized, more frequently
just three of the pictures are devoted to the marked by technical innovation, and much
jousts between Henry and his opponents more ‘civilized’ than medieval sports had
(Anglo, 1968). Heraldic devices certified the been.
aristocratic lineage of every participant. The Whether or not the transition ‘from force to
proper presentation of a game of calcio finesse’ allows us to conclude that modern
required a similar awareness of social status sports began in the Renaissance (Krüger and
and appearance. In his Discorso sopra il Giuoco McClelland, 1984) depends on one’s concep-
del Calcio Fiorentino (1580), Giovanni de’ Bardi tion of modern sports. If the crucial difference
specified that the contestants should be ‘gen- is pervasive quantification and the quest for
tlemen, from eighteen years of age to forty- records made possible by quantification, then
five, beautiful and vigorous, of gallant bearing the origins of modern sports can be traced
and good report’. The gentlemen players back no farther than the early eighteenth
should wear ‘goodly raiment and seemly, well century. There were, of course, instances of the
fitting and handsome’ (Heywood, 1904: 166–7; quantification of results even in antiquity, in
Mommsen, 1941). Roman chariot races if not at the Olympic
250 KEY TOPICS

Games. Rühl has, moreoever, uncovered some of exercise, but dressage has been modernized
long-forgotten evidence of quantification in ‘by the introduction of a point system’;
medieval sports; the victors at tournaments Eichberg, 1980: 362). ‘Messen’, in contrast, was
were determined by the number of points strikingly observable in the English passion for
accumulated over the course of a series of horse races, for which the stopwatch was used
jousts (Rühl, 1986, 1993). Calcio players scored as early as 1731.
points and Renaissance archery matches, An older generation of German historians
which were immensely popular among the (Kloeren, 1935; Schöffler, 1935) emphasized the
nascent bourgeoisie, also required an element English origins of modern sports, but more
of quantification. None of these instances of recent German scholarship has called attention
quantification remotely resembles the modern to the transition from ‘Maß’ to ‘Messen’ that
passion for precise measurement and statisti- occurred in German schools like the one estab-
cal permutations. lished by C.G. Salzmann at Schnepfenthal in
And none of these instances prompted the 1784 (Bernett, 1971; Eichberg, 1974a, 1974b). At
use of quantified results as a way to set a sports these elite academies, boys were encouraged to
record, which can, in fact, be defined as the run, leap, throw, swim and climb. Their achieve-
best recorded quantified achievement. (The ments were carefully recorded. As Salzmann
use of the term in this sense dates from the late wrote of J.C.F. GutsMuths, who taught with him
nineteenth century.) McClelland notes cor- at Schnepfenthal, ‘Herr GutsMuths keeps faith-
rectly that Renaissance humanists urged the ful records of these exercises and that allows
emulation of antiquity, but the mere emulation him to judge to the fraction of an inch what each
of ancient athletic feats fails to warrant the pupil’s strength can achieve and how much it
claim that ‘the quest for records [was] already increases from week to week’ (Bernett, 1971: 75).
present, unnoticed in its embryonal state’ While there is no doubt that educators like
(Krüger and McClelland, 1984: 11). Without Salzmann and GutsMuths were enchanted by
systematic quantification and the comparison the possibilities of measurement, they were
of quantified results, there was simply no way humanistically inclined and not particularly
to establish sports records. This fact must be interested in competition. Looking at ice-
emphasized. Like the Greeks whom they skaters, G.U.A. Vieth observed, ‘Beginners are
admired, Renaissance theorists tended to con- enticed by races on the ice, but competition is
ceptualize the world in static geometric forms not a good thing; the effort to skate faster
in accordance with ‘a metaphysics of finite- destroys all the beauty of the activity’ (Eichberg,
ness’; modern sports, on the contrary, ‘are 1974b: 27). In the long run, men like Salzmann,
associated . . . with the theory of progress’ GutsMuths and Vieth contributed little to the
(Ullmann, 1971: 336). Beyond every sports development of modern sports.
record lies, potentially, another record. The next generation of German physical
educators actually retarded that development.
Friedrich Ludwig Jahn and the Turnbewegung
THE EIGHTEENTH AND NINETEENTH (‘gymnastics movement’) that he inspired
represented a romantic ‘return to nature’ that
CENTURIES was quite hostile to the notion of quantified
achievement (Jahn, 1884–5). Citing some
A great deal of the difference between of the symbols of modern sports, Harro
Renaissance and modern sports is suggested Hagen, twentieth-century spokesman for the
by two German terms, ‘Maß’ and ‘Messen’, Turnbewegung, urged the renunciation of ‘con-
both translated by the English word ‘measure’. crete stadium, cinder track, tape-measure, stop-
The first term refers to a sense of balance or watch, manicured lawn, and track shoes. ... In
proportion; the second to numerical measure- their place comes the simple meadow, free
ments. The two terms differ as geometry dif- nature’ (Eichberg, 1973: 120). Hagen’s views
fers from arithmetic. ‘Maß’ was demonstrated were typical. ‘It is no accident’, wrote Edmund
by the fancy equestrian ballets popular during Neuendorff, national leader of the Deutsche
the late Renaissance, in which French or Italian Turnerschaft (German Gymnastics Association),
horsemen guided their mounts through a that modern sports ‘originated in England,
series of pirouettes and other dance steps. In a land without music or metaphysics’
fact, the ‘geometric character’ of equestrian (Neuendorff, 1934: vol. 4: 474).
ballet was inspired by and derived from the Neuendorff was right about the origins of
movements of the pavane and other grave and modern sports (if not about the nullity of
stately dances (Eichberg, 1978: 33). (The English music and metaphysics). Most of the
Olympic sport of dressage is a relic of this kind formal-structural characteristics of modern
 THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN SPORTS 251

sports (Dunning, 1973; Guttmann, 1978) can be The revolutions in transportation and
identified in eighteenth-century England communication that are a staple of every his-
(where there was a striking concern for quan- torical account of the nineteenth century accel-
tification and for records; Kloeren, 1935). erated the formation of national sports
Whether or not the English enthusiasm for organizations. England’s incipiently bureau-
sports was driven by a mania for gambling, cratic Football Association (1863) was among
which is what many foreign observers the first. It was quickly followed by the Rugby
thought, is debatable. Football Union (1871) and by national organi-
The rationalization of sports took many zations for swimming (1874), boxing (1880),
forms. As the passion for sports spread track and field (1880), rowing (1882) and
throughout English society, rules were codi- cycling (1884). In the United States, the 22-club
fied. James Broughton, the century’s most National Association of Base Ball Players was
famous pugilist, established the rules of his formed in 1859, only 15 years after Alexander
combat sport in 1743 and introduced the use of Cartwright established the rules of the game
the glove (for gentlemen amateurs) in 1747 (Seymour, 1960; Goldstein, 1989). By 1876, the
(Brailsford, 1988). The written rules for cricket United States was technologically advanced
also date from this period when, for instance, enough for a group of businessmen to form an
the dimensions of the bat and the pitch were eight-team National League of Professional
specified and niceties like the leg-before- Base Ball Clubs. A coast-to-coast rail network
wicket dismissal were mentioned. The first made it a simple matter for teams as distant as
complete set of cricket rules appeared in 1744, the Chicago White Sox and the New York
which was also the first year from which we Highlanders to compete on a regular basis. The
have records of a fully scored match. invention of the telegraph made it possible for
Rules are useless without a means to enforce news of the results to be flashed from city to
them. Two of the most important organizations city. Technological innovations like the lino-
in the history of modern sports were the Jockey type and photogravure enabled newspapers to
Club (1752) and the Marylebone Cricket Club publicize these results within hours of the end
(1787). Both organizations were initially domi- of the contest.
nated by members of the aristocracy whose Technological advances also transformed the
ambitions were national rather than local. To implements with which the game was played.
bring order into the sport of thoroughbred rac- Every modern sport, from skiing to rollerskat-
ing, James Weatherby, who was the Jockey ing, experienced this transformation. Cycling
Club’s secretary, treasurer, solicitor and stake- is a perfect example of this process. The sport
holder, began in 1769 to publish the Racing began in 1817, when Karl Freiherr von Drais,
Calendar (Birley, 1993: 136). Neither organiza- an eccentric German nobleman, invented a
tion was able to achieve complete control of its simple two-wheeled device propelled by alter-
sport until well into the next century, but a nate thrusts of the foot against the ground. By
start was made, which is more than can be said mid-century, propulsion came by means of
of boxing (Brailsford, 1988; Brookes, 1978; pedals attached to the axel of a large front
Vamplew, 1976). wheel. In 1880, the Tangent and Coventry
Whatever the intentions of the Jockey Club, Tricycle Company introduced the chain drive.
eighteenth-century transportation was inade- A year later, Erneste Michaux built a factory to
quate to ‘nationalize’ horse races, most of which mass produce bicycles for a booming market.
remained purely local affairs for farm animals John Boyd Dunlop invented a pneumatic tire
ridden by their owners. In 1836, Lord George in 1888 and the brothers Michelin outdid him,
Bentinck introduced the horse-drawn van to in 1891, with one that was tubeless and easily
carry thoroughbreds from venue to venue. Four detachable. By this time, the dangerously
years later, railroads began to transport them (as unstable ‘high wheeler’ was replaced by the
well as the tens of thousands of spectators eager ‘safety bike’, which had two wheels of equal
to spend ‘a day at the races’) (Vamplew, 1979). size (McGurn, 1987; Vigarello, 1988: 15–18).
William Clarke’s cricket team, the All-England Rowing was similarly transformed by rapid
Eleven, took to the rails in 1846 (Brookes, 1978: nineteenth-century invention. The clumsy
101; Sissons, 1988: 10–11). Steamboats did for oaken boats in which London’s eighteenth-
international competition what the railroad did century ferrymen competed for Thomas
for national. Thanks to the introduction of regu- Doggett’s Coat and Badge (1715) became the
larly scheduled transatlantic steamers in 1841, lightweight modern scull. ‘A typical boat in
teams of touring English cricketers were able to 1820 ... was thirty-five feet long, weighed 700
depart for North America in 1859 and Australia pounds, and ... seated ten rowers. ... In con-
in 1862 (Brailsford, 1991). trast, a typical shell in 1865, made of paper-thin
252 KEY TOPICS

Spanish cedar with a single plank to a side, are the rule.) The spatial parallel to the set time
was forty feet long, weighed only 35 pounds, within which a contest must come to a conclu-
and ... seated one rower’ (Johns, 1983: 25–6). sion is the set distance which is to be traversed
The iron outrigger, invented by Henry Clasper in the shortest possible time (which, by the end
in 1845, and the sliding seat were important of the nineteenth century, was frequently mea-
innovations. They efficiently transformed the sured to the hundredth of a second).
oarsman’s muscular efforts into a forward Many premodern sports occurred in a space
motion unthinkable in Doggett’s time of their own, which was often considered
(Halladay, 1991; Wigglesworth, 1992). sacred. Antiquity’s Olympic Games and the
The difference between the ferryman’s awk- sacrificial ballgames of the Aztec and Mayan
ward boat and the oarsman’s streamlined scull cultures are two examples of this. Other sports,
is symbolic of the specialization that is another like the footraces that took place on the occa-
fundamental characteristic of modern sports. sion of a medieval fair, took place wherever a
Folk football included ‘elements of what later suitable ground was to be found. Modern
became highly specialized games’ such as soc- sports are almost invariably played in a spe-
cer, rugby, field hockey and American football cially designated and designed space that is
(Dunning, 1973). Within the American version poorly adapted to any other activity. In some
of the game, there was further specialization in cases, the site is either a natural one, as in surf-
that the players were distributed among eleven ing, or one that has been constructed in imita-
offensive and eleven defensive positions (to tion of nature, as in golf. In most cases,
which, in the twentieth century, were added however, the modern ‘field’ of play is a geo-
still other playing positions occupied by metrically designed artefact.
members of the ‘specials’ teams). Other sports The Football Association determined that
revealed other kinds of specialization. The soccer be played on a rectangular ground. The
rules of golf do not stipulate offensive and vertical goalpost bar was added in 1875, the
defensive players, but every golfer relies on a sidelines seven years later. During the late
variety of specialized clubs designed for a vari- nineteenth century, the Scots architect
ety of different situations and conditions. Archibald Leitch constructed the familiar
Among the specialized roles of modern doubledecker grandstands at Ibrox, Hampden,
sports is that of the sports physiologist. As Stamford Bridge, Villa Park, Old Trafford, and
preparation for sports participation became other sites. Terraces were in place before 1900.
increasingly scientific, physiologists began to Executive boxes were a twentieth-century
study athletes’ bodies in order to explain their addition (Bale, 1993, 1994). Nineteenth-century
superior performances. By the end of the cen- baseball, which was a more complexly quanti-
tury, they were able to use the results of their fied game than the various codes of football,
study to guide athletes to still better perfor- was less modern than soccer in that the ‘parks’
mances (Hoberman, 1992). Journalists began to in which the game was played were an odd
refer to athletes as ‘perfected machines’ (upon mix of premodern and modern ludic spaces.
which coaches and trainers were expected to The four bases were symmetrically situated
work in the spirit of mechanical engineers). and the field of play was bounded to the right
Discussions of strategy and tactics resembled and left by a pair of symmetrical foul lines
the time and motion studies of Fredrick radiating from home plate, but there was no
Winslow Taylor. outer boundary and the ‘outfield’ of each ball
Time and space were measured with increas- park had its own unique configuration.
ing precision and they were both reconceptual- During the sixteenth and seventeenth
ized. The duration of the game of folk football centuries, hundreds of ball houses were con-
was determined, more often than not, by the structed for the elaborate indoor raquet games
time it took to establish a winner. While this that were the precursors of modern tennis, but
remains true in many modern sports, like ten- most premodern sports were played outdoors.
nis and golf, modern team games typically last The nineteenth century saw a proliferation of
for a predetermined number of minutes. buildings specifically designed for swimming,
Nineteenth-century players could interrupt the bowling, ice skating, roller skating and other
flow of time with a ‘time out’, but there was an sports (Eichberg, 1988). Indeed, basketball
inexorable clock that stopped the game even if was invented by James Naismith in 1891 in
it was a scoreless tie. (Among team games, order to provide members of the Springfield,
cricket, baseball, and volleyball are temporal Massachusetts, YMCA with an indoors game
exceptions; soccer, rugby, American and that could be played despite New England’s
Australian rules football, basketball, field inclement winter weather (Guttmann, 1988:
hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse and team handball 70–4; Peterson, 1990).
 THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN SPORTS 253

Abstraction is still another aspect of rational- individual games and a won–lost matrix
ization. Many objects underwent what indicating the position of each team on any
Vigarello (1988) terms ‘déréalisation’. Mimetic given day of the season (Seymour, 1960).
archery targets that looked like animals were
transformed into abstract fields formed by con-
centric circles. In track-and-field sports, hedges
became hurdles, streams became shallow rec-
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
tangular pools of water, the hammer became a
ball and chain. The steed upon which the Throughout the twentieth century, modern
Renaissance acrobat performed equestrian sports have experienced an acceleration of
stunts became the nineteenth-century gym- change without a fundamental shift in direc-
nast’s wooden ‘horse’. Innovations of this sort tion. The measurement of times and distances
allowed the standardization required for has become increasingly precise. Hand-held
equality of opportunity. stopwatches have been replaced by digital
Rationalization also altered the means by clocks, and tape-measures by electronic scan-
which champions were selected. While it is still ners. At the Olympic Games celebrated in
the custom to declare a boxer ‘champion of the Munich (1972), swimmers were timed to the
world’ on the basis of a challenge bout, it is thousandth of a second in a pool where lanes
typical of modern team sports to determine differed in length by no more than half a
championships by a fixed number of contests centimeter. In team games, the quantification
that take place in the course of a ‘knock-out’ or of achievement has progressed to the point
‘round-robin’ tournament or in the course of where multifactor regression formulae can be
an entire season of play. In the early years of used to calculate the ‘productivity’ of each
baseball, teams like the New York Mutuals player. The quantification of modern sports
challenged teams like the Brooklyn Atlantics to is an ideal basis for computer games based
a friendly match. After a summer of play, a on statistical probabilities. At Microsoft’s
team might claim to be the best in the nation, research center, computer programmers have
but there was no satisfactory way to test the developed an electronic baseball game that
claim. The solution was to create a league in will have three hundred different statistical
which every team plays every other team a set categories (Katz, 1995).
number of times each season. To arrange for The rationalization of facilities and equip-
each of eight baseball teams to play each of ment has also continued. Nineteenth-century
seven other teams twenty-two times a summer runners were content to race on cinder tracks,
over an area as large as the entire northeast the first of which was constructed in London in
quarter of the United States required a consid- 1867, but their descendants compete on scien-
erable facility with numbers. Today, after the tifically designed artificial surfaces. The ‘con-
increase in the number of teams and the expan- tainerization’ of ludic space has gone so far
sion of baseball, basketball, football and ice that baseball games, once played on summer’s
hockey leagues across the entire American con- grassy fields, can now take place in late
tinent, a computer is required to schedule the October in immense domed stadia constructed
times and places of the contests. at the cost of hundreds of millions of dollars
The mathematics necessary simply to sched- (Bale, 1993; Eichberg, 1988). Although the craft
ule a season or to arrange for the World Cup that won the first America’s Cup, in 1851, was
are of no interest to the average sports fan, but constructed to race rather than to carry com-
the statistics of the game have an unbreakable mercial cargoes, it seems almost as archaic as a
hold on the modern fan’s imagination. Cricket, Greek trireme when it is compared to the com-
with the number of runs scored and the num- puter-modelled boats that now compete for the
ber of wickets taken, is a good example of trophy. It is, in fact, difficult to think of a mod-
this; baseball is a still better one. The spatial ern sport whose equipment has not been
separation of the players on the field and the changed by the introduction of new materials
specialization of their roles facilitated the accu- and new designs.
mulation of accurate individual and team sta- Technological innovation has continued to
tistics. The numerical aspects of the game – produce new sports. Bicycles were followed by
three strikes, four balls, three outs, four bases, automobiles and airplanes, which meant,
nine innings, 154 games – provided the oppor- inevitably, races to see which automobile was
tunity for infinitely varied arithmetical cal- the fastest, which airplane was able to fly
culations. Nineteenth-century newspapers faster, higher or farther. Whether one looks
responded eagerly to the passion for statistical at a phenomenon as complicated as the
data and quickly introduced ‘box scores’ of Indianapolis 500 or at an object as simple as
254 KEY TOPICS

the vaulter’s fiberglass pole, the importance of Crystal Palace Exhibition, were common (and
technology is obvious. two of the first three modern Olympics took
Athletes are now ‘engineered’ as intensely as place, to their detriment, as constituent parts of
their facilities and equipment. The scientific a world fair).
study of the human body and its movements is The IOC was hardly a modern bureaucratic
rightly thought to be an essential part of the organization. Coubertin named the first
quest for the most efficient athletic perfor- members and the committee has, ever since,
mance (Hoberman, 1992). Trial and error have elected its own members. For decades, the IOC
been replaced by systematic study. German sci- was composed mainly of titled aristocrats
entists led the way in the scientific selection whose accomplishments as horsemen and
and training of potential champions. To gain marksmen exceeded their competence as
admission to East Germany’s Sportschulen, sports administrators. None the less, the prin-
where elite athletes were produced en masse, ciple of regularly occurring international com-
children submitted to ten days of tests that petition was established.
determined, among other things, the ratio of In the course of the twentieth century, simi-
red blood cells to white. (The higher the per- lar organizations were established for dozens
centage of red cells, the greater the potential of other modern sports. The most important of
for aerobic sports.) Once accepted, the children them were those created to govern Association
were trained by a centralized sports bureau- football (soccer), swimming and diving, and
cracy determined to enhance their nation’s track and field: the Fédération Internationale
prestige by winning international competi- de Football Association (1904), the Fédération
tions, garnering Olympic medals and setting Internationale de Natation (1908) and the
sports records. When scientific evidence International Amateur Athletic Federation
proved that anabolic steroids improved perfor- (1912). The French, who led the way in global
mances in all sports requiring bursts of acceptance of the metric system, were also
strength, the bureaucrats introduced a secret, leaders in the establishment of the Inter-
compulsory, carefully monitored and highly national Olympic Committee and the various
successful program to administer anabolic international sports federations. England’s
steroids to East Germany’s male and female insular and arrogant Football Association
athletes. rejected membership in FIFA when the soccer
Germans were not the only ones to utilize federation was founded and withdrew twice
modern science in the quest for athletic when FIFA took positions unpopular in Great
supremacy. To rationalize human movement, Britain.
computer experts like Gideon Ariel, an Israeli- The prerequisite for FIFA and every other
born American, pioneered the use of simula- international sports federation was the
tions to model the optimal way to hit a golf nineteenth-century diffusion of modern sports
ball, to ski, to run the 400 meter hurdles from England to the entire world (Bottenburg,
(Moore, 1977). The US Olympic Committee, 1994; Guttmann, 1994). Wherever British mili-
which officially condemned the use of banned tary men, colonial adminstrators, missionaries,
drugs, allegedly tolerated and even encour- educators, settlers, or entrepreneurs went, they
aged their use (Voy, 1991). carried with them their enthusiasm for cricket,
As the plague of illicit drugs indicates, mod- soccer, rugby and the entire gamut of modern
ern sports are a thoroughly international phe- sports. Where the British exercised political
nomenon. If the railroad, the telegraph and the control, as they did in India and through most
daily newspaper symbolize the nineteenth- of Africa, they tended to impose their games
century nationalization of modern sports, the upon the people whom they ruled. Where the
Boeing 747 and the SONY television set can be British were merely a dominant economic
taken as technological (and economic) symbols presence, which was the case in South
of the globalization of sports in the twentieth America, their sports tended to be spread by
century. To organize regular international com- the process of emulation; the sons of the local
petition (as opposed to occasional challenges), elite wanted to play British games just as they
international sports bureaucracies were wanted to wear British clothes and speak
formed. As early as 1894, steamships, the English with a proper British accent. In areas
Atlantic cable and a cosmopolitan spirit where the United States rather than the United
enabled Pierre de Coubertin to found the Kingdom exercised hegemonic influence, base-
International Olympic Committee (IOC) and ball rather than soccer became the most com-
plan successfully for the first Olympic Games mon sport. In the late nineteenth century, this
of the modern era. By then, international was the case in Japan, in Central America and
industrial-commercial fairs, like London’s 1851 in Cuba. After the Second World War,
 THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN SPORTS 255

American political and economic hegemony 1984: 159–67). The imbrication of sports
led to the rapid global diffusion of basketball leagues, equipment manufacturers, television
even where British sports had been supreme. networks and marketing organizations is
On the islands of Trinidad and Tobago, for immensely complicated. ‘TWI [Trans World
instance, young men who once wanted to Sport], the company involved in selling the
become a second Learie Constantine now imi- NFL [National Football League] highlights
tate Michael Jordan and Shaquille O’Neal package to European broadcasters, is, in fact, a
(Mandle and Mandle, 1988). sister company of the IMG [International
In fact, they may actually become the next Marketing Group], the NFL’s marketing agent
stars of the National Basketball Association. for Europe’ (Maguire, 1991: 321). Trans World
Premodern sports are almost invariably char- Sport has no monopoly. NFL games can also be
acterized by stringent rules of inclusion and seen on Scanset in Scandinavia, on Tele 5 in
exclusion based on differences in age, gender, Germany and Austria, on Canal Plus in France
race, ethnicity and social class. Participation in and Belgium, and on other stations the length
antiquity’s Olympic Games, for instance, was and breadth of the continent. Television rights
initially limited to free (rather than enslaved) to the Olympic Games, which are seen by bil-
ethnically Greek males. Entry into a medieval lions of viewers (and potential customers),
tournament required proof of noble status. now cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
Nineteenth-century sports were more egalitar-
ian, but there were exclusionary rules or cus-
toms barring African Americans from Major HOW DID MODERN SPORTS
League baseball, preventing manual workers
from participating in a number of amateur EMERGE?
sports, and ‘protecting’ girls and women from
sports that were thought to endanger their Since it is obvious that the Olympic Games, the
reproductive organs or to jeopardize their fem- World Cup, and many other sports events have
ininity. It is impossible to say whether these become highly commercialized, globally mar-
barriers were dismantled as a result of the gen- keted spectacles, it is hardly surprising that
eral democratization of society or as a conse- Marxist historians and sociologists have
quence of the desire to field the best team and attempted to explain modern sports as an
to determine the absolutely best performance, inevitable consequence of capitalist develop-
but the logic of modern sports dictates equality ment (Brohm, 1976; Rigauer, 1969; Rittner,
of opportunity as a guarantee that victories are 1976; Vinnai, 1970; Wohl, l973). They point out,
achieved and not simply ascribed. On the basis quite correctly, that England was the first
of royal dogma, Amenophis II of Egypt was nation to develop mature industrial capitalism
proclaimed the greatest athlete of all time and that England was also the birthplace of
(Decker, 1987); Jesse Owens won races and set modern sports. Their functionalist argument
records to prove his superiority. posits a necessary relationship between these
Unlike the more or less unplanned spread of two facts. The first led inevitably to the second
sports in the nineteenth century, the global because industrial capitalism requires a labor
diffusion of late-twentieth-century sports has force that is physically healthy, manually dex-
frequently been driven by multinational corpo- terous, submissive to the temporal and spatial
rations (Bale and Maguire, 1993; Guttmann, requirements of assembly-line work, and polit-
1994; Maguire, 1991, 1993). Nineteenth-century ically docile. The muscular exertion and the
entrepreneurs like Albert Goodwill Spaulding skills associated with sports participation are
were keen to export sports equipment, and alleged to contribute to the workers’ health
twentieth-century sporting goods manufactur- and manual dexterity; the need to accept the
ers, like Rossignol and Nike, compete fiercely rules of the game socializes factory hands to
on the international market; but the most dra- routinized work; and the entertainment
matic development has been the promotion of afforded by sports spectacles diverts the
sports spectacles and the advertisement of exploited workforce from political action.
sports equipment via satellite television. Modern sports are, therefore, an instrument to
In 1977, when the right to telecast cricket preserve the class structure of capitalist society.
tests went to the Australian Broadcasting One response to this rather simplistic func-
Corporation rather than to Kerry Packer’s tionalist argument is to ask if modern sports do
Channel 9, Packer, with financial support from what Marxist historians and sociologists say
Benson & Hedges, organized and successfully they do. While moderate non-competitive
marketed an alternative: the one-day cricket exercise does improve a person’s health, the
matches of World Series Cricket (Cashman, intense competitiveness of modern sports
256 KEY TOPICS

causes countless major and minor injuries. discoveries were popularized in the eighteenth
Boxers suffer brain damage, gymnasts injure century, at which time we can observe the
their backs, runners ruin their knees, and beginnings of our modern obsession with
ballgames take their toll in broken arms and quantification in sports. The emergence of
legs. The argument about manual dexterity is modern sports represents the slow develop-
even less persuasive. The sport most closely ment of an empirical, experimental, mathemat-
associated with the working class is soccer ical Weltanschauung. England’s early leadership
(Association football), a game which mini- has less to do with Adam Smith than with
mizes the use of the hand and maximizes pedal Sir Isaac Newton and the founders of the Royal
dexterity (which is not especially prized by fac- Society for the Advancement of Science.
tory owners). The argument that sports partic- The philosopher Hans Lenk has suggested
ipation socializes athletes to accept rules and this interpretation of the origins of modern
regulations is much more plausible, especially sports: ‘Achievement sports, that is, sports
when the insights of Gramsci and Foucault are whose achievements are extended beyond the
added to those of Marx (Gruneau, 1983; here and now through measured comparisons,
Hargreaves, 1986; Rail and Harvey, 1995), but are closely connected to the scientific-
one must also acknowledge that games can experimental attitudes of the modern West’
encourage tactical inventiveness and a spirit of (1972: 144). The historian Henning Eichberg
aggressive independence as well as an aware- noted the same connection (1973: 135–7). The
ness of the arbitrary nature of the rules and a plausibility of this hypothesis about origins is
desire cleverly to evade them. The belief that heightened by the fact that Romanticism, with
modern sports induce political apathy may be its pervasive anti-scientific bias, encouraged
valid in many cases, but there is also a great the survival of premodern sports like hunting
deal of evidence for the association of modern and fishing and hindered the emergence of
sports and movements for national indepen- modern sports. The strongest twentieth-
dence (Guttmann, 1994: 171–88). century opposition to modern sports came
In addition to these specific objections, there from Romantics like the men who led the
are hard questions to be asked of Marxists who German Turnbewegung, men who were hostile
assert a causal relationship between capitalism to modernity in all its many forms (Guttmann,
and the development of modern sports. If 1994: 141–5). Today, modern sports are a global
these sports are an instrument used by capital- phenomenon, but they are weakest in the
ists to exploit proletarians, how is it that Islamic world, where religious fundamental-
dozens of empirical studies have demon- ism and a suspicion of modern science are
strated that sports participation is almost strongest.
always positively correlated with income and
education (that is, the alleged exploiters are
more likely to participate in sports than those
whom they are said to exploit; Guttmann, DISAPPEARANCE?
1981)? If modern sports are the product of
capitalist development, why did they attain Have we entered a ‘postmodern’ era whose
their most paradigmatic form in the German sports are characterized less by instrumental
Democratic Republic, an avowedly anti- rationality and more by spontaneity and play-
capitalist society? It is doubtful that there is a fulness? French theorists like Ehrenburg (1991)
good answer to either question. have suggested this and have coined terms like
What, then, is the relationship between capi- ‘les sports californiens’ to categorize skate-
talism and modern sports? The clue to the rela- boarding, windsurfing, hang-gliding, and sim-
tionship can be found when one looks to the ilar vertiginous activities whose thrills are
formal-structural characteristics of sports ‘sometimes compared with the pleasure that is
rather than to their alleged social functions. The derived from orgasm or drugs’ (Midol and
historical simultaneity of capitalist develop- Broyer, 1995: 209). Such sports are unquestion-
ment and the emergence of modern sports may ably a part of today’s ludic landscape, but, as
be explained by the role of Weberian instru- Jarvie and Maguire have indicated, the
mental rationality in both phenomena. Rather announcement of ‘postmodernity’ seems pre-
than seeing one as a function of the other, we mature (1994). Modern sports have existed
can see both, in their shared formal-structural side by side with traditional sports like
characteristics, as a consequence of what the Spanish bullfighting and Japanese sumo
philosopher Alfred North Whitehead identified wrestling. They now share the global sports
as the scientific revolution of the seventeenth arena with ‘les sports californiens’, but, as
century (1925). That century’s mathematical Bromberger has shown in his study of French
 THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN SPORTS 257

and Italian soccer (1995), there is no sign as yet Dunning, Eric (1973) ‘The structural-functional
that modern sports have lost their almost properties of folk-games and modern sports’,
magical ability to excite and enthrall. Sportwissenschaft, 3: 215–32.
Dunning, Eric (1999) Sport Matters. London:
Routledge.
Dunning, Eric and Rojek, Chris (eds) (1992) Sport and
Leisure in the Civilizing Process. London: Macmillan.
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Gentlemen and Players. Oxford: Martin Robertson.
Adelman, Melvin (1986) A Sporting Time. Urbana, IL: Ehrenberg, Alain (1991) Le Culte de la Performance.
University of Illinois Press. Paris: Calmann-Lévy.
Anglo, S. (1968) The Great Tournament Roll of Eichberg, Henning (1973) Der Weg des Sports in die
Westminster, 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press. industrielle Zivilisation. Baden-Baden: Nomos.
Ariès, Philippe and Margolin, J.C. (eds) (1982) Les Eichberg, Henning (1974a) ‘“Auf Zoll und
Jeux à la Renaissance. Paris: Vrin. Quintlein’’: Sport und Quantifizierungsprozeß’,
Baker, William J. (1982) Sports in the Western World. Archiv für Kulturgeschichte, 56: 141–76.
Totowa: Rowman & Littlefield. Eichberg, Henning (1974b) ‘Der Beginn des moder-
Bale, John (1993) Sport, Space and the City. London: nen Leistens’, Sportwissenschaft, 4: 21–48.
Routledge. Eichberg, Henning (1977) ‘Geometrie als Barocke
Bale, John (1994) The Landscapes of Sport. Leicester: Verhaltensnorm’, Zeitschrift für historische
University of Leicester Press. Forschung, 4: 17–50.
Bale, John and Maguire, Joseph (eds) (1993) The Eichberg, Henning (1978) Leistung-Spannung-
Global Sports Arena. London: Frank Cass. Geschwindigkeit. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta.
Bernett, Hajo (1971) Die pädagogische Neugestaltung Eichberg, Henning (1980) ‘Sport im 19. Jahrhundert:
der bürgerlichen Leibesübungen durch die Genese einer industriellen Verhaltensform’, in
Philanthropen. Schorndorf: Karl Hofmann. H. Ueberhorst (ed.), Geschichte der Leibesübungen.
Birley, Derek (1993) Sport and the Making of Britain. Vol. III. Berlin: Bartels und Wernitz. pp. 350–412.
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Bottenburg, Maarten van (1994) Verborgen Competitie. Wänden’, Berliner Historische Studien, 9: 119–39.
Amsterdam: Bert Bakker. Eichberg, Henning (1988) Leistungsräume: Sport als
Bouet, Michel (1968) Signification du sport. Paris: Édi- Umweltproblem. Münster: LIT-Verlag.
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Brailsford, Dennis (1988) Bareknuckles. Cambridge: 2 vols. Berne: Francke.
Lutterworth. Elias, Norbert and Dunning, Eric (1986) Quest for
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London: Routledge. Fleckenstein, Josef (ed.) (1985) Das ritterliche Turnier
Brailsford, Dennis (1992) British Sport. Cambridge: im Mittelalter. Göttingen: Vandenhoek & Ruprecht.
Lutterworth. Goldstein, Warren (1989) Playing for Keeps. Ithaca,
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New York: Campus Verlag. Gori, Gigliola (1993) ‘The Gioco del Ponte in the
Brohm, Jean-Marie (1976) Sociologie politique du sport. Italian sporting tradition’, in Roland Renson,
Paris: Jean-Pierre Delarge. Teresa Gonzalez Aja, Gilbert Andrieu, Manfred
Bromberger, Christian (1995) Le Match de football. Lämmer and Roberta Park (eds), Actas del Congreso
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Brookes, Christopher (1978) English Cricket. London: Nacional de Educación Física. pp. 114–18.
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Cashman, Richard (1984) ‘Ave a Go Yer Mug! Sydney: Development. Amherst, MA: University of
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4 vols. Berlin: E.S. Mittler & Sohn. University Press.
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Decker, Wolfgang (1987) Sport und Spiel im alten Guttmann, Allen (1988) A Whole New Ball Game.
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Guttmann, Allen (1994) Games and Empires. Éditions du Comité des Travaux Historiques et
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Halladay, Eric (1991) Rowing in England. Manchester: Midol, Nancy and Broyer, Gerard (1995) ‘Toward an
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Sportgeist. Hamburg: Friederischen, de Gruyter. work’, Sociology of Sport Journal, 12: 164–79.
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 16
POLITICAL ECONOMY AND SPORT

George H. Sage

MEANINGS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY political economy, neoclassical economics and

radical political economy. That these very dif-
ferent perspectives have persisted over time
The term political economy comes from two illustrates the pervasive contested ideological
Greek words, polis, which means a city as a motif underlying them.
political unit, and oikonomia, denoting the man-
agement of a household. Use of the two words
together began first during the feudal period in Classical Political Economy
Western Europe and were used to describe the
study of managing the revenues and expendi- During the latter part of the eighteenth century
tures of feudal monarchs. Since political affairs Adam Smith, one of the writers on political
were in the hands of the monarchs and landed economy during that era, wrote what became
aristocracy, revenues and expenditures were the foundation document for a school of
obviously both political and economic matters thought called classical political economy. In
(Clark, 1991; Staniland, 1985). his treatise An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes
For the past 250 years, political economy has of the Wealth of Nations ([1776] 1993), Smith pro-
been used as a term to express the interdepen- posed a new socio-economic system to replace
dence of political and economic phenomena. what remained of feudalism. For Smith, a good
Gondwe (1992) explains that political economy society allowed everyone, at least in theory, the
is characterized by a ‘study of people in the opportunity to pursue his or her self-interest.
social process of producing and distributing the His vision of an ideal society was one in which
means of their own reproduction, in a given competition in the marketplace prevailed, with
social environment or geographical domain, a minimum amount of government direction
under rules promulgated and enforced by a or control. He postulated an ‘invisible hand’ of
political state’ (p. 12). From a political economy nature which made sure that as each individ-
perspective, economic and socio-political issues ual was pursuing his or her own self-interest
are too closely interrelated to be analyzed inde- the interest of society was simultaneously
pendently of one another, so an effort is made being served. Smith’s so-called ‘laws of the
to accept the interrelatedness of politics and market’ played an important role in legitimat-
economics. Moreover, political economic analy- ing the principle of laissez-faire capitalism – the
ses typically go beyond issues of efficiency to doctrine that government should not interfere
address basic moral issues of social justice, with commerce (Spiegel, 1991).
equity and the public good. Thus, the field of
political economy has always been a much Neoclassical Economics
broader field than the conventional study of
either economics or political science (Caporaso Classical political economy waned during the
and Levine, 1992; Hibbs, 1987). nineteenth century, with the emergence of the
Three very broad paradigms have contended, new discipline of modern economics. For disci-
and still contend, for prominence – classical ples of what became known as neoclassical
 POLITICAL ECONOMY AND SPORT 261

economics, the term ‘political’ in political Ideology is a set of ideas, concepts and
economy was no longer useful and therefore rationalizations that a group of people use to
should be dropped in economic analyses. legitimate and justify their beliefs and behavior.
Neoclassical economics was conceived of as
a value-free scientific discipline, a natural Liberal Ideology and Political Economy
science, like physics, using the same ‘scientific’ Liberal ideology is associated with the ideas of
methodology. Neo-economists adopted the the Enlightenment. Initially, it stood for indi-
standardized technical vocabulary of the vidual freedom and rights against the arbitrary
natural sciences and based their theories on power of the state, the church and other
positive propositions in the same manner as people. According to this early, or classical,
other positive sciences, eschewing value judge- liberal view, the good society was one that
ments, public advocacy and non-economic permits individuals to freely pursue their
issues (Gondwe, 1992; Heilbroner, 1996; private interests without institutional controls,
Jevons, [1871] 1970; Marshall, [1890] 1953). and government was best when it governed
the least. Classical political economy, then,
stressed individualism, self-interest, free trade
Radical Political Economy and the security of property.

In parallel with classical political economy, Conservative Ideology and Political Eco-
another group of eighteenth- and nineteenth- nomy Whereas classical political economy
century political economists agreed with the was formed as part of the liberal revolution of
classical political economists’ challenge to the the Enlightenment, other political economists
power of the state in commerce, but they saw a of the nineteenth century were skeptical of lib-
conflict between the growing power of laissez- eralism. They were alarmed by what they con-
faire capitalism and the democratic aspirations sidered the erosion of the old social order that
embodied in the Enlightenment. This early was sweeping Western Europe in the nine-
radicalism was basically a reaction to the teenth century. The basis of feudal society had
wretched social and economic conditions of been stability, mutual expectations and duties,
the working class which grew out of the indus- and a sense of belonging to a stable social unit.
trialization process of Western Europe Liberal ideas emphasizing individual freedom,
(Sherman, 1987). secularism and constitutional democracy were
The most influential radical political econo- destroying the old structures of authority and
mist of the latter nineteenth century was Karl emotional bonds that had united individuals
Marx. He constructed an impressive theoreti- and communities. So conservative voices
cal critique of capitalism. Whereas classical mounted a defense of traditional society, using
political economists defended the autonomy the stability of medieval society as their model.
of capital as necessary for protecting individ- What was required, conservatives believed,
ual freedom from domination by government was a strengthening of traditional values and
and aristocrats, ‘Marx argued that the power institutions, grounding them in either divine
of capital subverted the ability of citizens to wisdom or the authority of institutions such as
shape their society in accordance with their the church, the patriarchal family and the local
democratically determined collective interests. community (Clark, 1991).
In short, the freedom of capital meant a loss of Neoclassical economics, which had super-
freedom for people’ (Clark, 1991: 58). For seded classical political economy by the begin-
Marx, government should be constituted to ning of the twentieth century, increasingly tilted
serve the collective interests of citizens. And toward a compatibility with conservative tenets.
government is legitimate only when it is
democratically established and based on Radical Ideology and Political Economy
widespread participation, and publicly Although there were several radical thinkers
accountable (Marx, 1970, 1975). who preceded Karl Marx, the origins of radi-
calism as a political economic ideology can be
traced to Marx’s writings. Radical ideology
Ideology and Political Economy viewed capitalist society as fundamentally
flawed and needing to be totally reconstructed.
Three ideologies dominate discussions about Where classical liberals and conservatives
political economy – liberal, conservative and viewed capitalism as synonymous with free-
radical. These three ideologies are discussed dom and individual initiative, radical ideology
below as competing models of social order. argued that this freedom is a fallacy where
262 KEY TOPICS

workers are concerned. Radical thought white and Protestant, and they are part of the
contended that the capitalist economy is an wealthy classes of society. Elites are a relatively
arena of exploitation of the working class by a homogenous group and their basic interest is
more powerful and wealthy capitalist class, and the maintenance and advancement of the capi-
workers’ freedom of choice between working talist economic system (Mills, 1956). As they
for a capitalist and not doing so actually trans- ‘wield power and govern, they do so by bal-
lated into the freedom to choose between living ancing their own economic interests with the
and starving (Sherman, 1987). general welfare’ (Peterson, 1991: 36; see also
As for the government, radicals saw it as an Domhoff, 1990; Mills, 1956; Parenti, 1995).
arena in which the capitalist class also domi- To elaborate on that last point, the state plays
nated. Karl Marx argued that capital rather an indispensable role in ensuring the repro-
than government is the real ruler of society duction of capitalist social relations, and the
(Marx, 1973, 1975). The radical ideological powers of the state are used to sustain the gen-
vision of a reconstructed society included a eral institutional framework of capitalist enter-
vigorous commitment to egalitarianism in the prise. This is not to say that the state merely
process of governing. Everyone should have acts at the command of corporate capitalism.
an opportunity to participate in the institutions Elites must give and take, negotiate and com-
governing their lives and should share in the promise; but their balance of power is never
benefits and outputs of those institutions. threatened.

The State and Political Economy

THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF
In spite of the different visions of political
economy, the state has been involved in every MASS SPORTS
type of market economy for the past 200
years, and its role has continued to greatly Sport has become one of the most popular
expand (Peterson, 1991). In the literature of forms of cultural practice in the modern world.
political economy, two contrasting views of In this section, the focus is on the political
the power of the state in capitalist democra- economy of mass sports, which has often
cies have been identified: pluralism and involved public policy on behalf of providing
elitism. In the pluralist view, capitalist democ- for people’s leisure needs. Existing scholarship
racies are not dominated by a ruling class, but on this topic emphasizes that one of the major
instead by many different interest groups. contested issues has been on whether the state
Power, pluralists argue, is not held by one should intervene in sporting practices or
group but by a diverse set of social institu- whether such matters should be left to the pri-
tions, organizations and interest groups vate sector.
embodying the beliefs, values and world- Prior to the Industrial Revolution, there was
views of the citizens. This model asserts that little in the way of organized sporting prac-
power is exerted by a multitude of interests tices. This is not to say there were no informal
whose countervailing centers of power check sports, for there were and they stretched back
each other to prevent abusive power and into antiquity. Social conditions changed with
agenda-setting by any one group. Thus, industrial expansion, setting the stage for the
according to pluralism, although groups are rise of modern sport. Population shifted from
not necessarily equal in terms of power, no rural to urban areas, work was transformed
particular groups are able to dominate the from home trades and individualized occupa-
decision-making process (Dahl, 1961). tions to a large-scale industrial mode of
Furthermore, pluralists see the state as production. Dramatic changes occurred in
attaining consensus and preserving social the daily life of the working classes as they
order through a continuous sequence of bar- accommodated to factory exigencies, the long
gaining processes. The state, then, is regarded work day and urban living. As larger numbers
as a benign and neutral set of agencies that of people congregated in the cities with their
have no direct involvement in either furthering wretched living conditions, there was neither
or eradicating divisions and inequalities. space nor the opportunity to enjoy traditional
According to the elitist view, the state is con- forms of leisure. The working classes found
trolled by a small number of persons whose not only the means of production confiscated
backgrounds, characteristics and values are by the capitalist class but the time and place for
similar. These people are well educated, mostly leisure as well (Clarke and Critcher, 1985;
 POLITICAL ECONOMY AND SPORT 263

Gruneau, 1999; Hargreaves, 1986; Thompson, large masses of people could never be
1968, 1974). accommodated by a private sector sport and
Concerns about the lack of healthy leisure leisure industry, and physically active leisure
opportunities were publicly expressed by the did enhance health and common ideals, so
press, medical practitioners, educators, social some state intervention was supported by the
reformers and even capitalists, who saw the capitalist class. Still, the economic ideology of
detrimental effects of industrial working life the time was a principal constraint on more
on health, family life and job performance. dynamic public policies on behalf of leisure
However, except for a few sporadic religious needs.
and local community efforts, little was done to In Great Britain, the United States and
provide for the leisure needs of industrial Canada, the prosperous years after the First
laborers during the first half of the nineteenth World War and the depression of the 1930s
century. Laissez-faire capitalism, based on clas- were especially important periods in the polit-
sical political economy perspectives, saw no ical economy of sport. In the 1920s, shorter
need for intervention by the state to provide working hours and higher wages resulted in
for the leisure needs of people (Butsch, 1990). increased discretionary time and the financial
It was not until the latter decades of the nine- wherewithal for an increasing proportion of
teenth century and the early twentieth century, the population to play sports and other leisure
when the rise of collectivism and shifts in the activities. Various reforms were won from the
relationship of the state to civil society began to state through campaigns and struggles of com-
take hold, that access to public leisure facilities munity action groups and organized labor.
became a terrain of class struggle. Industriali- Despite the political conservativism and the
zation and urbanization created numerous dominance of neoclassical economic views,
social problems, and public-spirited citizens public support of sporting activities for the
and social agencies began to seriously ponder masses continued at an unprecedented rate,
remedies for the health and physical needs of especially at the local governmental levels
citizens. (Betts, 1974; Jones, 1988; Morrow et al., 1989).
Gradually, governments begin to play a In the United States the number of cities that
more active role in sport and leisure for the established municipal recreation programs
masses. Beginning in the mid-nineteenth cen- increased from 41 in 1906 to 350 in 1914 and to
tury, many local governments, through legisla- 945 in 1929. The economic ideology of laissez-
tive intervention, funding and administrative faire and an individual ethic was gradually
control, began setting aside large areas of land weakening. This was manifested through
and building city parks and playgrounds for greater access to public parks and public sports
the use of their citizens. Most provided play- venues (Betts, 1974).
grounds for young children, bicycling courses, The Great Depression of the 1930s, with its
bridleways for horse riding and open fields for accompanying massive unemployment, humil-
competitive sports for adults. A few even had iation and fear, left millions of people with little
swimming baths (Adelman, 1986; Hardy, 1982; money for the basic necessities of life, let alone
Hargreaves, 1986; Riess, 1989). Speaking about discretionary money for leisure pursuits.
the United States, Goodman (1979) asserted However, it was during this decade that the US
that ‘by 1905 almost everyone concerned with government made its most dramatic interven-
social reform was concerned with play and tion into sport. Franklin D. Roosevelt, elected in
almost every reform organization was 1932 in the depths of the depression, immedi-
involved in assisting the rise of organized play ately created several types of programs to
in one form or another’ (p. 61). relieve the massive unemployment. One of
The creation of a public park and play- these programs was the Civilian Conservation
ground system marked a significant chapter in Corps (CCC). The work of the CCC was mainly
the history of many cities. Moreover, it showed aimed at conservation and forest protection,
that beyond serving capitalist interests, the but as part of this program the men improved
state could be an instrument of reform and national and state parks, built swimming pools
change (Hardy, 1982; Hargreaves, 1986; and other sport facilities (Betts, 1974).
Paxson, 1974; Riess, 1989). Neoclassical econo- Another of Roosevelt’s programs was car-
mists and capitalist interests were divided over ried out through several agencies, including
this development. On the one hand, there was the Works Progress Administration (WPA),
a belief that the market should provide for begun in 1935 under the Emergency Relief
the sporting and leisure needs of people; on Appropriation Act. WPA projects were of
the other hand, there was a recognition that great variety but included sport stadiums,
264 KEY TOPICS

swimming pools, gymnasiums and tennis Britain during the early nineteenth century
courts. In Kansas alone, 344 public buildings where interschool sports began. Though the
were erected, including auditoriums, swim- schools were called ‘public schools’, they were
ming pools and gymnasiums (Betts, 1974). not state supported; they were private
Also part of the Emergency Relief (Mangan, 1981; Mangan and Walvin, 1987).
Appropriation Act was the National Youth By the late nineteenth century, secondary
Administration (NYA), which provided part- school students in several Western countries
time work to high school and college students were playing interschool sports. In the Boston
and to former students between the ages of 18 area, high schools were fielding football teams
and 25. NYA participants built and repaired and had formed an Interscholastic Football
sport stadiums, swimming pools, tennis courts Association. In New York City a public Schools
and other recreational facilities. At the time the League was started in 1903, and by 1910 other
United States entered the Second World War, cities had developed similar leagues (Hardy,
more than ten federal agencies sponsored recre- 1982; Jable, 1979). By the 1920s, high school
ation or sport-related programs and services. sport was firmly under the control of school
Since the Second World War, governments authorities, with teams supervised by coaches
throughout the world have taken an increasing hired as full-time faculty.
role in sport and physical recreation of all In capitalist states by the early twentieth cen-
kinds and at all levels, from local to interna- tury political and economic interests came to
tional. Two examples in the United States are accept the idea that public education could
Title IX of the Educational Amendments Act of actually advance capitalist interests. It was
1972, which requires gender equity in all sports believed that school sports in particular could
and physical education programs in educa- develop in students the lessons of teamwork,
tional institutions receiving federal govern- self-sacrifice, discipline and values that were
ment money, and the Healthy People 2000 transferable from the playing field to a produc-
campaign sponsored by the US Department of tive life in the new industrial order. This form
Health and Human Services. In Canada, the of sport was praised as an important medium
‘Active Living Campaign’ focuses on a health- for instilling young participants with common
ier lifestyle for all Canadians and is aided by ideals, common modes of thought, cooperation
government funding. and social cohesion in the service of the instru-
mental culture of capitalism. School sports,
thus, were seen as an educational medium for
transmitting advanced capitalist ideology in
THE POLITICAL ECONOMY the name of building character (Mangan, 1986;
Mangan and Walvin, 1987; Miracle, 1985;
OF SCHOOL SPORTS O’Hanlon, 1980; Spring, 1974).

Public support for education was a contentious

issue in Western countries throughout most of THE POLITICAL ECONOMY
the nineteenth century. Classical political eco-
nomy advocates felt that public education was OF INTERCOLLEGIATE SPORTS
anti-republican and a violation of individual
rights. In the United States, it was not until the Although intercollegiate sports are played in
1874 Kalamazoo Decision by the Supreme many countries of the world, the focus in this
Court of Michigan that decisive support section will be on the United States because
for public high schools was secured. The the political and economic aspects of this
Kalamazoo Decision set off a flurry of state leg- form of sport are most salient there. But
islation on behalf of public high schools; by the before turning directly to collegiate sport, a
beginning of the twentieth century a public brief commentary about the political economy
system of high school education was in place of higher education in the United States is
throughout the United States. necessary.
As formal education grew throughout the In America, an alliance has been formed
world, various extra-curricular activities, such between capitalist enterprise, the state and
as debate teams and student government, higher education. The federal government
began to grow. One of the activities that contributes to the capitalist system and to
quickly gained a commanding popularity higher education in the form of research con-
among secondary school students was inter- tracts and grants; it also funds federal pro-
school sports. It was in the public schools of grams to aid higher education. Higher
 POLITICAL ECONOMY AND SPORT 265

education, then, is essentially socialized Contemporary ‘big-time’ college sport is a

primarily because state and federal govern- business enterprise – a part of the entertain-
ments own, operate, or finance most of the ment industry. But the official ideology of uni-
resources: buildings, laboratories, libraries, versities and their controlling organization, the
computer centers and faculties. NCAA, is that college sport is amateur sport.
In turn, public higher education increasingly Universities and the NCAA evoke the amateur
serves government agencies and corporate cap- ideology to justify not paying student-athletes
italism by providing training, skills and knowl- a wage or salary for their labor as athlete-
edge which are vital to the capitalist system. entertainers. Instead, student-athletes are
New technology advances so quickly that capi- awarded what is euphemistically called a
talist enterprise requires a highly educated and ‘scholarship’. Thus, the college sport establish-
specialized workforce, not only to assist plan- ment uses a highly valued source of human
ning and decision-making, but to carry out its capital – a college education, which can actu-
operations. Higher education supplies the ally be obtained at a public university at a
industrial system with technological know- moderate cost – as the sole compensation for
how at nominal cost to capitalist enterprise athletes.
(Peterson, 1991; Soley, 1994; Sommer, 1995). The amateur ideology employed by ‘big-
Intercollegiate sports began in the United time’ college sports is not based on any interest
States during the mid-nineteenth century, a in amateurism per se. Valorization of ama-
time of rapid industrialization as well as rapid teurism is merely a stratagem to avoid paying
growth in higher education. Collegiate sports the athletes a legitimate wage. In reality, the
were founded through student initiative, unas- scholarship is fundamentally a work contract.
sisted and unsupported by faculties, adminis- Colleges are really hiring athletes as entertain-
tration or alumni (Smith, 1988). The original ers, for that is what the productive enterprise
form of governance was modeled after the is – sport entertainment. The claim that educa-
well-established sports in the private sec- tional purposes preclude salaried compensa-
ondary schools of England (Mangan, 1981). tion for athletic performance is testimony to
Control was in student hands until faculty and the extensive attempts of the collegiate sport
administrations gradually wrested it away establishment to avoid its financial responsibil-
from students near the beginning of the twen- ities. Athletic scholarships are actually a form
tieth century (Sage, 1998). of economic exploitation, the establishment of
During the first half of the twentieth century a wage below the poverty level for student-
intercollegiate sport grew in popularity, espe- athletes – entertainers who directly produce
cially football and basketball. Gradually, eco- millions of dollars for athletic departments
nomic considerations became more important, (Byers, 1995; Sage, 1998).
as college football games began to draw thou- The benefits of this system of wage-fixing for
sands of spectators to newly built stadiums, the NCAA and the universities are quite evi-
and basketball was played in larger and larger dent: the lower the wages, the greater the prof-
arenas. Although commercialized collegiate its. Paying the workforce as little as possible is
sport was a growing industry during the first what every business enterprise strives to do.
half of the twentieth century, political and eco- The NCAA and major universities have mas-
nomic forces changed the very character of col- tered this principle (Sage, 1987, 1998).
lege sport in the post-Second World War Moreover, state and federal governments have
period (Sage, 1998; Smith, 1988). protected this system of worker exploitation.
Television rights contracts, aggressive mar-
keting, expanded schedules, proliferation of
tournaments and bowl games and nationwide THE POLITICAL ECONOMY
scheduling of events have all combined to
incorporate ‘big-time’ intercollegiate sports OF PROFESSIONAL SPORTS
into one of the most popular components of
the financially successful commodified sports Little in the way of professional sport existed
industry. Hart-Nibbrig and Cottingham (1986) in the first two-thirds of the nineteenth century.
analyzed the political economic factors that Prize fights and horse races were staged by
have shaped the evolution of college sport, and entrepreneurs who charged admission to the
they contend that ‘college sports are now events and paid boxers, horse owners and
closely tied to the market system, they are an jockeys for their performances. But these
extension of and reflection of modern, late events were sporadic, attracted small crowds
twentieth-century American capitalism’ (p. 2). and gained little media attention. However,
266 KEY TOPICS

during the latter three decades of the nineteenth accounting. Examples of this in the United
century a combination of expanding industri- States are high school and intercollegiate ath-
alization and urbanization, enhanced by the letics programs and some elite amateur pro-
revolutionary transformation in communica- grams (Byers, 1995; Yaeger, 1991).
tion, transportation and other technological Thirdly, the professional sport industry cre-
advances, provided the social structural frame- ates a market for associated goods and ser-
work for the development of professional vices, so numerous businesses accumulate
sport. capital indirectly by providing those goods
The prosperous years before the First World and services. Some examples of this are the
War and the tumultuous 1920s were especially sporting goods industry (mostly manufactur-
important periods in the rise of professional ers and retailers), the sport component of the
sport. The growth of cities, shorter working mass media (including television, newspapers
hours and higher wages were important social and magazines), businesses that benefit from
forces that combined with numerous other sport events (hotels, airlines, restaurants) and
conditions to promote the expansion of profes- advertisers (those buying sport advertising or
sional sport. sponsoring events). A less clear example is
The depression years were particularly hard gambling; although one’s immediate response
for professional sport, but the industry may be that gambling and sport are unrelated,
rebounded quickly after the Second World this is not the case. Billions of dollars are
War, and it has been one of the most financially legally and illegally wagered annually on
successful industries for the past 50 years, pene- sporting events.
trating every sphere of social life and becom- As a capitalist enterprise, professional team
ing one of the most popular cultural practices. ownership is privatized and is structured to
Professional sport has been transformed into a maximize profit. Indeed, the premise of capi-
huge, commodified industry that more and tal accumulation is the foundation on which
more dominates everyday life in advanced this industry is built. As members of the capi-
capitalist countries. Young (1986) captures the talist class, team owners have consistently
essence of this trend: ‘The most significant favored a minimum of government inter-
structural change in modern sports is the grad- ference, while at the same time they have
ual and continuing commodification of sports. lobbied and received unique and favorable
This means that the social, psychological, national and local government protection.
physical, and cultural uses of sport are assimi- Since its beginnings, professional team sport
lated to the commercial needs of advanced has benefited from actions of the state,
monopoly capital’ (p. 12). sometimes by favorable legislation, other
Worldwide, the professional sport industry times by favorable court rulings. Johnson and
has multiplied into a variety of organizations Frey (1985) have observed that ‘government
and occupations. First, a significant portion of policy as implemented through legislation,
the sporting industry is organized as profit- court decisions, and bureaucratic rules and
maximizing enterprises. Here, capital investors regulations is [an] . . . important variable in
own, organize and control a sports business defining the nature and dynamics of American
with a goal toward capital accumulation. An sport’ (p. ix).
example of this is the professional team sport In the United States, the major means by
industry, composed of franchise owners, ath- which the state has protected the investments
letes, coaches and ancillary workers (Furst, of professional team owners and has advanced
1971; Gruneau and Whitson, 1993; Quirk and capital accumulation have been the courts and
Fort, 1992). Congressional legislation. From its beginnings,
A second form of professional sport is orga- the professional sport industry has benefited
nized with all of the trappings of a commercial from favorable court decisions that have
enterprise but does not function strictly for enabled owners to monopolize their industry,
profit because the sports teams have non-profit and in cases where their power has been
status granted by the government. The objec- threatened they have joined forces with the
tive of these organizations is to balance the courts to crush opposition. Thus, between their
books so as to seem to be breaking even. In own power of ownership, personal wealth,
order to maintain a non-profit status, these legislative and judicial support, the owners’
programs must give the appearance – in their monopoly of professional team sports allows
accounting practices – of not making a profit. them several means of capital accumulation
In reality, many of these organizations are (Beamish, 1988; Quirk and Fort, 1992; Sage,
profitable, but the profits are hidden in the 1998; Zimbalist, 1992).
 POLITICAL ECONOMY AND SPORT 267

Cartelization and Monopoly monopsony. A monopoly is a one-seller

market, and in pro team sports franchises are
A persisting focus in studies of political eco- protected from competition because the num-
nomy is on economic structures, relations of ber of franchises is controlled by the team own-
production and political systems that protect ers in all of the leagues; new franchises are not
economic formations. These political economic allowed to locate in, or relocate to, a given ter-
processes are evident in analyses of the profes- ritory without approval of the owners.
sional team sports industry. Professional team
sports leagues operate as cartels. A cartel is a Advantages of Monopoly for Franchise
group of firms that organize together to control Owners Several advantages result from the
production, sales and wages within an indus- monopoly position which the owners hold.
try. In the case of professional team sports, the First, by controlling the number of franchises
cartel members are the owners of the various within a league, the owners make them scarce
team franchises. The actual consequences of commodities, which means their worth tends
cartelized industries are varied and complex, to appreciate. Applications for new franchises
depending upon such factors as the commod- must secure the permission of three-quarters of
ity produced and sold and the amount of the the existing owners in a particular league. The
market actually under the control of the cartel. scarcity of existing franchises and the difficulty
But in most cases the negative consequences of securing permission for a new franchise
impact labor and consumers most heavily. drive up the cost of expansion franchises.
With respect to labor, cartels are able to hold Owners divide the expansion fees generated
down wages, and with respect to consumers, when new franchises are created by them. The
cartels typically restrict production and control only alternative for someone who wants to
sales and thus can set prices as high as they establish a professional sport franchise is to
wish. The major benefits accrue to owners of start a new league (Harris, 1987; Quirk and
individual firms through the maximization of Fort, 1992; Shropshire, 1995; Zimbalist, 1992).
joint profits (Quirk and Fort, 1992; Sage, 1998; A second advantage professional team
Wilson, 1994). sports enjoy from their monopoly position is
During the formative stages of the first protection from competition, which eliminates
American professional team sport, baseball, price wars and frees owners to set ticket prices
team owners and promoters competed with as high as they believe the market will bear,
each other in an open market, vying for athletes thus maximizing their profits. It also enables
and spectators. But it became evident to a few each league to negotiate television contracts
promoters and potential owners of professional for the entire league without violating
baseball teams that such competition was coun- antitrust laws; indeed, this is protected in the
terproductive to the interests of controlling United States by Congressional action in the
sport labor and capital accumulation. They 1961 Sports Broadcast Act (P.L. 87-331)
realized that labor and consumer issues could (Wilson, 1994).
be better stabilized and joint profits more con- Some elaboration on the relationships
sistently realized by a collective, or cartel. between professional team sports and the tele-
Schimmel, Ingham and Howell (1993) note that vision industry is needed to clarify the advan-
‘this economic concentration and cartelization tages of the monopoly position to pro sports.
scenario has been played out not only in base- Professional sport and television have become
ball, but also in basketball, football, hockey and mutual beneficiaries in one of capitalism’s
soccer’ (p. 214). Commenting on the organiza- most lucrative associations. Professional sport
tion of professional team sports, Freedman leagues sell television networks the rights to
(1987) noted they ‘have in general operated broadcast league games; the networks then sell
apart from normal business considerations, and advertising to corporations who are selling a
their rules of business conduct have not been product and wish to advertise it. Because so
subject to governmental scrutiny to the same many people are interested in professional
extent as any ordinary business’ (p. 31). sports, it is a natural setting for advertising.
Although cartels violate the intent of Television networks are willing to spend
antitrust laws and are illegal in most busi- enormous sums of money to secure broadcast-
nesses, Congress and the courts have consis- ing rights because they know they can then sell
tently protected professional sports from advertising profitably to corporations who in
antitrust accusations and have upheld the turn use ‘the drama and power of sports to
main economic relationships that derive from generate [consumer] demand and to realize a
the cartel structure, namely monopoly and profit for advanced monopoly capital’ (Young,
268 KEY TOPICS

1986: 20). League-wide negotiation affords by corporations because they can be deducted
tremendous financial advantages to leagues, from taxes as a business expense. A large
enabling them to secure much larger TV pacts proportion of the season tickets for profes-
then would be possible if each team negotiated sional sports are purchased by businesses. In
its own TV contract (Quirk and Fort, 1992; effect, then, taxpayers are subsidizing the cost
Wilson, 1994). for corporate executives and their friends to
Permitting each league to limit the number see professional sport contests. When this
of franchises provides a third advantage to the deduction was threatened by the Internal
monopoly power of the leagues. It enables Revenue Service, professional sports and busi-
owners to extract various forms of public nesses combined their lobbying efforts to
subsidy from cities and states. Monuments to retain the subsidy (Sage, 1998).
socializing the costs and privatizing the Capital accumulation also accrues to profes-
profits in professional sport are the numerous sional sports owners through other tax breaks.
sport stadiums and arenas that have been built Owners of professional franchises are given a
at public expense for the use of professional number of ways to minimize taxable profits.
teams. About 80 per cent or over 40 of these One example is the depreciation of players.
imposing facilities have been built or reno- Most of the assets of a professional sports
vated at taxpayer expense in cities across the team are its players, so most of the cost of a
US and Canada during the past 30 years, franchise is player contracts. Owners can
generally through revenue bonds issued by depreciate players the way farmers depreciate
state, county or city governments (Cagan and cattle and corporations depreciate company
de Mause, 1998; Danielson, 1997; Noll and cars; the professional athletes’ status is that of
Zimbalist, 1997; Rosentraub, 1999). property. No other business in the United
The reason that few pro sports team owners States depreciates the value of human beings
own the facilities in which their teams play is as part of its business costs. The obvious ben-
that when the government owns them, the eficiaries of such tax breaks are the wealthy
owners are relieved of the burden of property team owners (Sage, 1998).
taxes, insurance and maintenance costs, not to
mention construction. Owners pay rent on the Advantages of Monopsony for Franchise
facilities, of course, but this usually covers only Owners A practice that economists call
a fraction of overall operating expenses. Local monopsony, which means a one-buyer market,
taxpayers actually wind up subsidizing pro- was adopted when the founders of Major
fessional team owners (Rosentraub, 1999; League baseball were establishing cartelized
Shropshire, 1995). operations in professional baseball. All Major
Another reason for team owners not owning League baseball owners used a provision in
their facilities is that it makes it much easier for every player’s contract – the reserve clause – to
them to move franchises to other cities should enable the owners to control the player’s job
they become unhappy with existing financial mobility. Once a player signed a contract with
arrangements (one sports writer called this the a club, that team had exclusive rights over him;
‘strip-mining’ of cities). In the 1980s, three NFL he was no longer free to negotiate with other
owners actually made such a move (Oakland teams because his contract had a clause that
Raiders to Los Angeles, the Baltimore Colts ‘reserved’ his services to his original team for
to Indianapolis, and the St Louis Cardinals the succeeding year. The reserve clause speci-
to Phoenix), and the incidence of owner fied that the owner had the exclusive right to
‘extortion’ appears to be increasing. Indeed, renew the player’s contract annually, and thus
in 1995–96 alone four NFL franchises were the player was bound perpetually to negotiate
moved: Los Angeles Rams to St Louis, Los with only one club; he became its property and
Angeles Raiders to Oakland, Cleveland could even be sold to another club without his
Browns to Baltimore, and Houston Oilers to own consent. Monopsony, in this case, was
Nashville (Baim, 1994; Ingham and Hardy, designed to control the costs of players by
1984; Sage, 1993; Schimmel et al., 1993; restricting interteam bidding. Other profes-
Zimbalist, 1992). sional team sports never enjoyed formal
Socializing the costs and privatizing the exemption from antitrust laws, but they used
profits in sport are not limited to sport facili- other policies restricting player movement. In
ties. A fourth example of the advantages of each case, the player’s freedom of movement
monopoly is the tax subsidy both sport fran- was restricted by some type of reservation
chises and private, non-sport businesses system (Freedman, 1987; Lowenfish, 1991;
receive through the purchase of game tickets Zimbalist, 1992).
 POLITICAL ECONOMY AND SPORT 269

Resentment against the reserve clause was such as health plans. Just like trade and
persistent from its beginnings, and twice chal- labor workers, the response of professional
lenges to its constitutionality reached the US athletes to monopsony, abridgement of indi-
Supreme Court. In 1922 the Court ruled in vidual rights and other job restrictions has
favor of the baseball owners, contending in been unionization, collective bargaining and
essence that Major League baseball was a strikes (Jennings, 1990; Lowenfish, 1991;
sport, not a business, and therefore was enti- Staudohar, 1986).
tled to immunity from antitrust laws. Player unions and collective bargaining
Freedman (1987) has summarized the court’s have had some significant successes, but union-
action in this way: ‘Professional baseball . . . ization has met with significant resistance from
was granted an exemption from the applica- owners. They have used their considerable per-
tion of the federal antitrust laws upon the sonal wealth and influence in Congress and the
ground that this professional sport was not courts to minimize the effectiveness of the
engaged in interstate commerce or trade, and player unions; the unions have not possessed
furthermore baseball was in essence not a com- equivalent legal and legislative clout to secure
mercial activity’ (p. 32). Again in 1972 when it many of their needs (Jennings, 1990).
was challenged, the court favored letting the
1922 decision stand. It was not until 1976 that
the courts finally struck down the reserve GLOBAL POLITICAL ECONOMY
clause, substituting in its place a limited player
mobility plan (Lowenfish, 1991).
AND SPORT

A significant transformation in the world order

Alienated Labor has been under way during the past half cen-
tury which can be characterized as a growing
The social relations of capitalism are played political, economic and cultural interdepen-
out in professional sport just as they are in dence among the world’s nations. The word
other industries where capitalism prevails. most popularly used to characterize the com-
Those who own the means of production, the prehensive features of this process is ‘global-
team owners, hire athletes who, in effect, sell ization,’ which Robertson (1992) says ‘refers
their skilled labor power for a wage. The both to the compression of the world and the
amount owners pay athletes is always less intensification of consciousness of the world as
than what they expect to make in revenue. a whole’ (p. 8; see also Waters, 1995).
Underpaid human labor is the key ingredient In economics, the embracement of a market-
to the capitalist mode of production. However, based economy by developed and many devel-
in the process of selling their labor, athletes oping nations, as well as former centrally
lose control over the ‘product’ they create – the planned economies, and the opening of inter-
competitive contest – they become alienated national markets around the world have cre-
from their own expenditure of energy. In char- ated what is increasingly being called a global
acterizing social relations of pro athletes as economy. Transnational corporations (TNCs)
employees, Beamish (1982) said: based in developed countries are the major
As a form of activity that is completely subsumed
forces contributing to this growing global
under capitalist relations, professional athletes . . .
economy. These gigantic companies integrate
work under a historically specific set of produc-
their administrative and production systems
tion relations. Athletes do not own or control the
worldwide through rationalized economic
means of producing their athletic labor-power.
activities, modern bureaucratic organization,
They have no access to professional leagues other
advanced communications networks, and sci-
than through the sale of their labor-power to exist-
entific data calculations (Dunning, 1992;
ing franchise owners. (pp. 177–8)
Stubbs and Underhill, 1994; World Bank, 1995).
TNCs are tilting the national economies of
To mitigate working conditions under capi- their home country away from basic industries
talism, workers join unions to deal collectively, and transferring the labor-intensive phases of
rather than individually, with management. production to Third World nations (Barnet and
Such organization began in the mid-nineteenth Cavanagh, 1994; Berberoglu, 1992; Grunwald
century, originally to represent the interests and Flamm, 1985; Lorraine and Potter, 1993;
of trade and industrial workers with regard Staudohar and Brown, 1987). Foreign invest-
to increased wages, shorter hours, safer and ment by transnational corporations has elimi-
more humane working conditions and benefits nated nearly 12 million manufacturing jobs
270 KEY TOPICS

in industrialized countries between 1977 and French Open Tennis Tournament, to name only
1995. Between 1963 and 1995, the proportion a few of the most popular international events.
of the world’s manufacturing exports acc- Real and Mechikoff (1992) claim that ‘the
ounted for by Third World nations increased largest number of people ever in human
from 4.3 to 14 per cent. At present, over one- history to engage in one activity at the same
third of the earnings of the 200 largest US time are the viewers watching the Olympic
transnationals are from revenues of their off- Games and World Cup’ (p. 324).
shore subsidiaries (Barnet and Cavanagh, Several trends highlight the interconnections
1994; Sklar, 1994). between sports development and the global
TNCs are closely linked to the political economy. For example: the growth and spread
apparatus of the country in which they are of commodified sport during the past century,
incorporated as well as to the other nations the founding of international sports organiza-
of their production and distribution opera- tions, a worldwide approval of rules governing
tions. Political-economic agreements between specific sports, increasing competition between
nations, such as the European Union, GATT, national teams, regional championship events,
NAFTA and others, commit nations to integra- such as the European Championships, Com-
tion and interdependence. Political leaders in monwealth Games, Pan American Games,
developed countries tend to believe that Asian Games, numerous world championships
national interests are favorably served by the and, of course, the Olympic Games. All of
foreign expansion of transnational corpora- these events exhibit the key elements of
tions. Political leaders in underdeveloped political economy: production, distribution
countries negotiate for favorable investment and consumption. All employ athletes from
and trade agreements with cohorts in devel- throughout the world, draw spectators the
oped countries in hopes of improving their world over, attract advertisers of products
own economies as well as consolidating their made throughout the world and shape global
own political ambitions. Thus a complemen- sport consumer behavior. These, and others,
tarity of interests exists between transnational highlight the growth of globalization in
corporations and governments in both devel- sports. (See Joe Maguire’s contribution to this
oped and undeveloped countries (Arrighi, volume – Chapter 23 – for a more complete
1994; Berberoglu, 1992; Sherman, 1987). discussion of these trends in sports.)
Several theories have been proposed to
attempt to account for the emergence, expan-
sion and functioning of the international Sporting Goods Production
political economy – dual economy theory, in the Global Economy
dependency theory, world systems theory,
Marxist theory. The theories range from those One aspect of the global economy is an inter-
regarding the modern world economy as a national capital system and division of labor
natural consequence of a universal movement known as ‘export-oriented industrialization’,
of economic forces toward higher levels of eco- which is organized and driven by transna-
nomic efficiency and global interdependence to tional corporations and their subsidiaries. In
‘imperialist industrialization’ approaches this system, product research, development
which concentrate directly on the relations of and design typically take place in developed
production under imperialism and focus on countries while the labor-intensive, assembly-
the class nature of imperialist exploitation line phases of product manufacture are rele-
(Berberoglu, 1992; Sherman, 1987). gated to Third World nations. The finished
One way in which the globalized economy product is then exported for distribution in
expands is through cultural products, such as developed countries of the world. This system
music, art, sport and the mass media, espe- was originally employed by American compa-
cially film and television, which flow around nies in response to growing competition for
the world to enhance the integration and inter- American markets. It has now been adopted by
dependence tendencies in the world order. transnational firms headquartered in Western
Films and music are produced, marketed, sold Europe, Japan and elsewhere where consumer
and consumed throughout the world, and top goods are sold on the world market (Barnet
movie stars and musicians are world-wide and Cavanagh, 1994; Berberoglu, 1992; Browne
celebrities. Large international sporting events and Sims, 1993; Ward, 1990).
are often mentioned as evidence of a global Shifting production from developed to
culture. Worldwide television audiences watch underdeveloped countries is a strategy used
the Olympic Games, (Football) World Cup and by transnational corporations for several
 POLITICAL ECONOMY AND SPORT 271

reasons: wages are lower and worker benefits workplace are often unregulated, as are
fewer; the workforce is not likely to be orga- pollution and other environmental protections
nized, and if it is organized, it is less likely to (Herman, 1993; Ogle, 1990; Slater, 1991; Timm
be assertive; management can exert clear con- and Collingsworth, 1995). Thus, the neocolo-
trol over the work process, with few or no nial system of unequal economic and political
restrictions on hiring, firing, or reassigning relationships among the First and Third World
workers; workplace health and safety regula- countries described by Wallerstein’s (1974,
tions are less stringent or poorly enforced; the 1979, 1984) world-system model of global
cost of protecting the environment and com- development seems to have relevance.
munity health and safety are lower due to
weak or poorly enforced regulations (Herman, Export-Oriented Industrialization and the
1994; Tiano, 1990). Manufacture of Sporting Goods Equipment
Sporting goods manufacturing is not dislocated
Consequences of Export-Oriented Indus- from other forms of production. It is, instead,
trialization for Workers in the Developed interwoven with the process of accelerated
and Third World Nations Moving plants globalization; indeed, one of the aspects of
and operations to Third World countries is a globalization is the transnationalization of
way for corporations to boost profits, but for sports goods manufacturing. Economist Robert
workers and their communities in developed Reich (1991) illustrates this point: ‘Precision ice
countries the consequences are usually grim. hockey equipment is designed in Sweden,
Closed plants, unemployed workers, commu- financed in Canada, and assembled in
nity disintegration and a variety of related Cleveland and Denmark for distribution in
afflictions that undermine a nation’s social fab- North America and Europe, respectively out of
ric are the results of globalizing manufactur- alloys whose molecular structure was
ing. Increased rates of suicide, homicide, heart researched and patented in Delaware and fabri-
disease, alcoholism, mental illness, domestic cated in Japan’ (p. 112).
violence and family breakup have been linked Sporting goods and equipment corporations
to the stress of unemployment when plants are in developed countries have also turned to the
closed and productive operations moved off- Third World because an endless supply of
shore. Entire communities become economi- cheap labor makes it profitable and because
cally depressed when corporations relocate in foreign and trade policies provide the corpora-
foreign countries (Browne and Sims, 1993; tions with financial incentives. In the sporting
Kamel, 1990; Perrucci et al., 1988; Scheer, 1994; goods and equipment industry, manufacturers
Sklar, 1994; Staudohar and Brown, 1987). who produce all of their products domestically
Export processing industrialization has trans- are now a minority in an industry that has
formed the political economy of Third World become increasingly dominated by imports.
countries. Historically, Third World nations Space does not permit any comprehensive
specialized in the export of raw materials and treatment of the globalization of the manufac-
agricultural goods; now, countries involved in turing of sporting goods, but I shall describe
export-oriented industrialization specialize in two examples: the manufacture of sports
export of manufactured goods. For example, footwear and apparel and the manufacture of
manufactured goods presently account for Major League baseballs. It is important for the
55 per cent of all Mexican exports, 75 per cent of reader to understand that there are hundreds
all Brazilian exports, 92 per cent of all Taiwanese of other sporting goods manufacturers operat-
exports, and 96 per cent of all South Korean ing in Third World countries.
exports (Berberoglu, 1987, 1992; Dunning, 1992;
Lorraine and Potter, 1993; ‘Who owns ...’, 1994). Making Sports Footwear and Apparel in
For workers in the Third World, trans- Asia Many sporting goods and equipment
national investment in assembly production manufacturers have ‘run away’ to numerous
has carried with it some heavy burdens: wages low-wage export-processing and assembling
so low workers cannot provide for their basic zones across the world, but nowhere has this
needs, unjust and inhuman working condi- phenomenon been more tangible than in Asia.
tions, sexual exploitation, social disruption, Nike and Reebok are the world’s largest
distorted economic development. Moreover, suppliers of sports footwear and apparel. Nike
attempts to organize labor unions are often is the market leader in the United States, with a
violently suppressed by government soldiers. 32 per cent market share (King, 1994; Quinn
Workplace democracy and worker rights and Hilmer, 1994). Most of Nike and Reebok
are non-existent. Health and safety in the footwear and apparel are now made in factories
272 KEY TOPICS

in various countries of Asia. In all of the Nike Rawlings shifted manufacturing to Licking,
and Reebok factories in Asia, women under the Missouri. At first the Licking plant was non-
age of 25 from rural areas make up two-thirds union, but in 1956 it was organized by the
of the total number of employees in these facto- Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers
ries. It is their low wages and long hours which Union. The union immediately began efforts to
make Nike and Reebok commercially success- improve wages and working conditions, so
ful. As production of consumer goods becomes Rawlings began looking around for an alterna-
increasingly globalized, exploitation of women tive manufacturing site (‘Keep your eye’, 1990).
becomes globalized as well (Ballinger, 1992; In 1964 Rawlings moved its baseball manu-
Brookes and Madden, 1995; Wolf, 1992; Wyss facturing to an offshore location in Puerto Rico.
and Balakrishnan, 1993). But when the initial tax ‘holidays’ for foreign
A typical worker in the Indonesian plants investors ran out and minimum wage laws
that make Reebok and Nike products works were implemented in Puerto Rico, many com-
for 19 cents an hour; workers in their plants panies – including Rawlings Sporting Goods –
routinely put in ten-and-a-half-hour days, six left to exploit even cheaper labor in other coun-
days a week, with forced overtime two to three tries. In 1969 Rawlings closed its Puerto Rican
times per week. When compulsory overtime is baseball manufacturing plant and relocated in
thrown in, a worker’s monthly income is about Haiti, the poorest country in the Western hemi-
$50. By Indonesian standards, that monthly sphere and one of the 25 poorest in the world.
wage is about 30 per cent less than the ‘mini- Haiti was the ideal setting for Rawlings off-
mum physical needs’ for a married person shore baseball assembly operation: there were
with one child (Ballinger, 1992; Ingi Labor generous tax holidays, a franchise granting tar-
Working Group, 1991). iff exemption, the only legal trade unions were
Low wages and long hours are the main those run by the government. Strikes were ille-
ingredients of the Nike’s and Reebok’s suc- gal, and the minimum wage was so low that a
cess, but the contribution of another cost- majority of Haitians could not derive anything
saving measure cannot be underestimated: that might reasonably be called a ‘living’ from
minimal investment in safe working condi- the assembly plants. Haitians who made base-
tions. The typical Reebok and Nike worker balls for Rawlings earned less that $3 per day;
labors in poorly ventilated buildings in stifling the weekly average wage was $18. DeWind
heat. Laws requiring industrial safety are and Kinley (1988) noted: ‘Far from creating a
almost useless in practice because employers way out of poverty, the industry’s wages pro-
do not follow the rules and regulations set out vide the basis for only an impoverished stan-
in the laws. There is a lack of proper knowl- dard of living’ (p. 118).
edge of work-induced health hazards, and In November 1990 the Rawlings plant in
there is a lack of trained professionals and Haiti was suddenly closed. All baseball manu-
proper equipment to prevent and to treat facturing was moved to a Rawlings plant in
work-related injuries. Not surprisingly, the Costa Rica. This move represented the fourth
results of cutting costs on safety and workers’ time baseball production had been relocated in
health have been dreadful (Brookes and the past 30 years. In a press release announcing
Madden, 1995; Wolf, 1992). its departure from Haiti, the company said the
The record on workers’ rights is horrible as closing of the plant was due to Haiti’s ‘unsta-
well. Independent unions are not permitted, ble political climate’.
and labor organizers are routinely attacked, Rawlings opened a newly constructed plant
beaten and fired from their jobs. Nike and in Turrialba, Costa Rica in January 1990. About
Reebok worker protests have been met with 600 people, most of them women, are formally
on-the-sport dismissals and managerial indif- employed in the Turrialba facilities. The major-
ference (‘Government punishes’, 1995; Timm ity of the workers are ‘sewers’ who must stitch
and Collingsworth, 1995). 30–35 baseballs to earn $5–6 a day. The work
week is 48 hours long. Approximately 300
Making Major League Baseballs in the Costa Rican women also sew baseballs in their
Caribbean and Central America Rawlings homes, earning 15 cents per ball (Sage, 1994;
Sporting Goods Co., headquartered in St Louis, Wirpsa, 1990).
has manufactured the baseballs used in Major Nike’s, Reebok’s and Rawlings’s export
League baseball for over 40 years. Prior to processing operations have indeed achieved
1953, all Rawlings baseballs were manufac- commercial success, but they have been built
tured in a plant in St Louis with unionized by following a model which places profits over
labor. In that year, to reduce labor costs, worker needs, a labor policy that violates the
 POLITICAL ECONOMY AND SPORT 273

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those workers. Thus, for workers in sporting Berberoglu, B. (1987) The Internationalization of
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Byers, W. (1995) Unsportsmanlike Conduct: Exploiting
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Michigan Press.
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Cagan, J. and de Mause, N. (1998) Field of Schemes:
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Into Private Profit. Monroe, ME: Common Courage
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NOTE
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 17
EDUCATION AND SPORTS

C. Roger Rees and Andrew W. Miracle

The development of modern sport as a global generalized at a societal level. When a few
entity has been inextricably linked to the con- gifted athletes from low socio-economic back-
cept of education. Modern sport originated in grounds use interscholastic sports to advance
educational institutions primarily in Britain their education and/or become extremely
during the mid-to-late nineteenth century, and wealthy as professionals, many people use this
was exported worldwide as an integral part of as testament to the belief that society is ‘open’,
that educational system. Within these institu- and that everyone has the opportunity to be
tions, sport was originally seen as a device for successful if they follow ‘society’s’ rules. In
building and demonstrating ‘character’, a American high schools these rules are literally
rather vague term which is still used as justifi- written on the locker room walls. For example,
cation for its inclusion as an important slogans such as ‘there is no “I” in team’, ‘quit-
extracurricular activity in schools and colleges ters never win and winners never quit’, and,
today. As this review will show, sport in ‘show me a good loser and I’ll show you a
schools has been credited with teaching values loser’, teach us that we should sink our indi-
of sportsmanship and fair play to participants, viduality into the greater goal of team victory
increasing athletes’ educational aspirations, and never cease to strive for this success. After
developing a sense of community and group all, America is a nation of ‘winners’ and we
cohesion among students, helping to reduce should be satisfied with nothing less than
dropout rates, and giving poor and minority ‘Being No. 1’. The failures of English soccer
youth access to higher education. football1 and cricket teams in international
However the educational ‘effect’ of sport has competition in recent years has been inter-
not been confined to educational institutions. It preted as symbolic of a general air of pes-
has been used to justify participation at all lev- simism in the nation, and a ‘willful nostalgia’
els of society from community youth leagues for what has been perceived as a more positive
to professional clubs. To this day sport main- sporting era in the past (Maguire, 1994).
tains a moral component and individual par- These introductory comments illustrate two
ticipation in it is seen as worthwhile, an problems with regard to the issues of educa-
uplifting experience. Even professional ath- tion and sport, one substantive, the other orga-
letes carry the moral baggage of sport’s gen- nizational. First, although sport is a global
esis. They are supposed to be role models for concept, organized sport in educational set-
youth, and their behavior is often judged tings is more evident in some countries than in
against a standard of morality rarely applied to others. For example, in Germany and some
other representatives of the entertainment Scandinavian countries organized inter-
industry such as film stars or rock musicians. scholastic athletics2 is almost non-existent.
In a symbolic sense sport has become part Furthermore, the issue of sport in higher edu-
of what historian Eric Hobsbawm (1983a) cation is primarily applicable to the United
has called the ‘invented traditions’ of culture. States where the educational value of quasi-
That is, it demonstrates to us that certain char- professional sports in colleges is hotly debated.
acteristics (or myths) are true, and can be This means that a lot of the research reviewed
278 KEY TOPICS

in this chapter applies to countries that simplistic ‘Marie Antoinette’ approach by

imported and adapted the original British itself (‘let them play sport’) is successful in
model wherein sport was afforded such an reducing social problems such as racism,
important role in character development. sexism, delinquency and school dropout. Pro-
Secondly, the ubiquitous belief in the educa- grams need to be developed which use sport as
tional value of sport has implications for the a medium through which to raise such social
focus of this chapter, specifically the issue of issues, and examples of such programs are
interpreting ‘education’ in its broadest sense of briefly reviewed.
socialization and enculturation versus the nar-
rower sense of schooling. Although we con-
centrate on sport in educational institutions,
we do recognize that the ‘education’ issue is HISTORICAL BACKGROUND3
important in volunteer programs (Fine, 1987;
Landers and Fine, 1996), especially since There is consensus among scholars (for exam-
children often enter these programs before ple, Dunning, 1971; Guttmann, 1994; Mangan,
they become involved in sports at school. 1981) that organized sport was first institution-
Underlying all these observations is the alized in the private (euphemistically called
theme that sport as education has a very ‘mod- ‘public’) schools in Britain in the nineteenth
ernist’ ring to it, and is very much part of the century.4 In this context sports were seen as an
modernist tradition of progress and emancipa- integral part of the curriculum because of their
tion. The following review is a record of ‘character building’ properties. Sports, espe-
attempts by social scientists to interpret this cially team games like cricket and rugby, were
tradition using a number of theoretical and intended to teach ‘manly’ characteristics such
methodological perspectives. These include as group loyalty, physical toughness and self-
empirical approaches designed to test the usu- reliance. This cult of athleticism became so
ally anecdotal evidence given to support com- popular that by the 1880s compulsory games,
petitive sports programs in schools and sometimes every day, but usually three times a
colleges. This research tries to assess what week, became the norm (Mangan, 1981). Such
changes (if any) occur as a result of participa- training was an integral part of the spartan dis-
tion in interscholastic athletics. Other cipline of boarding-school life, encouraging
approaches from a Marxist and a critical theory boys to think of themselves as socially elite,
perspective have challenged the underlying and preparing them for leadership at home5
assumptions of ‘equality’ in society and shown and abroad. As Mangan (1981: 136) has noted,
how sport can help to perpetuate social class, the athletic emphasis became the basis of the
race and gender inequalities, and encourage muscular Christianity movement – a fusion of
practices such as dieting, drug taking and Christianity and social Darwinism in which it
aggression which endanger physical and men- was the duty (and the right) of English gentle-
tal health. In particular, feminist research has men to help civilize what they perceived to be
revealed the way sport can reinforce patriarchy the ‘less fortunate’ races which became part of
as the ‘natural’ order of social relationships the expanding British Empire. Muscular
between males and females. Christianity became popularized in the roman-
In the final section of the chapter we discuss tic novels of Charles Kingsley, and especially in
what we consider to be the ‘isolated’ nature of Tom Brown’s Schooldays by Thomas Hughes,
the research on sport and education from sev- which did much to establish as part of popular
eral perspectives, and suggest research agen- mythology the idea that ‘sport builds charac-
das to reduce this isolation. We advance three ter’, at least for boys (see Anderson, 1985;
points: first, that sport and education are Redmond, 1978).
global concepts yet the research has largely There is also evidence that sport was part of
reflected an ‘American’ perspective; second, education in girls’ private schools, although
that sport is an integral part of schooling which these physical activities were constrained by
has largely been overlooked by educational the educational myths of the time concerning
sociologists; third, that the sociological female maturation. Victorian medical theories
research on sport and education has been vir- held that females had a limited amount of
tually ignored by practitioners in the field of energy, which, during puberty, went into the
physical education. This field comprises the development of the reproductive organs.
formal mechanism through which the ‘educa- Subjecting adolescent girls to the rigors of
tional’ message of sport is delivered. The intellectual and physical activity during this
‘message’ for physical educators and coaches crucial period would endanger their physical
is that we can no longer accept that the maturation and subsequently their ability to
 EDUCATION AND SPORT 279

have children (McCrone, 1987). Moderate developed as a way to counter the perception
exercise however, would help develop moral that urbanization and immigration were
qualities in girls, and help girls become ‘fit’ threatening ‘American’ values. The city envi-
mothers and produce physically healthy and ronment in which most of the immigrants
morally sound children (Park, 1987). lived was seen as having a corrupting influ-
British public schools provided the model ence on youth which could be countered by
for education in the British empire, and school adult-supervised and organized play in city
sports became a way of life for the sons of the playgrounds and gymnasiums. These activities
elites. This was the case for cricket in the West would help reduce juvenile delinquency, give a
Indies (Sandiford and Stoddart, 1987) and sense of moral purpose to youth, and allow
India (Mangan, 1986), soccer football in them to break away from their ethnic roots
Argentina (Guttmann, 1994: 58–9), and cricket, and become ‘Americanized’ (Cavallo, 1981).
soccer and rugby football in Africa (Guttmann, Organizations such as the Young Men’s
1994: 63–6).6 In the United States exclusive pri- Christian Association (YMCA), and the Public
vate schools based on the British model were School Athletic League (PSAL),8 helped to
developed during the mid-to-late nineteenth bring these organized games and sports to
century. In these schools sport was believed to the masses.
perform the same function as in the British Cavallo (1981: 48) has suggested that by the
public schools, extending institutional control, 1920s Americans were convinced that team
allowing students contact with games masters games were essential for promoting ethnic har-
who acted as surrogate parents, teaching mony, physical vigor, moral direction, psycho-
‘manliness’, developing leaders, and preparing logical stability and social skills in urban
athletes for elite colleges and universities youth. As the 1920s began, athletics had been
(Armstrong, 1984; Bundgaard, 1985). At the institutionalized in virtually every school dis-
same time there was also great value attached trict in America. That participating in sport (or
to winning (Bundgaard, 1985; Mirel, 1982). As in America, winning in sport) ‘built character’
in the British model, morality was associated was the accepted tradition or ‘myth’ which is
with sport, but in America this morality was at the root of the link between sport and edu-
really demonstrated through victory, because cation. Many contemporary coaches and
only through victory, it was thought, could one school athletic administrators would endorse
demonstrate character and moral superiority the social and educational value of sport in
over one’s opponents (Mrozek, 1983: esp. schools as strongly as their predecessors did.
ch. 2).7 The tradition of Americans as winners The educational value of athletics may have
was ‘invented’ in the emerging ‘American’ stood the test of time among coaches and ath-
sports of baseball and football. Football in par- letes, but for many contemporary sport sociol-
ticular ‘exemplifies all the best in American ogists it is a controversial issue. This research is
manhood’, and became required activities in reviewed in the next section.
the schools attended by the future leaders of
America (Park, 1987: 69).
As in Britain, school sports were perceived SPORT IN EDUCATIONAL
primarily as activities for males, although at
least some American commentators did accept
INSTITUTIONS9
their importance in female moral and physical
development. It was thought that mild physi- The role of sport in schools has been increas-
cal activity could turn weak girls into fit ingly scrutinized by sociologists since
mothers, and the emphasis on the role of Coleman’s landmark study of American high
mother-hood among middle-class women was schools in the late 1950s (1961a). In this study
particularly strong given the great influx of Coleman acknowledged the value of sport as a
(usually working-class) immigrants from source of identity and school spirit, particularly
Europe at that time. Moreover, middle-class for non-motivated students. However, he also
wives who did not have children were held felt that, by placing too great an emphasis on
responsible for ‘race suicide’ (Smith-Rosenberg sport, schools ran the risk of subverting intel-
and Rosenberg, 1973). lectual goals (Coleman, 1961b). According to
The impetus to broaden the idea that sport Basil Bernstein (1975) school life can be
builds character, which eventually led to sport analysed from the perspective of two types of
becoming such an important force in American rituals: consensual rituals which sustain a sense
education, stemmed from concern with how of community, and differentiating rituals that
to socialize the children of immigrants. The mark off different groups within the school.
playground movement (Cavallo, 1981) was Rees (1995) has applied this classification
280 KEY TOPICS

system to show how involvement in school values of their parents (see also Youniss et al.,
sports effects the learning of knowledge via the 1994). Coleman’s methodology of forcing
subject matter of the curriculum and the learn- respondents to choose between different sta-
ing of values. As Coleman’s comments suggest, tuses such as athlete or scholar was easily
sport can influence both of these areas. The reproduced in subsequent research which
organization of this section (loosely) follows tended to replicate his original findings
Bernstein’s classification, dealing first with the (Eitzen, 1976; Thirer and Wright, 1985).
research on the differentiating rituals and the However, there are some puzzling inconsis-
relationship between sport and the academic tencies in the research on sport and adolescent
life of the school, followed by the role of sport groups. For example, the wish to be remem-
in the consensual rituals and the social values bered as a star athlete instead of a scholar
these rituals reinforce. might be seen as indicative of a peer culture
running counter to adult requirements accord-
ing to Coleman. However, the results of longi-
School Sport and Academic Life
tudinal studies on nationally representative
Proponents of school sports suggest that ath- samples of high school students consistently
letics is a positive influence on the formal edu- show that involvement in high school athletics
cation of students. Their arguments claim that leads to an increase in educational aspirations
participation in sports develops skills that are and a greater identification with school culture
useful in the workplace. Even if the dream of (Fejgin, 1994; Marsh, 1993; Melnick et al., 1988;
making a living using athletic ability in pro- Rees et al., 1990). Although these findings have
fessional sport is unrealistic, the drive and sometimes been mediated by combinations of
determination, positive self-concept and self- race and gender (Sabo et al., 1993), and prior
confidence taught on playing fields and in academic self-concept (Marsh, 1993), none of
gymnasiums are excellent preparation for the the results shows a negative effect of sport on
world of work. Sport increases high school stu- athletes’ involvement with school culture.
dents’ academic aspirations and provides them The results of participation in sports on
opportunities to further their education at col- academic aspirations must also be discussed in
lege. For less academically motivated students, relation to actual academic attainment. Those
sport provides the motivation to stay in school who believe in the educational value of high
and therefore reduces the school dropout rate. school athletics would argue that athletes must
These positive claims are discussed in the fol- study to attain the grade point average neces-
lowing sections in light of empirical research sary to remain eligible for school sports. They
studies. would also argue that athletes have to practice
efficient time-management skills because of
Academic Aspiration and Achievement In the time constraints imposed by school athlet-
his study of ten Chicago area high schools in ics, and that the self-esteem supposedly gained
the late 1950s, Coleman (1961a) identified dif- from sports can transfer to academics. To sup-
ferences between adolescent peer culture and port such claims they can point to studies
adult culture along three dimensions – career showing that athletes have similar or higher
aspirations, popularity and friendship. He grade point average (GPA) than non-athletes
showed that boys preferred career choices as (Rehberg, 1969; Schafer and Armer, 1968), and
famous athletes or jet pilots to missionaries or to more recent longitudinal research showing
atomic physicists, while girls chose famous that participation has a small positive effect on
actresses over schoolteachers. Also, male ado- grades (Fejgin, 1994; Hanks, 1979). Skeptics
lescents chose things like athletic prowess or might suggest that athletes could be graded
being a member of the leading crowd as cri- more leniently than non-athletes, or could ben-
teria for popularity with peers instead of aca- efit from special tutoring, or might take easy
demic achievement more valued by adults. courses so as to remain academically eligible.
Finally, adolescents and parents were at odds Different measures of academic achievement
on the characteristics of an ideal friend or dat- besides GPA need to be considered in this dis-
ing partner. cussion (Miracle and Rees, 1994: 136–8). For
This view of youth puts adolescents in oppo- example, Marsh (1993) noted that participation
sition to adults in general and parents in par- in sport favorably affected academic activities
ticular. But Brown points out (1990: 174) that such as being in an academic track, school
there is much evidence for ‘congruence’ attendance, taking science courses and time
between parents and teenagers in political, spent on homework, but also noted that sports
religious and moral values, and that peers participation had little effect on changes in aca-
more often reinforce rather than contradict the demic achievement over time.
 EDUCATION AND SPORT 281

Clearly the nature of the relationship Coleman’s original concern that athletics in
between academic aspirations, academic schools can subvert educational goals.
achievement and school sports is unresolved.
The longitudinal research has improved on the Interscholastic sports and higher education
early cross-sectional research designs because The idea that male (and increasingly female)
it has been able to isolate athletic effects, high school students can translate the physical
instead of just comparing athlete and non- capital developed in high school sports into the
athlete groups. However, the results of these cultural capital of a college education is one of
studies need to be considered in conjunction our greatest cultural myths (Miracle and Rees,
with research that describes the relative impor- 1994: ch. 6; Spady, 1971). Conventional wisdom
tance of athletics and education in the cultural has it that athletic scholarships give athletes
milieu of school life, and which examines the (particularly black athletes of low socio-
‘lived experience’ of students. economic status) access to university that might
otherwise be unattainable, and a ‘free ride’ for
Dropout Rates Advocates of school sports the four or five years it takes them to graduate.
might also interpret the research on school This idea combines two of our most sacred
dropout (Finn, 1989; McNeal, 1995; Melnick myths – the importance of education as a path
et al., 1992) as supporting the positive role of to upward mobility and the essentially open
athletics in education. Participation in extracur- nature of access to education within society. In
ricular activities has been seen as an important this section the validity of these myths is exam-
factor in reducing school dropout (Finn, 1989). ined in light of research that highlights ath-
In a study of the effect of extracurricular activi- letes’ reasons for attending college, traces their
ties on high school dropout, using longitudinal academic progress, analyses graduation rates
data from the ‘High School and Beyond’ study, for different sports in different schools, and
McNeal (1995) showed that participation in reports the difficulties experienced by some
athletics and fine arts significantly reduced athletes when trying to balance the demands of
dropout rates, while participation in academic their academic and sport schedules.
or vocational clubs did not. This relationship For example, Sabo, Melnick and Vanfossen’s
held after controlling for race,10 socio-economic (1993) analysis of the ‘High School and Beyond’
status, gender and employment. When all data set found that the effect of participation in
extracurricular activities were examined simul- high school athletics on post-secondary educa-
taneously only athletic participation remained tional success and upward mobility depended
significantly related to dropout reduction. upon the participants’ race/ethnic status, gen-
McNeal suggested that the importance of ath- der and type of school (urban, suburban, rural).
letic status in peer culture, the frequency of Their results reflected the larger societal pat-
peer interaction characterizing athletics, and terns of racial and gender stratification. In
the time commitment necessary for participa- another analysis of the ‘High School and
tion may all contribute to the effect, but warned Beyond’ data, Snyder and Spreitzer (1990)
against overemphasizing the power of sports as showed that high school athletics had a positive
the principal antidote to school dropout. effect on college attendance. However, control-
Although the effects of participation in fine arts ling for the effects of race, socio-economic status
activities were not as prominent as athletics, and cognitive development revealed that the
they ‘instill a less competitive focus in partici- effect was strongest for students who had the
pants and foster a more “cooperative” environ- lowest cognitive development, that is, the ones
ment’, which McNeal saw as more conducive least suited for higher education who would
to finishing school (McNeal, 1995: 75). have the most difficulty in graduating with a
In previous research, DiMaggio (1982) had college degree. A National Intercollegiate
advocated fine arts activities as a mode of Athletic Association (NCAA) sponsored study
attaining cultural capital and gaining access to of a sample of male undergraduate baseball
the more ‘elite’ group of students who would players and female undergraduate softball
have better school attitudes.11 However, players at Division 1 schools showed that acad-
McNeal’s results imply that the development emic concerns were not among the most impor-
of physical capital is equally if not more impor- tant in their decision about which school to
tant to potential school dropouts. The concept attend. Indicators of the colleges’ scholastic
of physical capital will be discussed in more attributes (specifically, ‘academic program’ and
detail in a later section, but if the only reason ‘curriculum/major’) were ranked seventh and
students stay in school is to play sports how is ninth on a list of ten reasons by the baseball
this helping their academic education? In some players and third and seventh by the softball
ways McNeal’s findings tend to confirm players. ‘Amount of scholarship’ was first
282 KEY TOPICS

choice for the males and second choice for the theory perspective (for example, Sage, 1990:
females (Doyle and Gaeth, 1990). ch. 8) see intercollegiate athletics as a ‘quasi-
The results of these two studies confirm the professional’ system which makes money for
rather obvious fact that athletic scholarships the universities at the expense of the educa-
are given for athletic ability first (and academic tional needs of the student-athletes. This view
ability second) to student-athletes whose pri- is opposite to the popular myth of sport as a
mary interest is the amount of money they are way for low socio-economic students to
receiving. This does not mean that student- achieve an education. In defense of the scep-
athletes are not interested in their education, tics, there are plenty of anecdotes and case
but that academic achievement and graduation studies of the system failing. On the other
is not guaranteed and may be problematic for hand, the focus of the criticism has been big-
some. One study of male basketball and foot- time college programs in Division 1 schools. It
ball players at one NCAA Division 1 school is of interest to examine the effects (if any) on
showed that, in one academic year, 19 per cent athletes’ academic performance of recent
were ‘passing easily’, carrying an average of NCAA reforms designed to reduce profession-
15.3 credit hours per semester with a GPA of alism. Will the recent television exposure given
3.22. Most of the student-athletes (55 per cent) to women’s collegiate basketball lead to an
were ‘getting by’ with a GPA slightly above the increase in academic problems? Also, we have
2.0 required by the NCAA for athletic partici- almost no information on how male or female
pation. The remaining 26 per cent were ‘strug- athletes in Division 2 or Division 3 schools
gling along’, passing an average of only 5.1 handle academic pressures, or whether this is a
credit hours with a GPA of 1.79 in the Fall problem.
semester and an average of 10.1 credit hours The research reviewed in this section does
with a GPA of 1.78 in the Spring semester. This show that we should be wary of accepting
fell far short of the NCAA requirement of a grandiose claims for sport enhancing the acad-
2.00 average for 24 credit hours for the aca- emic life of athletes. Participation in high
demic year (Brede and Camp, 1987). school sports consistently raises educational
Research from case studies confirms that aca- aspirations, and may reduce student dropout
demics may be a special problem for some male rates, but its effect on general academic
athletes in Division 1 universities. In one such achievement in high school and in college is
study the authors lived for four years with male less clear-cut. The importance of sport in con-
college basketball players at one school. The sensual school rituals, and the values rein-
players were mostly from lower- and middle- forced by these rituals is the subject of the next
class backgrounds; 70 per cent of them were section.
black. The dual pressures of big-time athletics
and the demands of college work became too
much for most of the athletes. Over the four- School Sports and Values
year period their early idealistic view that they
would be able to use athletics to get an educa- The evidence presented in the historical back-
tion was replaced by what the authors termed ground section supports the idea that sports
‘pragmatic detachment’ towards academics. entered school life because of their perceived
Turned off by hard courses, being pressured to socialization value. Societies that adapted the
win by coaches, and isolated in a ‘jock’ dorm original model from the British public schools
where there was little peer support for study- continue to stress the importance of sport as
ing, they became preoccupied with maintaining consensual rituals which are supposed to teach
eligibility and the unlikely chances of a profes- ‘positive’ values, develop school spirit and
sional career (Adler and Adler, 1985). However, provide a bond between the school and the
in-depth interviews with senior female basket- community.12 In the United States rituals like
ball and volleyball players at another Division 1 pep rallies and homecoming perform such a
school showed that these student-athletes man- function. These events have been vividly
aged to maintain a balance between sport and described by Burnett (1969), and more recently
studying. The author argued that lack of pro- by Bissinger (1990) and Foley (1990a, 1990b),
fessional outlets and public recognition for although there is no consensus on what values
women’s sports, and the lack of a ‘jock’ mental- these rituals actually teach. For example,
ity by female athletes, accounted for this com- scholars using a conflict theory perspective (for
mitment to education (Meyer, 1990). example, O’Hanlon, 1980, 1982; Spring, 1974)
The educational problem of college athletics agree that the importance of sport in education
has been a popular issue among sport sociolo- increases as schools assume more responsibil-
gists in America. Scholars who adopt a critical ity for social values such as ‘morality’ and
 EDUCATION AND SPORT 283

‘citizenship’, but that the real lessons taught by compared the level of moral reasoning used by
athletics are to accept competition as the prin- high school and college athletes in several
cipal method by which the scarce societal sports with the level used by non-athletes (see
resources could be allocated (O’Hanlon, 1980: Shields and Bredemeier, 1995, for a review).
103). Or, in Doug Foley’s words, students are Among other things, they have found that
‘learning capitalist culture’ through school involvement in collegiate basketball is associ-
sports (Foley, 1990b).13 Studies reviewed in the ated with less mature moral reasoning than is
following sections deal with the consensual usual in the general population. However, in
function of athletic rituals and what values (if the case of high school basketball there were no
any) are learned through these rituals. significant differences in moral reasoning
between athletes and non-athletes (Bredemeier
Building Character14 Social scientists have and Shields, 1984, 1986). In a study of elemen-
used a number of methodologies to move tary school students, the longer boys partici-
beyond the usual anecdotal evidence given in pated in high-contact sports and girls in
support of the belief that sport builds charac- medium-contact sports, the lower the level of
ter. For example, Kleiber and Roberts (1981) moral reasoning (Bredemeier et al., 1987). This
introduced the ‘Kick-Soccer World Series’ to a research has shown that people often see moral
random sample of boys and girls in two ele- decisions in sport as different from moral deci-
mentary schools. This event simulated the con- sions in daily life contexts such as school or
ditions of organized sports with scores kept of work. In sport they employ ‘game reasoning’,
league standings, leading to one champion which ‘may, at times, be a form of moral ratio-
team which was rewarded with trophies. nalization that seemingly legitimizes behavior
When the participants in the program were that would ordinarily result in self-censure’
compared with a control group of their peers (Shields and Bredemeier, 1995: 190). This con-
who were not involved, the boys’ scores on cept of game reasoning, the idea that sport is a
altruism were lower in the experimental special domain where the normal social rules
group. The authors speculated that the empha- that restrain aggressive social interaction do
sis on winning in organized sport might lead not apply, is part of what has been called ‘pos-
children to become more confrontational in itive deviance’ (Hughes and Coakley, 1991).
interactions with their peers. The effect of par-
ticipation in sport on personality development Delinquency15 ‘Positive deviance’ can help
has also been examined in longitudinal to explain inconsistencies in the research,
research. For example, Best (1985) concluded which has examined the relationship between
that male athletes had the same values as their participation in school sports, and antisocial
non-athlete peers when compared on such activities such as theft, drunkenness, drug
characteristics as social skills, self-control, hon- abuse and violence generally labeled juvenile
esty and independence. Rees, Howell and delinquency. To the extent that this behavior in
Miracle (1990) report similar findings in their males was caused by the need to assert mas-
analysis of the ‘Youth in Transition’ data set. culinity, or as a reaction to frustration, or weak
While participation in high school sports social controls, participation in school sports
increased self-esteem and the value attached to was suggested as providing a ‘deterrent’ effect
academic achievement, it also increased to delinquency (Segrave and Chu, 1978). While
aggression and irritability and reduced the some research has shown athletes’ delinquency
belief in the importance of being honest, the rates to be lower than non-athletes’ (for exam-
importance of self-control and of indepen- ple, Hastad et al., 1984), others have shown the
dence. However, these differences were the opposite (Buhrmann and Bratton, 1978). Further
exception rather than the rule, and the general research has shown support for a ‘reform’ effect
conclusion was that school sports did little to of sport (Stark et al., 1987), particularly in non-
benefit or harm the social development of par- conventional sports such as Outward Bound
ticipants. The results of similar longitudinal programs (Kelly and Baer, 1971), and the tradi-
research by Marsh (1993) and Fejgin (1994) tional martial arts (Trulson, 1986).
showed that participation in sport at high While deterrent and reform theories assume
school had no negative effects, and several the positive effect of sport, the concept of posi-
positive influences on athlete’s academic and tive deviance suggests that activities labeled
discipline behavior. ‘deviant’ in other social contexts may be part of
Further insights into the role of sports and the socialization process into sport, particu-
character development have been provided larly for male athletes. It can help to explain
by the work of Bredemeier and Shields and why ‘athletes do harmful things to themselves
their associates. In their research they have and perhaps others while motivated by a sense
284 KEY TOPICS

of duty and honor’ (Hughes and Coakley, Foley’s study also showed little evidence of
1991: 311). For example, why would male high high school sport reducing racial tensions or
school football players copy a scene in a popu- helping the process of racial assimilation. In
lar film and risk their lives by lying down in the fact racial tensions in the community were
middle of on-coming traffic (Bernard, 1993; replicated in the ritual of high school football.
Forrest, 1993)? Why would they initiate a com- The racial ‘jokes’ of the white and Hispanic
petition to see who could have the largest num- football players reinforced racial stereotypes,
ber of sexual encounters (Didion, 1993; and decisions over starting roles and home-
Smolowe, 1993)? Why was ‘improving athletic coming celebrations were interpreted as having
performance’ given as the number one response racial overtones. Foley characterized high
in a national survey designed to study steroid school football as reproducing racial inequality.
use in high school males (Buckley et al., 1988)? Mark Grey (1992) reached a similar conclu-
And why do college female athletes experience sion in his study of a southwestern Kansas
a higher level of eating disorders than non- high school. Many minorities were recent
athlete groups (Black and Burckes-Miller, 1988; immigrants (Hispanic and Southeastern Asian)
Thornton, 1990)? Moreover, high levels of whose children had had little experience with
athletic ability have not deterred high school American sports. Although some played soc-
football players (Campbell, 1989) or college cer and volleyball, their failure to get involved
male swimmers (Snyder, 1994) from crime in football was taken by some community
sprees. Incidents such as these and many more members as evidence that they were resisting
examples of date rape, theft and drunkenness assimilation.16
have led sociologists to see deviance as part of In summary, this brief review of research on
the culture of sport, a culture which supports sport and the consensual rituals of school life
deviant behavior in the pursuit of victory and calls into question the traditional view of sport
reinforces gender and racial stereotypes. as a positive force in school life. While the lon-
gitudinal research generally shows no negative
School Sports, Masculinity and Race The (but often little positive) changes in the ‘char-
theme of biologically based male superiority acter’ of participants, research that decodes
over females is one of the sub-texts of sport sport’s symbolic role shows it reinforcing exist-
(Bryson, 1987, 1990) that is played out in the ing inequalities of gender and race, and per-
consensual rituals of high school athletics. For petuating the status quo. These opposite views
example, Foley (1990a) provided several exam- of social reality when it comes to the role of
ples of this theme in the school he studied. sport and schooling, and the implications for
Football players prided themselves on being research and practice, will be discussed as part
able to give and take physical punishment, play of the final section.
with pain and live promiscuous lifestyles. The
‘powder puff’ football game, in which teams of
the most popular senior and junior girls put on A CRITIQUE OF THE RESEARCH
football gear and played against each other for
the amusement of the male athletes, actually ON SPORT AND SCHOOLING
reproduced male power. Ostensibly a role-
reversal ritual, the game allowed the males to During the opening ceremony of the 26th
dress like female cheerleaders, and belittle the Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, on 19 July
females’ attempt at serious ‘male’ sport in a 1996, Juan Antonio Samaranch, President of
ridiculous and demeaning manner. Other the International Olympic Committee, pro-
research by Curry (1991, 1998) has documented claimed to the world that ‘sport is education’.
the routine sexist attitude of male college ath- The ‘global’ image of sport education that he
letes in their locker room talk, and incidents of had in mind was probably very similar to the
sexual aggression by male athletes. image of sport in upper-class British boarding
Given that male athletes are usually at the top schools described in the early part of this
of the status hierarchy in school cliques chapter. It was this image that had inspired the
(Caanan, 1987; Rees, 1995), their values and originator of the modern Olympics, Baron
behavior are likely to be copied by non-athlete Pierre de Coubertin, over a century ago
groups. For example, being able to accept phys- (MacAloon, 1981). It is safe to assume that
ical abuse was perceived to be a high-status findings from the empirical and critical
characteristic in the male adolescent groups that research on sport and education reviewed in
Foley studied. How a boy dealt with physical this chapter were not part of his vision, or the
pain led to him being labeled either as a ‘real vision of most of the thousands of people in
man’ or as a ‘wimp’ or a ‘fag’ (Foley, 1990a). attendance, or the millions more watching on
 EDUCATION AND SPORT 285

television. The limitations of sociology of sport notable exception of Coleman’s work (1961a),
knowledge about education are briefly dis- and more recently that of Doug Foley (1990b),
cussed in the final section of this chapter, where which came from both a sociological and an
we consider the ‘isolated’ nature of the research anthropological perspective, books on school
we have reviewed from several perspectives. life have failed to describe this important influ-
ence.17 Most of the research reviewed in this
chapter has been published in sociology of
Globalization sport journals, not in journals specializing in
sociology of education. Much interesting infor-
Samaranch’s image of the global nature of
mation on the role of sport in the life of
sport education notwithstanding, globaliza-
American schools has to be gained ‘second
tion research on sport and education is almost
hand’ from recent journalistic accounts of high
non-existent. Almost all the research reviewed
school football (Bissinger, 1990) and basketball
in this chapter has been conducted in the
(Frey, 1994; Joravsky, 1995). These accounts are
United States. For example, we are aware of no
extremely interesting and locate the impor-
comparative research studies focusing on the
tance of sport within the school and the local
importance of school sport in countries that
community. However, they are atheoretical
share sporting and educational traditions
and concentrate almost exclusively on the lives
(such as, Britain and America). Is the perpetu-
of the athletic stars. Consequently they often
ation of class, race and gender differences that
fail to examine the general importance of sport
Foley demonstrated in a southwestern Texas
in education.
school generalizable to other societies were the
There is a great need for studies that place
community involvement in school sports is
sport within the context of school life, studies
less intense? To what degree are adolescents’
that show how adolescents ‘make sense’ out of
views about sport generalizable across cultures
school rituals including sports rituals. This
and subject to societal and/or regional differ-
research could test the ‘disembodied’ empirical
ences? Such research might help to provide
findings of longitudinal research reviewed
interesting data to test recent globalization
above within the ‘lived experience’ of students
theories (Maguire, 1994; Robertson, 1992).
at school. For example, how important is
Recent theoretical advances in conceptualiz-
female sport in the social life of the school and
ing the body as an important factor in modern
the community, especially in communities
life also may help to advance this research
such as Iowa where women’s basketball is
endeavor. For example, Shilling (1993: 4–5)
taken so seriously? Can the phenomenon of
places corporeal concerns at the center of the
successful female sport teams break down
issue of identity, and describes the body as ‘an
existing gender stereotypes that occur in
island of security in a global system character-
school and community? What is the effect of
ized by multiple and inescapable risks’. He
gender and race in the production of physical
has extended Bourdieu’s concept of capital to
capital among school children, and the transla-
the body and has shown how Bourdieu’s
tion of this to cultural and economic capital
theories can be used to explain gender
(Shilling, 1992)?
inequalities in general (Shilling, 1991a) as well
as in education (Shilling, 1991b, 1992).
Preliminary results in a study comparing
German and American adolescents using the Physical Education
concept of body capital show that young
Perhaps more disturbing, from a practical per-
people from both countries share many simi-
spective, is the fact that physical education
lar attitudes about the importance of sport and
practitioners, those teachers and coaches in a
the body. Data also indicate that in some cases
position to apply the research findings on sport
gender differences function in a similar way in
and schooling, have paid scant attention to this
both societies, but also that racial differences
body of knowledge, particularly in the United
in America exert an independent effect
States. Pedagogical practice in physical educa-
(Brettschneider et al., 1996; Rees and Brandl-
tion appears unaffected by the rather modest
Bredenbeck, 1995; Rees et al., 1998).
results from longitudinal research on the
positive effects of sport, and warnings from
Sociology of Education critical scholars about sport perpetuating exist-
ing inequalities. The myth that sport encour-
The field of sociology of education has largely ages positive educational outcomes is still used
neglected the importance of sport as an educa- to justify school athletics and physical educa-
tional force in American schools. With the tion programs (Rees, 1997). Programs that use
286 KEY TOPICS

sport as a medium to teach self-control and NOTES

self-responsibility (for example, Hellison, 1993;
Hellison and Templin, 1991; Williamson and 1 Although sport is a global concept, some-
Georgiadis, 1992) or specifically to encourage times the terminology used to describe it is
moral development (for example, Romance not. Soccer football here refers to the game
et al., 1986) have been the exception rather of Association football, known as soccer in
than the rule.18 the United States but generally termed
Also of value is the sport education model football in the rest of the world.
developed by Siedentop, Mand and Taggart 2 The word ‘athletics’ is used here and
(1986) which uses physical education lessons throughout the chapter in the American
to teach fair play in sports, and gives students sense to describe a number of different
the opportunity to practice sports-related roles sports rather than in the British sense
such as coach, referee and manager. This pro- which is equivalent to the American term
gram has been successfully tested and widely ‘track and field’.
applied in Australia (Alexander et al., 1996) 3 Since other chapters discuss the genesis of
and in New Zealand (Grant, 1992). modern sport, this section will deal primar-
If sport sociologists are really serious about ily with the institutionalization of sport in
the practical applications of this knowledge schools. It draws upon previous reviews by
they need to study physical education curricu- the authors, particularly Miracle and Rees,
lum process at work. Following Bernstein’s (1994: ch. 2).
(1990) idea of the curriculum as a ‘pedagogical 4 Athleticism in the Victorian and Edwardian
device’ through which interested parties Public School by James A. Mangan
decide what will become ‘the official pedagog- (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
ical discourse’, Evans and Penney (1995) 1981) is an authoritative source on the
showed how disputes over the National growth of athleticism in British boarding
Curriculum for physical education in Britain schools.
affected how the body will eventually be 5 Eric Hobsbawm (1983a) has suggested that
schooled. Sociologists are usually absent from the growth of sport at this time helped to
such struggles at the school level, and so ‘invent the traditions’ of Britain which gave
knowledge from the sociology of sport is not stability to society and legitimated existing
often heard by practitioners. Sociologists need power relations. Private education expan-
to work closely with sports practitioners in ded to meet the needs of a growing middle
non-confrontational contexts (Rees et al., 1991) class. Before 1868 about 24 schools could
in order to improve the educational effects of seriously claim the status of ‘public schools’,
sport.19 but by 1902 this number had grown to
between 64 and 104 depending on the cri-
teria used for classification (Hobsbawm,
1983b). The best criterion for acceptance into
CONCLUSION this community of elite schools was athletic
competition. Schools that played sports
This chapter reviewed the sociological together shared an identity.
research on sport and schooling – research 6 These references come from Allen
that has tended to call into question the globe- Guttman’s Games and Empires: Modern
wide myths that participation in sport Sports and Cultural Imperialism (1994).
inevitably provides positive social experi- 7 This belief is still an accepted part of
ences and ‘builds character ’. We suggest American sporting tradition. The team that
research approaches should be designed to comes from behind to win is often
increase our knowledge about how children described as ‘showing great character’.
make sense of sport in schools. This research 8 Historian Thomas Jable described the
may reveal the contradictory nature of mod- PSAL as ‘a progenitor and leader of public
ern sport, and show that positive and nega- school athletics’ (1984: 235). For more infor-
tive influences exist side by side. If this is the mation on the precursors of sport in
case, the issue of education should become an American schools see this article, and also
important topic for applied sociology of sport. Cavallo (1981), Rader (1983) and Miracle
Sociologists, coaches and physical education and Rees (1994: ch. 2).
teachers could cooperate in the goal of using 9 This section draws on some of the material
sport to counter the problems of school reviewed by the first author in ‘Sports and
dropout, gender and ethnic stereotyping, and schooling’ in Education and Sociology: an
parochialism. Encyclopedia (Rees, in press).
 EDUCATION AND SPORT 287

10 Melnick, Sabo and Vanfossen (1992) in an 17 For example, sport is hardly mentioned in
separate analysis of the same data set found Cookson and Persell’s (1985) otherwise
that the effect of athletic involvement on excellent book on American elite boarding
dropout reduction applied only to rural schools, in Nancy Lesko’s (1988) study on
black males, suburban Hispanic males, and girls in a Catholic school, or in Penelope
rural Hispanic females. Respondents’ Eckert’s (1989) book on social categories in
school location (urban, suburban, rural) school life.
was not a variable in McNeal’s study. 18 These and other approaches are reviewed
11 A similar argument, that the high status of by Shields and Bredemeier (1995).
school sports gives low socio-economic 19 For an excellent example of this process at
status students access to the ‘leading work with volunteer adults in youth sport,
crowd’ through which their academic aspi- see McPherson (1986).
rations are raised, was made by Coleman
(1961a: ch. 5).
12 The first author has vivid recollections of
playing, both as a student and as a former
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‘Overcoming obstacles to collaboration and inte- of deviance among college athletes: a case study’,
gration in physical education’, Quest, 43 (3): Sociology of Sport Journal, 11 (3): 231–48.
319–32. Snyder, E.E. and Spreitzer, E.S. (1990) ‘High school
Rees, C.R., Howell, F.M. and Miracle, A.W. (1990) athletic participation as related to college atten-
‘Do high school sports build character? A quasi- dance among black, Hispanic, and white males: a
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Sage, G.H. (1990) Power and Ideology in American Trulson, M.E. (1986) ‘Martial arts training: A novel
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 18
SPORT AND THE MEDIA

Garry Whannel

MAPPING THE FIELD I will outline work in these areas and then
discuss some key themes and topics before con-
cluding by outlining current research trajecto-
The growth of television as a significant ries. Typically, media sociology distinguishes
cultural form during the 1960s put the relation- three main aspects of the communicative chain:
ship between sport and the media on the public production, message and reception.
agenda. In late 1969, the US magazine Sports
Illustrated drew attention to the ways in which
television was transforming sport (Johnson, Production
1969/70). In effect, sport in the television age
was a ‘whole new game’ (Johnson, 1973). The Sociological study of the first part of the com-
growing economic and cultural significance of municative chain, the production of media
television for sport gradually became a perti- messages, involves the study of the structures
nent issue in countries around the world (see and finances of cultural institutions and the
for example, Andreff and Nys, 1987; Guiront, sets of economic relations and legal constraints
1978; Ivent, 1979; Scholz, 1993; Sportsworld, that underpin them; the production practices
1974; Tatz, 1987; Telecine, 1978). Clearly sport that develop within them; the producers, and
and television had developed a degree of inter- the professional ideologies that frame their
dependence (Parente, 1977). They belonged practices.
together ‘like ham and eggs’ (Claeys and Van Media organizations exist within legal
Pelt, 1986). In the view of some, television had frameworks that determine their scope. In the
‘made’ sport (McChesney, 1989). United Kingdom, the BBC is a public corpora-
Newsweek expressed concern, in 1967, over tion, and the ITV system is overseen by a
the extent to which television was the power- public body, the Independent Television
ful partner in the relationship. Debates devel- Commission. Both are charged with a statutory
oped from the 1970s as to whether the effects of responsibility to provide a broad range of
television were beneficial or harmful (Glasser, material, which includes sport coverage
1985; McIntosh, 1974). Rader (1984) and (Whannel, 1992). The introduction of Channel
Whannel (1992) both argued that television 4 in 1982, with its statutory obligation to be
had transformed sport. By the 1980s, academic alternative and innovative, had an impact on
research had mapped out the field and pro- the range of sports covered (Sport and Leisure,
posed research agendas (Critcher, 1987, 1992; 1986) In the USA free market forces are not
Wenner, 1989a) and book-length studies had subject to as much restriction, but there are still
appeared (Chandler, 1988; Goldlust, 1987; laws, rules and regulations that impact upon
Rader, 1984). It is noteworthy that, to date, far sport coverage (see Horowitz, 1974, 1977;
more critical attention has been paid to tele- Siegfried et al., 1977).
vision sport than to sport coverage in the print The press in both countries is subject to less
media. restriction from government. Sport coverage in
The study of the media has been informed the British tabloid press is dominated by a very
by sociological and semiological traditions. small range of sports, with football typically
292 KEY TOPICS

providing more than half of the content. While information is controlled by press and public
some sport events, such as the Olympic Games relations departments, and Theberge and
and the soccer World Cup, win huge audi- Cronk (1986) investigated the ways in which
ences, the audience for much television sport production practices and professional ideolo-
is not, by television’s standards, large. Part gies can serve to marginalize press coverage of
of the appeal of sport for television producers women’s sport.
is its cheapness. It can fill hours of the schedule The production of media messages typically
at relatively low cost. A substantial amount involves hierarchization, personalization,
of television sport, lacking major audience narrativizing (posing the question ‘Who will
appeal, is outside peak time television, in the win?’) and framing; establishing key events,
afternoon, or late at night. key stars and framing the event for an audi-
Media institutions enter into dealings with ence (Cantelon and Gruneau, 1988). Gruneau’s
the institutions of sport, and television is typi- 1989 case study of television skiing describes
cally the dominant partner in the relationship, the need of producers to make the event look
providing revenue and dictating the terms of more dramatic and ‘make the course look
the exchange (Bellamy, 1989). Media institu- faster’. Whannel (1992) takes a historical
tions also have to compete with each other, approach in identifying the formative
which BBC did very effectively during the moments of the conventions of commentary,
establishment of ITV in the 1950s, reinforcing visual coverage and programme construction.
its claim of ‘BBC for Sport’ by signing up key The changing shape of conventions and prac-
sports, producers and commentators on long- tices of structuring sporting events for televi-
term contracts. During the 1960s and 1970s sion can on occasion be traced through the
BBC sustained its service with coverage of writing of practitioners, and cricket is well
major events and a wide range of sports (BBC, served here (see Johnston, 1956, 1966, 1975).
1974; Dimmock, 1964). However, more aggres- Jeremy Tunstall’s (1977) study of specialist
sive competition from ITV during the 1970s journalists outlines the ways that they function
became a greater challenge (Milne, 1977). both as competitors and colleagues. Sports
Weathering this, the BBC preserved its domi- reporters tend to have far more contact with
nance until the end of the 1980s, when the their competitors on other papers than they do
satellite channel Sky Sport, with a growing with their colleagues on the same journal. A
power to outbid anyone else for the rights to group solidarity and shared interests conflict
major events, began to emerge as a much more with loyalty to a particular paper. In an under-
serious competitor to terrestrial television. resourced medium such as radio, the media
From the 1980s, the rise of satellite and cable professional often occupies a more isolated
began to restructure the television audience, position (Gilmore, 1993). Journalists are often
launching dedicated sports channels, and pro- well aware of the gap between ‘reality’ and the
ducing a shift from large, fairly heterogenous media rendition of it (Koppett, 1994). Accounts
audiences, to smaller, more homogenous ones by media sport professionals provide useful
(Eastman and Meyer, 1989). Developments in evidence for the professional ideologies that
video recording, slow-motion, satellite trans- frame production practices (see for examples
mission and digital technology over the years Blofeld, 1990; Bough, 1980; Martin-Jenkins,
have had a major impact on enhancing the 1990; Maskell, 1988; Robertson, 1987; and
ability of television sport to produce spectacu- Cosell, 1973, 1974).
lar entertainment (Hersh, 1993; Ward, 1976). Production practices can become taken for
Much early media research centred on polit- granted by media practitioners, and are natu-
ical messages and on the measurement of atti- ralized very readily; tracing such practices in
tude or voting intention. However, attempts to their formative moments can be instructive,
‘prove’ this variant of the stimulus–response revealing the choices that were later to solidify
model, typically found that media messages as professional commonsense. The conven-
were more likely to produce reinforcement than tions of commentary at the BBC, involving
change in attitude (Klapper, 1960). While the personalization, building audience interest
media did not appear to have fabulous powers and heightening drama were laid out by
to determine what people thought, it did, how- de Lotbiniere (1949) in a highly influential
ever, appear to have a power to determine what document that became the bible of commen-
people thought about. Consequently, research tary during the 1950s. Camera positions and
began to focus on the role of cultural producers cutting styles were established by processes
as gatekeepers (Breed, 1955; White, 1964) and of trial and error (see Wolstenholme, 1958) and
agenda-setters (Cohen, 1963). Chalip and only later, in the 1960s, became conventional-
Chalip (1992) examined the ways in which ized. Sports journalism as a profession was, in
 SPORT AND THE MEDIA 293

large measure, a product of the late nineteenth and Jackson, 1989), the World Cup (Geraghty
century, as sports magazines appeared in sig- et al., 1986; Nowell-Smith, 1978; Wren-Lewis
nificant numbers, and newspapers began and Clarke, 1983) and the Superbowl (Real,
including dedicated sports sections (see 1989). The English FA (Football Association)
Gillmeister, 1993; Kelly, 1988; Mason, 1993). cup final has been analysed (in two Open
Accounts of the careers of journalists and com- University television programmes) as a site on
mentators reveal much about the attitudes which representations of tradition, ritual and
underlying the formations of these profes- royalty are joined to the tension and drama of
sional practices. The focus on stars, the ‘the people’s game’ (see also Colley and
construction of dramatic interest and the rela- Davies, 1982). There are now extensive case
tive marginalization of expertise, are all com- studies that investigate the media portrayal of
mon features of media sport journalism (see, sport. Berg and Trujillo (1989) examine the cen-
for example, Andrews, 1993; Barber, 1970; trality of winning in American sporting ideol-
Dalby, 1961; Fountain, 1993; Gibson, 1976; ogy and the ways in which the Dallas
Glendenning, 1953; Talbot, 1973, 1976; West, Cowboys were represented as a symbol of suc-
1986; Williams, 1985; Wynne-Jones, 1951). cess. Young (1986) examines media coverage of
the Heysel Stadium disaster, charting the
various ways in which blame was attributed.
Content Other media have received rather less atten-
tion. Rowe (1990) examines different styles of
The second part of the communicative chain sports writing. Brewster (1993) and Shaw
concerns the content as opposed to its produc- (1989) chart the growth of football fanzines,
tion. In 1977 the Journal of Communication which have also been analysed as a case in
devoted an issue to media sport, with papers which the dominant values of a sporting world
analysing the strategies used in commentary to have been contested (Jary et al. 1991). Press
build audience interest and heighten drama coverage of a celebrated drugs case was exam-
(Bryant et al. 1977). Some suggested that the ined by Donohew et al. (1989). Sports photo-
excitement generated in commentary can serve graphy has received inadequate attention,
to mask the relative lack of excitement in the although there is an excellent collection of
match itself (Comiskey et al. 1977). Visual examples (Smith, 1987). Bergan (1982) has cat-
styles also served to heighten the excitement alogued comprehensively films featuring
and spectacle (Williams, 1977). sport, and Leni Riefenstahl’s controversial film
Birrell and Loy (1979) analysed television of the 1936 Olympics has been analysed by
sport partly in McLuhan’s terms, but the more Downing (1992). Pendred (1987) has produced
influential part of the paper argues that tele- an extensive catalogue of British sporting art,
vision sport can be understood in terms of a set and Goldman (1983) has charted the history of
of manipulations of time and space; a frame- British sporting prints. To date, though, the
work later adopted by Whannel (1992) to study of European media sport coverage by
analyse the ways in which sport was trans- Blain et al. (1993), which examines the con-
formed by television (see also Hesling, 1986). struction of national identities, is the most
This transformation, involving spectacle, elaborate consideration of the print media; and
drama, personalization and immediacy, was, as while there has been much discussion of indi-
Clarke and Clarke (1982) have argued, also a vidual films there is no scholarly overview of
form of ideological reproduction in which com- sport in the cinema.
petitive individualism, local regional and
national identities and male superiority were
all made to appear natural, rather than the con- Audience
sequence of specific cultural selections and pre-
sentations. The world of sport was one in The third part of the communicative chain con-
which any explicit politics of race, gender or cerns reception and the audience. Information
national identity were evacuated, whilst the about audience size and demographic profile
representations were none the less permeated can be garnered from industry sources and
with particular ideologies (see also Daney, from periodic publications by organizations
1978). like the BBC (see BBC, 1976, 1977; Marles,
In the television age sport has been turned 1984). Barnett (1990) has argued that the audi-
into mass spectacle, a process that arguably ence for television sport is a soft one – heavily
began at the start of the 1960s (Crawford, 1992) affected by the weather, the choice of view-
and is epitomized in major sport events like ing, the presence and absence of star figures
the Olympic Games (Brennan, 1995; McPhail and other factors. Terrestrial television has
294 KEY TOPICS

generally depended on the assembly of large football (in the United Kingdom), with a link to
heterogenous audiences, and even though television coverage. Yet such effects may often
sport has more appeal to men, most sport audi- be, as was the case with American football,
ences consist of around 40 per cent women somewhat transitory (see Olympia Seminar
viewers. The rise of dedicated sport channels Working Papers, 1975). Decades of research
on satellite and cable has begun to disrupt long into the effects of the media has tended to
established viewing patterns and the imminent suggest that the media are more likely to
introduction in Britain of pay-per-view football produce reinforcement than change of attitude,
is likely to trigger a dramatic shift in viewing and evidence that constructive attitudinal
habits, and in television industry economics. change can be produced by media messages is
The press has a rather different pattern of con- as yet unconvincing (see Wenner, 1994).
sumption, in that different parts of the paper According to some, far from producing pos-
attract very different types of reader, a fact itive effects, the media can, consciously or
reflected in the separation of sport coverage unconsciously serve to reproduce negative
from the rest of the paper, and in the growth of attitudes such as an attachment to violence
multiple-segment papers. Historically, the (Bryant and Zillman, 1983). A controlled exper-
readership of sports pages has been predomi- iment found that ice hockey commentaries that
nantly male, and the mode of address to read- stressed violence were regarded as providing
ers makes fewer attempts than television to more entertainment than commentaries that
pull in marginal consumers. de-emphasized the violence (Comiskey et al.
To win and to hold audiences and readers, it 1977). Bryant carried out research in which
is necessary to establish points of identifica- groups of people watched tapes of sport
tion, and to speak or write in modes that con- events, with commentaries that either empha-
nect with the audience. The audience has to be sized or de-emphasized the violence. He found
cajoled into viewing (McVicar, 1982), and the that commentaries significantly affected audi-
values underpinning the presentation have to ences’ interpretation of events, and found that
be capable of connecting with the audience viewers’ enjoyment of the tapes with violent
(see Bailey and Sage, 1988). Strategies for commentary was enhanced (see Bryant, 1989).
media production must have some relation to Commentary style appeared to significantly
the range of gratifications that viewers seek influence viewers’ perceptions of the degree of
(Wenner and Gantz, 1989). aggressiveness, and men enjoyed the aggres-
A major theme in media sociology concerns sive play more than did women (Sullivan,
the impact of media messages, and much 1987). Other research suggested that commen-
debate has gone on within sport institutions tary contributed most to the enjoyment of a
around two questions – the impact of tele- televised sports event where opponents were
vision sport coverage on attendances, and on presented as hated foes rather than as friends
participation. Evidence on the impact of tele- (see Comiskey et al., 1977).
vision sport on attendances at sporting events This research raises broader questions to do
is mixed and inconclusive. In certain circum- with cultural portrayals of and attitudes
stances live television of an event does seem to towards violence. Messages about violence
reduce the crowd, while at others it has little must be distinguished from actual violence. It
or no effect. The growing amount of live foot- cannot be assumed that because people find
ball on British television has parallelled a pleasure in viewing a regulated physical com-
steady growth for ten years in match atten- bativeness in sport their tolerance of violence
dances. This is a complex area with many in other contexts is diminished. While investi-
variables. Football crowds may be affected by gation has suggested that the strongest moti-
the history and traditions of a club, its current vations for sport viewing were the desire to
league position, its style of play, the opposi- thrill in victory, and a desire to let loose (Gantz,
tion, the weather, presence or absence of star 1981), we still need to understand more about
players, the level of unemployment in the area, the reasons people consume media sport
the time of year, and availability of other alter- (see Zillman et al., 1979). It has long been clear,
natives, of which television is just one. On par- for example, that sport viewing is heavily
ticipation, many sport governing bodies have subjective, and it could be argued that there is
nurtured the hopes of a television-inspired no such thing as a pre-existing event that
boom in participation, often citing the gymnas- people merely observe – the event is always a
tics boom in the wake of Olga Korbut’s Olympic product of the activity of the onlooker (see
success. There is indeed circumstantial evidence Hastorf and Cantril, 1954). Identification with
of a growth in participation, in such diverse one participant is an important element of the
sports as gymnastics, snooker and American sport-viewing experience, and Sapolsky and
 SPORT AND THE MEDIA 295

Zillman (1978) found that informal social production and consumption of a message –
controls exerted by fellow viewers influenced production–text–consumption. This concept
perception. In a USA v. Yugoslavia basketball was the basis of the encoding–decoding model
game watched by groups of friends, the social (Hall et al., 1980).
control of the group ensured that Yugoslav Secondly, developments of early semiology
baskets were not enjoyed, whereas in a larger explored the ways in which language acts to
group, with friends in the minority, Yugoslav position, or interpellate, the reader or audi-
baskets got more appreciation. ence. The text carries within it subject-positions
The pleasures involved in sport viewing are that readers come to occupy. An example is the
complex and not readily analysed (see Duncan patriotic identification that commentaries
and Brammett, 1989). The experience of view- upon international football construct, position-
ing is often ritualized and communal, as com- ing us as, for example, patriotic subjects who
pared to the more solitary and casualized want England to win. Within this tradition
manner in which much television is consumed there are complex and competing areas of the-
(see Eastman and Riggs, 1994). The conditions orization that cannot be explored in this
of viewing themselves inevitably have an chapter. However, an understanding of the
impact on the ways in which pleasures are influence of semiology can provide a useful
experienced (Sapolsky and Zillman, 1978). The context for reading the analyses of media sport
distinctiveness of sport as a cultural form lies coverage that this present review outlines.
partly in its uncertainty. In its live form, it is a A key starting point for media analysis in
process, not a product and part of the pleasure this tradition was the notion that television
lies in that elusive moment of free expression and the other media do not simply reflect
before the modes of media presentation trans- the world, but rather construct versions, or
form it into a product (see Whannel, 1994a). accounts, of it. Buscombe’s (1975) football
monograph analyses in detail the way in
which camera positions, cutting patterns,
Semiological Analysis modes of editing, commentary, title sequences
and presentation material, all serve to con-
When study of the media began to emerge as a struct a particular image of football. Similarly,
distinct academic subject it developed in an Peters (1976) analyses the ways that tele-
interdisciplinary fashion, drawing upon vision’s visual and verbal conventions served
history, sociology, literary theory and semiol- to relay a particular picture of the 1976
ogy. Semiology, literally the science of signs, Olympic Games. Birrell and Loy (1979) analyse
but more precisely the study of meaning pro- the ways in which television rearranges time
duction, examines the process whereby lan- and space in order to produce sport in tele-
guage, whether visual, verbal or a combination visual form. Buscombe (1975) and Peters (1976)
of the two, produces meanings (Barthes, 1967). argued that while television sport claimed to
Early semiological analysis focused upon the be merely presenting reality, it was in fact con-
message, or text, as the product of the system structing a version of it, viewed from the posi-
of language that makes meaning possible. It tion of an imaginary ‘ideal’ spectator. Television
was the underlying system of a language – its sport, then, has to be understood as involving
codes and conventions – that were seen as a process of construction, in which choices as
enabling and governing the production of to camera position and angle, lens type and
meaning. However, as this system only exists cutting patterns all have their impact on the
in the form of utterances – speech acts, written appearance of the event.
language, visual representation – in short, The contributors to the Buscombe collection
texts, texts became the object of analysis. The attempted to analyse television sport as a
main aim of analysis, however, was to uncover form of realism. However, there are many dif-
or reveal the underlying systems of language ferent forms, styles, and aesthetic conventions
that made the production of meaning possible. for representing the real. The combination of
There were two significant developments direct and indirect address in television sport,
from this base. First, the text was seen as the use of visual devices like slow-motion,
involving a process of encoding. In order to be and action replay, and the use of graphics,
intelligible, a message has to be composed cannot simply be seen as a variant of the real-
according to sets of codes or conventions that ist conventions of narrative fiction. To dissect
the audience can decode (for example, the ways the complex combination of title montages,
in which hats – cloth cap/bowler/top hat – presentation, contributors, clips, action replays
act as signifiers of social class). The text is and actuality, it is more useful to think in terms
part of the communicative chain linking the of conflicting tensions between attempts to
296 KEY TOPICS

achieve transparency, rendering television’s consequent degradation of athletic activity,

own mediations invisible, and a desire to build subsumed to the logic of the marketplace, and
in entertainment values. argued that sport was being standardized and
Analysis in this tradition tried to establish the commodified.
codes, conventions and modes of organizing Goldlust (1987) argued that from the 1960s
discourse that characterized media representa- onwards, television increasingly colonized
tions of sport (Goldlust, 1987; Whannel, 1992). sporting cultures and undermined communal
Such analyses focused on the visual and verbal control of sporting institutions. Whannel
strategies that personalized and narrativized (1986) argued that in the United Kingdom, the
sport, and the ways in which ideological ele- crucial moment came in the mid-1960s when
ments, such as national identification, the work the launch of BBC2 in 1964 and the banning of
ethic and masculinity were linked together (see television tobacco advertising in 1965 served to
also Fiske, 1983; O’Donnell and Boyle, 1996). trigger a sponsorship revolution. This forced
The construction of media texts was seen as sport governing bodies to regard television
involving a selective juxtaposition in which coverage as crucial to financial survival, partly
events were relayed in the form of stories (see because of rights payments from television but
Pearson, 1988; Whannel, 1982) and golden also because of the money to be gained from
moments and magic memories were assembled sponsorship. Barnett (1990) has drawn atten-
and re-arranged for the viewer (Whannel, 1989). tion to the rising power of satellite television,
Work in this tradition is also concerned with and to the shift from broadcasting as a public
the ways in which discourses are organized service towards broadcasting as a commodity
and the audience positioned by them. Nowell- to be chosen and purchased.
Smith (1978) examines ‘Television’, ‘football’ Much of the impetus for the transformation
and ‘world’ as terms, analysing the distinctive- of sport came not from the traditional govern-
ness of the ‘world’ as constructed by television ing bodies but from maverick entrepreneurs
football, and contrasting the dominance of the who established themselves as sports agents,
Olympics by the symbolic politics of East v. and who constituted the crucial mediation
West, with the ‘world’ of football, which is point between sport organizations, sport stars,
structured around the difference between television, sponsors and advertisers (see Aris,
‘North European’ and ‘Latin’. Morse (1983) 1990; Stoddart, 1990; Wilson, 1988). The
argues that the object of sport discourse is the process of commodification involved the con-
male body, but cultural inhibitions about gaz- struction of calculated commercial packages
ing at male bodies mean that sport transforms that endeavoured to maximize the various
voyeurism into scientific enquiry, emphasizing opportunities inherent in sponsorship, adver-
technical performance over aesthetic beauty. tising and merchandising. Snooker capitalized
Sport on television, especially in slow motion, on its television success of the 1980s with new
portrays the fantasy of the body as perfect tournaments, new sponsors and expansion
machine. Television sport primarily addresses into new markets (see Burn, 1986). Television
men, with female viewers relatively marginal- was the shop window that allowed for the pro-
ized (see O’Connor and Boyle, 1991). motion of sporting spectacle to new markets
(see Maguire, 1990). The global reach of tele-
vision and the economic power of the United
TOPICS AND DEBATES States combined to foster a marked
Americanization of the form, content and
Commercialization styles of sport television around the world
(McKay and Miller, 1991). However, the
The commercialization and commodification process of bringing together an audience for
of sport since the Second World War has been new, imported or Americanized sporting spec-
a central theme of the sociology of sport, and tacle was a complex one. Long-established
the development of media sport has played a sporting cultures are embedded in lived expe-
key role. Charles Critcher (1979) argued that riences with their own histories, rooted in
there has been a transformative trend that national cultures, and transplanted cultural
commenced in the 1950s, at least in football, in experiences cannot always succeed in estab-
which the major factors were the growth of lishing themselves (see Maguire, 1988).
professionalization, spectacularization, inter- The central role of television lies partly in
nationalization and commercialization. Some its economic power. The major American
writers have noted the tensions between the networks were prepared to spend huge sums
emancipatory potential of sport and its func- out-bidding each other for rights to major
tion as a commodity. Sewart (1987) derided the events (see Klatell and Marcus, 1988). The
 SPORT AND THE MEDIA 297

willingness of governing bodies to respond to The ceremonies and rituals surrounding the
the needs of television was heightened by the Olympic Games are in themselves a rich and
activities of sport entrepreneurs from outside complex field, juggling the needs of television
the traditionally rooted world of the governing from a comprehensible spectacle, the desire
bodies. Jack Kramer, Kerry Packer, Mark of Olympics organizers to demonstrate their
McCormack, Horst Dassler of Adidas and munificence, the pressure to advertise a
Rupert Murdoch of News Corporation have national culture, and the need to draw on
been key figures in this process. Packer had the aspects of the history, heritage and traditions
economic power to challenge the previously of the host country, not necessarily easily read
cosy relationship between cricket and tele- by the TV audience. The production of specta-
vision, and his own World Series Cricket cle on this scale is necessarily laden with ideol-
ushered in floodlit cricket, coloured clothing, ogy (see Gruneau, 1989b; Tomlinson, 1989;
hard-sell advertising, more cameras, more Wren-Lewis and Clarke, 1983). Television
close-ups and more replays (see Bonney, 1980; sporting spectacle is a significant component
Haigh, 1993). Lawrence and Rowe (1987) of the media imperialism in which the cultural
argued that television cricket promoted capi- products of the developed West, with their
talist ideology by legitimizing the capitalist elaborate spectacle and high production
social relations of production; socializing view- values, reach global audiences, at the expense
ers to accept the values of capitalism; limiting of indigenous cultures (Whannel, 1985).
the acceptance of what is fair, normal and As it is unquestionably the major global
desirable; promoting the myth of upward sporting event, the Olympic Games offers
mobility; and diverting people’s attention from an invaluable case study of these processes.
the problems of life under capitalism. The costs of staging the Games are huge
Sport organizations were sometimes slow to (Zarnowski, 1992). Television rights payments
respond to the process of commercialization. In grew rapidly from the 1970s and have become
the United Kingdom, the Sports Council com- massive (Alaszkiewicz and McPhail, 1986).
missioned a report on sponsorship that Although the International Olympic Commi-
expressed concern at the power of sports ttee and the organizing committees are not set
agents, whilst being somewhat cautious about up to make profits, there are, connected with
the revenue potential for sport that sponsor- the Olympics, extensive opportunities for
ship offered (Howell, 1983). A report set up by profit-making and sales promotion (Lawrence,
the Sports Council to examine the potential 1987). Excessive commercialization has been
impact of cable and satellite showed British identified as a problem both from within and
sport relatively unprepared for the revolution without the movement (Min, 1987). Sponsor-
to come (Jones, 1985). Satellite sport in the ship of the Games has been seen as compro-
United Kingdom grew slowly at first, ham- mising the ideals of Olympism (Whannel,
pered by slow dish sales and competition 1994b). There have been widely circulated
between two providers, BSB and Sky (see allegations of corruption at the heart of the
Chippendale and Franks, 1991). However, movement (Simson and Jennings, 1992).
once Sky Television, into which BSB was Relationships between the Olympic Games
‘merged’, had the field to itself, the rapidly and the media are the subject of a collection of
growing revenue from the pay-per-channel conference papers (McPhail and Jackson, 1989)
services began to give satellite television and, more recently an elaborate international
enhanced scope to obtain the rights to major research project has published its survey of
events. The imminent spread of pay-per-view the Olympic Games and television (Moragas
transmission of major football matches and et al., 1996).
other big events is about to provide a signifi- The development of television sport in the
cant new impetus to the commodification of United States offers another example of the
sport. dramatic speed and scope of the processes of
The spectacularization of top-level sport on commercialization and commodification. In
television, enabled by the growing technologi- the less regulated and more competitive tele-
cal command of image production and distrib- vision environment of America, there was,
ution, is a key part of the commodification from the early days of broadcasting, a need for
process (Morris and Nydahl, 1985). Major television to bring together sport and sponsor
sporting events win and hold enormous (Powers, 1984). ABC Television made a signifi-
audiences – and have become global events. cant breakthrough for television sport in the
They serve to condense complex symbolic 1960s with an emphasis on personalization,
systems – of politics, nationalism, gender, race dramatization and spectacularization, epito-
and aspiration (see Real, 1975; Wenner, 1989b). mized in its slogan ‘The Thrill of Victory, the
298 KEY TOPICS

Agony of Defeat’ (Sugar, 1980). They launched Females were more likely to be posed rather
the long-running Wide World of Sports than performing, black women athletes were
(Leitner, 1975) and transformed American rarely pictured, aggressive sports were cov-
social habits with live Monday night football, ered less than traditional female-appropriate
taking sport into the heart of prime time sports, and female athletes were liable to be
(Neal-Lunsford, 1992). The focus was one of described in terms devaluing their sporting
intense individualization – in their own terms, achievements. The portrayals of sport and fit-
‘up close and personal’ (Spence, 1988). Their ness in magazines represented a re-working of
success heightened competition between the femininity that tried to reconcile active women
networks and prompted a massive escalation with femininity (see Bolla, 1990; Horne and
in rights payments (O’Neil, 1989). Without Bentley, 1989).
doubt, in America the transformation of sport These gender constructions are not simply a
by television can be seen at its most dramatic matter of the production of difference – the
(Rader, 1984). gender differences involved are structured by
power relations: by the subordination of
women within patriarchy (see Duncan and
Women and Media Sport Hasbrook, 1988). Higgs and Weiler (1994)
found that
Sport as a social practice serves to demarcate
although women were given greater coverage in
gender distinctions. Extensive research demon-
individual sports, that coverage was divided into
strates the different treatment of boys and girls,
shorter and more heavily edited segments.
men and women and male and female athletes.
In addition, commentators relied on gender mark-
Dunne (1982) found that while magazines
ing, biased and ambivalent reporting, and a focus
aimed at pre-pubescent girls feature positive
on personalities as opposed to athletic abilities
images of sport, by the teen years, in maga-
when covering women’s sports.
zines, sport is something that boys do and girls
have little interest in. Margaret Duncan (1990) Williams, Lawrence and Rowe (1987) argued
argued that sport functions as one of the last that, despite any gains that women have made
male strongholds. The sports photographs in the struggle to obtain equality in Olympic
examined in her research highlighted female competition, their participation was limited
difference, emphasizing women as in a posi- and their image, as defined by the media, is
tion of relative weakness. She argues that such structured according to prevailing gender
photographs emphasized the other-ness of stereotypes (see also Yeates, 1992).
women, enabling patriarchal ends, and con- Feminist scholarship is concerned not
cludes that it ‘remains to be seen whether merely with charting and documenting the
the potentiality for representations of strong construction of gender difference, nor with
women becomes an actuality’ (see also demonstrating the power relations underpin-
Hilliard, 1984). ning difference but also with exploring ways of
Shifflett and Revelle (1994) conducted a con- changing and combating such image produc-
tent analysis of NCAA news and found that tion. Halbert and Latimer (1994) have argued
73 per cent of space was devoted to male ath- that, although women have made great strides
letes and only 27 per cent to female, and more in sport, their achievements will continue to be
than three times as much space was devoted meaningless as long as sports broadcasters
to photos of male athletes. Malec (1994) dis- undermine, trivialize and minimize women’s
puted their conclusions, pointing out that as performances through biased commentaries.
there were more male athletes than female, MacNeil (1988) has argued that leisure is a
NCAA was merely reflecting this. He pointed site of contestation in which women’s partici-
out that, in terms of prominence, 9 per cent of pation presents new ideas of physicality, but
the paragraphs about women were on the residual patriarchal notions that sport is for
front page compared to 5 per cent of the para- men are difficult to alter. She describes the
graphs about men. commodification of the feminine style through
Typically, images of women in sport involve aerobic classes, sports clothes and videos; and
constant reworkings of the variants of domi- argues that patriarchy is reproduced in a
nant femininity. Leath and Lumpkin (1992) newly negotiated form that attracts women to
examined Women’s Sport and Fitness and found buy a range of narcissistic commodities. She
that as the magazine switched emphasis concludes that this exploits women by creating
towards fitness it featured more non-athletes ‘needs’ that are in reality only ‘wants’ – female
overall and fewer athletes on the cover. sexuality and glamour help to sell physical
 SPORT AND THE MEDIA 299

activity to women; and that advertising is a growing body of work on sexualities, has
major impetus in the acceptance of the aerobic brought the body centre stage as an object
ritual and its style as ‘feminine’. Media repre- of study. Workouts, weight-training, bodybuild-
sentations of active women, in activities such ing have foregrounded a new masculine mus-
as aerobics and bodybuilding, are aligned with cularity (see Klein, 1990). Gymnasia have
dominant hegemonic relations. They repro- become the site of cultural contestation, as the
duce male dominance by continuing to associ- rituals of gay, straight and female users
ate women more with appearance than struggle to establish subcultural space (Miller
performance, objects for the gaze rather than and Penz, 1991).
acting subjects. Sport stars are frequently written about as
role models, although what precisely this
means is rarely clearly specified (Hrycaiko
Masculinities and Media Sport et al., 1978). They certainly do function as stars,
and top-level sport has developed an elaborate
Research into images of men in sport has and marketable star system. Hill (1994) dis-
identified a systematic pattern of difference cusses the problems associated with under-
(Messner et al., 1993). There are close links standing heroes, stars and what they represent
between the cultures of sport and dominant (see also Nocker and Klein, 1980). While pun-
constructions of masculinity (Miller, 1989). dits constantly assert that sport stars can be
Television sport offers men a distraction, a moral exemplars or bad influences, the rela-
private world apart from the pressure and tion between these images, morality and the
constraints of life (Rose and Friedman, 1994). It youth market is undoubtedly more complex
is a world of toughness, competence and hero- (Whannel, 1995b). There is reason to hypothe-
ism which celebrates traditional ‘masculine’ size that young people are very well able to
qualities (Sabo and Jansen, 1992). distinguish between Gazza the football genius,
Just as there is no single monolithic feminin- Gazza the fat clown and Paul Gascoigne the
ity, nor is there a single simple homogenous man who allegedly beats up his wife. Sport
masculinity. There are a range of images of mas- stars are somehow being asked to follow in the
culinities available within images of sport, but footsteps of the Victorian heroes of Empire (see
these are typically delimited by the parameters Howarth, 1973), and yet we live in different
of ‘masculinity’. The world of American foot- times when heroes are frequently knocked
ball is viewed, critically, in the film North Dallas from their pedestals and the very concept of
Forty as a tough, brutal world in which there is male heroism is fragile (see Hall, 1996; Harris,
no room for doubt or uncertainty (Whannel, 1994; Izod, 1996).
1993). The terrace subcultures of English soccer
celebrate a tough, aggressive, self-asserting
localism (Williams and Taylor, 1994). The rise of Race and Media Sport
men’s style magazines in the late 1980s marks a
distinct commodification of masculine appear- There are two major issues in this area. First,
ance, in which sport iconography plays a sig- do the media provide stereotypical images of
nificant role. black athletes; and secondly, do apparently
Yet while male vanities are nurtured in positive images of black achievement reinforce
media representations of sport, these still char- the stereotype of black athleticism, and so limit
acteristically offer a vision in which emotions the perceptions of teachers and coaches about
are only readily expressed in specific contexts other accomplishments.
like sporting victory, and in which relation- Sabo et al. (1996), in a study of American
ships, feelings and desires are frequently televising of international sport, found that
rendered marginal (see Chapter 30 by Mary producers appeared to make efforts to provide
Duquin). Neale (1982) analyses Chariots of Fire fair treatment of athletes, but that the treat-
in terms of male gazes at each other, implying ment of race and ethnicity varied across pro-
a sexuality the film cannot acknowledge. ductions. There was little evidence of negative
Scorsese’s Raging Bull, an antidote to the rather representations of black athletes, but represen-
more glorified version of violence in boxing in tations of Asian athletes drew on cultural
Rocky, is seen by Cook (1982) as portraying a stereotypes, and representations of Latino-
masculinity in crisis – only able to express Hispanic athletes were mixed, with some
emotion through violence. stereotyping.
The rise of feminist scholarship, the growth Wonsek (1992) found that the majority of
of an interest in the study of masculinity, and a black college athletes were exploited by their
300 KEY TOPICS

institutions. She argued that within a historical lesson in realism’ by the European powers. At
and contemporary racist culture, some black stake here, of course, is not just national
athletes are elevated to superstardom while identities but the construction of a ‘European’
other black athletes do not receive an adequate identity (see also Boyle, 1992; O’Donnell, 1994).
education. The image of black success in ath- Chandler (1988) examines the question of
letics tends to support the stereotypical view national identities through an analysis of the
that black students’ abilities lie with sport relation between the sport of a nation and its
rather than academic work. She concluded that television system, contrasting the deregulated
the media perpetuates the image of the young environment of the USA and the public service
black male as athlete only, with advertisements traditions of the United Kingdom. Whannel
playing a significant role in this process. (1995a) suggests that the symbols of national
Wenner (1995) identified a good guy/bad identity have a degree of autonomy from
guy frame of reference that served to mark dif- national cultures, in examining the hero status
ferences between sporting stars like Michael that Englishman Jack Charlton acquired as
Jordan and Mike Tyson. Crawford (1991) manager of the Republic of Ireland football
examined the limited range of stereotypes of team. In Ireland traditional Gaelic sports have
black athleticism in American movies. Majors benefited from the support of a media system
(1990) argued that the cool pose adopted by geared to the construction of a national culture
black athletes provided a means of countering (see Boyle, 1992), whereas in Scotland, with a
social oppression and racism and of express- media system oriented towards urban
ing creativity, but the emphasis on athletics Scotland and mainstream team games, tradi-
and cool pose among black males was often tional sports like shinty became progressively
self-defeating, and came at the expense of edu- more marginal (Whitson, 1983). In many parts
cational advancement. Perversely, the very of the Third World, television audiences are
success of black athletes, generating a fund of more likely to see European football than their
‘positive’ images, at the same time reproduces own indigenous league, and, again, traditional
a negative stereotype, because of the lack of and local-based sports become marginalized
positive images of black achievement in other (Whannel, 1985).
areas. National cinemas play a significant part in
the linking of sporting cultures with the sym-
bols of national identity, with Chariots of Fire an
National Identities obvious example (Johnston, 1985). True Blue,
which tells the story of the 1987 Oxford–
Media representations of sport inevitably Cambridge Boat Race and the tensions and dis-
involve the production of images of national agreements over training and selection that led
identities. There has always been a shortage, in to the American members of the Oxford crew
media analysis, of strong cross-cultural refusing to row, offers a revealing picture of a
research, in part because of the obvious logisti- clash of cultures, in which the English public
cal problems involved in researching a range of school–Oxbridge traditions are triumphantly
different linguistic communities. Blain, Boyle re-asserted. American cinema’s images of base-
and O’Donnell (1993), in their analysis of the ball are frequently also implicit statements
1990 Soccer World Cup, were able to work about American identity (Crawford, 1988).
with over 3,000 press reports from ten coun- They often allude to the pastoral romanticism
tries. Their book contains a rich range of that characterizes baseball’s mythology
empirical material, examining images of sport- (McCarthy, 1990; Mosher, 1995).
ing events in different countries, images of
British-ness in the foreign media, and of
Europe in the British media, taking as their key RESEARCH TRENDS
examples the 1990 World Cup staged in Italy,
the Wimbledon tennis championship of 1991
and the Barcelona Olympics of 1992. In a brief The sociology of sport is an expanding field,
example, to illustrate the narrative frame and as far as media sport is concerned the
through which the European media interpret areas of globalization and the body are cur-
the relation of the ‘small’ sporting nations like rently the focus of much work.
Cameroon and Costa Rica to Europe, they
string together quotes from eight sources to Globalization
demonstrate a hyper-narrative in which the
‘insolent, impudent upstarts’ are ‘put in their There has been extensive recent debate on
place’, ‘taught a lesson’, and given ‘a harsh globalization and sport, and although by no
 SPORT AND THE MEDIA 301

means all the discussion centres on the media, the process involves the production of cultural
many of the contributors see it as central (see diversities (Maguire, 1993b).
Maguire, 1993a). There is general agreement Bellamy (1993) argues that American
that globalizing processes are at work. Some television and American sports are seeking
regard this as a new phenomenon, transcend- new TV markets in Europe. However, he
ing the established structures of nation-states, sounds a note of caution, suggesting that in a
seen as of declining relevance. Others see period of rapid expansion in TV sport hours,
the process as a continuation of established audience demand for more sport is unknown;
patterns of cultural imperialism. For many that it is not known whether European audi-
analysts, globalizing processes in sport are ences will develop appetites for American
closely linked to Americanization (Maguire, sports; and that with rights payments for
1990). Whannel (1985) regards international sports such as soccer growing rapidly,
television sport as a form of Western cultural European broadcasters may not have the
imperialism. means to make high payments.
Jean Harvey and Francois Houle (1994) con-
sider whether Americanization or globaliza-
tion is the most useful term to apply to sport, Sport and the Body
and argue that globalization is an alternative to
Americanization and imperialism, not a form Over the past 20 years the images of sport have
of it. They argue that the nation-state has been come to focus more on the body. The growth of
rendered much less important. Maguire (1990) aerobics, workouts and jogging promoted
examines the spread of American football to more active images of femininity, but images of
England. but points out with reference to Lycra-clad female bodies also produced a sex-
soccer, that cultural exchange is not always a ualization of the sporting female (Hargreaves,
one-way process. Equally, the struggle for 1994). Nor was this process limited to women.
hegemony in this field is not confined to the The gym, weights and workout subcultures
UK–US dominance has been challenged by spawned a new male muscularity that pro-
Europe and Japan. He points out that the moted a narcissism that objectified the male
commercialization of English sport has helped body. Male bodies are now much more com-
American commercialized sport to flourish in monly on display for the gaze. White and
the United Kingdom. Gillett (1994) argue that representation of the
Kidd (1991), writing in a Canadian context, muscular body as natural and desirable is
talks of American capitalist hegemony, whilst rooted in an ideology of gender difference,
Wagner (1990) suggests that the process is championing dominant meanings of masculin-
mundialization not Americanization and ity through a literal embodiment of patriarchal
Americanization is just part of the homo- power. The foregrounding of the muscular
genization of sport. Guttmann (1991) says glob- body as a cultural ideal offers conservative
alization is just part of modernization, whilst resistance to progressive change and alterna-
McKay and Miller (1991) and McKay et al. tive masculinities by valorizing a dominance-
(1993) say that the globalization of capital is a based notion of masculinity.
key part of the process. Rowe et al. (1994) also The sociological interest in the body is not, of
remind us of the complexities of international course, new, and the work of Elias, Foucault,
cultural exchange: Turner and others has been influential. There is
a growing field of research focusing on the
In order to comprehend the reach of international
body, as can be noted in the launch, in 1995, of
images and markets it is necessary to move
the journal Body and Society, the staging of a
beyond the simple logic of cultural domination
conferences on Bodily Matters and Bodily
and towards a more multi-directional concept of
Fictions, and the recent publishing of several
the flow of global traffic, in people, goods and
book-length studies (Butler, 1995; Duncan,
services.
1996; Dutton, 1995; Falk, 1994; Goldstein, 1994;
Maguire has shown how these factors inter- Grosz and Probyn, 1995; Lowe, 1995; Synnott,
act in the case of American football and bas- 1993). Some sport-related studies of this topic
ketball, and Jarvie and Maguire (1994: 231–2 have already appeared (see, for example,
analyse the ways in which, through the global- Blake, 1996; Brackenridge, 1993; Horne, 1994;
ized production and consumption of ice Horrocks, 1995; Scott and Morgan, 1993), but
hockey, events, decisions and activities in one given the ubiquitousness of images of sport in
part of the world can come to have significant the media, and the prominent role images of
consequences for individuals and communi- the body have come to play, it will inevitably
ties in distant parts of the globe. One aspect of be a growth area of scholarship.
302 KEY TOPICS

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 19
THEORIZING SPORT, SOCIAL CLASS
AND STATUS

John Sugden and Alan Tomlinson

It was the American novelist and popular interrogate some of the classical theories of
historian James Michener (1976) who sug- social stratification as they relate to sport.
gested that, for most of this century, a glance at Through the following selective review, our
the boxing rankings in the American sports objective is to provide the reader with a guide
press was a reasonably accurate gauge of which to thinking critically about the relationship
social groups were situated towards the bottom between the sports people play, who those
of that country’s social order. When Jewish, people are and what they stand for.
Italian and Irish names began to appear less fre-
quently, this could be taken as a clear indication
that these groups had become socially mobile
and that boxing was no longer considered to be
SPORT AND SOCIAL CLASS
an appropriate sport for those on a higher IN HISTORICAL CONTEXT
social plane. If this relationship between sport
and social standing pertains for the lower We should not be too startled by the fact that in
orders, then it can be applied equally to social the modern world sport participation can be
élites and gradations in between. For instance, read as a rough shorthand for social differenti-
in the context of British society, involvement in ation. Sport and social hierarchy have always
a polo match in the grounds of Windsor Castle, been close relatives. The key linkage between
participation in Henley’s boating regatta or a the two rests in the martial roots of sport and
trip to the grouse moors of Scotland can be the significance of military prowess as a signi-
taken as clear signals of high social status. fier of social standing. War and the heroic
Similarly, playing golf at Royal St Andrews, deeds of warriors are dominant themes of the
attending Twickenham for a rugby interna- classic writings emanating from the ancient
tional, having a season ticket for a Premier societies of the southern Mediterranean.
Division football club, turning out in the park McIntosh (1993) notes that such tales are punc-
for the local pub’s football team, and keeping tuated by episodes of athleticism whereby rep-
and racing pigeons, all convey messages about resentatives of social elites demonstrated their
the social location of the participants. physical abilities in sporting contests. At a time
In addition to such anecdotal evidence, when the threat of war was omnipresent, and
there is strong empirical support for the view when the essential vehicle of battle was the
that sports preference, occupational status and male body and what it could wield or propel,
social class are closely related (Central it is not surprising that sports closely resem-
Statistical Office, 1993; Lüschen, 1969; Minten bled actual war and vice versa:
and Roberts, 1989; Renson, 1976). It is not our
intention to summarize such sources or to add Throwing javelins, throwing discoi, archery and
to this database. Neither do we aim to build boxing are several times referred to, while athletic
towards a grand theory of sport and social similes are used to describe military combat.
class. Rather, in this chapter we outline and (McIntosh, 1993: 21)
310 KEY TOPICS

Such sports were not open to all. McIntosh most successful of them enjoyed star-like
supports his argument by drawing on the status (like many of today’s top sport perform-
work of Elias who believes that ‘the sport of ers), although their fame in the arena did not
ancient Greece was based upon an ethos of translate into social mobility outside of it.
warrior nobility’ (1993: 27). Albeit in different While Rome declined as a military and polit-
ways, the city-states of Athens and Sparta both ical force, many of its institutional features,
evidenced systems of social stratification including some aspects of its approach to
which were rooted in militarism and which sports, lingered in the cultural memory of feu-
found further expression through participation dal Europe. In a Hollywood version of the
in sport and games. Participation in athletic legend of Robin Hood, in the mid-1990s, there
contests and equestrian events such as chariot is a dramatic episode of a young boy being
racing, were restricted according to social rank, hunted down in Sherwood Forest by the Sheriff
which to begin with was related to a military of Nottingham’s soldiers and their hounds. His
pecking order, but which, over time, also crime was to have used his bow and arrow to
became associated with inherited status and bring down one of the ‘king’s deer’, and if
the wealth which this was likely to bestow. caught his likely punishment would have been
McIntosh (1993: 24) argues that the fact that death by hanging. As with all legends this fable
participants in the ancient Olympics were is rooted in historical fact, inasmuch as across
required to train for a minimum of ten months feudal Europe people were being imprisoned
before the competition, suggests that these and, in some cases, put to death for hunting
athletes must have been dilettantes, drawn beyond their station. At this particular juncture,
largely from the upper echelons of ancient where one stood in any social hierarchy was
Greek societies. encompassed by a series of rights and prohibi-
By the time of the civilization’s imperial tions. The public behaviour of members of the
decline, sport in Greece had developed a quasi- nobility was governed by a code of chivalry
professional dimension. Warrior-athletes were which, on the one hand, forbade them to
patronized by an élite which accrued prestige engage in manual labour or common trade and,
through the spectacles that it created, and on the other, required them to train for combat
through the success of its champions, who like- and participate in related activities, such as
wise gained kudos through demonstrations of hunting. ‘Kings, princes and lords, each within
sporting prowess. the limits of his own authority, everywhere
Initially, the Romans drew heavily upon an tended to monopolize the pursuit of game in
imagination of Greece for much of their own certain reserved areas’ (Bloch, 1961: 303). In
cultural development, including an approach effect, what one could hunt (deer, foxes, rabbits,
towards sports (1993: 29). Once more, in a rats and so forth), what weapon or animal one
society heavily dependent upon military could hunt with (lance, arrow, hawk, dog and
achievement, prowess in warlike sport was the like), and where this hunting could take
highly acclaimed. However, the more univer- place (king’s forest, private fiefdom or common
sally dominant as a military force Rome land), developed as important signifiers of a
became, and the more removed Roman citi- person’s social standing. At the same time, the
zens became from the actual scene of battle, the nobility monopolized those sporting activities
emphasis in sport switched from direct partic- which ‘bore the imprint of a warlike temper’
ipation to patronage and spectatorship. (1961: 303) such as swordsmanship and
The circus developed as a central feature of jousting. These were the centrepiece of the
the Roman social order. The capacity to own medieval tournaments which became the
schools of gladiators, to nurture stables of favoured pastime of the nobility in the Middle
chariot racers and to stage lavish games, in Ages.
arenas like the Hippodrome or the Coliseum, In time a class of champions emerged, roam-
came to be viewed as tokens of political ing the land and selling their martial services
authority and high social standing. Likewise, to other, usually more wealthy, knights.The lat-
the quality of access a person had to the ter’s status could be enhanced by the capacity
arena – where he could sit or stand, and how to sponsor tournaments and, even if by proxy,
far he was away from the imperial vantage win contests which ranged from one-to-one
point – was linked to his status in the wider combat to full-scale mock battles (Huizinga,
Roman society. The fact that women were not 1955a: 94–5). Prowess in war, and those sports
allowed to attend these events is a clear indica- which resembled it, along with the ceremonial
tion of their lowly status in ancient Rome. adornments of combat, were read as tokens of
A certain amount of respect accrued to where a person stood in the medieval social
slaves who fought in these spectacles. The hierarchy:
 THEORIZING SPORT, CLASS AND STATUS 311

Every order and estate, every rank and profession, sports. We will consider these changes in
was distinguished by its costume. The great lords some detail later. At this point it is sufficient to
never moved about without a glorious display point out that, on both sides of the Atlantic, by
of arms and liveries, exciting fear and envy. the death of Queen Victoria social class is
(Huizinga, 1955b: 9) established as the main dynamic of stratifica-
tion and it is this, more than anything else,
For the labouring and merchant classes, which influences the shaping of sport during
these principles of distinction were reversed. the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. As
In the Middle Ages, engagement in work, that seminal social histories and developmental
is labour and/or commerce, irrespective of its sociologies of Association football/soccer
content, was an indicator of low social stand- (Mason, 1980) and rugby football (Dunning
ing. It is only relatively recently, and certainly and Sheard, 1979) have shown, modern sports
not before the eighteenth century, that occupa- forms represented distinctive sets of values
tion and status have been linked in positive and in so doing provided a vehicle for the
terms (Plumb, 1974). The vast majority of expression of social difference and differenti-
people worked in agricultural production. The ated social status. Association football in its
recreations of the lower orders were influ- amateur form was championed by the middle
enced by their closeness to nature and by the and upper classes, and developed in its profes-
time rhythms dictated by the seasons and the sional form by the working and lower-middle
yield of the land (Holt, 1989: 12–17). What classes. The attitudes and beliefs embodied in
they could do with any free time was severely the particular sporting ethos expressed class-
limited by their frugal command over scarce based status and values. The middle classes,
resources and had to take account of both the for instance, believed that the amateur code of
clearly defined preserves of the nobility, and the game ‘was good for the physique, it helped
their own servile position within the feudal to build character, it perhaps led to diminution
estate or fiefdom. Just as, both literally and in drinking, it brought the classes together’
metaphorically, serfs, vassals and other grada- (Mason, 1980: 229). Rugby football’s ‘Great
tions within the feudal lower orders fed off the Schism’ of 1895 saw the split between the
crumbs from the master’s table, their experi- Northern English mass spectator form of the
ences of sport and leisure were similarly game, and amateur, Southern English-based
dependent on their presence at the margins of Rugby Football Union (Dunning and Sheard,
tournaments and festivals organized by aristo- 1979: 198–200). The Northern Union became
cratic and religious élites for their own gratifi- the Rugby League in 1922. The commercializ-
cation (Bloch, 1962: 163–76). ing of the game in the North had been ‘viewed
With the waning of the Middle Ages, the with deep misgivings among the southern-
rigid caste system characteristic of those times based RFU, whose committee shared the dis-
began to crumble, eventually to be replaced by trust of their class for big crowds, especially
a structure of social differentiation based on working class crowds, at a time of growing
class. It is at this point that social standing industrial unrest’ (G. Williams, 1989: 313).
becomes defined more in terms of what people Class patronage shaped many forms of sports
do to make a living and how they might pub- provision, in the United States as well as in
licly display their new economic status, rather other advanced societies (Cross, 1993: 102–3).
than simply through birthright, inherited As Coakley has summarized the issue:
rights and prescribed opportunities. In the
in the case of socioeconomic stratification. People
societies referred to in this brief, historical
with resources are able to organize their own
introduction, social standing was not, in any
games and physical activities in exclusive clubs or
simple sense, directly tied to the production
in settings inaccessible to others. When this hap-
and possession of wealth. The majority of
pens, sport becomes a tool for élite groups to call
people were born into fixed and fenced status
attention to social and economic differences
groups or castes which governed life opportu-
between people and to preserve their power and
nities thereafter. This included people’s role in
influence in the process. (Coakley, 1994: 230)
the production and consumption of wealth
and, as we have seen, their relationship with There is little dispute that the growth of
sport and other leisure activities. modern sports was and in many senses
By the middle of the nineteenth century remains interwoven with the class dynamics of
wholesale changes in Britain’s political and eco- the time. However, there is less agreement as to
nomic relations – the Industrial Revolution – how, precisely, sport features in the class nexus
precipitated concomitant adjustments in social of advanced industrial societies. It is to a
relations and their cultural product, including discussion concerning the most influential
312 KEY TOPICS

theoretical models of social class and its respects, following Durkheim, Parsons’s view
relationship to sport that we now turn. of social stratification is a mirror image to that
of Marx. He accepts that classes are for the most
part determined according to how people are
grouped in relation to the process of industrial
THEORIES OF SOCIAL production and commercial distribution, but
STRATIFICATION AND SPORT unlike Marx’s emphasis on class conflict,
Parsons stresses the functional interdepen-
In the most general of senses, class is the social dency between social classes and the role
and cultural expression of an economic rela- played by a hierarchy of classes in the main-
tionship. Classes are made up of people who tenance and development of the whole social
are similarly placed in terms of the contribu- system:
tion they make to economic production, the Such organization naturally involves centraliza-
command over resources this gives them and tion and differentiation of leadership and author-
the lifestyles which this helps to generate. ity; so that those who take responsibility for
Thus, in modern societies, classes are gener- co-ordinating the actions of many others must
ated by participation in the industrial and have a different status in important respects from
commercial process and the most significant those who are in the role of carrying out specifica-
measures of class distinction are wealth and tions laid down by others. From a sociological
occupation (Giddens, 1993: 215). While few point of view, one of the fundamental problems in
would disagree with Giddens’s broad notion such a system is the way in which these basic
of social class as an economically grounded underlying differentiations get structured into
concept, there is considerable disagreement institutionalized status differentiations. (Parsons,
when it comes to analysing and interpreting 1964: 327)
precisely how social classes are formed, where
they fit in the context of broader patterns of In a seminal essay on this subject, Davis and
social stratification, and how they contribute to Moore (1966), adopt a similar perspective,
social construction and social change. arguing that, ‘as a functioning mechanism a
The remainder of this chapter presents some society must somehow distribute its members
of the main lines of argument in this debate in social positions and induce them to perform
and is centred around the work of three lead- the duties of these positions’ (1966: 47). The
ing theorists of social stratification: Talcott authors believe that this leads inevitably to the
Parsons (1902–79), Karl Marx (1818–83) and unequal distribution of rewards and opportu-
Max Weber (1864–1920). In each case we have nities. Like Parsons, Davis and Moore regard
selected a number of authors who have sought the principle of inequality as an absolute
to use the work of these classic theorists in necessity:
their own investigations into sport. The order Social inequality is thus an unconsciously evolved
in which we have chosen to consider them is device by which societies ensure that the most
neither chronological nor reflective of their rel- important positions are conscientiously filled by
ative importance to mainstream sociology. the most qualified persons. (1966: 48)
Rather it implies the sequence and impact
which these thinkers have had on the sociol- Thus, the principle of inequality ensures a
ogy of sport on both sides of the Atlantic. system of incentives which, over time, gener-
ates a stratified ebb and flow of effort, ability
and talent. In this way, structured around occu-
Parsons: Functionalism, Sport pations, a class system evolves which, in turn,
and the Social Order generates a differentiated cultural product.
In terms of sport, early literature generated
Making sense of the high levels of social differ- by North American sport sociologists was, at
entiation associated with advanced capitalism least in part, dedicated to revealing the rela-
dominated the thinking of one of America’s tionship between social standing, occupational
leading twentieth-century sociologists, Talcott status and sport (Loy et al., 1978: 332–78).
Parsons. He was intrigued by Durkheim’s While there was an emphasis on class, other
views on the transition from rural–agricultural variables of stratification, such as race, ethnic-
societies to those centred around urban– ity, gender and age, were also stressed. This
industrial activity, interested in particular in the literature tended to focus on three interrelated
question of the division of labour in industrial areas: identifying links between certain cat-
societies, and the effect which this had on forms egories of sports and class categories – for
of social solidarity (Durkheim, 1964). In certain instance, boxing and blue-collar workers
 THEORIZING SPORT, CLASS AND STATUS 313

(Stone, 1957, 1969); viewing sport as a of social development. He argued, with Engels –
microcosm of the whole social order and look- in The Communist Manifesto of 1848 – that ‘the
ing at the stratified distribution of positions history of all hitherto existing society is the
within given sports – such as ‘stacking’ in grid- history of class struggle’ (Marx and Engels,
iron football in the United States (McPherson, 1971: 237). Marx drew on the materialist
1974) and Canada (Ball, 1973); and evaluating philosophy of Feuerbach, the transcendental
sport as a vehicle for social mobility within and idealism of Hegel and the economics of Adam
between classes and occupational status Smith and David Ricardo, to devise a model of
groups (Loy, 1969; Lüschen, 1969). historical transformation with social class as its
In many respects, this type of scholarship centrepiece. People have to produce to live,
considered how, through its relationship with Marx argues, and how they produce and with
social class, sport contributed to the smooth whom they engage in the production process,
running of American society. The functionalist determines the form of their broader social,
view of sport and social classes has been con- political and cultural development. That is to
demned for being uncritical, ahistorical, non- say, how people relate to the production
comparative, teleological and inherently process governs how they relate to one another
conservative (Jarvie and Maguire, 1994: 20–5). and how, once grouped in this way, these social
It may have been helpful to paint a picture of classes relate to each other in any given social
some central aspects of the relationship structure. In his historical analysis Marx
between social class and sport, but this did observes that in previous societies (previous to
little to address some of the more penetrating capitalism in late nineteenth-century Europe)
debates concerning how differentiated sport classes were generated through unequal ex-
cultures were socially constructed and what perience of the production process, and that
role they played in the articulation of power such inequality fostered resentment, encour-
within and between classes. aged class struggle and, ultimately, led to revo-
By the middle of the 1970s, inspired largely lution. This, he argues, is how ancient, Asiatic
by the work of Rick Gruneau, a new generation and feudal societies experienced transforma-
of North American sociologists began to ques- tion, and it is the process that led to the emer-
tion the Parsonian model in relation to its gence of capitalism.
applicability to sport: Capitalism was the generic label used by
Marx for societies that cohered around market-
When taken in its extreme formulations, the
driven forms of economic development and
assumption that societies are purposeful goal-
corresponding labour relations (the capitalist
oriented systems seeking the fulfillment of a set of
mode of production). For Marx, while classes
necessary ‘imperatives’ seems to have profound
existed in previous epochs, it was under capi-
ideological consequences . . . the idea that social
talism that they became most firmly estab-
stability and systematic efficiency requires a cer-
lished and clearly delineated. He accepted that
tain amount of institutionalized inequality is more
stratification in this period had the appearance
realistically explained as a reflection of power in
of being multi-staged, with vestiges of the aris-
the upper strata. (Gruneau, 1975: 143)
tocracy jostling for position, with industrial,
By introducing notions of ideology and power commercial and professional status groups at
into the discussion, Gruneau was drawing one end of the scale, and agricultural workers
attention to models of stratifaction within (peasants), vagabonds, blue-collar workers
which there was room for the consideration of and small traders (shopkeepers) occupying
sport as a contested cultural phenomenon. He niches towards the other. This is best exempli-
was led to this conclusion through a consider- fied in Marx’s own works in The Eighteenth
ation of work in the tradition of British cultural Brumaire, in which he delineated, in subtle ana-
studies and critical sociology. Specifically, lytical detail, the variety of class fractions
Gruneau argued that an adequate model for (Marx, 1968).
understanding the relationship between sport However, he believed that as capitalism
and social stratification had to be located in the developed, its rapacious and insatiable
context of the debate between the respective appetite would lead inevitably to cycles of eco-
legacies of Marx and Weber (Gruneau, 1983). nomic crises, forcing these class-fractions to
form two, relatively monolithic and mutually
antagonistic classes: the bourgeoisie (those
Marx: Sport and Class Struggle who owned and/or controlled and benefited
most from economic production); and the pro-
For Marx, class was the most important princi- letariat (those whose livelihood depended
ple of social organization and the chief motor upon their labour power and the wages they
314 KEY TOPICS

earned). Marx theorized that an advanced (Jarvie and Maguire, 1994: 96). While he
stage would be reached when the proletariat emphasized the labour-exploitative nature of
would become conscious of its exploited posi- both professional and intercollegiate athletics,
tion vis-à-vis the social order determined by Hoch was not exclusively interested in the
capitalism, and would rise up to overthrow its political economy of American sports. He also
bourgeois oppressor, heralding the establish- argued that sport was an inherently conserva-
ment of communism, the first classless society. tive institution that not only diverted the atten-
In this regard, for Marx, class was more than tion of the masses from their systematic
a static descriptor of social standing. It was, oppression, but also peddled values and ideals
rather, a dynamic agency of revolutionary that supported the status quo and led blue-
change. collar workers to conspire in their own exploita-
Marx himself had nothing to say about sport tion. Drawing upon some of the ideas of
and its relationship with social class. Since his Thorsten Veblen (whom we discuss later) as
death, as capitalism has continued to advance well as Marx, Hoch writes that:
and as sport has developed in significance,
the anthropomorphic cults, betting, and the preda-
both culturally and as an economic entity, it has
tory sporting temperament are good ways of
been left to others to apply Marxist categories
keeping everyone drugged with animism and
to the study of the relationship between sport
preternaturalism, thus ensuring that they will be
and social class. Such applications have also
no threat to the existing social dictatorship. This is
drawn upon neo-Marxist debate and theory.
more or less a refinement of Marx’s religion-is-the-
The chief question which Marxists asked as the
opium-of-the-masses argument. (Hoch, 1972: 54–5)
twentieth century progressed was, why, given
the internal contradictions of the system, has In other words, sport undermined the develop-
capitalism survived so long? In other words, ment of a radical class consciousness, by gen-
what has happened to class struggle? At least erating playful diversion or reproducing the
part of the answer, they believed, was to be conditions of labour. The latter point was elo-
found in the manner through which the ruling quently made by Aronowitz in his comments
class and its agents were able to influence the on the homologous temporal patterns of
world-view of the working class, thereby labour and leisure:
undermining the fermenting of revolutionary
The structure of unbounded time reflects the con-
class-consciousness (Althusser, 1971; Marcuse,
ditions of bounded time. People join clubs that are
1964; Miliband, 1977).
organized, as workplaces are organized, and par-
This analysis placed hitherto disregarded,
ticipate in do-it-yourself projects that resemble
or merely ‘superstructural’, features of politi-
labour. Many workers of the generation that grew
cal economy on the Marxist agenda. In this
up in America in the 1920s and 1930s lead their
regard, as one of the twentieth century’s most
leisure-time lives as if on a busman’s holiday
popular forms of cultural expression and
because the patterns of their earlier lives did not
mass communication, sport was (for the first
permit an imaginary world that defied the domi-
time) considered worthy of serious treatment
nant culture. (Aronowitz, 1974: 127)
by mainstream Marxist scholars. As Ralph
Miliband put it, ‘the elaboration of a Marxist As early as 1975, Hoch’s thesis had been crit-
sociology of sport may not be the most urgent icized by Gruneau for being too restrictive, in
of theoretical tasks, but it is not the most negli- the sense that his argument could not account
gible of tasks either’ (Miliband, 1977: 53). The for human agency and resistance to the impo-
most significant question asked by scholars in sitions of ‘the dominant institutional structure’
this area was, what was the relationship (Gruneau, 1975: 144). It was a French theorist,
between sport and class struggle? working in the tradition of Althusser, who
Surprisingly, given the lack of an embedded developed most fully Hoch’s arguments to
tradition of radical socialist scholarship in the their theoretical and logical extreme. In his
United States, it was an American, Paul Hoch, book Sport: a Prison of Measured Time (1978),
who, through his impacting book Rip Off the Jean-Marie Brohm locates sport within the
Big Game (1972), produced the first sustained rubric of structuralism. In terms that would
neo-Marxist interpretation of modern sport. not be out of place in the functionalist lexicon,
Hoch went beyond the anti-establishment soci- Althusser (1969, 1971) had argued that the
ology of sport, pioneered by Jack Scott (1971) productive mechanisms of capitalism dictate
and Harry Edwards (1973), and argued that the form and content of social relations
rather than being corrupting in a piecemeal through institutional processes and agencies
way, the whole American system of sport was which automatically – that is, structurally –
‘a microcosm of modern capitalist society’ promulgate the interests of the ruling class.
 THEORIZING SPORT, CLASS AND STATUS 315

These ideological state apparatuses – the legal and cultural production of the new age. For a
system, the family, the institution of education, relatively brief interlude in the eighteenth
the political system, the media, the trade century, he argued, even though the commer-
unions and so forth – organize the production cial and social basis had shifted from agricul-
of ideas in such a manner as to negate the pos- ture to commerce, and from the countryside to
sibility of any proletarian and dialectical cri- the town, social hierarchy continued to be
tique of capitalism. Brohm adopts Althusser’s largely defined by pageant and display. As
framework and posits that within capitalism, Thompson observed, this was a betwixt and
sport too should be analysed as an ideological between time, when the ties of dependency of
state apparatus. The following is an accurate the old order had been loosened or cut alto-
summary of Brohm’s thesis: gether and the regime of social relations
supportive of industrialism was yet to be fully
Sport and recreation practices were viewed as part
developed. It was, in Thompson’s words, a
of the process through which a structure in domi-
society of ‘Patricians and Plebs’, who partici-
nance was secured or reproduced. In this sense
pated in a very theatrical and public culture,
sport: provided a stabilizing factor for the existing
within which social distance was proclaimed
social order; provided a basis for reinforcing the
by conspicuously distinctive styles of leisure
commodity spectacle; provided a basis for repro-
(Thompson, 1974: 394–5).
ducing patriarchy; provided a basis for regiment-
However, as Thompson noted in an earlier
ing and militarizing youth and reproducing a set
article, even as the Regency aristocracy dis-
of hierarchical, elitist and authoritarian values. If
played its standing, the ground was being
competitive sport is condemned to the dustbin
cut from beneath by the establishment of
then forms of recreation fare no better since they
capitalism and the inexorable rise of an indus-
were viewed as ideological ways of running away
trial and commercial bourgeoisie. To flourish,
from reality. That is, leisure practices were viewed
capitalism needed a disciplined and reliable
as false techniques of escapism. (Jarvie and
labour force. One of the more pressing tasks
Maguire, 1994: 96)
for the new ruling class was the reformation of
Social change requires out-of-structure space the working rhythms of those whose experi-
for the working up and communication of anti- ence of labour remained anchored in a bucolic
establishment ideas. Once this space is past and cycles of seasonal imperatives.
removed, as it is in structuralist accounts of Necessarily, the non-work habits of the masses
social construction, how can social change be formed part of the equation of reform, for what
explained? The main failing of Hoch’s and people did in their spare time had implications
Brohm’s theses was that they both grossly for how they related to the process of produc-
over-simplified the nature of the interface tion. Thompson showed how an emergent
between individuals and institutions in the bourgeoisie in England used its influence, both
construction of cultural meaning. In each case in government and within the church, to carry
working-class engagement in sport is repre- out a legal and moral crusade against the recre-
sented as drone-like and uncritical. Further- ational habits of the lower orders. He cata-
more, and particularly in Brohm’s case, by logued seven ways in which the ‘new labour
theorizing sport as a total (capitalist) institu- habits were formed, and a new time-discipline
tion, that is, one from which there is no physi- was imposed ... by the division of labour; the
cal or intellectual escape, they denied the supervision of labour; fines; bells and clocks;
possibility that sport is something that can be money incentives; preachings and schoolings;
positively possessed and valued by the work- the suppression of fairs and sports’
ing class and used by that class for its own (Thompson, 1967: 90). The fledgling working
purposes (Gruneau, 1983). class did not readily surrender time-honoured
In more subtle hands, a Marxist view of customs and leisure practices. Such reform as
sport and social class is, at least partially, sal- did succeed only did so within a context of
vaged. Some of the best examples of this are in dynamics of resistance, struggle and domina-
the area of British social history and cultural tion between classes and class fractions
studies. In his weighty historical interpretation (Thompson, 1967). Delves’s exemplary study
of the making of the English working class, of the decline of folk football in the English city
and in several related articles, E.P. Thompson of Derby is in the tradition of Thompson’s
(1968) described how sport and leisure fea- approach (Delves, 1981), illustrating how new
tured as sites for class struggle. His work cross-class alliances – the emergence of newly
demonstrated how those social forces that dominant class fractions with common inter-
emerged to pioneer the development of ests in change and reform – accounted for the
capitalism also sought to shape the ideological demise of the traditional form of folk football,
316 KEY TOPICS

and its supersession by the regulated, enclosed, of which may be generated by relatively
more civilized and profitable sport form of unfettered subcultures of resistance and
horse racing. adaptation.
Drawing on Thompson, and on Raymond This is a view shared by Gruneau in his
Williams (1958, 1965, 1977), scholars such as major study of sport and social stratification.
Clarke and Critcher (1985), Hargreaves (1986) After an exhaustive review of alternative
and Tomlinson (1986) developed the cultural positions, he opts for the concept of hegemony,
studies position on the relationship between ‘because it allows for the notion that the
sport and leisure and social class. They used accomplishment of social interaction is always
recent and contemporary history to reveal contested, sometimes in very subtle, other
how, in general, the space for the generation of times, quite significant ways’, though he argues
culture and ideas is highly contested territory for a shift in the application of the concept of
and how, in particular, sport has featured in hegemony to include power relations between
the ongoing struggle for power between dom- elements of social stratification that are not the
inant and subordinate groups in capitalist direct products of class relations (Gruneau,
societies. These works are underpinned by 1983). This is certainly the approach taken by
the writings of Antonio Gramsci (1985, 1971), George Sage, who adapts Hargreaves’s model
for whom society was the product of a rela- to the study of American sport and utilizes
tionship between political institutions – the hegemony theory to consider relations of dom-
formal apparatus of the state – and cultural ination and subordination around the themes
institutions – the less formally structured and of race and gender as well as class (Sage, 1990).
controlled theatre of civil society. It is within Hargreaves, though, views it as a violation
the latter, civil society, that the legitimacy of the of the concept’s essentially Marxist premises
state resides, or, in times of crisis, is challenged. when hegemony is used to account for other
Sport is part of civil society and as such is layers of social differentiation, such as race,
located within the terrain on which those ethnicity and gender (Hargreaves, 1992). As
responsible for the articulation and dissemina- Hargreaves himself admits, once economic
tion of ideas (in a variety of ways), attempt to determinism is questioned as the pre-eminent
attract the mass of the population and influ- principle of social order, the door is opened for
ence them towards certain values and aspira- a more pluralistic and less class-dependent
tions. Although some of the functionaries of analysis of stratification – one which pays, ‘far
civil society are antagonistic to the dominant more detailed attention . . . to the specific
group and purvey oppositional attitudes to autonomous features of sport(s) and to the
their public, in normal circumstances the interactive relationship they have with social
majority act in such a way as to provide wide- contexts’ (1992: 278). In order to reformulate a
spread acceptance, by the population, of the theory of social class and sport which accom-
world-view expressed by those in positions of modates both the determining power of eco-
political power. The result is the cultural, ideo- nomic relationships, and the plurality of social
logical and moral authority of the ruling class, relations which cannot be explained in purely
which Gramsci refers to as hegemony. At no economistic terms, it is necessary to turn to the
time is this a static condition inasmuch as works of Max Weber and some of those who
counter-hegemonic challenges continue to be have followed him.
made and the ruling élite is constantly obliged
to renegotiate the conditions under which its
ideologically embedded authority remains Weber: Class, Status and Sport
dominant (Sugden and Bairner, 1993).
According to Hargreaves, in contrast to Like Marx, Weber acknowledges the impor-
over-determined, structuralist accounts of tance of economic dynamics in the overall
sport, the hegemony thesis allowed sport to design of the social order. However, unlike
be analysed ‘more as an autonomous cultural Marx, Weber believed that power and the
form’, and, also, in a ‘more subtle analysis of determining forces and social groupings which
class power and how it is related to other flowed from it were not anchored, once and for
aspects of power relations – such as gender, all, in economic relations. Consequently, while
ethnicity and the nation’ (Hargreaves, 1992: he believed social class to be a very important
263). This formulation introduces the possi- variable of stratification, he also believed that
bility that sport and related activities can there were other, equally significant, factors
carry a range of meanings for different classes, that influenced the nature and hierarchy of
some of which may be imposed through division in any given society. The main concep-
hierarchical institutional processes, but others tual tool which Weber uses to counter-balance
 THEORIZING SPORT, CLASS AND STATUS 317

his own emphasis on the significance of social and the uneven distribution of wealth which
class is that of status. Status groups differ from this entailed. However, he makes the astute
classes inasmuch as they are identifiable observation that, once established through
according to socially constructed gradations ‘pecuniary emulation’ (making money), the
which articulate around the attribution of ruling class sets itself apart from lower grada-
honour or the lack thereof. Weber believed that tions by recreating the imagined lifestyles of
political power was not necessarily synony- the élites of previous eras. An exemption from
mous with economic power or wealth and work is a key feature of this imagery:
neither was political power sought solely as an
avenue to riches: From the days of the Greek philosophers to the
present, a degree of leisure and of exemption from
‘economically conditioned’ power is not, of
contact with such industrial processes as serve the
course, identical with ‘power’ as such. On the con-
immediate everyday purpose to human life, has
trary, the emergence of economic power may be
ever been recognized by thoughtful men as a pre-
the consequence of power existing on other
requisite to a worthy or beautiful, or even a blame-
grounds. Man does not strive for power only in
less human life. In itself and in its consequences
order to enrich himself economically. Power,
the life of leisure is beautiful and ennobling in all
including economic power, may be valued for its
civilized men’s eyes. (Veblen, 1953: 42)
own sake. (Weber, 1971: 250)
Within Weber’s framework, the occupation For Veblen, status was not passively linked
of positions of honour and command over eco- to wealth. On the contrary, ‘wealth or power
nomic resources interact, to provide the social must be put in evidence, for esteem is awarded
order with its distinctive pattern. Status groups only on evidence’ (1953: 42), through the ‘non-
not only share economic conditions but also productive consumption of time’. In short, in
participate in a common ‘style of life’ which, order to maintain their status, the ruling class
through routine social interaction, on the one had to be seen to be busy, spending both time
hand binds them from within, and on the other and money, doing nothing. In this regard, ‘a
hand offers tangible expressions of distinctive- life of leisure is the most conclusive evidence
ness from other gradations. According to of pecuniary strength, and therefore of
Weber, ‘such honorific preferences may consist superior force’ (p. 42). Suitable ‘evidence’ for a
of the privilege of wearing special costumes, of life of leisure comes in rich variety and
eating special dishes, taboo to others, of carry- includes styles of dress, modes of travel and
ing arms’ (1971: 260). Certainly, this for- tourism, appreciation for and possession of art
mulation helps us to better understand the and literature, honorary titles and insignia,
relationship between sport and status in the and all other attributes of exclusive and ‘good
Middle Ages as described in the introduction taste’ in a wide variety of cultural products.
to this chapter. In terms of applying Weber’s In Veblen’s hands class and caste merge in
model to sport and social stratification in the ways through which ruling élites, once
recent and contemporary history we now turn established through economic success, bond
to the works of Thorsten Veblen and Pierre and can be identified through shared partici-
Bourdieu. pation in categories of activities which are
It is an irony of capitalism that those who exclusive and generative of high status. It is in
occupy the apex of a system that depends this context that Veblen pays special attention
absolutely on the success of industrial enter- to sport which, after war, he views as an ideal
prise, choose to express their social standing by medium through which the ruling class can:
distancing themselves completely from those display its physical superiority; recreate the
activities which in any way resemble work, imagined conditions of a more barbarous and
while engaging in the conspicuous display of yet, simultaneously, more ‘chivalrous’ past;
dilettante forms of leisure which are premised promote socialization and character develop-
on an infrastructure of labour and capitalist ment of its children; and, finally, evaluate par-
production. This is the kernel of Veblen’s The venus who would seek to join its ranks by
Theory of the Leisure Class (subtitled ‘An using sport as a proving ground:
Economic Study of Institutions’), his analysis
of the social consequences of the workings of Hence, the facility with which any new accessions
capitalism in late nineteenth-century United to the leisure class take to sports; and hence the
States of America, published in 1899. rapid growth of sports and of the sporting senti-
Along with Weber, Veblen acknowledged a ment in any industrial community where wealth
debt to Marx, agreeing that, in his day, the has accumulated sufficiently to exempt a consider-
basic form of hierarchy was tied to capitalism able part of the population from work. (1953: 176)
318 KEY TOPICS

Moreover, given the prohibition on work, other upper-bourgeois families took over a number
than war, sport, argues Veblen, is the only of popular – that is, vulgar – games, simulta-
legitimate terrain where the ruling class neously changing their function’ (Bourdieu,
(males) can engage in public displays of phys- 1978: 823). He connects the rationalization of
ical prowess: games into modern sports forms with a class-
based philosophy of amateurism: ‘the modern
From being an honourable employment handed
definition of sport ... is an integral part of a
down from the predatory culture as the highest
“moral ideal”, i.e. an ethos which is that of the
form of everyday leisure, sports have come to be
dominant fractions of the dominant class’
the only form of outdoor activity that has the full
(1978: 825). To play tennis or golf, to ride or to
sanction of decorum. (p. 172).
sail, was, as Bourdieu argues, to bestow upon
Veblen saw sport in his day as one of the the participant ‘gains in distinction’ (1978:
‘modern survivals of prowess’ (p. 172). He 828). Sports in which lower-middle-class or
believed that the warlike temperaments, working-class adolescents participate develop
actions and nomenclature associated both with ‘in the form of spectacles produced for the
field sports (hunting) and athletics, legitimated people ... more clearly as a mass commodity’
ruling-class participation in them. Veblen rec- (1978: 828).
ognized that sports provided élite groups with Sports, therefore, are not self-contained
the perfect opportunity to define their bound- spheres of practice: ‘class habitus defines the
aries, both from within, and in the eyes of out- meaning conferred on sporting activity, the
siders. But he was acerbic in his condemnation profits expected from it; and not the least of
of the posing and posturing which accompa- these profits is the social value accruing from
nied many of these activities: the pursuit of certain sports by virtue of the
distinctive rarity they derive from their class
It is noticeable, for instance, that even very mild
distribution’ (Bourdieu, 1978: 835). From this
mannered and matter-of-fact men who go out
perspective, then, sports participation is not a
shooting are apt to carry an excess of arms and
matter of personal choice, of individual prefer-
accoutrements in order to impress upon their own
ence. It depends upon the financial resources
imagination the seriousness of their undertaking.
available to the potential participant, the social
These huntsmen are also prone to a histrionic,
status of those prominent in that activity, and
prancing gait and to an elaborate exaggeration of
the cultural meaning of a sport and the indi-
the motions, whether of stealth or of onslaught,
vidual’s relationship to those meanings.
involved in their deeds of exploit. Similarly in ath-
Far from sport being an open sphere of limit-
letic sports there is almost invariably present a
less possibilities, it is a social phenomenon and
good share of rant and swagger and ostensible
cultural space that can operate, in Weberian
mystification – features which mark the histrionic
terms (Parkin, 1974) as a form of social closure,
nature of these employments ... The slang of ath-
in which potential entrants are vetted and
letics, by the way, is in great part made up of
excluded as suits the incumbent gatekeepers,
extremely sanguinary locutions borrowed from
and the inner world of the sports culture is
the terminology of warfare. (p. 171)
tightly monitored and controlled. The same
Veblen’s thesis concentrates almost exclu- processes may be at work in golf club member-
sively on the activities of society’s uppermost ship committees, and in other sports institu-
strata. However, in his work there are hints tions in which entry requirements – written or
that he understood that the overlap between unwritten – operate as potential barriers to
class and status operated at all levels of a social open participation.
hierarchy which, as capitalism developed, The recruitment and induction processes
became increasingly differentiated and com- into, say, golf and tennis clubs, bear testimony
plex. For a fuller understanding of how this to this. Take the apparently open-minded and
pertains in contemporary society we must now egalitarian basis of a newcomer playing him or
turn to the work of the French social theorist, herself in at a tennis club. In order to do this
Bourdieu. the potential member must: communicate
Like ourselves, Bourdieu recognizes that at competently with the gatekeepers of a club;
least in part the relationship between sport and read the social interactions and etiquette and
class is rooted in history. As a starting point for conventions of a club; comply with the dress
his discussion, Bourdieu notes that the emer- code; be equipped with relatively sophisti-
gence of ‘sports in the strict sense . . . took place cated technology (today the aspirant would be
in the educational establishments reserved for unlikely to get far with a wooden Dunlop
the ‘élites’ of bourgeois society, the English Maxply); and be able to play at a level of
public schools, where the sons of aristocratic or acceptable competence. This apparently open
 THEORIZING SPORT, CLASS AND STATUS 319

choice is in reality a possibility or trajectory between the sexual division of labour and the
based upon what Bourdieu recognizes as the division of the work of domination. (Bourdieu,
power of economic and cultural capital: 1986: 218)

Class variations in sporting activities are due as For Bourdieu, then, sport is variously impli-
much to variations in perception and appreciation cated in any class analysis: it acts as a kind of
of the immediate or deferred profits they are sup- badge of social exclusivity and cultural distinc-
posed to bring, as to variations in the costs ... tiveness for the dominant classes; it operates as
Everything takes place as if the probability of tak- a means of control or containment of the work-
ing up the different sports depended, within the ing or popular classes; it is represented as a
limits defined by economic (and cultural) capital potential source of escape and mobility for tal-
and spare time, on perception and assessment of ented working-class sports performers (an elu-
the intrinsic and extrinsic profits of each sport in sive eventuality which, like state and national
terms of the dispositions of the habitus, and more lotteries, work to keep the lower orders cowed
precisely, in terms of the relation to the body, yet hopeful); it articulates the fractional status
which is one aspect of this. (Bourdieu, 1986: 212) distinctions that exist within the ranks of larger
class groupings; and it reveals the capacity of
The notion of the habitus is central to the the body to express social principles and cul-
Bourdieuian framework: ‘different conditions tural meanings, for physical capital (Wacquant,
of existence produce different habitus – sys- 1995) to connect with forms of economic and
tems of generative schemes applicable, by cultural capital.
simple transfer, to the most varied areas of In his subtle way, Bourdieu weaves with the
practice’ (Bourdieu, 1986: 170). The habitus threads of Marx, Weber – he refers to his study
embodies both that which is structured and Distinction as an ‘endeavour to rethink Max
that which is structuring: ‘As a system of Weber’s opposition between class and Stand‘
practice-generating schemes’ it ‘expresses sys- (Bourdieu, 1986: xii) – and Durkheim, and with
tematically the necessity and freedom inherent many others whose own work derives from
in its class position and the difference consti- interpretations of these classic theorists, to
tuting that position’ (1986: 172). Rojek provides articulate not a grand theory of sport and
a useful summary of the concept: ‘Habitus social class, but a way of thinking about how,
refers to an imprinted generated schema. The in a dynamic way, sports participation and
term “generative” means a motivating or pro- sports preference are intrinsically bound up
pelling force in social behaviour. The term with the production and reproduction of social
“schema” means a distinctive pattern or hierarchies. It is the central significance of
system of social conduct. For Bourdieu, the sport as a signifier of status which allows
socialization process imprints generative Bourdieu to overcome some of the more
schemata onto the individual’ (Rojek, 1995: 67). restrictive interpretations of both functional-
As with the neo-Marxists, Bourdieu recog- ism and Marxism.
nizes that sport and leisure activities feature in
an ongoing struggle for cultural domination
which itself is linked to broader political con- CONCLUSION
texts. As Jarvie and Maguire observe, however,
Bourdieu emphasizes that the appropriation of
distinctive, class-related lifestyles – including As some of the other chapters in this volume
sports – are, through habitus, ‘the product of reveal, people form significant social groups in
an unconscious assimilation of tastes’ (Jarvie society for a wide range of reasons, not all of
and Maguire, 1994: 202), and that this itself is a which are tied up with their position vis-à-vis
highly complex and transhistorical process. the production process. Some may be bound at
Furthermore, Bourdieu is sensitive to the fact birth through the status which accrues to their
that classes are not monolithic. He argues that race, gender or ethnicity. Others may be placed
there can be divisions within classes and these in categories through their religious beliefs,
too can be reflected in sports. His main exam- their sense of national identity or simply
ple here is that of gender: through their age. As Dahrendorf emphasizes
in his neo-Weberian approach, ‘life chances are
An analysis of the distribution at a given moment a function of two elements, options and liga-
of sporting activities among the fractions of tures’ (Dahrendorf, 1979: 30). In this formula-
the dominant class would bring to light some of tion, options refer to possibilities of choice, and
the most hidden principles of the opposition ligatures are allegiances, bonds or linkages.
between these fractions, such as the deep-rooted, The social habitus (Elias, 1993: 32) can be con-
unconscious conception of the relationship ceived in this fashion, with the tribe or the
320 KEY TOPICS

community placing the individual in the Bourdieu, P. (1986) Distinction – a Social Critique of the
particular context, and the development of Judgement of Taste. London and New York:
individual strands, at the level of instincts and Routledge & Kegan Paul.
feelings, indicating options for the future. All Brohm, J-M. (1978) Sport: a Prison of Measured Time.
social groups feature, in different ways, in the London: Ink Links.
process through which the social order is con- Central Statistical Office (1993) Social Trends, No. 23.
structed, maintained and reformed. In other London: HMSO.
words, there is more to social stratification Clarke, J. and Critcher, C. (1985) The Devil Makes
than social class and, while it remains a vital Work – Leisure in Capitalist Britain. London:
component, there is more to the articulation of Macmillan.
status and power than class struggle. Coakley, J.J. (1994) Sport in Society: Issues and
It should be clear that we believe sport to be Controversies, 4th edn. New York: Times
both reflective and constitutive of the plurality Mirror/Mosby College Publishing.
of power relations between classes and other Cross, G. (1993) Time and Money: the Making of
status groups. In trying to make sense of this, Consumer Culture. London and New York:
we are struck by the utility of the concept of Routledge.
hegemony. However, like Gruneau (1983) and Dahrendorf, R. (1979) Life Chances – Approaches to
Sage (1998), we (see Sugden and Bairner, 1993; Social and Political Theory. Chicago: University of
Tomlinson, 1988), suggest that the explanatory Chicago Press.
power of the hegemony thesis can be Davis, K. and Moore, W.E. (1966) ‘Some principles of
enhanced once it is released from its tradi- stratification’, in R. Bendix and S.M. Lipset (eds),
tional anchorage in class relations (see, too, Class, Status and Power – Social Stratification in Com-
Bennett, 1986: xvi–xvii). Then the contest parative Perspective, 2nd edn. London: Routledge &
between political and civil society to shape Kegan Paul. pp. 47–53.
and control the social order can be revealed, in Delves, A. (1981) ‘Popular recreation and social con-
given historical contexts, as one featuring all flict in Derby, 1800–1850’, in E. Yeo and S. Yeo
of the significant components of that order. It (eds), Popular Culture and Class Conflict, 1590–1914:
is only then that we can begin to understand, Explorations in the History of Labour and Leisure.
with the subtlety of Bourdieu, that sports and Brighton: Harvester Press. pp. 89–127.
what they stand for are intimately connected Dunning, E. and Sheard, K. (1979) Barbarians,
to the way societies are constructed and Gentlemen and Players: a Sociological Study of
changed. the Development of Rugby Football. New York:
New York University Press.
Durkheim, E. (1964) The Division of Labour in Society.
New York: Free Press.
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 20
GENDER AND SPORT

Nancy Theberge

This chapter examines the contribution of their future development in Britain and
sport to gender relations and ideologies, ‘the throughout the world’ (Hargreaves, 1994: 43).
set of ideas that serve the interests of dominant Women’s participation in physical activity in
groups’ (Theberge and Birrell, 1994: 327). These Victorian Britain was much less developed and
are, of course, connected. Historically, sport has the subject of intense debate about the type and
been organized as a male preserve, in which the amount of activity that was suited to their sup-
majority of opportunities and rewards go to posedly more ‘delicate’ nature (Hargreaves,
men. This arrangement is both the basis of, and 1994). Victorian ideals held that women were
a powerful support for an ideology of gender morally and spiritually strong but physically
that ascribes different natures, abilities and and intellectually weak. The ‘myth of female
interests to men and women. frailty’, a lasting legacy of this ideal, became a
The chapter begins with a brief account of defining feature of ideas about women, gender
the historical roots of modern sport, which laid and physical activity (Theberge, 1989).
the foundation for ideologies and practices The model of male athleticism developed in
that persist today. This is followed by a consid- Britain was transported to North America,
eration of physicality as a key element of the where it developed in the context of social
connection between sport and gender. The transformations of the late nineteenth and
bulk of the chapter is devoted to a discussion early twentieth centuries. With the rise of wage
of recent research on the contribution of sport labor and economic concentration under
to the construction of gender and an ideology industrial capitalism, many men were no
of gender difference. longer secure in their role as breadwinner. As
well, the separation of home and work caused
men to spend more time away from their fam-
HISTORICAL ROOTS AND THE ilies. Along with the rise of universal school-
ing, this meant that young boys were spending
GENDERING OF MODERN SPORT more time with women, their mothers and
teachers, and little time with men. ‘With no
The roots of contemporary sport were laid frontier to conquer, with physical strength
in the late nineteenth and early twentieth becoming less relevant to work, and with
centuries in Britain and North America. In urban males being raised by women, it was
Britain, the main locus for these developments feared that males were becoming “soft”, that
was the boys’ public schools, which was the society was becoming feminized’ (Messner,
setting for the institutionalization of organized 1992: 14).
games. These games were infused with a Turn-of-the-century gender relations were
Victorian version of masculinity, which cele- also transformed by changes in women’s
brated competitiveness, toughness and physi- condition. Feminist political activism and
cal dominance. ‘Games playing in the boys’ women’s movement into the paid labor force
public schools provided the dominant image and higher education were a direct challenge
of masculine identity in sports and a model for to the ideology of separate, and gendered,
 GENDER AND SPORT 323

spheres (Cahn, 1994: 7). Women’s growing sporting culture of turn-of-the-century North
interest in sport posed a further threat to tradi- America. This model confirmed the ‘myth of
tional ideologies. Within this context, debate female frailty’ and offered apparent confirma-
raged about the challenge posed by the ‘New tion of the essential differences between the
Woman’ (Smith-Rosenberg, 1985) and the sexes (Theberge, 1989).
implications of changing gender roles for men
and masculinity (Cahn, 1994; Messner, 1992).
One response to the ‘crisis of masculinity’ GENDER, SPORT AND PHYSICALITY:
(Kimmel, 1990: 58) of the period was the estab-
lishment of organizations that would provide IDEOLOGICAL CONSTRUCTIONS
opportunities for boys to reclaim their mas-
culinity. These included the YMCA, the Boy Susan Cahn (1994: 208) has suggested that the
Scouts and sport. A number of authors, writing challenges to conventional ideologies posed by
of the rise in popularity of specific sports in this women’s athletic participation early in this
period, have traced these developments in part century led to a ‘resulting sense of gender dis-
to an effort to establish a homosocial setting in order’. She comments further that lurking
which masculinity could be reasserted. In addi- beneath the surface of the debate about
tion to Kimmel’s (1990) and Howell’s (1996) women’s athleticism was the ‘nagging ques-
discussions of baseball, these include Gruneau tion of power’. Contemporary interest in gen-
and Whitson’s (1993) analysis of the making of der and sport explores in detail the question of
modern professional hockey, and Gorn’s (1986) power that Cahn identified in an earlier era.
examination of bare knuckle boxing. A central theme in this work is the connec-
The early years of the twentieth century tion between physicality, sport and the con-
were crucial for the development of sport and struction of gender. Jennifer Hargreaves (1994:
the construction of gender ideologies. While 146) describes the association: ‘The acquisition
most of the development was in men’s sport, of strength, muscularity and athletic skill has
there was also significant expansion in always been empowering for men, whereas for
women’s athletics. One important setting for women it is valued far less and in some cases is
this was colleges and universities in Britain denigrated’. The construction of gender differ-
(Hargreaves, 1994) and North America ence was a key feature of the promotion of
(Theberge, 1989). Although access to higher manly sports in nineteenth-century British
education was still restricted mainly to the public schools and turn-of-the-century North
middle and upper classes, additional sporting America and the basis for the adoption of the
opportunities for working-class women were restricted model of female athleticism early in
present in the United States in industrial this century.
leagues (Theberge, 1989). This association continues today. Connell
As in Victorian England, women’s increased (1987: 85) writes that ‘images of ideal mas-
involvement in sport and physical activity in culinity are constructed and promoted most
North America in the early years of the systematically through competitive sport’,
twentieth century was the subject of heated where ‘the combination of skill and force’ in
debate among physical educators and physi- athletic competition becomes a defining fea-
cians. While some argued that mild forms of ture of masculine identity. This point has been
physical activity were beneficial, others saw elaborated by Connell (1983, 1990, 1995) and
physical exercise as incompatible with women’s others (Messner, 1990, 1992; Whitson, 1994).
fragile nature and dangerous to their health. It is important to recognize that the sense of
This debate was largely resolved by the adop- empowerment through sport is not a universal
tion of a modified form of sport that was less experience for males. Indeed, for many boys
strenuous and competitive than the ‘real’ sport and men, the experience of sport is one of
played by men. Examples of the model are frustration and disappointment (Klein, 1993;
shortened race distances in running and swim- Messner, 1992). What is critical about the con-
ming and six-player basketball, in which the tribution of sport to the construction of gender
game is slowed and movement restricted. This is that sport provides an image of idealized, or
version of the game was developed specifically ‘culturally exalted’ (Connell, 1995: 77) mas-
for women, to provide an appropriate alterna- culinity. Because this is the dominant or most
tive to men’s basketball. The adoption of the powerful image it is hegemonic, a term taken
modified model left intact the association from the Italian sociologist Antonio Gramsci’s
between masculinity and sport that was embod- analysis of class relations. When applied to the
ied in the ideal established in Victorian public analysis of gender, we may speak of particular
schools and entrenched in the burgeoning forms of masculinity as hegemonic.
324 KEY TOPICS

A key feature of hegemony is that it is cultural meanings and implications of women’s

historically constructed, within the context of athleticism.
particular social relations and institutional The ‘contested terrain’ (Messner, 1988) of
forms. For this reason, it is constantly women’s sport is the subject of a growing body
challenged and open to reconstitution. Connell of research in a variety of settings. A theme
(1995: 77) describes this feature: common to these analyses is that while women
are carving out a place in sport, their efforts to
I stress that hegemonic masculinity embodies a do so are constrained by broader forces. The
‘currently accepted’ strategy. When conditions for particular dynamics of the struggles vary,
the defence of patriarchy change, the bases for the owing to historical and institutional factors.
dominance of a particular masculinity are eroded. Following is an account of recent research in
New groups may challenge old solutions and con- three sporting sites with different histories of
struct a new hegemony. The dominance of any women’s involvement but striking similarity in
group of men may be challenged by women. the persistence of cultural struggle. The activi-
Hegemony, then, is a historically mobile relation. ties considered are ice hockey, golf and aerobics.
The analysis of gender and sport is con- Although women have been playing ice
cerned with the ‘mobility’ of relations and hockey for over a century, and for just about as
the manner in which sport reproduces or long as men, recent years have seen impressive
challenges hegemonic masculinity. The follow- increases in the numbers of women in the sport
ing sections of the chapter consider some of the (Etue and Williams, 1996). A particularly
main sites in which cultural struggles over the notable event is the admission of women’s ice
meaning of gender and sport are being waged hockey to the Olympics, where it was included
most dramatically. for the first time in the 1998 Winter Games in
Nagano, Japan. Historically, ice hockey has
been one of the most powerful signifiers of
a conception of masculinity grounded in force
WOMEN’S SPORT AND THE and physical toughness (Gruneau and
CONTEMPORARY IDEOLOGICAL Whitson, 1993). The increased participation
and visibility of women thus offers an impor-
STRUGGLE tant challenge to hockey’s historical status as a
‘flag carrier of masculinity’, a term Lois Bryson
The condition of women in sport has changed (1990: 174) uses to refer to sports that ‘quintes-
tremendously since the early decades of the sentially promote hegemonic masculinity and
twentieth century. Much of this change has are sports to which a majority of people are
occurred in the past 25 years, and is the out- regularly exposed’.
come of several developments. These include The challenge to hegemonic masculinity
the feminist movement that presents an on- posed by women’s ice hockey occurs in addi-
going challenge to traditional gender roles and tional ways. The historical exclusion of women
ideologies, legal and political initiatives that from sport has been most powerful in the case
have yielded increased opportunities for of team sports. The major exception is field
women in sport, and the health and fitness hockey, which has been organized in schools
movement which has raised awareness of the and at the international level since the 1930s. In
importance of physical activity. Unlike organ- the Olympics, women’s volleyball was added
ized sport, the fitness movement has been pro- to the program for the 1964 Games, basketball
moted among both men and women and been in 1976 and field hockey, despite being well
an important influence on rising rates of par- organized internationally for most of the cen-
ticipation in physical activity among women tury, was added only in 1980 (Theberge, 1989).
(Theberge and Birrell, 1994). As noted, ice hockey, the first team sport for
The progress that has occurred includes women in the Winter Games, was contested for
increases in the numbers of women participat- the first time in 1998.
ing in sport and in the variety of activities in Resistance to their participation in team
which they are involved. These developments sports has denied women one of the important
are an important challenge to the historical forms of community and association that male
organization of sport as a male preserve. For athletes have long enjoyed (Theberge, 1987).
many women this participation provides The bonding that occurs in a team setting pro-
enjoyment and a sense of personal empower- vides not only enjoyment but an important
ment (MacKinnon, 1987; Theberge, 1987). At basis for the construction and confirmation of
the same time, the contemporary era is marked athletic identities. In my research in women’s
by ambiguities and contradictions in the ice hockey, this process is documented in an
 GENDER AND SPORT 325

examination of the construction of community women. These included restricted playing

on an elite level team. The analysis shows that times for women, segregated clubhouses and
in a broader cultural milieu marked by separate tee boxes (that is, starting points,
ambivalence toward women’s hockey and which shortened course distances) and club
women’s sport generally, the team provides a rules that prohibited women from wearing
context wherein women athletes ‘collectively trousers or shorts in order to highlight differ-
affirm their skills, commitment and passion for ences between male and female members.
their sport’ (Theberge, 1995: 401). In this The gendering of women’s golf is particu-
respect, the development of hockey and other larly influenced by the sport’s commercial
team sports is an important part of the ongoing basis. Professional women’s golf was organized
challenge to the masculine preserve of sport. in the 1940s, and despite its periodically shaky
Yet another challenge to masculine hege- financial foundation, the sport has persisted as
mony concerns the practice of women’s hockey. one of the few that offers women the possibility
The rules of men’s and women’s hockey are to pursue a career as professionals. The ‘image
essentially the same, with the exception that problem’ facing all women athletes has particu-
women’s hockey prohibits intentional body lar consequences in sports attempting to secure
checking, that is intentional efforts to hit, or public acceptance and corporate sponsorship.
‘take out’, an opponent. There is none the less These consequences are highlighted in the con-
extensive physical contact, as players con- tradiction between what Crosset (1995) calls the
stantly try to outmuscle and outmanoeuvre one ‘prowess ethic’, wherein players judge them-
another in an effort to control the puck and the selves by their performance on the course, and
play in a game (Theberge, 2000). public and media preoccupation with their
The prohibition against body checking is appearance and sexuality.
generally thought to result in a game in which Tour members are annoyed by this preoccu-
speed, strategy and playing skills are featured pation and corresponding inattention to their
more prominently than in a full contact game, athletic skills. At the same time, they believe
which emphasizes power and force. Some that pressures to obtain corporate and media
believe that the absence of body checking support require the Tour to present an accept-
results in lower rates of injury. Promoters of able image, which is one of emphasized hetero-
the prohibition cite the more limited contact sexuality. In order to conform to this image,
game as a better version of the sport, and often players devote considerable attention to their
comment that women’s hockey need not be appearance, particularly their style of dress.
like men’s. The legitimacy of this position, and Appearance is also an overriding preoccupation
the implied critique of the excessive violence with LPGA staff and publicists, who ‘relent-
and rates of injury in men’s hockey are, how- lessly promote the image of femininity, mother-
ever, overshadowed by a dominant view that hood and sexuality in an attempt to counter the
men’s hockey is the ‘real’ game. In interviews I “image problem”’ (Crosset, 1995: 180).
conducted with players and coaches at an elite The tension over image and its embodiment
level, supporters of the inclusion of body in emphasized heterosexuality surfaced dra-
checking describe this feature as ‘part of the matically in the spring of 1995. In a newspaper
game’, ‘the way it should be’, and ‘part of the interview conducted at a major LPGA tourna-
fun’. In the end, the effort to promote women’s ment, long-time CBS television golf commenta-
hockey as an attractive version of the sport is tor Ben Wright made a number of sexist and
effectively neutralized by the hegemonic posi- homophobic remarks about Tour players.
tion of men’s hockey, which is constructed as These included statements that female golfers
the ‘real’ game (Theberge, 2000). ‘are handicapped by having boobs’ and one of
The history of women’s participation in golf the tour’s leading players ‘was built like a tank’
provides some contrasts with hockey. Golf (Reese, 1996). The effort to discredit women
was introduced to North America in the late athletes by disparaging their appearance and
nineteenth century as a sport for middle- and reconstructing them as unnatural women has
upper-class men and their families. It has long been one of the main weapons employed in the
welcomed women, though on very different effort to maintain sport as a masculine preserve
terms than men (Crosset, 1995). In his study of (Birrell and Theberge, 1994).
women on the Ladies Professional Golf Wright extended his assault by attacking
Association (LPGA) Tour, Crosset (1995) char- the LPGA for what he – and many others – see
acterizes the position of women in golf as ‘out- as its lesbian image. He told the interviewer,
siders within’, a reference to the variety of ‘Let’s face facts here. Lesbians in the sport hurt
forms of gender segregation that historically women’s golf. When it gets to the corporate
maintained distinctions between men and level, that’s not going to fly’ (Reese, 1996: 24).
326 KEY TOPICS

By voicing the unspoken concerns of many empowerment through physical activity of

observers of women in sport, Wright fuelled individual women (Whitson, 1994).
the sense of disorder that underlies popular Perhaps because it has been so heavily
sentiment about women athletes and identi- implicated in the changing scene of women’s
fied the particular costs of this unease for the physical activity in recent decades, aerobics
commercial success of women’s sport. has been the subject of extensive analysis and
The most interesting and important aspects critique. Much of this attention focuses on the
of Ben Wright’s comments were not their sub- contradictions embodied by aerobics as, on the
stance. It is hardly news to hear women ath- one hand, a means of empowerment for some
letes disparaged as manly. Nor is the statement women and, on the other hand, a vehicle for
that there are lesbians in golf (as throughout reproducing some of the worst features of
society) inaccurate. What is significant about institutionalized sport, including excessive
the incident is the response to Wright’s com- commercialism, competitiveness and the sexu-
ments by CBS and the LPGA. On publication alization of women’s physical activity. The
of the remarks, Wright initially denied them commercialization of aerobics is evident in its
and received the full support of CBS. When incorporation into the leisure lifestyle industry,
subsequent investigations provided convinc- whose most prominent features include loca-
ing evidence that Wright had been quoted tion in private fitness clubs and the marketing
accurately, CBS reversed its position and sus- of leisure apparel. National and international
pended Wright. CBS and the LPGA then issued organizations and competitions and a cam-
statements in which they tried to distance paign to gain entry into the Olympics mark the
themselves from the incident, which each in its arrival of aerobics into the world of competi-
statement referred to as a distraction. With a tive sport (Hargreaves, 1994).
substantial financial investment in televising A particular focus of critiques of aerobics has
golf, CBS has a major interest in upholding the been sexualization. One of the most enlighten-
wholesome image of the sport. By first sup- ing of these critiques is MacNeill’s (1988)
porting Wright in his denial, and then sus- analysis of the production of ‘20 Minute
pending him when further support would Workout’, a popular televised aerobics pro-
have been embarrassing, CBS throughout gram of the late 1980s and early 1990s.
demonstrated its concern with avoiding con- MacNeill shows how through the use of audio
troversy and jeopardizing its investment (commentary and music) and visual (facial
(Reese, 1996). expressions of participants, camera angles and
For its part, the LPGA has avoided the issue lighting) techniques, the show reconstructs
of homophobia by repeatedly denying that women’s physical activity as something closer
sponsors cite lesbianism as a basis for denying to soft pornography. MacNeill concludes that
support. This position was the cornerstone of while aerobics initially contained possibilities
the Tour’s response to the controversy gener- for reworking traditional ideologies of gender
ated by Wright’s comments (Reese, 1996). In and physicality, it has been incorporated into
dealing with the episode, both CBS and the dominant ideologies by feminizing and sexual-
LPGA acted primarily to protect their invest- izing women’s physical activity.
ments, which they assumed would be jeopar- More recent work on aerobics has explored
dized by public discussion of homophobia. The women’s experiences of the apparent contra-
greatest tragedy of the Ben Wright incident was dictions of this activity that embodies both
not his sexist and homophobic remarks but the empowerment and domination through sexu-
lost opportunity to expose and attack homo- alization. Pirkko Markula’s research with
phobia and sexism in golf and all of sport. women ‘aerobicizers’ shows that while many
The ideological struggle presented by aero- women wanted to meet cultural ideals of the
bics is on initial examination quite different beautiful body, they were far from passive in
from that in hockey and golf. Unlike these, and their submission to the ideal. Rather, they
virtually all competitive sports, from its incep- maintained a scepticism, for example by ques-
tion as part of the ‘fitness boom’ of the 1970s tioning the cultural preoccupation with slim-
aerobics has been organized primarily for ness and their own complicity in its pursuit.
women. For some women, aerobics has pro- Markula (1995: 450) indicates that ‘this ques-
vided a safe space in which to pursue physical tioning leaves many women puzzled: they
activity in an all-female setting, free of the want to conform to the ideal, but they also find
competitive pressures of organized sport the whole process ridiculous’.
(Hargreaves, 1994). In this respect, aerobics has Markula’s research also shows that the skep-
been part of the legitimation of physical activ- ticism that women expressed toward idealized
ity for women and an important vehicle for the images of women’s bodies was particularly
 GENDER AND SPORT 327

pronounced in their assessments of media through its incorporation into the leisure
presentations of exercising women. As well, lifestyle industry and heavy reliance on the
the real life classes Markula studied were dif- marketing of appearance and sexuality. These
ferent from the video classes, in that the three activities are but a sample of possible
instructors were not picture-perfect, the partic- illustrations of Jennifer Hargreaves’s (1994: 3)
ipants did not wear skimpy clothing and many observation that ‘female sports have been
classes placed a higher emphasis on enhancing riddled with complexities and contradictions
fitness, as opposed to appearance (Markula, throughout their history’.
1995: 450). While the critical analysis of media
presentations has provided important insight
into cultural constructions of women’s physi- SPORT AND THE PRODUCTION
cal activity, the finding that women actively
resist incorporation into these images – albeit OF MASCULINITY
not completely successfully – is significant.
Markula’s (1995) research demonstrates the A developing body of research also examines
variety of reasons that women participate in men’s experiences of sport and the processes
aerobics, in addition to improving their bod- whereby gender is produced. By exploring the
ies. These include enjoyment, because it pro- complexities of the relationship between mas-
vides a safe environment for being physically culinity and sport, this work provides a
active, to meet and socialize with other needed corrective to the view that the two are
women, to spend time on themselves, and for ‘naturally’ associated.
the energy it provides. The evidence accumu- Several themes are emphasized in this
lating from Markula’s and others’ work (for research. One is the manner in which men work
example, Haravon, 1995) provides support for at attaining physical prowess. The ‘skill and
Hargreaves’s (1994: 247) observation that force’ that Connell (1987: 85) speaks of in his
there is a clear contradiction between the pop- discussion of men’s empowerment is not sim-
ular image of aerobics, which emphasizes ply conferred upon them; it is something they
fashion and sexuality, and many women’s per- struggle to obtain. This struggle is both emo-
sonal experience. tional and physical. In his interview study with
The above discussion of three activities with retired male athletes, Messner shows how
different histories and conditions of women’s respondents’ views of athletic accomplishment
involvement shows the variety of struggles emphasized bodily control. ‘Rather than being
around women’s athleticism. In some respects, a surprised spectator of one’s own body, the
ice hockey, golf and aerobics all constitute sig- successful athlete must learn to block or ignore
nificant challenges to masculine hegemony and fears, anxieties, or any other inconvenient emo-
the male preserve of sport. The team context and tions, while mentally controlling his body to
the intense physicality of women’s ice hockey perform prescribed tasks’ (Messner, 1992: 64).
challenge some of the most important bases of The struggle to gain control over the body is
the association of sport and masculinity. also explored in Connell’s life history of an
Women’s long-time participation in golf and the Australian ‘Iron Man’, who competes profes-
professional opportunities available for nearly sionally in events involving swimming, run-
half a century have placed golf in the forefront of ning and surf-craft riding. Connell’s subject
the struggle to improve the condition of women ‘lives an exemplary version of hegemonic mas-
in sport. Aerobics has provided a safe space for culinity’ (1990: 93). This version relies funda-
women to be physically active and a means for mentally on his athletic prowess, which in turn
the empowerment of individual women. is dependent on a training regime that
At the same time, each activity shows how demands intense discipline and motivation.
women’s efforts to make a place and to be The ‘job’ of the Iron Man is to master his body.
empowered are constrained by dominant ideo- Research among male athletes also shows
logies of gender, sport and physicality. In ice how the subculture of boys’ and men’s sport
hockey, these result in a devaluation of the emphasizes gender difference, and within this,
women’s game as an alternative to the ‘real’ the celebration of masculine prowess and den-
game played by men. In golf and aerobics, the igration of women and gay men. One of the
athleticism of the activities is compromised by best portrayals of this is Gary Alan Fine’s
a relentless emphasis on emphasized hetero- study of Little League Baseball, With the Boys.
sexuality. In golf, these pressures are directly Fine (1987) suggests that sports teams provide
tied to the sport’s commercial basis and need a context in which boys try out versions of
to sell itself to the media and sponsors. behavior they perceive to be manly. In a dis-
Commercial pressures also operate in aerobics cussion of the ‘themes of preadolescent boys’,
328 KEY TOPICS

he shows in rich detail how the culture of the and challenged by the rituals and practices
teams is dominated by sexual and aggressive associated with football. In a community that
references that emphasize differences between was 80 per cent Mexican American, the football
the boys and anyone who is weaker, including team was a focus for working-class and
women, gay men and younger children. Chicano resistance to middle-class and Anglo
A similar point is made in Tim Curry’s (1991) dominance. A Mexican coach provided a par-
investigation of fraternal bonding in the locker ticularly powerful challenge to hierarchical
room of a men’s US university team. Curry’s relations by holding a position of authority on
analysis shows how locker room culture the team. This challenge, however, was short-
celebrates masculinity and men’s physical lived. Following a pressure-packed season
prowess. Essential elements of this process are marked by a series of issues with racial under-
the degradation of women and gay men and tones, the coach resigned, as Foley reports,
the association of sport with hypermasculinity. ‘sick of the strife and the pressure on my fam-
While noting the absence of definitive studies ily’ (Foley, 1990: 122).
on the effects of participating in locker room Hegemonic masculinity, or the ‘culturally
culture, Curry (1991: 133) indicates that in his exalted’ version was challenged by some male
view ‘sexist locker room culture is likely to Mexicanos who flaunted an ‘anti-sport’
have a cumulative negative effect on young lifestyle at football games and by football play-
men because it reinforces the notions of mas- ers who publicly endorsed the clean living
culine privilege and hegemony, making that image of the varsity athlete, while secretly
world view seem normal and typical’. breaking training regulations and team rules.
The aforementioned studies, and related At the same time, the traditional hierarchy of
work (for example, Gruneau and Whitson, gender relations was confirmed by the role of
1993), elaborate the processes whereby mas- female students as cheerleaders, the elevated
culinity is produced through social interaction status of football players and rituals like an
in particular institutional contexts (Connell, annual ‘powder puff’ game1 that ridiculed
1995: 35). These contexts are historically specific. female students, dramatized gender differ-
Like the earlier years of this century, the con- ences and served as an ‘expression of male
temporary period is witnessing social changes dominance and privilege’ (Foley, 1990: 119).
with important implications for gender ideolo- While acknowledging the significance of chal-
gies and their connections to sport. These lenges to dominant relations that occurred
include growing recognition of the problem of around football, Foley (1990: 133) concludes
violence against women and children, the that ‘such challenges have done little to trans-
willingness of the legal system to intervene in form the everyday culture that this major com-
domestic violence and regulate sexual harass- munity ritual enacts’.
ment in the workplace, increasing automation
and the growth of the service sector of the econ-
omy and the declining importance of physical RACE AND THE CONSTRUCTION
work. ‘All of these contribute to the erosion of a
OF MASCULINITY
world in which a powerful male body could
translate into social power’ (Whitson, 1994:
359). These developments are the backdrop for In his recent book Masculinities, R.W. Connell
the continued celebration in sport of a version of suggests that race relations are an integral part
masculinity that is grounded in physical tough- of the dynamic between hegemonic and other
ness and emphasizes gender difference and the forms of masculinities and points to sport as
denigration of women and gay men. an instance of this relationship. ‘In a white
supremacist context, black masculinities play
symbolic roles for white gender construction.
CHALLENGES TO MASCULINE For instance, black sporting stars become
HEGEMONY FROM WITHIN exemplars of masculine toughness’ (Connell,
1995: 80).
MEN’S SPORT The celebration of black athleticism as an
exemplary form of masculinity has a long
One of the most important contributions from history. Boxing, which perhaps more than any
the emerging work on men in sport is the other sport embodies masculine imagery of
analysis of challenges to hegemonic masculin- physicality, has provided a particularly fertile
ity. Douglas Foley’s (1990) study of a football setting for the construction of racialized ver-
season in small-town Texas shows how class, sions of masculinity. In his biography of heavy-
ethnic and gender relations are reproduced weight champion Joe Louis, the first African
 GENDER AND SPORT 329

American athlete to gain heroic status among David Andrews’s reading of the construction
white Americans, Chris Mead (1985) shows of US basketball star Michael Jordan as popu-
how media accounts faithfully represented lar hero. Andrews argues that, contrary to his
Louis as the successful embodiment of his race. promoters’ efforts to present Jordan as having
Consistent with the ‘race logic’ (Coakley, 1998: ‘no color’ (1996: 125), Jordan’s racial identity as
258) of the time that attributed intellectual an African American and the politics of race in
superiority to white people and animal-like America have been central to the construction
savagery to people of color, Louis’s magnificent and reconstruction of Jordan throughout his
skills were attributed to his African heritage career. During Jordan’s meteoric rise to star-
which, it was thought, located him somewhere dom in the National Basketball Association
closer to the animal kingdom than the human (NBA) he was promoted as the exemplar of the
race. A 1935 account of a fight began with the natural athlete, a basketball player ‘born to
statement, ‘Something sly and sinister and per- dunk’. Subsequently, and in accordance with
haps not quite human came out of the African the prevailing racial politics of ‘Reagan’s
jungle last night to strike down and utterly America’ (Grossberg, 1992, cited in Andrews,
demolish the huge hulk that had been Primo 1996), which emphasized inclusiveness and
Carnera, the giant’ (cited in Mead, 1985: 62). conveniently ignored continuing racial and
Later the same year a similar depiction class divisions and tensions, Jordan’s promot-
appeared: ‘Louis, the magnificent animal. He ers reconstructed him in specifically non-racial
lives like an animal, untouched by externals. terms. Thus, there was a move away from
He eats. He sleeps. He fights. He is as tawny as Nike’s Air Jordan campaign that depicted his
an animal and he has an animal’s concentration amazing physical skills to an advertising for-
on his prey’ (cited in Mead, 1985: 68). mula that emphasized Jordan’s humility, inner
Boxing remains a prime setting for the con- drive and personal responsibility, human
struction of black masculinity. One of the clear- qualities that presumably transcend race
est contemporary examples is heavyweight (Andrews, 1996).
Mike Tyson. Following a troubled background After several years of reigning as a public
that included time spent in a youth detention icon, Jordan’s celebrated status was challenged
centre and an abusive marriage to actress Robin by events in the spring and summer of 1993. In
Givens, Tyson was convicted in 1992 of raping May, the New York Times reported on a late
an 18-year-old beauty pageant contestant and night visit to a gambling casino that Jordan
served nearly three years in an Indiana prison. made during a crucial championship series.
In a disturbing commentary on the strategy This event prompted extensive media discus-
employed by the defense team at Tyson’s trial, sion of Jordan’s well-known fondness for gam-
Steptoe (1992) shows that the imagery cele- bling, sometimes for large sums of money. A
brated in portrayals of Joe Louis is not a histor- few months later, Jordan’s father was mur-
ical artifact. Playing to racial stereotypes, dered, while sleeping in his car at a roadside
Tyson’s attorney told the jury that Tyson ‘is not stop. The murder renewed interest in Jordan’s
a high school graduate. He’s never been trained gambling, as the media speculated that the
in public speaking. He’s never been trained in crime was somehow related to this presumed
the skills of projecting himself ... He’s been underside of Jordan’s character. Shortly after
trained to do one thing, to defend himself in a his father’s murder, Jordan retired from bas-
ring and to go to battle in a ring’ (quoted in ketball, a move widely assumed to be in part
Steptoe, 1992: 92). Invoking stereotypes of black related to the stress of dealing with his father’s
men as hypersexual, the lawyer elicited testi- death and media preoccupation with the mur-
mony that Tyson’s activities were part of a ‘sex der. Andrews (1996) shows that in accounts of
crazed rampage’ he engaged in during a these later events, Jordan was reconstructed
pageant rehearsal. Steptoe indicates that ‘In not as the hero who transcends race but as yet
effect [Tyson’s lawyer] was saying to the jury: another example of an African American male
Tyson is your worst nightmare – a vulgar, whose character is ultimately flawed.
socially inept, sex obsessed black athlete’. He Jordan’s career came full circle when he
was a black man guilty of ‘the crudity of his returned to the NBA in the spring of 1995. At
sexual demands’ (Steptoe, 1992: 92). the time the league was encountering increas-
The racist constructions of Louis and Tyson ing criticism over the behavior and image of
are perhaps most notable for their trans- a number of its star players (many of these
parency. Additional work examines more African American), who were described by
subtle and likely more powerful instances of one writer as ‘spoilsports and malcontents’
the construction of black masculinity in sport. (Leland, 1995, cited in Andrews, 1996). On his
One of the more sophisticated analyses is return, Jordan was hailed as a role model who
330 KEY TOPICS

would reclaim for the league some of the lustre The condition of gay men and sport also
it had lost in the public eye. offers important insight. The exemplary mas-
In a much more complex analysis than the culinity celebrated in sport is determinedly
brief summary here can suggest, Andrews heterosexual. Some indication of the processes
(1996) shows that the meaning of Michael whereby this is accomplished is included in
Jordan is about a multiplicity of images, not above accounts of the subcultures of Little
only of Jordan, but of black male athletes and League baseball and the locker room of a US
whites. This is an excellent illustration of university team. One of the major themes in
Connell’s (1995) point that black masculinities both settings is denigration of gays and
play symbolic roles for white gender construc- emphasis on the difference between gays and
tion. Throughout the shifting imagery of ‘real men’ (and boys) who do sport.
Michael Jordan, hegemonic masculinity – While work in the sociology of sport has in
white, heterosexual and cerebral as opposed to recent years identified the problem of homo-
the presumed natural but undisciplined ath- phobia, there is less information on the experi-
leticism of African Americans – has provided ences of gays and lesbians and the relations
the standard against which Jordan was con- between heterosexuals and homosexuals in
structed, first as hero, then as fallen icon, fol- sport. The limited literature includes Laurie
lowed by renewed heroism. The repositioning Schulze’s (1990) examination of lesbians’ read-
of Michael Jordan provides powerful ideologi- ings of women’s bodybuilding, which shows
cal support for a broader politics of racial rela- the contradictory meanings that lesbians
tions centred around difference and white assign to this activity. My research on an elite
superiority. women’s hockey team shows a degree of inclu-
siveness that unites lesbian and heterosexual
players (Theberge, 1995, 2000). Additional
insight is offered in Mike Messner’s (1994)
COMPULSORY HETEROSEXUALITY, interview with decathlete and gay activist Tom
HOMOPHOBIA, GENDER Waddell, who describes the isolation he felt as
AND SPORT a closeted gay man in sport and his vision for a
break from the homophobic world of sport
The analysis of compulsory heterosexuality through the Gay Games.
and homophobia is critical to an understanding Perhaps the most extensive analysis of
of gender and sport. Some discussion of this homosexuals in sport is Brian Pronger’s (1990)
issue in the context of women’s sport is offered phenomenological interpretation of the experi-
in the above accounts of emphasized heterosex- ences of gay men. Pronger suggests that the
uality in golf and aerobics, and the Ben Wright emphasized heterosexuality of sport separates
incident on the LPGA. The preoccupation with gay men from this culture and provides then
femininity in sport is one of the most powerful with a distinctive viewpoint. This viewpoint is
manifestations of homophobia. Lenskyj (1991: the basis of a strategy Pronger calls ‘ironic’,
49) explains the association: ‘Since the stereo- meaning that while many gay men find the
type of “female-athlete” and “lesbian” share so- male locker room and athletic competition to
called masculine traits such as aggression and be sexually charged, the relentless heterosex-
independence, the association between sport ism of male sport forces them to act as and take
and lesbianism has frequently been made’. In a the viewpoint of an outsider. Pronger suggests
comment similar to Cahn’s (1994: 208) remarks that in this response gay men reinterpret the
about the nagging question of power under- athletic experience in ways that offer the
lying the debate about women in sport, Lenskyj potential to transform the heterosexist culture
notes elsewhere that the popular association of sport (see Messner, 1992: 101).
between sport and lesbianism is fundamentally
an issue of male power:
GENDER, SPORT AND CHALLENGES
regardless of sexual preference, women who reject
the traditional feminine role in their careers as ath-
TO HEGEMONIC MASCULINITY
letes, coaches, or sport administrators, as in any
other non-traditional pursuit, pose a threat to The preceding discussion has offered an
existing power relations between the sexes. For overview of the main themes in the literature
this reason, these women are the frequent targets on gender and sport, illustrated by discussions
of labels intended to devalue or dismiss their suc- of representative research. This work focuses
cesses by calling their sexuality into question. heavily on the contribution of sport to gender
(Lenskyj, 1986: 383) relations and the construction of gender
 GENDER AND SPORT 331

ideologies. The key issues discussed are the notes in the sixth edition of Sport in Society
manner in which sport reproduces or chal- (1998: 211), this is because authors have come
lenges hegemonic masculinity and the social to realize the importance of understanding the
conditions that underlie and enable these significance of gender issues in sport and the
processes. political implications of these issues. This
The discussion has stressed that the gender- chapter has attempted to indicate the basis for
ing of sport occurs within particular historical Coakley’s assessment of the significance of the
contexts and institutional conditions. The topic. The study of gender and sport is one of
organization of sport in the latter part of the the most dynamic and important areas within
nineteenth century as a male preserve in which the sociology of sport.
Victorian ideals of masculinity were celebrated
remains the basis for its constitution today.
Despite considerable advances in the condi-
tions of women’s participation over the past NOTE
hundred years, sport remains a powerful
vehicle for the construction of an ideology of 1 ‘Powder Puff football’ games traditionally
gender difference. This ideology is grounded have been played on many high school and
in the association of gender and physicality. college campuses in the United States. The
While the accomplishments of women athletes participants are women students who want
should put to rest any vestiges of the myth of to play full contact football or some varia-
female frailty, contradictions and ambiguities tion of it. In some cases the women wear
about the meaning of women’s athleticism standard protective equipment, but it is dif-
continue. Challenges to masculine hegemony ficult for them to gain access to equipment
are countered by the continued marginaliza- that fits them properly. Therefore, most
tion and heterosexualization of women ath- games are played in sweatsuits or shorts
letes and women’s sport. and shirts. While most of the women par-
A particularly important development in ticipants take the game seriously, the
recent scholarship on gender and sport is the majority of the men who watch them tend
analysis of men and the production of mas- to mock the abilities and actions of the
culinity. This work elaborates the complexity women on the field. Some men may even
of the processes whereby masculinity is con- cross-dress as cheerleaders to further trivi-
structed and achieved. It also explores the chal- alize what occurs on the playing field.
lenges to hegemonic masculinity posed by
subordinated and marginalized men and alter-
native forms of masculinity. These challenges,
along with those arising from women’s sport, REFERENCES
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Connell, R. (1983) Which Way is Up: Essays on Sex, Lenskyj, H. (1991) Women’s Sport and Physical
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Theberge, N. and Birrell, N. (1994) ‘The sociological Whitson, D. (1994) ‘The embodiment of gender:
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 21
SPORT, RACISM AND ETHNICITY

Grant Jarvie

This chapter provides a review of some of the 3 as a form of cultural politics has been
main currents of sociological thought which central to the processes of colonialism and
have informed a body of research in the area of imperialism in different parts of the world;
sport, racism and ethnicity. It considers some 4 has contributed to unique political
of the main popular arguments about sport in struggles which have involved black and
discussions of race relations, black identity and ethnic political mobilization and the
black feminism and argues against the notion struggle for equality of and for black
of any one body of thought being viewed as peoples and other ethnic minority groups;
universally valid. The examples that people 5 has produced stereotypes, prejudices and
use may change but the underlying processes myths about ethnic minority groups which
and social and political problems reflect not have contributed both to discrimination
just traditions of social thought but also many against and an under-representation of
voices of anger and frustration in a world that ethnic minority peoples within certain
is left wanting on so many fronts. This chapter sports; and
is critical of some European intellectual con- 6 is a vehicle for displays of black prowess,
structions of racism which have often been masculinity and forms of identity.
applied in a devastating manner in the field of
sport studies. While such arguments are crucial facets of
peoples’ experiences of sport, racism and eth-
nicity, none of the above-mentioned arguments
can be singled out as identifying an underlying
POPULAR OPINIONS AND ‘cause’. In many ways, each of these individual
SOCIOLOGICAL ARGUMENTS arguments places too much emphasis on factor
a, b, c or d without really analysing the rela-
If popular arguments about sport, racism and tionships or interconnecting strands which
ethnicity have contributed to a number of make up the complex social structures and
racist beliefs about different peoples’ sporting processes that facilitate racism, not only in
abilities, so too have a number of popular Europe and America, but in all corners of the
arguments contributed to particular explana- globe. Indeed, this holds regarding all social
tions of race relations within the sociology of formations where differences in the logics and
sport. Popular arguments have often sug- levels of hatred, inferiorization, contempt, per-
gested that sport itself: secution, prejudice and mythology contribute
to unique and particular expressions of racism
1 is inherently conservative and helps to and ethnicity.
consolidate patriotism, nationalism and To such popular arguments might be added
racism; a number of sociological arguments which
2 has some inherent property that makes it a have been rooted within particular traditions
possible instrument of integration and har- of social thought. Such explanations have con-
monious race relations; tributed to a broader understanding of sport,
 SPORT, RACISM AND ETHNICITY 335

racism and ethnicity in at least four ways. They influence of Jews in commerce, law, literature
have: and politics. The climate of ideas in the nine-
teenth century was still far from the ideology
1 researched racism and the politics of exclu- of Nazism, but ‘knowledge’ of race was sup-
sion from sport; posed to provide a key to moral, cultural and
2 highlighted how institutional racism occurs social differences within an evolutionary
through sport; explanation of humanity. It was an intellectual
3 deconstructed the theory and practice of climate that was to culminate in Nazism which
many mythical equal opportunity policies drew upon not just sociology but medicine,
which have operated for and against many biology, chemistry, genetics, anthropology, eth-
sporting men and women of ‘colour’; and nology, psychiatry, jurisprudence and demo-
4 suggested that in particular sets of situa- graphy in the classification of populations and
tions it is possible to identify a ‘unity of the treatment of Jews, Gypsies and mental
racism’ within and between sports patients, who were also racialized (Wieviorka,
(Wieviorka, 1995). 1995: 5).
The sociology of sport has not been unlike Theorists such as Alexis de Tocqueville and
other areas of sociology, black studies, or other Max Weber did not always take up radical
arenas of social thought which have sought to positions regarding race. Tocqueville did not
explain both the complexity and the unity of really firmly decide one way or the other
racism and ethnicity within premodern, between slavery and American democracy. On
modern and postmodern societies. Yet even the other hand, he did decidedly reject the false
here certain traditions of social thought have doctrines of racism which sought to legitimize
both over- and under-emphasized particular the enslavement of ‘blacks’ on the grounds of
facets of explanation. It might be argued that their nature and behaviour. Tocqueville (1968:
an over-determination of the degree of impor- 443) offered an analysis of American anti-black
tance accorded to a particular or exclusive line racism, seeing it as rooted in a particular con-
of argument has meant that a reality-congruent text, time and ideology. His reasoning only
body of knowledge on sport, racism and eth- appears in outline in quotes such as the
nicity has been slow to be forthcoming. following:
What follows is a short review of some of the the white northerners shun negroes with all the
ways in which racism and ethnicity have been greater care the more legislation has abolished any
approached in the sociology of sport arena. Yet legal distinction between them ... in the North the
it is necessary in the first instance to provide white man afraid of mingling with the black is
a short definitional discussion around the frightened by an imaginary danger. In the South,
categories and experiences of race, racism and where the danger would be real, I do not think the
ethnicity. fear would be less. (Tocqueville, 1968: 443).
For Max Weber (1978: 331), there was
RACE, RACISM AND ETHNICITY AS race only if there was a race consciousness
anchored in a community identity which
EXPLANATORY PRINCIPLES could lead to action, such as segregation or
prejudice. These were not necessarily attribut-
It has to be said from the outset that the social able to hereditary differences but to habitus. As
sciences, and consequently certain elements Dunning (1996) points out, Weber used the
within the sociology of sport and sports stud- term ‘caste’ to describe a racially divided
ies literature have contributed a great deal to society in which the caste relations are the ‘nor-
the invention of racism. Although a body of mal form in which ethnic communities live
work specifically within the social sciences was side by side in a societalized manner’. The
much later in coming, the idea of superior and crucial point being made is that the experi-
inferior races, and particularly the idea that ences of caste, race and colour cannot be simply
race shapes performance and athleticism, can explained in terms of physical difference;
be traced back to the Greeks of the Hellenic rather, they represent a social structural figura-
period if not at least to the Middle Ages. In tion of some significance. The dynamics of
Britain, Francis Galton, a cousin of Charles such a process of racial stratification are but
Darwin, drew on the notion of racial differ- one source of social tension capable of produc-
ences to promote debates within the ing forms of structural change.
Sociological Society of London (Galton, 1904). Both Weber and Tocqueville used the term
In Germany, Otto Ammon developed a body ‘race’ but it would seem that in terms of com-
of ideas about racial chaos and the growing munity identity or indeed communal identity,
336 KEY TOPICS

other types of community deserve to be blacks are innately different from whites and
mentioned. One of these is ‘ethnicity’ which, as that such differences, being genetic in origin,
a term, is often used in association with the can be passed from one generation to the next.
term ‘race’ or ‘racism’. The notion of ethnicity As Cashmore (1996: 105) points out, Kane’s
is often problematic in the sense that it is not arguments border on being racist and at least
often clear how, for example, it might be dis- absurd given that anthropologists have long
tinguished from the concept of nationality. since dismissed the concept of race as having
Ethnicity, racism and race are so closely inter- any analytical value. There is no natural reason
mingled for many specialists that the terms are why blacks should not excel in all sports and
often found together, as for example in the yet the danger of the proposal contained in the
titles of various books, the name of an impor- work of Kane is that such beliefs are not only
tant journal and the title of one of the research believed, by some, but are used to systemati-
committees of the International Sociological cally deny access to certain sports. For instance,
Association (Jarvie, 1991). Because of the lack despite the fact that men and women of colour
of clarity of the concept of ethnicity and its have held world swimming records, the myth
closeness to nationality, contributions to the of the poor black swimmer has been often used
sociology of sport have tended to refer to civic against various ‘coloured’ communities. On
and ethnic forms of nationalism where the lat- the other hand, the natural ability argument is
ter is closely related to racial group definitions often promoted either to marginalize certain
(Bairner, 1998). racial groups within the ghetto of sports at the
It is possible to identify at least three different expense of other sectors of society, or to be
ways in which the notion of ethnicity is referred selective about the sports that ethnic minority
to or used in the literature on race and racism. and black groups participate in or have access
In the first case, the term ethnicity is closely to. Since at least the 1970s sport has been a
associated with the concept of nationhood: an route to fame and fortune for numerous black
example is provided in the work of Anthony sportsmen and women and yet for thousands
Smith (1996). Here the term ethnic nationalism of others it continues to conceal deep inequali-
refers to those groups and the related doctrines ties, racist beliefs, and to be a path to failure
which, since the end of the eighteenth century, and disappointment.
have claimed the status of nation and the right Concepts such as ‘nation’, ‘race’, ‘ethnic’ or
to self-determination and an independent state ‘religious’ group are not the only concepts that
for every ethnic group. Secondly, as in the work can provide key interdependent reference
of Stephen Steinberg, the objective is to enquire points for the analysis of racial figurations.
into the social relations that are concealed, Many others, such as the ‘sect’, ‘tribe’, ‘clan’,
either mythically or ideologically, by recourse ‘town’ or ‘region’ could be mentioned, too. But
to the notion of ethnicity (Steinberg, 1989). In the key point is that, in many complex and dif-
the third case biological aspects have taken ferent ways, such figurations, and others, form
precedence over the social and the cultural. a kind of terrain in which the growth of racism
Even in the most recent writings of respected is an observable facet of contemporary life for
scholars of ethnicity such as Pierre Van den those groups who both promote and suffer
Berghe a form of bio-social theory of ethnic from racist behaviour. While it is impossible in
populations is proposed which ultimately this chapter to provide an in-depth analysis
explains more in terms of genetics than any and critique of all of the key sociological ex-
other discipline (Van den Berghe, 1981). planations of the relationship between sport,
The last point has a particular resonance racism and ethnicity which have been pro-
within some of the sports literature and is posed so far, it is possible to provide an insight
worth commenting upon if only to critique the and general overview of some of the central
argument. Much of the early reasoning for perspectives and traditions of social thought in
black excellence in athletics and other sports this regard. The sporting examples that are
has been misleadingly explained as if natural used in each case are merely illustrative of
ability and genetics are key causal factors deeper concerns and sociological issues.
which explain black athletic excellence. The
much-quoted work of Martin Kane (1971) pro-
vides an example in which the writer suggests SPORT IN AN EMERGING SOCIOLOGY
that certain physical characteristics – for
example, longer legs than whites, narrower OF RACE RELATIONS
hips – are some of the key physical features
that have determined why blacks as a ‘race’ As a field of social scientific enquiry and
have excelled in sport. Kane concluded that research, much of the early sociology of race
 SPORT, RACISM AND ETHNICITY 337

relations originated in the work of American In South African race relations, the main
social theorists. Between 1920 and 1960, critique of early Marxist writings was embod-
American studies of race concentrated upon ied in pluralism and in particular the work of
the analysis of the social and economic Van den Berghe (Van den Berghe, 1969). A
inequalities suffered by a generic figuration dominant theme within this work was that
invariably referred to as ‘negroes’ (as opposed social class in the Marxian sense of determina-
to various ‘peoples of colour’ who may or may tion by the relationship to the means of pro-
not have viewed their primary identity as duction was not a meaningful reality under
being, for example, Spanish, Mexican, Italian apartheid since colour rather than ownership
or black Americans), their cultural and psycho- of land or capital was the most important cri-
logical make-up, family relations and political terion of status. Under apartheid, white aca-
isolation. Following the work of Park, the demic pluralist analyses of South Africa were
dominant assumption seemed to be that race essentially polarized around several broad
relations were types of social relations between themes. As a society South Africa was seen as:
different peoples (Park, 1950). In this early 1 a ‘plural society’: apartheid was seen to be
classical tradition one of the main features of best explained in terms of segmentation
such relations was a consciousness of racial into corporate groups often with different
difference. Functionalist theories assumed that cultures;
an eventual assimilation of racially defined 2 having a social structure compartmental-
minorities into the majority host society would ized into analogous, parallel, non-
occur over time. Any conflict that might have complementary and distinguishable sets of
emerged from insider and outsider relations institutions;
was viewed as but a latent function that would 3 having a motor of development which was
lead ultimately to social equilibrium. Racial seen to be a form of ethnological determin-
prejudice and discrimination were seen as tem- ism in which institutions were autonomous
porary phenomena during a period of mutual in relation to one another and functioned
adjustment. Ethnic minority groups were according to their own ‘inner logic’; and
encouraged to abandon their own culture and 4 having a unique social formation which
way of life for that of the host culture. In the polarized into two components: a capitalist
work of Park this cycle of assimilation con- economic system which was harmonious,
sisted of four stages, namely contact, conflict, just and functional, and a system of racial
accommodation and assimilation. domination, which was conducive to con-
In 1950s Britain, the emerging field of what flict, unjust and dysfunctional.
was called at the time race studies was domi-
nated by two main themes. First, was the issue When sport was viewed within this pluralist
of coloured immigrants and the racist reaction approach it was seen in itself to be functionally
to them by white Britons. Most studies of supportive and integral to a multiracial South
this period concentrated on the interaction African society in which a plurality of groups
between specific groups of coloured immi- competed within the framework of apartheid.
grants and whites in local situations (Solomos, A core part of the pluralist thesis on sport
1989). A second theme was the role played by under apartheid was that South Africa experi-
colonial history and imperialism in determin- enced more domestic and international pres-
ing popular conceptions of colour and race. By sure than any other nation at the time because
1948, early Marxist theories of race had pro- its case was deemed not simply to be unjust
posed that racism was but a ruling class ideol- and racist, but also ideological. The political
ogy which developed under capitalism in ideology of apartheid mediated sporting par-
order to divide – and hence control – black and ticipation and provision in South Africa
white workers who shared a common and fun- (Jarvie, 1985). The argument, put simply, was
damental class identity (Cox, 1948). By 1948 that sport, while having a degree of relative
apartheid in South Africa had also emerged. In autonomy, was best explained in terms of
much the same way, early Marxist accounts of racial segregation and racial discrimination.
South African race relations tended to argue For pluralist writers on South African sport,
that concepts such as race and class had a sporting freedom and the dismantling of
greater salience vis-à-vis other structural princi- apartheid would be brought about through
ples such as gender and religion. In the South external pressures being brought to bear on
African context race was viewed as class and South Africa. Such pressures themselves were
class as race. Such arguments were criticized as viewed as being functional.
being historically inaccurate, generalist, deter- Other attempts were made during the 1960s
ministic and irredeemably functionalist. and 1970s to develop a generalized sociological
338 KEY TOPICS

framework for the analysis of race, racism and American writers such as Harry Edwards
race relations (Cashmore, 1996). A more sophis- (1970, 1973) have written extensively on the
ticated approach, built upon Weberian premises, events surrounding the political events wit-
was most clearly illustrated in the work of John nessed at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico
Rex (Rex, 1983). What Rex called race relations City. The ‘Black Power’ demonstrations by
situations involving a particular type of inter- American athletes Tommy Smith and John
group conflict resulted in racially categorized Carlos were explained in the following terms
groups being distinctively located within an (Jarvie and Maguire, 1994: 101):
overall system of social stratification. In Britain,
For years we have participated in the Olympic
Rex used this framework to analyse differences
Games carrying the USA on our backs with our
in black and white life-chances and concluded
victories and race relations are worse than ever. We
that race and racial discrimination resulted in
are not trying to lose the Olympics for America,
blacks being located at the bottom of and out-
what happens is immaterial. But it is time for the
side the main white class structure. Insofar as
black people of the world to stand up as men and
this created a distinctive form of consciousness
women and refuse to be utilised as performance
and political action then the process of forging a
animals in return for a little extra dog food.
black underclass was seen to be in the making.
As a Marxist-informed analysis of racism
and race relations in American sport the work
NEO-MARXIST AND POST-MARXIST of Edwards (1970) was sympathetic to many of
TRADITIONS the central themes that would be included in
the political economy of sport. Certainly some
A considerable number of neo-Marxist and or all of the following questions were central to
post-Marxist approaches have subsequently developing a political economy of black sport:
been developed. Some have looked to provide How has wealth been produced from the
a less deterministic account of the relationship exploitation of the black athlete? How have
between race, class and capitalism (Robinson, black sporting struggles affected the emancipa-
1981). At least three concerns are flushed out in tion of black people? Why in the ‘land of the
the work of such writers as William Dubois, free’ (the USA) was it not until 1932 that Tydie
C.L.R. James, Richard Wright, Angela Davis Pickett and Louise Stokes became the first
and many other black radical writers: African American women to participate in the
Olympic Games? Who profits from the play
1 that the whole basis of Marxism as a and display of black athletic talent? How are
Western construction is a conceptualization black people represented within positions of
of human affairs and human development power and influence in the world of sport or
which has been drawn from the experiences leisure? To what extent are terms such as alien-
of European peoples and as such it loses ation, racial capitalism, imperialism and colo-
much of its explanatory power when faced nialism useful in explaining the development
with non-Western evidence; of black sporting experiences?
2 even allowing for Marxist–Leninist terms Of the black Marxist/black radical writers
such as imperialism and colonialism or who have commented upon sport, pride of
even a view of world development based place belongs to C.L.R. James. Beyond a
upon a materialist understanding of history, Boundary remains a classic statement on the
Marxism failed to consider or question the relationship between cricket and Caribbean
existence of modern slavery or specific society during the 1950s and early 1960s
forms of exploitation born out of, for ex- (James, 1963). In it, James recognized that an
ample, black poverty in America or black almost fanatical obsession with organized
reserve armies of labour in numerous social games was not merely an innocent social activ-
formations (it has also been suggested that ity but also a potential signifier of oppression
classical Marxism itself paid insufficient and liberation. He provided a statement about
attention to slavery as a key phase in the not only an expanded conception of humanity
materialist analysis of history; but also the necessity to break out from the
3 that Marxism paid little attention to the colonial legacy which had affected the devel-
way in which racism mediated the organi- opment of the West Indies. In placing cricket
zation of labour, or itself, as an expression centre stage, James attempted to transcend the
of alienation, made a specific contribution division between high and popular art. The
to revolutionary or reformist change born cricketer in the 1960s was seen as a modern
out of the struggle of, for example, African expression of an individual personality push-
peoples (Jarvie and Maguire, 1994). ing against the limits imposed upon his or her
 SPORT, RACISM AND ETHNICITY 339

full development by society (class/colonial/ was all the more surprising given Algeria’s
nation/periphery). Non-white cricket came position in the Arab world as the torchbearer of
first to challenge then overthrow the domina- modernism, socialism and successful struggle
tion of West Indian cricket by members of the for independence from colonial rule.
white plantocracy. By the 1980s some writers Women were emancipated early in Algeria’s
had argued that the transformation of West national struggle. They were obliged to carry
Indian cricket had come full circle from being a out many tasks their husbands were unable to
symbol of cultural imperialism to being a sym- fulfil because they were dead, imprisoned or
bol of Creole nationalism (Burton, 1991). fighting against France. Since then, however,
the progress made by Algerian women has been
under threat. At the time there had been only
BLACK FEMINISM, IDENTITY two women ministers in the government, and
parliament refused to pass a law to end the tra-
POLITICS AND SPORT ditional practice of men voting by proxy for
Sojourner Truth’s famous question ‘Ain’t I a their womenfolk. Women in the mid-1990s
woman?’ was asked in the middle of the nine- made up less than a fifth of the paid workforce;
teenth century, and yet it remains a pertinent 800,000 in a population of 25 million. Hassiba
question that might be asked of many feminist Boulmerka moved to France and the Islamicists
writings on sport and leisure – although the lost an opportunity to promote national unity in
forthcoming intervention by Professor Jennifer Algeria. For if ever there was a modern popular
Hargreaves will alter this position. There is figure in Algeria – one who had taken on the
simply no black feminist intervention in sport or world and won – it was Hassiba Boulmerka.
leisure equivalent to that made by C.L.R. James All subjugated knowledges, such as black
in Beyond a Boundary and yet black feminist women’s sporting history and biography,
thought has yielded a radical critique of both develop in cultural contexts. Dominant groups
the sociology of sport and white European fem- often aim to replace subjugated knowledge
inism (Mathewson, 1996; Plowden, 1995). The with their own specialized thought because
existence of athletes such as Anna Quirot, they realize that gaining control over this
Esther Kiplagat, Lydia Cheromei, Derartu Tulu, dimension of the lives of members of subordi-
Merlynne Ottey, Phyllis Watt, Jennifer Stoute nate groups simplifies control (Hill-Collins,
and Hassiba Boulmerka could help to open up 1990). While efforts to influence this dimension
the history and experiences of black women of oppressed groups’ experiences can be par-
athletes in Cuba, Kenya, Ethiopia, Jamaica, tially successful, this level is more difficult to
Great Britain and Algeria. Such case studies control than dominant groups would have us
would be capable of not only opening up a believe. For example, adhering to externally
broader understanding of identity politics but derived standards of beauty leads many
also of the role of sport in black communities. African American women to dislike their skin
For example, the case of Hassiba Boulmerka colour or hair texture. Similarly, internalizing
may be illustrative of a much-loved Arab Eurocentric gender ideology leads some black
African sporting woman forced at a particular men to abuse black women. These may be seen
moment in her athletic career to leave Algeria as a successful infusion of a dominant group’s
for France in order to escape a backlash from specialized thought into the everyday cultural
Muslim zealots (The Independent, 12 August context of African Americans. But the long-
1991). Winner of the women’s 1500 metres standing existence of a black women’s blues
final at the World athletic championships in tradition, and the voices of contemporary
1991, Boulmerka became the first Algerian, African American women writers all attest to
the first Arab and the first African woman the difficulty of eliminating the cultural con-
to win a gold medal at any World athletic cham- texts as fundamental sites of resistance.
pionships. On her return to Algeria, the Certainly the development of a tradition of
then President Chadli Benjedid greeted her black feminist writing on sport would help to
as a national heroine. But Muslim zealots challenge Eurocentric, masculinist and femi-
denounced her from the pulpit for baring her nist thought which has at times pervaded the
most intimate parts (her legs) before millions of sociology of sport. Empowerment in sport has
television viewers. Furthermore, President often meant black women rejecting existing
Benjedid was himself publicly denounced for personal, cultural and institutional structures
embracing a woman in public. The row under- that have historically supported racism. The
scored the clash between modernity and Islamic practice of black feminist thinkers during
traditionalism, the fastest growing social and the late 1980s and early 1990s necessitated
political force in Algeria. It was a clash which an understanding of the relations between
340 KEY TOPICS

personal sporting biography and the history of Four particular features of the established-
sporting relations in various countries. Many outsider figuration located in the work of Elias
of the personal troubles that black sports- and Scotson (1965/1994) are worth special
women in Britain, America and Africa experi- mention:
enced were in fact related to broader structural 1 the tendency of members of established
dynamics and meanings such as those that groups to perceive outsiders as law break-
have been articulated through racism. Angela ers and status violators or, as Dunning
Davis wrote more forcefully on this issue when (1996: 13) points out ‘in Elias’s terms as
she argued that there is something in the anomic’;
nature of racism’s role in society that permits 2 the tendency for the established to judge
those who have come through the ranks of outsiders in terms of the minority of the
struggles against it to have a clearer compre- worst, that is, in terms of the minority of
hension of the totality of oppression (Davis, outsiders who actually do break the law
1989), the analogy being that white women and violate standards;
must learn to acknowledge this as a potential 3 the tendency for outsiders to accept the
starting point for not only understanding black established group’s stigmatization of them,
women’s experiences of sport but also oppres- that is to internalize the group charisma of
sion in general. the dominant group and their own group
disgrace;
4 the tendency for the established to view
ESTABLISHED-OUTSIDER RELATIONS outsiders as in some way unclean.
Under specific circumstances race relations
One of the most sophisticated approaches to may take on some or all of the above charac-
the study of race relations is to be found in teristics and as such it follows that such fea-
work emanating from the sociology of Norbert tures may be part of certain sporting relations
Elias (Elias and Scotson, 1965/1994). At least that involve established-outsider relations.
two key principles dominated the sociological Some of these relations may involve some or
thought of Norbert Elias. First, he was con- all of the above features. One of the many
cerned to understand the process of civiliza- strengths of Eliasian research into sport, racism
tion which he defined as a process in which and race relations is that it rejects universal,
the balance between external restraints on law-like relationships as forming the key to
behaviour and internal moral regulation explaining the balance of power between social
changes in favour of the latter. Secondly, he groups.
criticized functionalism and structuralism for Racial, gender and class bonds of inter-
their tendency to reify social processes, and dependence may in fact be relatively determin-
argued instead for a figurational or processual ing, yet the degree of determination is flexible
approach to sociology, that is, a conceptualiza- and specific to any particular form of develop-
tion and testing of the constant and endless ment. The complex interaction of race and
processual flux of all social relationships. class dynamics in South Africa has often con-
With specific reference to the field of race rela- cealed other multifaceted forms of bonding,
tions it is the notion of established-outsider not least of which have been religious and
relations which is most pertinent to the dis- national lines of interdependence between
cussion at hand (Elias and Scotson, 1965/1994). different groups. To apply the notion of
Drawing on Elias, Mennell raises the issue of established-outsider theory to race relations
the very terms race or ethnic relations perhaps shows how the relations between different
being symptomatic of an action in ideological racial groups can be studied in the same way
avoidance (Mennell, 1992). Their use serves to as relations between many other groups with
single out for attention peripheral aspects of unequal power chances. Thus, the main weight
these specific relations such as differences of of any explanation of racial inequality, like any
skin colour and fails to recognize that which is other social inequality, must rest on how
central to an adequate understanding of race groups come to impinge upon and have power
relations, namely differences of power – that over each other. Elias’s theory of established-
is, race relations are simply established- outsider relations has, for example, recently
outsider relations of a particular type and, as been utilized in laying the foundation of a
such, are characterized by differential power figurational/process sociological understand-
chances and the exclusion of less powerful ing of the part played by sport in the develop-
groups from positions with a higher power ment of race relations in the United States of
potential. America (Dunning, 1999). Such an analysis has
 SPORT, RACISM AND ETHNICITY 341

involved, first, the conceptualization of race (Dyson, 1994). That is to say that American
relations as involving fundamentally a ques- athletes might have all been equal on the
tion of power, and secondly, an exploration of starting line but the social, economic, political
the social conditions under which sporting and emotional struggles that any given athlete
prowess can become an embodied power has to overcome to reach the starting line are
resource, part of a habitus that has been used far from equal.
to offset disadvantages of racial inequality. Black sportspersons in America have often
acquired the celebrity status of a heroine or
hero, as viewed in the careers of people such as
A NEW POLITICS OF RACE AND Joe Louis, Jackie Robinson, Althea Gibson,
Wilma Rudolph, Mohammed Ali, Arthur Ashe,
RACISM: A BLACK CRITIQUE Carl Lewis, Michael Jordan, Valerie Brisco-
Hooks, Evelyn Ashford, Florence Griffith-
Mention must also be made of what came to be Joyner and, more recently, Tiger Woods. Such
termed in the early 1990s ‘the new politics of black sporting heroes and heroines have tran-
race and racism’. Underlying this new politics scended the narrow boundaries of specific
is a deep ambivalence amongst certain groups sports activities and have gained importance
of social and political activists about the tradi- as icons of cultural excellence. Such people
tional categories that have been used to defend became symbolic figures who embodied the
racist practices and policy. These identifica- celebrity possibilities of success that were often
tions, it has been suggested, have been denied other people of colour. They also cap-
grounded in notions of the superiority of tured and catalysed a black cultural fetishism
whites, Eurocentric discourses and the politics for sport as a means of expressing a particular
of ‘otherness’ (Gilroy, 1995; Giroux and form of black cultural style and identity
McLaren, 1994). Within this genre of writing, (Dyson, 1994). Sport was viewed as a vehicle
the relationship between identity and being for valorizing black power, sporting skills as a
‘black’ is seen as neither fixed nor secure in the means of marking racial self-expression and
sense that people take on different, changing sporting profit as a means of pursuing social
identities and points of reference. It is an and economic mobility.
approach which challenges ‘whiteness’ as the The danger of valorizing a black sports
universal norm. At stake here is an attempt to industry or black culture industry is clearly
create a different kind of vocabulary for repre- spelled out in works by Cashmore (1997) and
senting racism, race and border relations, that Hoberman (1997). More specifically, the ques-
is, relationships that cross national boundaries. tion that is posed is can there be such a thing as
Central to this approach is the recognition that authentic black culture when the industry,
central concepts such as ‘race’, ‘ethnicity’ and including the sports industry, that produces it
‘black’ should always appear historically in is controlled by white-owned corporations? In
articulation with other categories and divi- developing a history of black culture in the
sions such as class and gender. West from the post-emancipation period to the
Dyson has suggested that while the physical present, Cashmore (1997: 172–81) argues that
prowess of the black body has in the 1990s inflating the value of a commodified black
been acknowledged and exploited as a fertile culture may actually work against the interests
zone of profit within mainstream American of racial justice. Cashmore asserts that black
athletic society, the symbolic dangers of black entrepreneurs, when they have reached the top
sporting excellence also need to be highlighted of the industry, have tended to act in much the
(Dyson, 1994). Because of its marginalized same manner as their white counterparts in
status within the overall sphere of American similar circumstances. They failed to destabi-
sports, black athletic activity, argues Dyson, lize the racial hierarchy and yet remained part
has often acquired a social significance that of an African American elite.
transcends the internal dimensions of the
game, sport and skill. Black sport becomes an
arena for testing the limits of physical
endurance and forms of athletic excellence – CONCLUDING REMARKS
while at the same time repudiating or symbol-
izing the American ideals (often mythical) Any theoretical discussion within the post-
of justice, goodness, truth and beauty. It modernist era is likely to end up in a discursive
also becomes a way of ritualizing racial quagmire, a kind of epistemological equivalent
achievement against socially or economically of quicksand or a Scottish bog. Attempts to
imposed barriers to sporting performance cling to theoretical or substantive realism or
342 KEY TOPICS

the interdependence between the two in the than broad generalizations, which have been
eclectic world of the twenty-first century the main focus of the specific overview
remains difficult and yet, in conclusion, three provided here.
observations can be made. First, that while anti-
historical or non-developmental forms of
explanation may supply useful insights into Acknowledgements
certain social experiences, including those that
manifest themselves within racist and anti- I am grateful for the comments and advice
pacifist contexts, they are a perilous guide to provided by Professor Dunning and Professor
action. The practice of racism in sport is no Coakley on an earlier draft of this chapter.
modern phenomenon that has just emerged but
has in fact resulted from a number of intended
and unintended processes all of which have
had a much longer development than many REFERENCES
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ogy and history certainly have something to in the Making of Celtic Cultures. London: Cassells.
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racial prejudice, anti- semitism and a black per- culture in the Caribbean’, in G. Jarvie (ed.) Sport,
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Secondly, the danger of universalism is a pp. 7–29.
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theories of race relations their travel but to cau- Routledge.
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made between the claims of any one explana- Unwin Hyman.
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travelling authority as a blank generic impri- Monthly Review Press.
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when he asks: ‘Why is it that Islam and post- Feminist Review, 37 (1).
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Why should such constituencies update them- Routledge.
selves in the name of a postmodern epistemo- Dyson, M. (1994) ‘Be like Mike? Michael Jordan and
logy or condition? If the historical and the pedagogy of desire’, in H. Giroux and
substantive irrelevance of the subject matter to P. McLaren (eds), Between Borders: Pedagogy and the
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damentalists find room for such a theory Edwards, H. (1970) The Revolt of the Black Athlete.
within their internal structures? Why should New York: Free Press.
any anti-racist or black power movement hitch Edwards, H. (1973) Sociology of Sport. Homewood,
their interests to an alien body of knowledge IL: Dorsey Press.
and risk solidarity among themselves? Elias, N. and Scotson, J. (1965/1994) The Established
Finally, it might be suggested that racism is and the Outsider: a Sociological Enquiry into
not merely an expression of particularism, or Community Problems. London: Frank Cass.
the way in which different racial and ethnic Galton, F. (1904) ’The study of engenics’, American
groups reject and accept modernity at different Journal of Sociology, 10 (1): 1–25.
rates. Many postmodernists have argued for Gilroy, P. (1995) The Black Atlantic. London:
the unity of racism in the sense that it com- Routledge.
bines the two basic logics of inferiorization Giroux, H. and McLaren, P. (1994) Between Borders:
and differentiation and also the disjunction Pedagogy and the Politics of Cultural Studies.
between universalist and particularist values. New York: Routledge.
Such an argument is rejected in this chapter on Hoberman, J. (1997) Darwin’s Athletes. New York.
the grounds that the specific, substantive and Free Press.
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ethnicity will take us much further forward Stanley Paul.
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Jarvie, G. (1985) Class, Race and Sport in South Africa’s Sammons, J. (1994) ‘Race and sport: a critical,
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Vintage.
 22
SPORT AND NATIONALISM

Lincoln Allison

NATIONAL IDENTITY IN SPORT ideas about sport. Even their notion of colour
may start with blue for Scotland, red for Wales,
green for Ireland and white for England.
Do we have to go into this every year? In the
On a second look, though, the American
United States it is more important that the Red Sox
exceptionalism may be rather less exceptional
beat the Yankees or the 49ers beat the Bears than
than it appears as presented by Art Spander.
the fact that some kid who was born in California
Experienced non-American commentators on
is the best in the world at returning serve . . . Yes,
the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1984 were
there is a modicum of pride that Agassi and
generally agreed that the crowds and the pre-
Sampras were born in the land of the free and the
sentation were the most nationalistic they had
home of Divine Brown. But in America we’re less
experienced. Commentators from five conti-
interested in where you’re from than how you
nents (including neighbours Canada) reacted
play ... What we don’t miss is people rooting for
even more strongly against American media
athletes because of their nationality rather than
presentation of the Atlanta Games in 1996,
their skill. (Spander, 1995)
accusing it of ‘chauvinism’ and ‘xenophobia’.
Thus Art Spander, the American sports When an American representative team finds
columnist, reacting to being asked at the 1995 itself in a real battle with non-American teams
Wimbledon Tennis Championships how as, for example, the 1976 ‘college’ Olympics
Americans would feel if Pete Sampras lost to basketball team did against the USSR or as suc-
the Japanese player Shuzo Matsuoka, given the cessive US teams have in Ryder Cup golf since
economic tensions between the two countries. 1983, they arouse audience responses little dif-
He might have turned his scorn on the ferent from those in nationalistic Europe.
Wimbledon crowd for the fanatical enthusiasm Indeed, most European press coverage follow-
with which they greeted the performances of ing the 1999 Ryder Cup stressed what was
Greg Rusedski, a Canadian of partly English, described as the ‘excessive’ and ‘distasteful’
partly Polish descent who had declared him- nationalism of the American crowd though it
self to be British from the point of view of should be said that these comments were
international tennis. based on European golfing standards rather
The obvious hypothesis here might be the than European sporting standards defined
familiar invocation of American exceptional- more broadly. And that may be only a very
ism. The United States is in no sense an ethnic superficial part of the national dimension in
nation and international team games are only a American sport, which can be said to be
tiny part of its sporting scene. They do sing national at a far deeper level. American sport is
their national anthem at sporting events, dominated by games which are manifestly,
but not in the same sort of way that a Welsh proudly, even aggressively American. As with
rugby crowd sings ‘Mae hen wlad fy nhadau’ many other sports, in many other parts of
(Land of my Fathers) or a Scottish crowd the world, the expression of nationality lies
‘Flower of Scotland’, both being tales of blood more in the choice of sport than in the support
and sacrifice; thus in Britain children will pick for a team. Like much nationalism, the devel-
up concepts of nationality entwined with their opment of American sport did not take place
 SPORT AND NATIONALISM 345

entirely by accident, and absorbs a quantity of Asian Games or any Olympic gold medal. The
mythology. It is not merely myth, but official significance of such success to the elite became
myth, for example, that baseball is an evident a year later when Somluck Khamsing
American game invented by Abner Doubleday became the first Thai to win an Olympic gold
at Cooperstown in 1839. Baseball is as demon- medal (for boxing). A grateful government
strably English as apple pie (and as cricket). awarded him $1.5 million in cash, a BMW car
It was well known by that name and as and a PhD (in Physical Education). This was by
‘rounders’ in the eighteenth century. In more far the most substantial award made by a gov-
recent years Senator Jack Kemp, a former ernment to an Olympic champion.
professional (American) footballer and 1996 The organization of modern sport has read-
vice-presidential candidate has favourably ily absorbed a national dimension. As organ-
compared his sport with the ‘collectivist’ and ized games became institutionalized in the
‘socialist’ milieu of European soccer. British Isles between 1860 and 1890, it was
But whether we are talking about national- absolutely natural to add ‘England v. Scotland’
ism or patriotism or the development and and ‘England v. Wales’ to an imaginative list of
expression of national identity – the matter of fixtures which included ‘Oxford v. Cambridge’
distinction will have to be suspended for the ‘Gentlemen v. Players’ and (often) ‘Married
moment – it is clear that a national dimension Men v. Bachelors’. England played Scotland at
is an important part of sport. This dimension football from 1872, barring world wars, until
starts with the immense added meaning that a disorders and other commitments intervened
sense of shared national identity gives to in 1990. The two nations have competed at
watching a team and (sometimes) an individ- rugby union since 1871. Since the Scottish, the
ual perform. This is put simply by Alan Welsh and the Irish barely played cricket, the
Sharpe, describing the experience of watching attractions of an international dimension were
Scotland play football: ‘For a time before, more difficult for an England cricket team, but
throughout and after [the match] I have the the problem was solved in 1882 when an
feeling that my personal worth is bound up Australian team defeated England in England
with Scotland’s success or failure’ (Archer, for the first time and the Sporting Times referred
1976: 76). It is this intense feeling of identifica- to the death and cremation of English cricket:
tion which is the kernel of the relationship competition for the ‘Ashes’ has remained one
between sport and nationality. of cricket’s premier events ever since. In all
There are, of course, other forms of identifi- three of these major sports, the code needed
cation, but none is so intense and demanding the stimulus of competition between nations
as a national identification, particularly in and such competition was a natural expression
those many nations which are perceived by of the national identities which people felt.
their members as being ancient and with a ‘British’ teams have only come into existence
history of oppression, engendering a sense of because of organizations that insist on a
loyalty that can be more like that to a tribe than nation-state identity, such as the Olympic
to a modern institution. Thus there can be a Games. It is a paradox that Britain has been the
collective sense of national humiliation when a origin of modern international sport which has
national team is defeated; the event is taken to blossomed, in the case of all three of the major
reflect on the state of the nation as a whole, English sports, into World Cups (in football
quite apart from sport, and potentially on the from 1930, in cricket from 1975 and in rugby
standing of governments and politicians. In union from 1987), yet the existence of four
England, this is particularly apparent in the national teams in football within the United
press treatment of defeats for the England Kingdom has often been seen as odd by out-
cricket and football teams, as Joseph Maguire siders. In some respects it is odd: that the
has documented (Maguire, 1995). But I have Soviet Union, with its fifteen republics and
also been impressed by the intense collective ‘hundred nationalities’ and Yugoslavia, with
sporting ambition and frustration experienced its six republics and proverbial ethnic com-
by the military-industrial elite in Thailand. plexity, each fielded only one international
This became apparent when I spoke to a con- football team while the British Isles had no
ference in Bangkok in February 1995 at which fewer than five is odd. But the fates of the
the Thai Minister of Sport and most of the lead- Soviet Union and Yugoslavia are illuminating
ing sports officials were present. It was clear in this respect.
that the central question of ‘the politics of If modern sport embraced international com-
sport’ concerned how national success might petition without question when it developed in
be organized and financed. Success in this case the British Isles, the same assumptions were
meant a high position in the medals table of the also made by the Olympic movement. The
346 KEY TOPICS

Olympics have always thrived on international matches than they did and many fewer
competition, their symbolic internationalism matches of any other kind.
coexisting with, and being parasitic upon, the In Association football, the balance was
national symbols of flags and anthems and the always very different. In most countries the
publication of medals tables. The competition game has been about passionate club affiliation
was predominantly Anglo-American in the and, except on great occasions like the World
early years, and for 40 years was bound up Cup, the international form of the game has
with the Cold War. De Coubertin recognized been less important than the club form. I have
the potency of national aspirations in the popu- elsewhere illustrated the significance of a week
larity of the games and successive presidents of in May 1988 when a minor club game at
the IOC (and major participants such as the Wembley Stadium in London (Burnley v.
Soviet Union) have been resolute against the Wolverhampton Wanderers) was watched by
banning of nationality motifs in the games, as more than three times as many people as
against the inclusion of stateless persons (Hill, watched two of the world’s top international
1993; Hoberman, 1986). sides (England v. Colombia) (Allison, 1988). In
The power of the meaning of national iden- football, it has often been more important and
tity in sport is something that has always been more prestigious to play for Manchester
recognized by the supposedly amateur and United or Liverpool than for England or Wales.
non-commercial Olympic movement. But the The authorities of the game in many European
commercial aspect of this power and its conse- countries have been dominated by club inter-
quences for overtly professional sport are enor- ests which have been resistant to television and
mous. Television inevitably changes the status to any expansion of the international level of
of a national team: in the pre-television era, we the game. One legendary English football club
must watch our local team; the national team chairman, Bob Lord of Burnley, even threat-
may play hundreds or (in Australia) even ened to burn any cameras that were brought
thousands of miles away, but television allows into his stadium (Lord, 1963). In England, even
us all to support a national team. National recorded football was not regularly televised
identity is the most marketable product in until 1964, more than a decade after live cricket
sport. An English audience for football which and rugby were established and regular live
normally had a ceiling of around ten million football only came on television because of the
could leap to 32 million for the England–Brazil competition from and influence of Rupert
World Cup match in 1970. Women compose a Murdoch’s global satellite network in the
small (though increasing) minority of football 1990s. It is this which has undermined the tra-
fans, around 7–12 per cent, but they were ditional dominance of the live supporter, cre-
44 per cent of the audience for England’s ated a new breed of superstars and ensured
games in the 1990 World Cup. that international forms of the game (includ-
Both cricket and rugby have responded ing, in this case, international club competi-
strongly to the commercial dominance of inter- tions) will dominate both money and status in
national games; in both cases the international the game.
level of the game was dominant even before Perhaps the best-known example of an
the arrival of television. In neither game, for expression of identification with a national
example, was it ever thought normal or proper team came from the late Bjoerge Lillelien when
for a player to turn down an opportunity to Norway beat England 2–1 at football in 1981.
play for his country in order to play for his Lillelien, who was doing the television com-
club. In both games the live televising of inter- mentary, went into a kind of nationalist rant-
national matches was established at the outset reverie. Some of the most famous words in his
of television’s history. In both cases, world monologue were, ‘William Shakespeare . . .
cups were invented with the global television Winston Churchill ... Maggie Thatcher ... we
market in mind. In cricket, the emphasis on gave your boys a hell of a beating’. He spoke,
televised international cricket was increased it should be noted, to a Norwegian audience in
by the affair of the ‘Packer Circus’ in 1977: the English, as if he wanted his domestic listeners
Australian entrepreneur and media magnate to know that the message was to be received by
Kerry Packer, protesting the exclusion of his a wider world (which it duly was: English
network from rights to televise the Australian radio and television have repeated the mono-
team, contracted four international squads to logue, lasting just over a minute, at regular
play in a ‘World Series’ to be televised by his intervals since). Here is a fairly pure example of
Channel 9. The affair ended in compromise, identification; Norway is not entirely homo-
but it accelerated the process whereby top genous ethnically, having two languages and a
cricketers play many more international Lapp minority, but it is about as homogenous
 SPORT AND NATIONALISM 347

ethnically as anywhere on earth, with even not have teams that play at the highest (‘Test’)
94 per cent subscribing to the official level of the game, so Welshmen and Scotsmen
(Lutheran) Norwegian established church. capable of playing at this level are treated as
Thus a commentator like Lillelien can say ‘we’ English. Even so, or perhaps for this reason,
in a way that almost seems like family and the late John Rafferty, one of Scotland’s best-
speak for his audience as he does so; he is in known sports journalists, used to exhort his
quite a different position from a middle-aged readers to support all-comers against England
white commentator describing the feats of a on principle.
predominantly black basketball or sprint relay Conversely, there are several cases of nations
team in the United States (or, for that matter, in denied national sports representation vesting
Britain or France). their passion in a club. I have written elsewhere
It is important to note that this fairly pure of how F.C. Barcelona has always been associ-
and straightforward identification of an over- ated with the Catalan language and Catalan
whelming majority of a population with a nationalism and how this representative role
team or with any other sporting institution is intensified during the Franco period between
very much the exception rather than the rule: 1939 and 1975 (Allison, 1986: 1–3). In the Soviet
most cases are more complex and the idea of Union Dinamo Kiev and Dinamo Tbilisi were
nationality which is represented by any given focuses of national enthusiasm for Ukrainians
expression of sporting nationhood is usually and Georgians respectively. In the post-Soviet
divisive in some way. There are, first, the absence of this function as a national institution
multinational states, including those like the these clubs have struggled to maintain interest.
Soviet Union and Yugoslavia when they In 1995 I watched Dinamo Tbilisi play Durugi in
existed, but also Spain and the United front of two hundred spectators in a stadium
Kingdom. On the whole, sports associations designed to seat 80,000. The Croatian clubs
and the relevant state agencies have been in Dinamo Zagreb and Hadjuk Split were also
favour of a single ‘national’ team per state and examples of an international dimension within
this has been encouraged by international a supposedly national league when they played
federations. The United Kingdom is an excep- in the Yugoslav competition. (In Britain fans
tion in this respect; separate teams for often unconsciously mimic this situation when
England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland or the Welsh teams in the lower divisions of
Northern Ireland existed originally because English professional competition – Cardiff,
they represented the only possibility of inter- Swansea and Wrexham – play their usual
national competition, but they have persisted English opponents.) An interesting set of stories
because of a fundamental British separation of about football and identification is to be found
the ideas of state and nation and because of in Simon Kuper’s book Football Against the
their commercial viability. The anomalies Enemy (Kuper, 1994).
seem less now that both the Soviet Union and It is often legitimate to question which
Yugoslavia have collapsed and their constituent nation a national team represents where there
nationalities are represented in international are different conceptions of national identity.
sport. The clearest case and one of the best researched
Georgians have admitted to me that they did is that of Ireland. Association football in
feel pride when they saw an athlete from the Ireland follows state boundaries, with separate
‘Soviet Motherland’, usually a Russian, mount teams for Northern Ireland and the Republic.
the rostrum to receive a gold medal at the Rugby Union, on the other hand, has an all-
Olympics or other major championships, even Ireland team which includes both Southern
though they always thought of themselves as catholics and Northern protestants (rarely
Georgians and have now come to reject the Southern protestants, very rarely Northern
Soviet Union and want nothing to do with catholics). There are, in any case, the Gaelic
Russia. There were, so to speak, two separate games devised and organised by the Gaelic
and compatible levels of nationality. In Western Athletic Association since 1884; these are prin-
multinational countries sporting sentiments cipally Gaelic football and hurling and there is
have usually gone with the nation, even for little possibility of international competition in
those who accept or support the state. Catalans these sports, except that hurling is broadly
are notoriously poor supporters of the Spanish similar to the Scottish Highland game called
national football team and the Scots in particu- shinty and there have been compromised code
lar tend to resent any ‘British’ team as being an games between Gaelic and Australian Rules
English conception of ‘England with extras’. football representative teams, despite their
The English cricket team is a complex institu- playing with different-shaped balls (Sugden
tion in this respect: Wales and Scotland do and Bairner, 1986, 1993a, 1993b).
348 KEY TOPICS

All of these sports represent a different Unionism and Nationalism, but it does still
island. Gaelic sports have had an image deriv- represent a protestant Scotland. In one survey,
ing most of their history of being deeply 52 per cent of (catholic) Celtic fans said they
‘fenian’ or nationalist, Celtic, anti-British and would support the Republic of Ireland against
‘taig’ (peasant). These aspects of their existence Scotland and some catholic fans even attend
were most controversially expressed by the international matches to cheer for the opposi-
ban on participants in ‘British’ sports, which tion (Bradley, 1995). For example, a letter of
was lifted in 1971; there remains a ban on par- complaint in the Daily Record after the Scotland
ticipants who have ever served in the British versus Poland game in May 1990 alleged
armed forces. At the other end of the spectrum, that, ‘Some fans were even willing Jacki
the Northern Ireland football team represents Dziekanowski to score for Poland’ (Daily
‘hard line’ protestant Unionism; very few Record, 21 May) (Dziekanowski was one of two
catholics attend games and the crowd tend to Poles playing for Celtic at the time). By con-
be hostile to catholic players selected for their trast, the identity sought and approved by
own team, especially if they play or have Scottish rugby fans seems to have changed
played for traditionally catholic clubs such as dramatically. Until the 1960s they were
Glasgow Celtic. By contrast, the Irish rugby thought of as representing a form of conserva-
team has relatively aloof and ‘West British’ tive, middle-class unionism; certainly, they
supporters who think of the violent commit- sang ‘God Save the Queen’ loudly and loyally.
ments of Irish politics as being anachronistic By the 1990s the approved anthem had become
and rather embarrassing; Irish rugby tends to the nationalist (and anti-English) ‘Flower of
be supported by the middle classes who also Scotland’.
play golf and go game fishing, two other sports South African rugby and cricket teams in the
organized on an all-Ireland basis. period between the Nationalist Party’s victory
This leaves the Republic of Ireland’s football and institution of apartheid and the onset of
team; of the four elements in this sporting the sport boycotts, that is between 1948 and
scene, it is the most recent to come to promi- 1970, clearly represented ethnic minorities.
nence, having had fairly successful campaigns The rugby team was identified with the
in the European Nations Championships of Afrikaners and the cricket team with the
1988 and the World Cups of 1990 and 1994, English, though some Afrikaners played for
without previously making much impact on the cricket team and some anglophones for
world football. All of this has been achieved the rugby team. The overwhelming non-white
under an English management team with no majority, if they took any interest at all, sup-
Irish connections (Jack Charlton and Maurice ported any opponent against the representa-
Setters) and a majority of English-born players tives of their oppressors. However, the ‘new’
of Irish extraction. The sense of identity which South Africa, following the election of
this team and its support suggests is a different President Nelson Mandela in 1994, appears to
kind of Irishness: cosmopolitan, urban, mod- have shown a broadening of identification
ern, flippant and with a strong affinity for with national teams that are still overwhelm-
English and American popular culture, though ingly white. The 1995 Rugby World Cup con-
not for the English Establishment. Supporters tinued a process which seemed to begin with
strongly identify with a broad Irish diaspora the 1992 Cricket World Cup of people classi-
rather than with catholic rural Ireland. There fied as black, coloured and Indian under
was a closely fought referendum on divorce in apartheid coming to support the rugby and
the Republic in November 1995; during the cricket teams: this change was most clearly
campaign there was much reference to a deep symbolized by President Mandela wearing a
division between an ‘old’ and a ‘new’ Ireland. Springbok shirt at the 1995 Rugby World Cup
If the Gaelic Athletic Association is about the Final. No symbol of South Africa had been
‘old’ Ireland, the football team is strongly asso- more purely the property of the Afrikaners
ciated with the images of the ‘new’ Ireland than the springbok and the African National
(Doyle, 1993). Congress had originally been committed to its
Ireland may be an extreme contrast to abolition.
Norway in the fissiparity of its identity, but The Afrikaner affinity for rugby exemplifies
there are many countries that share some of its a further complexity of the relationship
complexities. The Scottish football team, for between sport and national identity: particular
example, also expresses significant vestiges of sports can come to be seen to exemplify the
the religious and political wars which rent the spirit of a nation. I have already remarked on a
British Isles in the seventeenth century. It form of this relation in the case of American
may unite the politically opposed forces of exceptionalism in sport, but there are many
 SPORT AND NATIONALISM 349

important cases of borrowed traditions. Welsh fleur-de-lys tattooed on one of his

Association football is not easily portrayed as buttocks to complement the New Zealand fern
anyone’s ‘national’ sport; even in Brazil and which appeared indelibly on the other.
Italy where its place in the culture is huge, it is
recognized as a global institution. But there are
several important cases of borrowed tradi- NATIONS, NATIONALISM,
tions. Indians are wont to remark that ‘Cricket PATRIOTISM
is an Indian game accidentally invented by
the English’, arguing that the tactical subtlety
of the game and its timescale are more suitable So far, I have discussed the importance of
to Indian culture than to English. Rugby is national identity in sport (and to sport), ignor-
also seen as the ‘national’ pastime of Afri- ing two huge questions: What is a nation? and
kaners, Welshmen and New Zealanders. In the What is the significance of nationalism (as
Welsh case, nationalists originally opposed opposed to national identity) in sport and of
Welshmen playing rugby as yet another form sport for nationalism?
of English acculturalization, much in the spirit ‘Nation’ and the concepts derived from it are
of those Irish nationalists who established the among the most shifting and elusive in the
Gaelic Athletic Association in 1884. It is also entire study of society, not least because they
true that many of the great ‘Welsh’ rugby play- arouse so much emotion. The root idea behind
ers were actually English; the Welsh Rugby the word is that of birth, as in nativity; that is
Union defined players as Welsh if they played to say, we should expect a nation to be some-
for a Welsh club, and in the greatest of all thing you are born into, national identity being
Welsh victories, the unofficial ‘world champi- defined at birth. This was an implication of the
onship’ win over New Zealand in 1905, the Latin nationem from which our modern word
Welsh captain, the pack leader and the full- developed, but it meant something more like
back were all Englishmen. Yet it was already ‘clan’, ‘tribe’, ‘ilk’ or even ‘family’ rather than
being argued that ‘Rugby is . . . the game of the the huge, perhaps multi-ethnic, agglomera-
Welshman’. As Dai Smith comments, ‘Rugby tions we call nations today. Eighteenth-century
had become “Welsh” . . . because . . . the social English conceived of ‘nations’ in this way and
function had merged with sporting success to it was normal to refer to the ‘nation of Smiths’,
become a focus for nationality’ (Smith, 1984: the nations of Gypsies and ‘Hebrews’, or even
35). The combination of club life and commu- the ‘royal nation’. Thus to some extent the way
nal support, of the wholehearted physical and we talk about nations today comprises a mod-
emotional commitment which the game ern concept. We refer to nations defined by
requires, of the singing and music of the crowd religion (Israel, Pakistan, Belgium), by lan-
which can inspire it, had come to seem more guage (Germany, Italy) and by ideology (the
Welsh than English. It served to assimilate and United States of America), though in all cases
make Welsh that quarter of the population of the common characteristic is attached to a
industrial South Wales who had flocked over defined territory. Perhaps the most coherent
the border from England to share in the coal concept is that developed by such German
and steel boom of late Victorian Wales. These writers as J.G. Fichte in arguing for German uni-
people were excluded by the core criterion of fication in the nineteenth century. According to
Welshness, the language. Rugby played an this version, a nation possesses a common lan-
important part in creating a new Welsh iden- guage and shares a common territory; it has a
tity, so much so that some twentieth-century common ‘spirit’, the Volkgeist. The language
nationalists have conceded that the only thing relates to the territory through its names, its
that unites all Welshmen is support for 15 men history and its story-telling, so that a common
in scarlet jerseys. It has not been necessary for consciousness consists in the relation of lan-
the creation of this identity that players all guage, history and territory. Unfortunately, this
‘represented’ the national community in the coherent theory applies to relatively few cases:
simple sense of being drawn from it. During it suggests that bi-lingual and multi-lingual
the 1990s an increasing number of able rugby nations are not really nations at all. Perhaps this
players from the Southern hemisphere rede- thesis can be sustained in relation to Canada
fined themselves as Europeans in order to and South Africa, even about Belgium, but it
make the breakthrough into international seems to miss the point about Switzerland,
rugby. Shane Haworth, a New Zealander who Ireland and Wales. Nor can it explain the two
claimed to have a Welsh grandmother, repre- dozen or so countries where Spanish is the prin-
sented Wales at full-back in the 1999 World cipal language, and roughly the same number
Cup; he let it be known that he had had a speak English. Many of these seem at least well
350 KEY TOPICS

on the way to developing a separate nationality, instances Shakespeare seems to express a form
if they have not already got there. of nationalism which is more fully formed than
The thesis that ‘nation’ is really a modern it ought to be. His words can still be used to stir
concept, in an extreme version, sees the appar- a modern English team, especially Henry V’s
ent history of nationality in terms of the speech before Agincourt:
‘myths’ and the ‘invented’ and ‘selected’ tradi-
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
tions that define nationality. Nations, accord-
Shall think themselves accursed they were
ing to this account, are principally the products
not here
of the national ideology promulgated by states
And hold their manhoods cheap
and by movements seeking to form states. The
state seeks, in Eugene Weber’s famous phrase, On the other hand, Shakespeare can be seen as
to turn ‘peasants into Frenchmen’; to do so it the voice of a peculiarly advanced nation-
must emphasize the common language and state, mythologizing the dynastic struggles of
history of France and eradicate the sense an earlier period into the language of English
French citizens have that they are Basques, nationalism.
Catalans, Burgundians, Bretons, Corsicans, The extreme theses of ‘modernism’ and ‘eth-
Flemings and so on (Weber, 1979). The national nicism’ about nationality have little appeal. It
identity is mainly and usually a modern cre- seems reasonable to say that there are real eth-
ation, which re-writes its own pre-modern nic histories and even shared national genetic
history. If Ruritania contains a province called traits, but that much of what makes a modern
Mythologia, the Ruritanian government, national consciousness or determines the iden-
through its propaganda and educational tity of a given individual is the product of the
system, emphasizes the cases where Ruritan- invention and selection of tradition which has
ians and Mythologians have fought or worked occurred in a modern and organized way.
together and forgets or puts in a bad light those What makes an Allison a proud Englishman, a
Mythologians who argued and fought against McInally an Irish nationalist and a McAllister a
incorporation into Ruritania. And if the patriotic Scot (and any of them an American or
Mythologians achieve independence, or a Australian), must occur in modernity, since
powerful movement for independence, they these are all national forms of the same tribal
do the opposite; the crucial factor, to para- name and the tribe once ranged over much of
phrase John Stuart Mill, is that a person who the British Isles. Nevertheless, nationality must
regards himself or herself as Ruritanian finds be treated as real whatever our theory of the
obeying the orders of a fellow Ruritanian role of mythology in its formation. Anybody
person or institution more acceptable than are who does not understand, in the cases of the
orders from a foreigner. Thus the legitimacy of Boers in South Africa or the Quebecois in
the ‘nation-state’ and some possible sources of Canada, that their combination of language,
its collapse (Gellner, 1983) shared history and lore and sense of belonging
The alternative account of nationality is that to their territory have reinforced each other
the ethnic origins of nations are real and that no and created a nation, in the way that, say, the
amount of the ‘invention’ or ‘selection’ of tradi- pieds noirs European settlers in Algeria never
tion can take away from this reality. This, natu- became a nation, is not going to understand
rally, is the account given or merely assumed them at all.
by most nationalists: Gwynfor Evans takes it What, then, is nationalism? It is certainly not
for granted that the Welsh who fought with mere national identity, nor even the love of
King Arthur were Welsh in just the same way one’s nation, which is logically separate and
that he was (Evans, 1973, 1975), just as Zviad goes normally by the name of patriotism. The
Gamsakhurdia takes it for granted that the addition of an ‘ism’ implies one of two things:
Georgians whom St Nino converted to a nationalist must either have a tendency to
Christianity in the fourth century and even concern himself (or herself) with his nation, to
those encountered by Jason and the Argonauts orient his actions and judgements towards it,
more than 3,000 years ago were ancestors of or he must believe in the nation as a morally
modern Georgians (Gamsakhurdia, 1991). Both demanding form of collective existence. (A
of these writers are on dubious ground in these ‘racist’ may, similarly, have a tendency to dis-
particular claims, but there is scholarly support criminate and make judgements racially with-
for the thesis that many modern national out having a coherent theory of race or he may
identities developed from an ancient ethnie be a ‘racist’ in a doctrinal sense, separately or
(Smith, 1986). The extreme modernist thesis is, as well, because he thinks race is an important
in any case, difficult for an English person to concept.) In general, nationalists, as opposed to
accept who knows their Shakespeare. In many patriots, must have a political project for the
 SPORT AND NATIONALISM 351

nation, whether for independence, cultural room something like as follows: ‘For 1500 years
preservation or aggrandizement. the English have polluted our land ... exploited
our resources ... raped our women ... Gentle-
men, this afternoon we are playing the
SPORT AND NATIONALISM English’. For all that intensity of national and
apparently anti-English feeling Wales voted by
over four to one in that period (in May 1979) to
The message of Murrayfield this weekend was reject devolution and to leave the political
bigger than scrummaging techniques and line-out union with England unchanged. It was pre-
skills ... Murrayfield was a message of Scottish cisely the industrial valleys of South Wales
identity and nationhood. (Guardian, 1991; Jarvie, where the support for the Welsh rugby team
1993: 58) was massive which were overwhelmingly
Murrayfield is the Scottish national rugby sta- against political change. This suggests at least
dium and the comment quoted above was the possibility that the ‘mimetic’ emotions of
made by a Guardian reporter on the atmos- sport can act as a ‘safety valve’ in politics, that
phere at the England–Scotland World Cup they would express and deflate nationalist sen-
semi-final played there in 1991. It reminds us timent rather than enhance it. It may have been
that the setting of international sport – flags, the same when Eastern European countries
anthems, national colours and emblems, large vanquished the USSR at sport in its heyday, as
crowds – are as easy and appropriate a setting in the victories of the (then) Czechoslovakia
for collective expressions of national identity over the (then) Soviet Union at ice hockey in
as one could devise. It would seem a natural the 1970s.
and easy movement from ‘a message of There is no reason to suppose a normal, let
Scottish identity and nationhood’ to an expres- alone universal relation between national sport
sion of nationalism. The enormous fervour of and political nationalism. Each case is different
the occasion, which some commentators found and context is all-important. It may be, as I
both shocking and a little frightening, could have suggested, a negative, defusing relation
not but affect people in many ways and there- on occasions. It may be purely inert: many of
fore would amount to a kind of ‘sporting the five million English people with Irish fam-
nationalism’. The words of ‘Flower of ily connections support the Irish rugby team or
Scotland’, sung with such fervour on that occa- the Republic of Ireland football team. But this
sion, do, after all, refer to old battles and crow does not necessarily imply support for Irish
about the English being sent back across the unification or any other project which might be
border ‘tae think again’. They also claim, construed as Irish nationalism. Support for a
national team may be a purely cultural link,
But we can still rise now
like support for a club team.
And be a nation again (Brand, 1978: 125)
But it is equally apparent that sport can act
Academic accounts of nationalism have in an important catalystic way with respect to
tended to pay very little attention to sport. I nationalism: after all, it was a soccer match
have often attacked the assumption behind which started the war between Honduras and
this lack of attention as a ‘myth of autonomy’ El Salvador in 1969 which killed 6,000 people
about sport which simply assumes that the and left 24,000 wounded (Kapuscinki, 1990).
activity is somehow inert in relation to other There are many cases in which it would be
social and political phenomena (Allison, 1986: more reasonable to infer that national sport
1–26). On the other hand, figurational socio- had helped a nationalist cause than that it has
logy offers us the basis of an argument that hindered or made no difference.
sport might be inert because it is a ‘mimetic’ A set of test cases for the efficacy of sporting
activity, a product of the ‘civilizing process’. It nationalism is provided by states that have
exists in a contained, parallel milieu to our nor- attempted to use sport to inculcate a larger
mal interests and politics, its emotions, though national sentiment which would over-ride
not trivial or false, being within boundaries smaller nationalisms or tribalisms. Perhaps the
and not necessarily having any consequences greatest of these is the Soviet Union. Stalin’s
beyond those boundaries: we watch the match, doctrine concerning the ‘Problem of the
we care about nothing else as we do so, but we Nationalities’ prescribed a federal constitution
go home and give our ‘serious’ attention to and the maintenance of independent cultural
something else (Dunning, 1992). institutions in the context of a strong central-
In the 1970s Phil Bennett, captain of a world- ized party which was to be the basis of real
beating Welsh rugby team, is said to have power (Stalin, 1947). When the Soviet Union
addressed a tense and expectant changing- seriously developed a sports policy after the
352 KEY TOPICS

Second World War one might have expected it factor. The problem is the familiar one in social
to be used as a kind of gesture to the national- science of the unopenable box: a huge number
ities as it did with much of the arts and folk of diverse influences affect millions of people
culture. But in fact the immense efforts were who then perform complex actions, so that we
directed to success (primarily in the Olympics) can never say how important any factor was in
for the ‘Soviet Motherland’ which could be fed a process.
back to the population as a source of pride. Perhaps some of the greatest examples of
Individual nationalities were portrayed only as sport to a nation-builder are more accidental,
willing contributors to the vast diversity of the not without will, but certainly without a con-
great motherland itself. scious strategy by state officials. Brazil is a vast
Canada had a similar policy of fostering and diverse land which has been successfully
national sporting success to encourage national symbolized by a sporting institution, the foot-
unity. The ‘Proposed Sports Policy for ball team(s) which won the World Cup in 1958,
Canadians’ presented to the Canadian Amateur 1962 and 1970. Names like Pele, Vava, Didi,
Sports Federation in 1970 set out to develop Jair, Garrincha created a huge pride in being
elite athletes for this purpose: its early suc- Brazilian. The enormous admiration which
cesses were such that Canada was nicknamed these players inspired abroad helped a nation
‘the East Germany of the Commonwealth’ after divided by class, race and distance identify
its victories in the 1978 Commonwealth Games itself and with itself. The victories of 1978 and
in Edmonton (Olafson and Brown-John, 1986). 1986 by Argentina pale into comparison in
On balance, both of these policies seem to terms of their effect on the global image of the
have been failures. They undoubtedly did have country, but were a powerful force within
a positive effect in encouraging identification Argentina. Finally, Australia offers an instruc-
with the larger territorial unit as Georgians tive comparison with Canada; the wide range
have admitted to me, but it was not enough to and historical consistency of Australian sport-
counteract opposite tendencies and it col- ing successes have played a large part in
lapsed as other reasons for identification were moulding the country’s image and helping
weakened. The Canadian policy rather blew people to identify with it. Here, as in Brazil,
up when its greatest success, the victory of Ben there have been the superstars which Canada
Johnson in the 100 metres sprint in the 1988 failed to produce, most notably cricketers of
Olympics, was destroyed by a drugs scandal; the calibre of Don Bradman and Ray Lindwall.
the Soviet Union’s sports policy was increas- Not only has Australia succeeded in absorbing
ingly exposed and derided as the state itself millions of immigrants, but we must remem-
fell apart during perestroika after 1985. In both ber what a difficult proposition a successful
cases it can be said that the policy failed to pro- federation of the whole country had seemed in
duce real popular heroes who would seal the the 1890s. Indeed, a political union between
identification in popular culture. In both cases the eastern states and New Zealand seemed at
also there were sporting alternatives which one time more likely than the Australian state
could foster the smaller nationalism: the which came into existence and has persisted
Quebecois had their ice hockey club teams, the for over a century.
Georgians and Ukrainians their club football The British Isles present a situation which is
teams. Ultimately, we can say the policies quite different from the rest of the world.
failed: the former Soviet republics now have Here modern sport came into existence in the
their own sports teams and it would barely mid-nineteenth century, its genesis having
surprise anybody if that were not also to everything to do with ‘civil society’ and
become true of Quebec within one or two nothing to do with the state. At this level it
decades. was always assumed that the sporting nation
African states may have had more success in was different from the state and that (unlike
using sport to weld diverse and even hostile almost everywhere else) national sporting
tribes into national consciousness and support representation did not have to be aligned
for the whole (Monnington, 1986). Support for with state boundaries. Only in exceptional
the Nigerian or Camerounian football teams or cases where nation-state representation was
for a what is now a tradition of Kenyan required by international organizations (the
distance runners may have been important; but Olympic Games) or by the necessity of pro-
in these cases, as compared with Canada and ducing a competitive team (the British Lions
the USSR, the basic forces of urbanization and rugby team – now under threat from the pres-
modernization favour nation-building. It would sures of other professional rugby competi-
be impossible even to suggest a qualitative tions) was there international representation
assessment of how important sport is as a at the ‘British’ level. The question that arises
 SPORT AND NATIONALISM 353

concerns the effect that these uniquely major sports, all of which emanate from
stateless international teams have had on the outside of Britain. Rugby League has changed
maintenance of identity and the rise of nation- in many ways, not least that it is played in the
alism. I have already reflected on the Welsh summer, as a result of its dependence on
case, but the Scottish case seems quite differ- money from television, where the important
ent: in his study of Scottish nationalism Jack corporate rivalries are Australian. Rugby
Brand sees sport (and especially the football Union has experienced an organizational
team) as one of the institutions which has been earthquake as a result of the decision by the
important in maintaining identity and reviv- International Rugby Board in August 1995 to
ing nationalism. The mood and practices of legitimize professionalism, a decision led by
sporting crowds have reflected rather than led countries from the Southern hemisphere.
political sentiment, but ‘the fact was that foot- Generally, sports fans have lost a wide variety
ball kept the feeling of Scottishness alive’ of major events available on ‘terrestrial’ tele-
(Brand, 1978: 138). vision as a kind of free public good. If cricket,
specifically, has changed least, that is because
it compromised earlier with the forces of
NATIONAL RESPONSES TO television-driven global commercialism, during
the ‘Packer affair’ of the 1970s.
GLOBALIZATION Thus the forces which are deciding the future
of British sport are predominantly international,
The British Isles may be an extreme case in while those which defined the shape it has had
another important sense, in that there is poten- for the past hundred years were entirely
tially a high level of political conflict between national. One might expect a response of cul-
the forces of globalization and national sport- tural nationalism, an attempt to protect ‘our
ing culture. It is important to note that global- sports’, which could appeal to the power of the
ization is an extremely complex and disputed democratic state to counter that of the global
concept (Falk, 1997; Ohmae, 1990, 1995) and market, much as the French insisted on excep-
that it is not within the scope of this chapter to tions for the ‘cultural’ products of film and tele-
examine it. But we cannot ignore the observa- vision during the ‘Uruguay Round’ of
tion that the global governance of sport is rela- negotiations which led to the establishment of
tively advanced, far more so, for example, than the World Trade Organization in 1992. Indeed,
the governance of environmental regulation there have been some protests: Tony Banks,
which is, in turn, more developed than the reg- when a Labour Opposition MP, called for gov-
ulation of ‘human rights’. ernment intervention in the question of the loss
In sport, global governance is conducted by of sport to terrestrial television, as has Sir Paul
a combination of institutions which might Fox, the former television executive. Banks was
be described as hyper-typical of global gover- Minister of Sport from 1997 to 1999 and was
nance generally. There are international organi- involved in the institution of a European-
zations of immense importance, with leaders approved but fairly weak system of ‘listing’
whose route to authority is so complex that they sporting events of national or cultural impor-
are virtually unaccountable: the International tance which were supposed to remain on free-
Olympic Committee (under the presidency of to-air television. But perhaps the most
Juan Samaranch since 1980) and FIFA (where significant defence of a sporting institution
Jaou Havelange was president from 1974 to from global commercial forces was the inter-
1998 are the most prominent examples. To vention of the Monopolies and Mergers
these must be added transnational corpo- Commission in 1999 to prevent British Sky
rations, particularly in the media and most Broadcasting, part of the Murdoch empire,
notably the global empire of Rupert Murdoch, from taking over Manchester United, the rich-
but also those (often in sports goods) that est football club in the world. A former
sponsor sport. Then there is also the growth of Conservative Cabinet minister, David Mellor,
an effective international system of law, espe- hosts a radio programme in which correspon-
cially at the global-regional level: for example, dents frequently complain about the interven-
the decision of the European Court of Justice tions of the international football authorities,
on 15 December 1995 about the case of Jean- FIFA and UEFA, in the British game. Leaders of
Marc Bosman, which effectively outlawed some the two major parties have been involved in
important aspects of football’s ‘transfer’ system, lobbying FIFA in support of England’s bid to
may have a profound effect on the game. stage the World Cup in 2006.
There have been, during the 1990s, huge But it will prove very difficult to turn the
changes affecting British sports fans in all the simple emotional nationalism which is present
354 KEY TOPICS

when England play Germany at football into a Rojek (eds), Sport and Leisure in the Civilizing
sophisticated cultural nationalism which seeks Process: Critique and Counter-critique. Toronto:
to protect English (or British) sport from global University of Toronto Press. pp. 221–84.
governance. International sporting institutions Ellis, P. Berresford (1968) Wales, A Nation Again.
have it in their favour that sport is naturally London: Tandem.
‘global’: the interest in the ‘world’ champi- Evans, Gwynfor (1973) Wales Can Win. Llandybie:
onship and the ‘world’ record outstrip all else. Christopher Davies.
Cultural and national boundaries are not real Evans, Gwynfor (1975) A National Future for Wales.
constraints on the movement of labour or Swansea: John Penry.
media images in sport. Nor is censorship: even Falk, Richard (1997) ‘Will globalisation win out?’,
in Myanmar, where the government protects International Affairs, 73 (1): 123–36.
its citizens from most Western images, they Gamsakhurdia, Zviad (1991) The Spritual Mission of
watch the BBC’s football programme Match of Georgia. Tbilisi: Ganatlebal.
the Day. In any case, the issues do not come on Gellner, Ernest (1983) Nations and Nationalism.
to the agenda in the shape of ‘national demo- Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
cracy versus global governance’: they are more Guardian (1991) ‘Flowers sprouting over the border’,
likely to be between international forces and, 28 October.
in any case, there are many people who gain Hill, Christopher (1992) Olympic Politics. Manchester:
from or believe in internationalization. Thus Manchester University Press.
there are important underlying issues between Hill, Christopher (1993) ‘The politics of the Olympic
sporting nationalism and globalization, but Movement’, in Lincoln Allison (ed.), The Changing
they seem at the time of writing unlikely to be Politics of Sport. Manchester: Manchester
mobilized effectively. University Press. pp. 84–104.
In conclusion, the admission must be Hoberman, John (1986) The Olympic Crisis.
repeated that, like much else in the under- New York: Cavatyas.
standing of society, we can only suspect and Jarvie, Grant (1991) Sport, Racism and Ethnicity.
suggest many of the connections between London: Falmer.
sport and nationalism: we can never really Jarvie, Grant (1993) ‘Sport, nationalism and cultural
know. But certainly sport sometimes channels, identity’, in Lincoln Allison (ed.), The Changing
sometimes releases, sometimes even creates Politics of Sport. Manchester: Manchester Univer-
complex and powerful nationalist sentiments. sity Press. pp. 58–63.
Pace Art Spander, there is nothing odd or Kapuscinki, R. (1990) Soccer War. London: Granta.
unusual about seeing sport as a vehicle for the Kuper, Simon (1994) Football Against the Enemy.
expression of national sentiment; indeed, for London: Phoenix.
many people, from Brazil to Scotland, it has Lord, Bob (1963) My Fight for Football. London:
probably been the greatest vehicle for the Stanley Paul.
expression of such sentiment. Maguire, Joseph (1995) ‘Patriot games? English iden-
tity, nostalgia and media coverage of sporting dis-
asters’, Working Papers in Sport and Society, Volume
3, 1994–95. University of Warwick.
REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING Monnington, Terry (1986) ‘The politics of Black
African sport’, in Lincoln Allison (ed.), The Politics
Allison, Lincoln (ed.) (1986) The Politics of Sport. of Sport. Manchester: Manchester University
Manchester: Manchester University Press. Press. pp. 149–73.
Allison, Lincoln (1988) ‘Sport and communities’, The Ohmae, Kenichi (1990) The Borderless World. London:
World & I, 3 (10). Fontana.
Archer, Ian (ed.) (1976) We’ll Support You Ever More. Ohmae, Kenichi (1995) The End of the Nation State:
London: Hutchinson. the Rise of Regional Economies. New York: Free Press.
Bradley, Joseph (1995) Ethnic and Religious Identity in Olafson, G.A. and Lloyd Brown-John, C. (1986)
Modern Scotland, Culture, Politics and Football. ‘Canadian international sport policy: a public
Aldershot: Avebury. policy analysis’, in Gerald Redmond (ed.), Sport
Brand, Jack (1978) The National Movement in Scotland. and Politics, 1984 Olympic Scientific Congress
Routledge & Kegan Paul. Proceedings, Volume 71: 69–76.
Doyle, Roddy (1993) ‘Republic is a beautiful word: Riordan, Jim (1991) Sport, Politics and Communism.
Republic of Ireland 1990’, in Nick Hornby (ed.), Manchester: Manchester University Press.
My Favourite Year, A Collection of New Football Smith, Anthony D. (1983) Theories of Nationalism.
Writing. London: Witherby. New York: Holmes & Meier.
Dunning, Eric (1992) ‘Figurational sociology and the Smith, Anthony D. (1986) The Ethnic Origins of
sociology of sport’, in Eric Dunning and Chris Nations. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
 SPORT AND NATIONALISM 355

Smith, Dai (1984) Wales! Wales? London: Allen & Sugden, John and Bairner, Alan (1993a) ‘National
Unwin. identity, community relations and the sporting life
Spander, Art (1995) ‘Just enjoy the spectacle and stay in Northern Ireland’, in Lincoln Allison (ed.), The
off the tabloids’, Daily Telegraph, 6 July. Changing Politics of Sport. Manchester: Manchester
Stalin, Joseph (1947) Marxism and the National and University Press. pp. 171–206.
Colonial Question. Moscow Publishing House Sugden, John and Bairner, Alan (1993b) Sport,
(original Russian edition, 1913). Sectarianism and Society in a Divided Ireland.
Sugden, John (1995) ‘Sport and nationalism in the Leicester: Leicester University Press.
modern world’, Working Papers in Sport and Society, Weber, Eugene (1979) Peasants into Frenchmen: the
Volume 3, 1994–5. University of Warwick. Modernisation of Rural France, 1870–1914. London:
Sugden, John and Bairner, Alan (1986) ‘Northern Chatto and Windus.
Ireland: sport in a divided society’, in Lincoln
Allison (ed.), The Politics of Sport. Manchester:
Manchester University Press.
 23
SPORT AND GLOBALIZATION

Joseph Maguire

Scaling the highest mountains, traversing the change is gathering momentum. Despite the
most difficult terrain, exploring the depths of ‘unevenness’ of these processes, it is more diffi-
the sea and skimming across the oceans, soar- cult to understand local or national experiences
ing through the skies and descending into without reference to these global flows. The
deep valley gorges, tunnelling far into the in- flow of leisure styles, customs and practices
terior of the earth and shaping its exterior with from one part of the world to another, ‘long-
both ‘natural’ and ‘artificial’ surfaces and haul’ tourism and global events, such as music
structures, sportsmen and sportswomen festivals and the Olympic Games, are examples
straddle the globe, and the ‘sportization’ of the of these processes at work. In addition, people’s
planet seemingly knows no bounds. How is living conditions, beliefs, knowledge and
this globalization of modern sport to be under- actions are intertwined, to varying degrees,
stood? To begin to answer this question some with unfolding globalization processes.
of the main issues that underpin the debates These processes include the emergence of a
regarding the connections between sport and global economy, a transnational cosmopolitan
globalization will be outlined. In addition, a culture and a range of international social
review of the research of exponents of various movements. Studies also identify that a multi-
traditions that have sought to understand tude of transnational or global economic and
these connections will be undertaken. On this technological exchanges, communication net-
basis, an alternative perspective on globaliza- works and migratory patterns characterize this
tion and the diffusion of modern sport will be interconnected world pattern. People, and
outlined. Finally, the role that sport plays in nation-states, are woven together in a tighter
global processes will be examined. and deeper interdependency network. These
globalization processes also appear to be lead-
ing to a form of time–space compression. That
STUDYING GLOBAL SPORT: ISSUES, is, people are experiencing spatial and tempo-
ral dimensions differently. There is a speeding
QUESTIONS AND DIMENSIONS up of time and a ‘shrinking’ of space. Modern
technologies enable people, images, ideas and
What do we know about globalization? If money to criss-cross the globe with great
a review of globalization research is under- rapidity. Finally, while these processes lead, as
taken, several areas of agreement can be iden- noted, to a greater degree of interdependence,
tified. Analyses deal with processes that and also to an increased awareness of a sense
transcend the boundaries of nation-states. of the world as a whole, we also see a con-
These processes are not of recent origin. These comitant resurgence of the local/national.
processes – involving what writers term These elements are two sides of the same coin.
increasing intensification of global intercon- People become more attuned to the notion that
nectedness – are very long-term in nature. their local lives, and national ‘place’ of living,
While they have not occurred evenly across all are part of a single social space – the globe.
areas of the globe, the more recent history of There are, however, a number of difficult
these processes would suggest that the rate of conceptual issues that need to be grasped in
 SPORT AND GLOBALIZATION 357

understanding global processes. Advocates of emphasizing a homogenization thesis. Such

competing traditions, including the modern- analyses are then alleged to suggest that a
ization perspective, theories of imperialism, global culture will emerge – or has already
dependency theory, world systems theory, emerged – that will suspend or end conflict.
figurational/process sociology and globaliza- But to associate the term globalization exclu-
tion research, have sought to compare and con- sively with such a modernization thesis, con-
trast the development of different societies. firming the triumph of the West in some
More recently, these traditions have found simple sense, does serious violence to a range
expression in the study of sport. Competing of perspectives examining global develop-
claims have been made regarding the ade- ment. Further, to suggest that such an
quacy of these traditions. In section two an approach assumes that all parties contribute
evaluation of how these traditions – or specific equally in this global process is itself a parody
pieces of work within them – have variously of a set of complex arguments.
advanced our collective fund of relatively What then can we say so far with some cer-
adequate social scientific knowledge regarding tainty regarding the connections between glob-
the emergence, diffusion and globalization of alization and modern sport? Globalization
sport cultures will be undertaken. processes have no zero starting point. It is clear
In understanding global sport processes sev- that they gathered momentum between the
eral conceptual snares evident in the debates fifteenth and eighteenth centuries and contin-
that have been generated by the antagonistic ued apace throughout the twentieth century.
claims of the traditions referred to need to be Several of the more recent features of these
avoided. These cul-de-sacs arguably centre on processes can be identified. These include: an
four main areas. First, the recourse to dichoto- increase in the number of international agen-
mous thinking; secondly, the use of mono- cies; the growth of increasing global forms of
causal logic and explanation; thirdly, the communication; the development of global
tendency to view these processes as governed competitions and prizes; and the development
by either the intended or the unintended actions of standard notions of ‘rights’ and citizenship
of groups of people; and fourth, the lack of an that have become increasingly standardized
adequate account of gender power as it is rep- internationally. The emergence and diffusion
resented and expressed in global processes. of sport is clearly interwoven with this overall
Janet Wolfe (1991), for example, has cogently process. The development of national and
argued that the omission of gender issues is a international sports organizations, the growth
serious failing in globalization research. of competition between national teams, the
If the recent literature in the sociology of world-wide acceptance of rules governing spe-
sport is examined, several binary oppositions cific, that is ‘Western’, ‘sport’ forms, and the
can be identified that structure debates about establishment of global competitions such as
global sport developments. These include uni- the Olympic Games and soccer’s World Cup
versalism versus particularism; homogeniza- tournament are all indicative of the occurrence
tion versus differentiation; integration versus of globalization in the sportsworld.
fragmentation; centralization versus decentral- Neither the broader globalization processes,
ization; juxtaposition versus syncretization. nor those identified here which relate to sport,
Further, the monocausal logic that has been are the direct outcome of inter-state processes.
evident centres variously on either the techno- Rather, these processes need to be accounted
logical, the economic or the political. These for in relation to how they operate relatively
tendencies are vividly evident in the recent independently of conventionally designated
debates published in publications such as the societal and socio-cultural processes. It is per-
Sociology of Sport Journal, the Journal of Sport and haps a point which those researchers who have
Social Issues and Media, Culture and Society.1 An examined the development of sport have yet to
either/or resolution of this complex structured appreciate fully. While the globalization of
process will not do. Put simply, a balance or sport is connected to the intended ideological
blend between intended ideological practices practices of specific groups of people from par-
and unplanned sets of interdependencies ticular countries, its pattern and development
structure globalization processes. The precise cannot be reduced solely to these ideological
pattern must be studied empirically. practices. Out of the plans and intentions of
There is one further conceptual snare that these groups something that was neither
must be avoided. The use of the globalization planned nor intended emerged.
concept has prompted accusations from some The speed, scale and volume of sports devel-
quarters that those analyses that use the opment is interwoven with the broader global
term are automatically and/or implicitly flow of people, technology, finance, images
358 KEY TOPICS

and ideologies (Appadurai, 1990). Global control and regulate access to global flows
migration of both professional and college (Maguire, 1994a, 1994b, 1999). Global sport
sports personnel was a pronounced feature of development can be understood in the same
sports development in the 1980s. The flow terms: that is, at the turn of this new century
from country to country of sports goods, we are witnessing the globalization of sports
equipment and ‘landscapes’ (for example, golf and of the increasing diversity of sports
courses, artificial playing surfaces) has grown cultures. What has so far been argued is a sum-
by such a scale and volume that it is currently mary of available knowledge. Let me now turn
a multi-billion dollar business. At the level of to reviewing in more detail how exponents of
economics stands the fact that the flow of different traditions have sought to explain
finance in the global sports arena has come to these developments.
centre not only on the international trade in
sports personnel, prize money and endorse-
ments, but on the marketing of sport along SPORT IN THE GLOBAL PROCESS:
specific, for example, American, lines. Crucial
in all these regards, of course, has been the COMPETING TRADITIONS
development of a ‘media–sport production
complex’ which projects images to large global It is perhaps interesting to note that scholars
audiences (Maguire, 1993a). It can also be accept the basic premise that ‘England became
observed that global sports festivals such the cradle and focus of modern sporting life’
as the Olympics, the Asian Games and the (Dunning and Sheard, 1979; Gruneau, 1988;
Pan-American Games have come to serve as Guttmann, 1991). Here, however, the consensus
vehicles for the expression of ideologies that breaks down. Different interpretations exist
are not only national in character (the Berlin, with regard to the dynamics underpinning
Moscow and Los Angeles Olympics) but are the emergence and subsequent diffusion of
also transnational in their consequences. modern sport (Dunning and Sheard, 1979; Gorn
Both the intended and unintended aspects of and Goldstein, 1993; J.A. Hargreaves, 1994;
global sport development require attention. J.E. Hargreaves, 1986; Mandell, 1984). Similar
The intended acts of representatives of trans- themes, issues and questions that characterize
national agencies or the transnational capitalist the broader debate regarding global cultural
class are potentially more significant in the flows, also surface in discussing modern sport.
short term. Over the longer term, however, the Not surprisingly, similar fault lines regarding
unintended, relatively autonomous trans- homogeneity/heterogeneity; monocausal/
national practices predominate. These practices multicausal; unidimensional/multidimensional;
‘structure’ the subsequent plans and actions of unity/fragmentation; universalism/particular-
transnational agencies and the transnational ism, are also evident. In the following section,
capitalist class. Globalization processes involve key research is outlined and such work is posi-
a blend between intended and unintended tioned along the fault lines identified.
practices. While people have to cope with the The clearest exposition of the modernization
problems of interdependency which globaliza- thesis as it applies to sport can be found in
tion engenders, the fact that these processes are the work of Eric Wagner. Reviewing a diverse
relatively autonomous ensures that people can set of trends that are said to characterize
intervene. Global practices still lie within the global sport, Wagner correctly observes that
province of human actions. ‘Americanization is part of these trends but it
Although elite sports migrants, officials and is only one part of much broader processes; it
consumers are no less caught up in this unfold- is not by itself the key process’ (Wagner, 1990:
ing globalization process, they do have the 400). This much is not incompatible with the
capacity to reinterpret cultural products and argument presented in this chapter. Yet,
experiences into something distinct. Further- Wagner mistakenly then assigns central status
more, the receptivity of national popular to what he terms, ‘international moderniza-
cultures to non-indigenous cultural wares can tion’ (Wagner, 1990: 402). While he acknowl-
be both active and heterogenous. That is not to edges important caveats, such as ‘sport culture
overlook, however, that there is a political flowing in all directions’, and a ‘blending of
economy at work in the production and con- many sport traditions’, Wagner does appear to
sumption of global sport products. Globali- downplay the conflictual nature of these
zation is best understood as a balance and processes, over-emphasize the ability of people
blend between diminishing contrasts and to pick and choose as they wish from global
increasing varieties, a commingling of cultures sport cultures, and see such development as a
and attempts by more established groups to sign of progress. His concluding comments
 SPORT AND GLOBALIZATION 359

echo many of the features, and weaknesses, of sports. Within sport history research, informed
the modernization perspective outlined earlier by a cultural imperialist perspective, several
in this chapter. This is what he had to say: insightful case studies of the connection
between the diffusion of sport and imperialism
I think we make too much of cultural dependency
have been provided (Mangan, 1986; Stoddart,
in sports when in fact it is people themselves who
1988, 1989). The diffusion of sport, out of its
generally determine what they do and do not
European heartland, moved along the formal
want, and it is the people who modify and adapt
and the informal lines of Empire – particularly,
the cultural imports, the sports, to fit their own
though not exclusively, the British. But it was
needs and values. Bringing sports into a new cul-
not just the diffusion of specific sports, such as
tural context probably serves more as examples
cricket, that reflected this broader process
available for people to pick up or trade if they
(James, 1963). From a cultural imperialist per-
wish, rather than any imposed or forced cultural
spective, what was also at stake was the diffu-
change ... The long term trend has to be, I think,
sion of a cultural/sporting ideology and a
towards greater homogenization, and I don’t think
form of Western cosmology. This argument can
there is anything bad or imperialistic about this;
be highlighted with reference to the work
rather, these sports trends ultimately must reflect
of Henning Eichberg, John Bale and Johan
the will of the people. (Wagner, 1990: 402)
Galtung.
Though modernization was one of the first Eichberg’s study probes several of the issues
approaches within the field, ideas of this kind identified. He suggests that Olympism is a
still surface in the literature on sport. Consider ‘social pattern’ that reflects the ‘everyday
Baker and Mangan’s (1987) collection of papers culture of the western (and east European)
on sport in Africa (Wagner, 1989 on Africa), industrial society’ (Eichberg, 1984: 97). He
Cashman’s exploration of the phenomenon of highlights several negative consequences of
Indian cricket (1988), Arbena’s evaluation of Olympism, including drugs, violence and the
literature relating to Latin America and papers scientification of sport. Eichberg maintains that
published in comparative sport studies edited these excesses are not accidental or marginal,
by Wilcox (1995). In his early writing on this but logically related to the configuration of
subject, Allen Guttmann supported this posi- Western Olympic sport, with its emphasis on
tion, arguing that Wagner was ‘correct to insist ‘quicker, higher, stronger’. Olympism is seen to
that we are witnessing a homogenization of reflect the colonial dominance of the West and
world sports rather than an Americanization’, its spread across the globe has been remark-
and that ‘the concept of modernization is ably successful. While it is possible to agree
preferable because it also implies something with Eichberg on this, Wilson overstates
about the nature of the global transformation’ this case when he suggests that, ‘the major
(Guttmann, 1991: 187–8). Though he acknowl- impetus for the globalization of sport was the
edges that terms like ‘Gemeinschaft and Olympic movement’ (Wilson, 1994: 356). The
Gesellschaft, the traditional and the modern, dynamics underpinning the globalization of
the particularistic and the universalistic’ sport are more multifaceted than this. Indeed,
employ an ‘admittedly simplified dichotomy’, as Eichberg argues, Western domination is
Guttmann still works within a modernization increasingly subject to resistance. Alternatives
time frame, and overlooks what Robertson to Olympism are emerging. These alternatives
describes as the ‘universalization of particular- include, a resurgence of national cultural
ism’ and not just the ‘particularization of uni- games, open air movements, expressive activi-
versalism’ (Robertson, 1992). This is odd. In ties and meditative exercises. He concludes
other work by Guttmann, important lines of that ‘the age of Western colonial dominance is
enquiry are opened up when he refers to the coming to an end – and with it the predomi-
diffusion of game forms in the ancient world nance of Olympic sports’, and that, ‘new phys-
and to the influence of the Orient on the West ical cultures will arise ... from the different
(Guttmann, 1993). Guttmann’s solution, as we cultural traditions of the world’ (Eichberg,
shall see later, has been to adopt a cultural 1984: 102). Not all, as we shall see, share
hegemony position and to concentrate on more Eichberg’s optimism.
recent events. Tackling these issues within the subdisci-
While advocates of a cultural imperialist and pline of sports geography, John Bale paints a
dependency theory approach would reject sev- more conflict-ridden and destructive picture
eral, if not all of the premises outlined by of the impact of the diffusion of sport along
Wagner and Guttmann, these perspectives the lines of Empire. As Bale records, ‘Western
do share a common assumption that we are sports did not simply take root in virgin
witnessing the homogenization of world soil; they were firmly implanted – sometimes
360 KEY TOPICS

ruthlessly – by imperialists’ (Bale, 1994: 8). baseball. Therefore, just when the Dominicans are
For Bale, such ‘sports colonization’ marginal- in a position to resist the influence of foreigners,
ized, or destroyed, indigenous movement the core of their resistance is slipping away into
cultures and, ‘as cultural imperialism swept the hands of the foreigners themselves. (Klein,
the globe, sports played their part in 1991: 3)
Westernizing the landscapes of the colonies’ Despite noting, in similar fashion to Eichberg’s
(Bale, 1994: 8). There is much in this latter interpretation of the Olympic movement, that
argument and Bale’s pioneering study raises ‘Caribbean baseball is rooted in colonialism’,
our understanding of sport landscapes to a Klein does not convey the sense of uniformity,
new level. There are, however, grounds for or of total domination, that Galtung does. On
suggesting that the homogenization process is the contrary, while pointing to the unequal
not as complete as these observations appear nature of power relations, Klein remarks, ‘hav-
to indicate. This reservation is not, however, ing struggled in obscurity to refine the game
shared by Galtung. In similar vein, to Bale and Dominicans have made it their own, a game
Eichberg, Galtung sets up his analysis with the marked by their cadence and colour’ (Klein,
following question: 1991: 156). Local responses to broader pro-
cesses are acknowledged. Klein goes further,
What happens when there is massive export of and argues that, ‘the Dominicans are a belea-
sports, radiating from Western centres, following guered people who may someday rebel; to
old colonial trade and control lines, into the last lit- predict when the flash point will occur, look
tle corner of the world, leaving cricket bats, soccer first to the firefights being waged in a game
fields, racing tracks, courts of all sorts and what that has inspired their confidence. Look first at
not behind? (Galtung, 1991: 150) Sugarball’ (Klein, 1991: 156).
Other scholars working within this broad
For Galtung, the answer is clear. Sports carry cultural imperialist/dependency theory tradi-
the socio-cultural code of the senders, and those tion downplay the role of Americanization,
from the West, ‘serve as fully fledged carriers and instead, highlight the role of global capi-
of the combination typical for expansionist talism. Bruce Kidd’s study of sport in Canada,
occidental cosmology’ (Galtung, 1991: 150). located within a broader analysis of the devel-
Unlike Eichberg, however, Galtung detects no opment of Canadian national culture, demon-
hopeful alternatives. Whatever the merits of strates several of the qualities of this approach
his overall argument, Galtung rightly points to (Kidd, 1981, 1991). Noting the potential impor-
the role of the body in these processes, and tance of sport in the strengthening and enunci-
insightfully observes that, as people learn ation of national identity, Kidd observes that
these body cultures at an early stage in their the commodification of Canadian sport has
lives, they leave ‘imprints that may well be served to undermine this potential. Focusing
indelible’ (Galtung, 1991: 150). on the National Hockey League (NHL) as a
Although the research highlighted above ‘critical case’ in this regard, he highlights how
emphasizes a cultural imperialist perspective, both the ideological marketing strategy of the
variants of dependency theory have been used NHL and the general process of commodifica-
extensively in the study of sport. Several tion between the two world wars served to
studies have also examined Latin and South ‘accelerate the disintegration of beliefs and
America (Arbena, 1988, 1993; Mandle and practices that had once supported and nur-
Mandle, 1988). Alan Klein’s study of Dominican tured autonomous Canadian institutions’
baseball is an example of dependency research (Kidd, 1981: 713). For him, an explanation of
at its best (Klein, 1989, 1991). Grounded in a these processes lies not in Americanization per
careful and sophisticated anthropological se but in a critique of capitalism. Kidd observes:
approach, he probes the contradictory status
Explanation lies neither in US expansion nor
and role of baseball in relations between the
national betrayal, but in the dynamics of capital.
Dominican Republic and the United States of
Once sport became a sphere of commodity pro-
America. Klein skilfully observes:
duction ... then it was almost inevitable that the
Because baseball is the only area in which best Canadian hockey would be controlled by the
Dominicans come up against Americans and richest and most powerful aggregates of capital
demonstrate superiority, it fosters national pride and sold in the richer and more populous markets
and keeps foreign influence at bay. But the resis- of the US. The disappearance of community con-
tance is incomplete. At an organizational level trol over Canadian hockey strengthened a much
American baseball interests have gained power larger process – the centralization of all popular
and are now unwittingly dismantling Dominican forms of culture. (Kidd, 1981: 714)
 SPORT AND GLOBALIZATION 361

Whereas Kidd deals with issues between ‘core’ and local influence of the National Basketball
economies, George Sage (1995) draws on the League (NBA) as a transnational corporation,
work of Wallerstein and adopts a more ‘world- whose global ubiquity inevitably contributes
system model’ to explain the global sporting to the hyperreal remaking of local identities’
goods industry. Surveying the social and envi- (Andrews, 1997: 72). Andrews goes on to argue
ronmental costs associated with the relocation that the NBA has been turned ‘into one of the
strategies of multinational corporations, such popular commodity-signs which had usurped
as Nike, Sage concludes that such companies the material economic commodity as the
have been ‘following a model which places dynamic force and structuring principle of
exports over domestic needs, profits over everyday American existence’ (Andrews, 1997:
worker rights, growth over the environment’, 74). In language sometimes akin to that used
and that, a ‘neo-colonial system of unequal by Adorno, and his fellow contributors to the
economic and political relationships among Frankfurt School, Andrews argues that during
the First and Third World countries envisioned the 1980s, ‘the NBA became a hyperreal circus
by Wallerstein’s world-system model of global whose simulated, and hence self-perpetuating,
development becomes abundantly evident to popularity seduced the American masses’
even a casual observer’ (Sage, 1995: 48). The (Andrews, 1997: 74). This ‘success’ is not con-
important insights provided by Sage on the fined to the USA. Though it may be unwise to
global sports goods industry need further overestimate the knowledge of the powerful
exploration. and underestimate the ability of ‘locals’ to
While noting the obvious American influ- reshape, resist, or simply ignore, the market-
ences on Australian popular culture, McKay ing strategies of multinationals, Andrews is
and Miller (1991) adopt a similar stance to correct to observe that the NBA does ‘have a
Sage. They view the concept of Americaniza- vivid global presence’ (Andrews, 1997: 77). The
tion to be of limited help in explaining the form source of debate, however as he himself
and content of Australian sport. For them, the acknowledges, is ‘the extent to which the cir-
political economy of Australian sport can best culation of universal American commodity-
be analysed by concepts such as post-Fordism, signs has resulted in the convergence of global
the globalization of consumerism and the cul- markets, lifestyles and identities’ (Andrews,
tural logic of late capitalism. Though McKay 1997: 77). Despite the manner in which he for-
and Miller (1991), and McKay, Lawrence, mulates the early part of his argument,
Miller and Rowe (1993), prefer the term ‘cor- Andrews highlights the, ‘built-in particularity
porate sport’, Donnelly has argued that the (or heterogeneity) in terms of the ways that
‘notion of corporate sport may easily be products and images are consumed’, and that,
extended to indicate the Americanization of products, images and services from other soci-
sport, since most of the conditions of corporate eties ‘to some extent ... inalienably become
sport are either American in origin, or have indigenized’ (Andrews, 1997: 77). As with the
been more fully developed in America’ broader globalization literature, sociology of
(Donnelly, 1996: 246). It would seem, however, sport research is divided over the precise form
that neither Sage, nor McKay and his fellow and blend of homogeneity and heterogeneity
researchers, would accept this interpretation. characteristic of the global sports process.
As McKay and Miller remark, ‘in the discourse What kind of assessment can be made
of the daily report from the stock exchange, the regarding the state of play of the sociological
Americans are not the only players in the cul- study of global sport? Several writers have
tural game’ (McKay and Miller, 1991: 93). The attempted some overall review (Donnelly,
dynamics of this ‘cultural game’, with its links 1996; Harvey and Houle, 1994; Houlihan,
with both a colonial past, but also with a recog- 1994). While there are clear fault lines along
nition of Australia’s geographical position in which the literature lies, reflecting the more
relation to its South-east Asia neighbours, can general globalization debate, there is also
be fruitfully developed in the context of a dis- some overlap. Research from both a modern-
cussion of global sport, nationhood and local ization and a cultural imperialism perspective
identities. concludes that a homogenization process is
Although McKay and Miller de-emphasize occurring. This common ground can be seen in
the pervasiveness of American control, and Guttmann’s work. While his early work
concentrate on the dynamics of global capital- endorsed a modernization perspective, his
ism per se, the work by David Andrews would, more recent contribution has swung in favour
at first sight, appear to be more in keeping with of a form of cultural imperialism (Guttmann,
the position adopted by Donnelly. Andrews, 1991, 1993, 1994). While issues of cultural
for example, highlights the ‘global structure struggle and contestation are much more to
362 KEY TOPICS

the fore in this latter work, the common tendencies that marked the upper classes’
denominator is still an continued emphasis on colonization of outsiders within the ‘West’ was
homogenization. and remains evident in the ‘West’s’ dealings
Within the broad ‘Marxist’ tradition (cultural with ‘outsider’ (non-Western) nations and
imperialism, dependency theory, world- peoples. With this spread came a particular,
systems theory and hegemony theory), common contested view of civilization, of humanity as
emphasis is placed on power, exploitation and a whole. The members of ‘Western’ societies
the role that multinationals play in local mar- were acting as a form of established group on
kets. While the relative role of Americanization a world level (Elias, 1939/1982: 255). Their
and/or global capitalism is disputed, what is tastes and conduct, including their sports,
agreed upon is that modern sport is structured formed part of this, and these practices had
by a political economy in which multinationals similar effects to those of elite cultural activi-
play a decisive part. In some instances, as we ties within ‘Western’ societies themselves.
have seen, a particularly unidirectional and They acted as signs of distinction, prestige and
monocausal focus is used to explain these power. Yet, just as the established groups
processes. More recently, work by Andrews and within ‘Western’ societies found that their dis-
Klein highlights, to a greater extent, issues of tinguishing conduct flowed, intentionally or
local resistance, reinterpretation and indi- unintentionally, across social strata, so the
genization. In this, they are in keeping with a occidentals of the colonies also discovered that
trend in the more general globalization litera- a similar process occurred in their dealings
ture, that emphasizes heterogeneity (Nederveen with their colonial social inferiors. Indeed, in
Pieterse, 1995). Harvey and Houle summarize the context of this cultural interchange, non-
aspects of this debate that have surfaced in the Western codes and customs began to permeate
sociology of sport when they conclude: into ‘Western’ societies.
It is important to note, however, that the rise
Thus, linking sport to globalization leads to an
of the ‘West’ was contested and its ‘triumph’
analysis of sport as part of an emergent global
was not inevitable. Furthermore, ‘Western’
culture, as contributing to the definition of new
culture had long been permeated by non-
identities, and to the development of a world
Western cultural forms, people, technologies
economy. Therefore, the debate between globaliza-
and knowledge. In a word, these cultural inter-
tion and Americanization is more than a question
changes stretch back to long before the ‘West’
of vocabulary. Indeed, it is a question of paradig-
became more dominant in cultural inter-
matic choice, which leads to completely different
change. In addition, ‘Western’ culture was not
interpretations of a series of phenomena. (Harvey
itself exactly homogenous and all of a piece.
and Houle, 1994: 346)
Considerable variations existed within it.
While the observations made here would These cross-cultural processes were character-
endorse these writers when they argue that ized by a combination of intentional and unin-
different interpretations of globalization more tentional features. The manner and form of the
broadly, and global sport processes in particu- commingling involved were dependent on
lar, are ‘a question of paradigmatic choice’, several factors including the form of coloniza-
there is room to doubt whether such interpre- tion, the position of the area in the large net-
tations are as polarized as they suggest. So work of political, economic and military
what is the alternative? interdependencies, and the particular region’s
history and structure. Processes of commin-
gling were (and are) characterized by unequal
TOWARDS AN ALTERNATIVE power relations. One means by which the
PERSPECTIVE ON GLOBAL SPORT established ‘Western’ elites maintained their
status and distinction was through the exercise
PROCESSES of specific forms of conduct. An example of
this was their recourse to specific, status-
From a process/figurational perspective it is enhancing sporting practices. This reinforced
evident that in world terms ‘Western’ societies their distinctive culture, habitus and identity.
over time became the equivalent of the estab- Determining the pattern or course of this
lished groups within particular European commingling is an empirical question. The
nations. The spread of ‘civilized’, that is, precise patterns experienced in specific coun-
Western, patterns of conduct occurred through tries or regions, and indeed in the broader
the settlement of occidentals or through their global process, depend on the balance
assimilation by the upper strata of other or blends of diminishing contrasts and inc-
nations. Crucially, the same ‘double-bind’ reasing varieties, that is, of homogenizing and
 SPORT AND GLOBALIZATION 363

differentiating tendencies. At different stages these global flows, draws on the general work
the relative balance may incline in favour of of Elias and observes:
one end of the continuum or another. In a spe-
As Elias indicates in his synopsis to The Civilising
cific phase, in a particular region, the dominant
Process the creation of larger nation-states and
feature may favour a decrease in contrasts.
blocs and the nature of the power balances, inter-
This may be particularly the case where a form
dependencies and linkages between and across
of colonization is taking place. Clearly the
them will influence the types of identity formation
dynamics of these processes are closely con-
and personality structure which develop in
nected to the prevailing balance of power
various parts of the world. It is only relatively
between established and outsider groups.
recently and in response to the current phase of
Tracing this process over the long term it is
intensified global competition and interdependen-
clear that the social barriers built between
cies that we have started to think that there might
established Westerners and the native out-
be a sociological problem here: how to develop a
siders have proved semi-permeable. The con-
series of concepts which are adequate to under-
trast between ‘Western’ and non-Western
stand this process. (Featherstone, 1995: 135–6)
societies has indeed begun to diminish and we
may already be living in a period that could be Concepts such as diminishing contrasts,
characterized as the waning of the ‘West’. The increasing varieties, established and outsiders,
form and extent to which ‘Western’ values I/we, they/them balances and interdependent
have spread through specific regions however, commingling, can arguably assist in this task.
reflect the history and structure of the areas in What implications are there for the sociolog-
question. This also applies in the diffusion of ical study of world sport? Elias and Dunning
non-Western conduct back to specific ‘Western’ did not deploy all of these concepts to assist
nations. Established and outsider groups were their analyses of sport. This was unfortunate.
and are active in the interpretation of ‘Western’ Nevertheless, they were aware, unlike some
and non-Western conduct and cultural forms. advocates of other approaches, of the global
Pace Robertson (1992), this recognition points reach of sports. Examining the growing seri-
to the possibility that existing varieties of ‘civi- ousness of sport, Eric Dunning observed that
lized’ conduct could survive and new ones three interrelated processes appear particu-
emerge. larly significant. These are state-formation,
The figurational approach rejects the idea functional democratization and the spread of
that the spread or diffusion of styles of behav- sport through the widening network of inter-
iour depends solely on the activities of estab- national interdependencies (Dunning, 1986:
lished groups. A two-way process of cultural 213). Dunning went on to conclude that ‘it
interaction crosses the semi-permeable barriers remains necessary to spell out precisely what
that established groups – both within Western the connections were between, on the one
societies, and between them and non-Western hand, the growing seriousness of sports partic-
societies – deployed to maintain their distinc- ipation and, on the other, state-formation,
tiveness, power and prestige. The more they functional democratization and the civilizing
became interconnected with outsider groups, process. It also remains to show how this trend
the more they depended on them for social was connected with the international spread of
tasks. In so doing, the contrasts between estab- sport’ (Dunning, 1986: 214). This is the task in
lished and outsiders diminished. The power which I am presently engaged.
ratio between these groups moved in an equal- Commenting on the diffusion of English
izing direction. Concomitantly, new styles of pastimes to continental Europe and beyond,
conduct emerged (Elias, 1939/1982: 256). As Elias addressed this connection between
‘civilized’ forms of conduct spread across both sportization and civilizing processes. Noting
the rising lower classes of ‘Western’ society the reigning in of violence, the development of
and the different classes of the colonies, an tighter, standardizing sets of rules, the devel-
amalgamation of the ‘Western’ and the indi- opment of governing bodies and the shift in
genous patterns occurred. Each time this hap- body habitus, Elias observed that ‘the sporti-
pened upper-class conduct and that of the zation of pastimes, if I may use this expression
rising groups interpenetrated. People placed as shorthand for their transformation in
within this situation attempted to reconcile and English society into sports and the export of
fuse the pattern of ‘occidentally civilized soci- some of them on an almost global scale, is
eties with the habits and traditions of their own another example of a civilizing spurt’ (Elias,
society’ and in this they achieved a ‘higher or 1986: 21–2).
lesser degree(s) of success’ (Elias, 1939/1982: This sportization process did not merely
309–14). Featherstone, in discussing a range of involve the multi-layered flow of sports,
364 KEY TOPICS

personnel, technologies and landscapes – The spread of high-status ‘English’ sport

important though it is to explore the intercon- forms to continental Europe during the
nected patterns these flows form (Maguire, nineteenth century prompted various reactions.
1994a). Studies of these sportization processes In Nordic countries, English sport appears to
can also be understood ‘as contributions to have been readily embraced but also restylized
knowledge of changes in the social habitus of in the light of local body culture and tradition.
people and of the societies they form with each In Germany, sections of that society resisted
other’ (Elias, 1986: 23). More important than this diffusion. National culture and identity
simply the global movement of cultural wares, were seen to be threatened by English sport
this shift towards the competitive, regular- forms. The body culture of the Turner Move-
ized, rationalized and gendered bodily exer- ment was viewed as superior by German
tions of achievement sport, involved changes patriots and, as such, English sport forms were
at the level of personality, body deportment labelled as socially inferior. The Germans were
and social interaction. A more rationalized not alone. Great Britain’s other main European
male body habitus came into evidence which rival, France, also had citizens who advocated
was going to affect people and groups in dif- resistance. For example, Pascal Grousset, who
ferent societies across the globe in fairly fun- founded the Ligue Nationale de l’Education
damental ways. Physique in the late 1880s, condemned the
Though Elias did not fully develop his importation of English games and values and
analysis of the export of this sportization of argued that the French people would do better
pastimes, he did point to the significance of the to seek their models in antiquity rather then
relative autonomy of these sport forms for from across La Manche (cited in Weber, 1991).
their adoption outside of England. Referring to Ancient games of ‘football’ were promoted and
organizational developments occurring in the medieval competitive pageants revived but to
nineteenth century, Elias noted: no avail. Those like Baron de Coubertin, who
were advocates of English games and public
Every variety of sport . . . has a relative autonomy
school values, but also Greek antiquity, won
in relation not only to the individuals who play at
the day. By 1892, de Coubertin felt able to
a given time, but also to the society where it devel-
declare:
oped. That is the reason why some sports which
first developed in England could be transferred to Let us export our oarsmen, our fencers, our run-
and adopted by other societies as their own. The ners into other lands. That is the true free trade of
recognition of this fact opens up a wide field for the future; and the day it is introduced into Europe
further investigation. Why, for instance, were the cause of Peace will have received a new and
some initially English varieties of sport such as strong ally. (Pierre de Coubertin, 1892)
Association Football and tennis taken up by many
Closely connected to the late nineteenth-
different societies all over the world while the
century reinvention of tradition and the inten-
spread of cricket was mainly confined to an exclu-
sification of inter-state tensions, achievement
sive circle of Commonwealth countries? Why did
sports came ‘to serve as symbolic representa-
the rugby variety of football not spread as widely
tions of competition between states’ and ‘as a
as the Association variety? Why did the USA,
status symbol of nations’ (Elias, 1986: 23).
without abandoning the English varieties com-
Considering achievement sport development
pletely, develop its own variety of football? (Elias,
during the twentieth century, Elias went on to
1986: 39–40)
argue that:
Questions of this type lie at the heart of an
The achievement sport culminating today in the
analysis of the links between sportization and
Olympic Games provides telling examples. There
globalization. Note that it is male achievement
the struggle for world records has given the devel-
sport, emerging out of England, that is the
opment of sport a different direction. In the form
dominant player. Though European rivals
of achievement sport the playful mimetic tensions
existed, in particular in the form of German
of leisure sport become dominated and patterned
and Swedish gymnastics and also the Czech
by global tensions and rivalries between different
Sokol movement, and although some older
states. (Elias, 1986: 43–4)
folk pastimes also survived, it was male
achievement sport that was to affect people’s What Elias did not fully appreciate and
body habitus on a global scale. That is not to acknowledge however, is that while male
suggest that there occurred no resistance to, achievement sport culture developed in and
reinterpretation or indeed recycling of, this diffused out of an English context, aspects of it
body culture. Here, too, evidence of the inter- were more fully developed in a later phase of
weaving of the local and the global is evident. sportization in the context of North America
 SPORT AND GLOBALIZATION 365

and, in particular, the USA. In England, suggesting this he overstates the extent to
achievement sport was shackled by an ama- which ‘Western’ domination of global ‘sport’
teur ethos which emphasized ‘fair play’ and cultures was and is complete (1991: 150). As
downplayed seriousness. Yet, during the third Said noted ‘it was the case nearly everywhere
sportization phase, along with the achieve- in the non-European world that the coming of
ment sport body cultures, the notion of ‘le fair the white man brought forth some sort of
play’ did diffuse to continental Europe and to resistance’ (1993: xii). On occasions, as already
both the formal and informal British Empire noted, non-Western people not only resisted
(Maguire, 1993a). While such a notion might and reinterpreted ‘Western’ masculine sport
have been viewed as a sign of distinction and a personnel, forms, models and marketing, they
cultural marker of English gentlemen, sport also maintained, fostered and promoted, on
advocates in other societies chose to practise a global scale, their indigenous recreational
their sports differently and more seriously. By pursuits.
the fourth sportization phase, it was an While Galtung may be correct to suggest
American version of the achievement sport that competitive sports carry a ‘message of
ethos that had gained relative ascendancy. western social cosmology’ (1982: 137), this
The third sportization phase then entailed does not mean that people from non-occidental
the differential diffusion of ‘English’ sport or indeed occidental cultures accepted them
forms. The remarks made by one historian, uncritically between the 1920s and the late
Ensor, highlight the British perception of this 1960s. Studies of Trobriand cricket (Cashman,
diffusion. In commenting on ‘the development 1988), baseball in Japan (Snyder and Spreitzer,
of organized games’ Ensor observed that 1984), the diffusion of sport to Papua
‘on any reckoning [this] may rank among New Guinea (Seward, 1986), and the early
England’s leading contributions to world twentieth-century development of ‘Finnish
culture’ (1936: 164). Whatever the merits of this baseball’ (Meinander, 1992) all highlight the
evaluation, this diffusion was closely con- dynamic interchange between the local,
nected to two interrelated processes: the emer- national and the global. Despite what some
gence of intense forms of nationalism, and a ‘soundbite sociologists’ suggest, there is noth-
spurt in globalization processes. During this ing sanguine about reaching this conclusion.
period we see the intensification of ‘national’ What one is attempting to do is to describe and
sentiment, the emergence of ethnic nation- analyse how complex social processes really
states and the invention of traditions. This was are. For example, while ‘sport’, or variants of
to be the seedbed of what Elias noted was a this term, diffused across the globe, in its
feature of twentieth-century sport, namely the northern European heartland this form of body
‘self escalating pressure of inter-state competi- culture was reinterpreted and labelled by
tion in sport and its role as a status symbol of indigenous people in the light of local history
nations’ (Elias, 1986: 23). and social structures. In Norway the term Idrett
From the 1920s through to the late 1960s is used, which while referring to sport also
then, the ‘West’ regulated the field of play, incorporates broader traditional body culture.
sport organizations, the surplus value associ- In contrast, in Finland, different terms are used
ated with sporting festivals and the ideolog- that serve to distinguish between sport
ical meanings associated with such events. (Urheilu) and movement (Liikunta).
‘Western’ and non-Western people actively – It is also important to note that representa-
as opposed to passively – embraced some tives of indigenous cultures have proved adept
aspects of the sports that diffused out of the at embracing a sport form, reinventing it and
Anglo/Euro-American core. Galtung is right then recycling it back to the country of origin.
to assert that sport was and is a ‘carrier of deep The history of nordic skiing is an example of
culture and structure’ (1982: 136) and in the these processes at work. In turn, the core
fourth phase this culture was ‘Western’ in orien- country also embraces cultural flows from out-
tation. Indeed, sport can be said to have become sider states and the ‘reinvented’ sport form dif-
a ‘global idiom’ in this phase. Globalizing sport fuses further around the core. The diffusion of
entailed a specific type of ‘Western’ masculine Canadian ice-hockey illustrates the processes
culture as embodied in and through achieve- involved (Maguire, 1996). It should also be
ment sport. observed that this phase of sportization/
Yet we have to be careful here in our intra- globalization witnessed the slow decline of
civilizational analysis. While Galtung has cor- modern sport’s founding nation. In the emerg-
rectly argued that sport is ‘one of the most ing global sport figuration, Englishmen were
powerful transfer mechanisms for culture being beaten – in the early stages of this fourth
and structure ever known to humankind’, in phase, by fellow occidentals – at games at
366 KEY TOPICS

which they felt they had, by birthright, a ‘god that ‘profound differences will nonetheless still
given’ right to be winners. divide states and that these differences might
Whereas the fourth phase of sportization be reflected in the sports they play’ (Houlihan,
clearly involved an elaborate political econ- 1994: 364). Perhaps one can go further and
omy in which hegemonic control of sport lay argue that only when new ‘sports’ gain cul-
with the ‘West’, control was never complete. tural ascendancy, and along with these new
Resistance took a variety of forms, such as the sports, new global rivals are created, will sport
Cold War rivalry that was also played out in assist in the development of new identities and
the sports world. There also occurred the slow the jettisoning of older ‘invented traditions’
assertion of women’s rights and the challenge (Maguire, 1993a). These issues, among others,
to hegemonic masculinity. The latter stages of arguably lie at the heart of the glocal
this fourth phase were also characterized by (global/local) sports nexus.
the rise of non-Western nations to sporting
prominence, and, sometimes, pre-eminence.
Non-Western nations began to beat their for-
mer colonial masters, especially the English. CONCLUSION
This process has intensified in the fifth phase
of sportization beginning in the late 1960s, and The approach outlined here shares with
is apparent in a range of sports including bad- Arnason the assumption that ‘among the iden-
minton, cricket, soccer, table tennis and track tities that are thus reinforced and reoriented by
and field. Here, African, Asian and South the global context, civilizational complexes
American nations were and are increasingly to and traditions are not the least important’
the fore. In a sense, however, they still do so on (Arnason, 1990: 224). The concepts of dimin-
‘Western’ terms, for they do so through ishing contrasts and increasing varieties, over-
‘Western’ sports. looked in Robertson’s work on globalization,
This fifth phase of global sportization exem- help in more adequately conceptualizing such
plifies both a decrease in contrasts but also an an analysis. These concepts also assist in mak-
increase in varieties. It also highlights the need ing sense of the global diffusion, patterning
for detailed empirical case studies. The creol- and differential popularization of cultural
ization of sports cultures may be under way wares, including sports. Diminishing contrasts
but the precise matrix being formed remains to and increasing varieties have not, however,
be charted. An increase in the varieties of struc- been given due prominence in previous figura-
tures, forms and identities can tentatively be tional accounts of sport. This may explain, in
identified. In this connection, Houlihan is cor- part, some of the misunderstandings and mis-
rect to point to the need to develop criteria by interpretations that have arisen over the past
which to judge the ‘reach’ and ‘response’ of three decades. In this context it is particularly
global flows on local cultures. He is also correct important to link the concepts of diminishing
to observe that it is important to assess contrasts and increasing varieties to a broader
whether these processes affect what he terms intra-civilizational analysis. On this basis the
the ‘core’ or the ‘ephemeral’ aspects of that implications for the study of sportization
culture (Houlihan, 1994). Similar observations processes can be teased out. In the recent work
were made, as noted with regard to assessing of Featherstone (1995) and Featherstone and
the impact of Americanization processes in Lash (1995) extensive reference is made to fig-
the case studies examining basketball and urational concepts and emphasis is given to
American football and the media–sport com- the need to think processually and relationally.
plex (Maguire, 1990: 216; 1993a). Equally, while The need to examine the power dynamics of
he is correct to point to the need to ‘distinguish cross-cultural interdependency chains is also
between the globalization of particular sports highlighted. Here too, however, as with
and the globalization of the organizational Robertson, the twin concepts of diminishing
processes and values of modern sport’ contrasts and increasing varieties – as well as
(Houlihan, 1994: 367), it is important not to sport – are overlooked. Yet, to be fair, both
lose sight of the interconnections between the Featherstone and Robertson are rightly point-
achievement sport ethos and how it is played ing to the need for intra-civilizational analyses.
out in different kinds of sports. Not all modern On the basis of what has been argued so
sports are the same. Further, while I would far, several key points of departure can be iden-
concur with Houlihan that it is foolish to claim tified which can assist in more adequately ori-
that victory on the playing field can, in itself, entating analyses of the global sports process.
be seen as having a dramatic effect on relations First, adoption of a very long-term perspective
between nations, I would also agree with him can yield many benefits. Though it is legitimate
 SPORT AND GLOBALIZATION 367

to examine the making of modern sports, ‘permanence’. Think of Wimbledon, Super

intra-civilizational analysis of the European Bowl Sunday, the US Masters at Augusta and,
ancient world and of other civilizations is also for the English, test cricket from Australia
necessary. The longer-term links of these during a European winter. These sport occa-
ancient civilizations with the making of sions are counterpoints to change. As was
modern sport should not be overlooked. noted earlier, the formation of sport was
Equally, the interdependency chains that tie closely connected to the invention of tradi-
more recent developments within the West to tions that attempt to bind the past and present
non-occidental cultures require consideration. together. Yet, paradoxically, the media–sport
In doing so it is important to distinguish production complex also erodes this sense of
between concepts of development and evolu- stability. Through satellite broadcasting the
tion and to avoid an ethnocentric approach. It consumer can cross spaces and be at any sport
is also necessary to grasp that the ‘local’ was venue across the globe. It also brings new vari-
and is never hermetically sealed from the eties of sport subcultures to national cultures.
‘other’. There is no sporting Gemeinschaft wait- New identities can be forged. Some British/
ing to be discovered. The local was always English males now identify with, and want to
semi-permeable and contoured by centrifugal be famous American sports stars, such as the
and centripetal forces. In this connection, it golfer Tiger Woods or ex-basketball player
needs also to be understood that this balance Michael Jordan.
of forces was marked by a series of power Though sport has reinforced and reflected a
struggles, elimination combat and a mutual diminishing of contrasts between nations, the
contest of sameness, difference and commin- close association of sport with national
gling. The gendered, ethnic and class-based cultures and identities also means that moves
nature of these processes need careful unrav- towards integration of regions at a political
elling. In doing so, the analysis must avoid the level are undermined by the role of sport.
pursuit of monocausal explanations, the use of Sport, being inherently competitive and based
dichotomous thinking and the tendency to on a hierarchical valuing of worth, binds
view these processes as governed by either the people to the dominant invented traditions
intended or the unintended actions of estab- associated with the nation. Yet, there may be
lished or outsider groups of people. Analyses also the first signs of countervailing trends.
that emphasize the multifaceted, multidirec- The tentative emergence of a European sports
tional and complex sets of power balances will identity is a case in point. The incipient stages
be better placed to probe and trace the global of this are evident in the formation of
sportization process. ‘European’ teams to play the United States of
Sport then plays a contradictory role in America in the men’s Ryder Cup and women’s
globalization processes and national identity Solheim Cup golf competitions. The athletics
formation. Sport development has been and World Cup competition also has teams repre-
continues to be contoured by the interlocking senting six ‘geographical’ areas, of which
processes of diminishing contrasts and Europe is one. The degree to which the athletes
increasing varieties. The emergence of mod- involved feel any strong sense of identification
ern sport out of its European, and particularly with these areas is debatable but, as yet, is also
British heartland, was, as noted, closely tied unexplored. EU officials have also raised the
to globalization processes. Its standardiza- idea of a common European team for the
tion, organizational development and global Olympics and also endorse a Formula One
diffusion both reflected and reinforced the grand prix of Europe. As with European
global processes that were then being pow- integration more generally, however, the sports
ered by the West. During the twentieth process occupies contested terrain in which the
century sport was to become a ‘global idiom’. defensive response of strengthened ethnic iden-
Its laws were, as Ali Mazrui (1976: 411), noted, tities may yet win out over broader pluralizing
the first to be voluntarily embraced across the global flows.
globe.
In certain respects sports also act as ‘anchors
of meaning’ at a time when national cultures NOTE
and identities are experiencing the effects
of global time–space compression. Victory 1 For further reading see special issues
over Australia provides the English with a Sociology of Sport Journal, 11 (4), 1994; the
secure status point. The association of sport Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 20 (3),
with a specific place and season also 1996; and Media, Culture and Society, 18 (4),
provides a sense of Heimat, a sense of invented 1996.
368 KEY TOPICS

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and D. Kellner (eds), Articulating the Global and the and structure’, Current Research on Peace and
Local: Globalization and Cultural Studies. Boulder, Violence, 5: 133–43.
CO: Westview Press. Galtung, J. (1991) ‘The sport system as a metaphor
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Arbena, J.L. (ed.) (1988) Sport and Society in Latin Gorn, E.J. and Goldstein, W. (1993) A Brief History of
America: Diffusion, Dependency and the Rise of Mass American Sports. New York: Hill & Wang.
Culture. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. Gruneau, R. (1988) ‘Modernization or hegemony:
Arbena, J. (1993) ‘Sport and nationalism in Latin two views on sport and social development’, in
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and performing “European” sports’, History of Essays in Canadian Sport Sociology. Ottawa: Univer-
European Ideas, 16: 837–44. sity of Ottawa Press. pp. 9–32.
Arnason, J. (1990) ‘Nationalism, globalization Gruneau, R. and Whitson, D. (1993) Hockey Night in
and modernity’, Theory, Culture and Society, 7: Canada: Sport, Identities and Cultural Politics.
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Baker, W. (1982) Sports in the Western World. Totowa, Guttmann, A. (1991) ‘Sports diffusion: a response to
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Baker, W. and Mangan, J.A. (eds) (1987) Sport in Sociology of Sport Journal, 8: 185–90.
Africa: Essays in Social History. New York: Africana. Guttmann, A. (1993) ‘The diffusion of sports and the
Bale, J. (1994) Landscapes of Modern Sport. Leicester: problem of cultural imperialism’, in E.G. Dunning,
Leicester University Press. J.A. Maguire and R. Pearton (eds), The Sports
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J.A. Mangan (ed.), Pleasure, Profit and Proselytism: Guttmann, A. (1994) Games and Empires: Modern
British Culture and Sport at Home and Abroad, Sports and Cultural Imperialism. New York:
1700–1914. London: Frank Cass. pp. 258–72. Columbia University Press.
De Coubertin, P. (1892) Paper Presented at the Union Hargreaves, J.A. (1994) Sporting Females: Critical
des Sports Athletiques, Sorbonne, 25 November. Issues in the History and Sociology of Women’s Sports.
Donnelly, P. (1996) ‘The local and the global: global- London: Routledge.
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Quest for Excitement: Sport and Leisure in the Civilizing Houlihan, B. (1994) ‘Homogenization, Americaniza-
Process. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. pp. 205–23. tion, and Creolization of sport: varieties of global-
Dunning, E. and Sheard, K. (1979) Barbarians, Gentle- ization’, Sociology of Sport Journal, 11: 356–75.
men and Players: a Sociological Study of the Develop- James, C.L.R. (1963) Beyond a Boundary. London:
mental of Rugby Football. Oxford: Martin Robertson. Stanley Paul.
Eichberg, H. (1984) ‘Olympic sport: neocolonialism Kidd, B. (1981) ‘Sport, dependency and the Canadian
and alternatives’, International Review for the state’, in M. Hart and S. Birrell (eds), Sport in the
Sociology of Sport, 19: 97–105. Sociocultural Process. Dubuque, IA: William C.
Elias, N. (1939/1982) The Civilizing Process: State Brown. pp. 707–21.
Formation and Civilization. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. Kidd, B. (1991) ‘How do we find our own voices in
Elias, N. (1986) ‘Introduction’, in N. Elias and the “new world order”? A commentary on
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Maguire, J. (1990) ‘More than a sporting “touch- R. Roberston (eds), Global Modernities. London:
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1982–1989’, Sociology of Sport Journal, 7: 213–37. Robertson, R. (1992) Globalization: Social Theory and
Maguire, J. (1993a) ‘Globalization, sport and national Global Culture. London: Sage.
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Leisure, 16: 293–322. American sporting goods industry’, in R.C. Wilcox
Maguire, J. (1993b) ‘Globalization, sport develop- (ed.), Sport in the Global Village. Morgantown, WV:
ment, and the media/sport production complex‘, Fitness Information Technology. pp. 39–51.
Sports Sciences Review, 2: 29–47. Said, E. (1993) Culture and Imperialism. London:
Maguire, J. (1994a) ‘Preliminary observations on Chatto and Windus.
globalisation and the migration of sport labour’, Seward, A.K. (1986) ‘An attempt to perpetuate a cul-
The Sociological Review, 3: 452–80. tural identity through traditional games in the face
Maguire, J. (1994b) ‘Sport, identity politics and glob- of the influence of Western sports in Papua New
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Social Issues, 20: 335–60. in S. Eitzen (ed.), Sports in Contemporary Society.
Maguire, J. (1999) Global Sport: Identities, Societies, New York: St Martin’s Press. pp. 46–50.
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Mandell, R. (1984) Sport: a Cultural History. New York: English-speaking Caribbean to 1914: towards a
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Mandle, J. and Mandle, J. (1988) Grass Roots Profit and Proselytism. British Culture and Sport at
Commitment: Basketball and Society in Trinidad and Home and Abroad, 1700–1914. London: Cass.
Tobago. Parkesburg, IA: Caribbean Books. pp. 231–57.
Mangan, J.A. (1986) The Games Ethic and Imperialism. Stoddart, B. (1989) ‘Sport in the social construct of
London: Viking Press. the lesser developed world: a commentary’,
Mazrui, A. (1976) A World Federation of Cultures: an Sociology of Sport Journal, 6: 125–35.
African Perspective. New York: Free Press. Wagner, E. (ed.) (1989) Sport in Asia and Africa: a
McKay, J. and Miller, T. (1991) ‘From old boys to men Comparative Handbook. Westport, CT: Greenwood
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Sociology of Sport Journal, 8: 86–94. Americanization or mundialization?’, Sociology of
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Meinander, H. (1992) ‘Language, identity and sport: Wilson, J. (1994) Playing by the Rules: Sport, Society,
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hybridization’, in M. Featherstone, S. Lash and
 24
SOCIAL CONTROL AND SPORT

D. Stanley Eitzen

THE SOCIOLOGICAL 1992). Thus, postmodern theories reflect a

UNDERSTANDING fragmented and fragile society. If this view is
correct, then social order rather than a given as
OF SOCIAL CONTROL the classic social theories postulated, is prob-
lematic. So, too, is social control, for it is the
The Concept of Social Control essence of social order.
A perennial question for many sociologists is: Social control is a central concept in sociol-
How is social order possible? For some sociolo- ogy (see, Berger, 1963; Horowitz, 1990;
gists (for example, Durkheim, 1949; Parsons, Janowitz, 1991; Liska, 1992; Wolff, 1964).
1951) the answer to this question is that the vast Indeed, for some it is the central organizing
members of a social organization share a con- concept of sociology (Gibbs, 1981, 1985). As
sensus on the norms, laws and values. In pre- Cuzzort has asserted:
modern societies social order occurs because A sociocultural system cannot rely on random
the norms are shared and legitimated by deeply individual responses to create the structure and
held religious authority. In modern complex the cohesiveness required for organized effort.
societies social order is maintained as citizens A society cannot, in other words, rely on people
accept the legal order and the state, which are simply ‘doing their thing’. A society must, in effect,
believed to serve the common good. Other generate ways that ensure that what gets done is
social theorists such as Marx (1909) reject the ‘society’s thing’. (Cuzzort, 1989: 179)
assumption of normative consensus, arguing Social control is fundamental because it
rather that social order is the result of economic focuses attention on three other essential con-
dominants using the law (Quinney, 1970) or the cepts: social order, norms and deviance. Each
media (Parenti, 1986), or other institutions to social system (group, family, factory, team,
hold power over the relatively powerless. school, hospital, prison, church, community
Postmodern theorists reject both of these grand and society) attempts to achieve conformity to
narratives, arguing rather that unity within the norms (the standards of right and wrong) of
contemporary societies is a myth. The old that social unit. If a social organization succeeds
views depicted society with a single in controlling its members, then deviant behav-
powerful political and economic center, pre- ior is minimized and social order is sustained.
dictable and moving in a straight, progressive The irony is that attempts to achieve conformity
line. The postmodern view sees society as in groups often meet with non-compliance,
decentered, with multiculturalism and multi- resistance or outright rebellion (Walton, 1990:
ple realities depending on one’s class, racial, 343–61). In short, social control is never perfect.
or gender standpoint. The social world is
neither predictable nor moving inexorably
toward a better state. Instead of normative con- The Mechanisms of Social Control
sensus there are cultural wars and subgroup
identities/loyalties that divide rather than All social groups have mechanisms to ensure
unify society (see Lemert, 1993; Rosenau, conformity – mechanisms of social control.
 SOCIAL CONTROL AND SPORT 371

Peter Berger (1963: 68–78) has identified eight who deviate from the norms of the social
sources of social control: (a) force, the use of organization. All but ‘belief systems’ from
violence or threats of violence; (b) economic Berger’s list of social control mechanisms are
rewards or punishments, the promise or denial of efforts at direct social control.
economic rewards; (c) ridicule and gossip, fear of
being belittled for acting outside group expec-
tations; (d) ostracism, the threat or actual SOCIAL CONTROL THROUGH SPORT
removal from the group; (e) fraud and deception,
actions to manipulate (trick) others to conform; Social Control in Society: Sport
(f) belief systems, the use of ideology to induce
and Societal Integration
individuals to conform; (g) the sphere of inti-
mates, pressures from close friends, peers, rela- Sport helps to maintain societal integration in
tives to conform; and (h) the contract, actions several ways (Eitzen and Sage, 1997). First,
controlled by the stipulations of a formal there is the strong relationship between sport
agreement. and nationalism.
The mechanisms of social control can be
divided into two broad types by the means to Sport and Nationalism Success in interna-
achieve it: ideological control and direct inter- tional sports competition tends to trigger pride
vention. The former aims at control through among that nation’s citizens. The Olympics
manipulation of ideas and perceptions; the lat- and other international games tend to promote
ter controls the actual behavior of individuals an ‘us’ versus ‘them’ feeling among athletes,
(Eitzen and Baca Zinn, 1995: 170–90). coaches, politicians, the press, fans and even
Ideological social control manipulates the among those normally not very interested in
consciousness of individuals so that they sport. Goodhart and Chataway (1968) have
accept the ruling ideology and refuse to be argued, for example, that one type of sport is
moved by competing ideologies. Other goals ‘representative’ in that it pits the representa-
are to persuade the members to follow the tives of political units against each other.
rules and to accept without question the exist- Thus, international contests are viewed as
ing distribution of power and rewards. These political contests, where nations win or lose in
goals are accomplished in at least three ways. a symbolic world war. Because this interpre-
First, ideological social control is accomplished tation is commonly held, citizens of each
through the socialization of new members. nation involved unite behind their flag and
This socialization process could be referred to their athletes (Ball, 1972; Hargreaves, 1992;
as cultural control because the individual is Heinila, 1985).
given authoritative definitions of what should The integral interrelationship of sport and
and should not be done, which make it appear nationalism is easily seen in the blatantly mili-
as if there is no choice. Secondly, ideological taristic pageantry that surrounds sports con-
conformity occurs by frontal attacks on com- tests. The playing of the national anthem, the
peting ideologies by persons in authority. presentation of the colors, the jet flyovers and
Finally, there are propaganda efforts by author- bands forming a flag are all political acts sup-
ities to persuade the members what actions are portive of the existing political system.
moral, who the enemies are, and why certain
courses of action are required. Sport as an Instrument of National Policy to
Ideological social control is more effective Unify More explicitly, sports can be used as a
than overt social control measures because propaganda vehicle, as a mechanism by which
individuals impose controls upon themselves a society’s ruling elite unites its citizens and
(Collins, 1992: 63–85). Through the socializa- attempts to impress the citizens of other coun-
tion process we learn not only the rules of a tries (Frey, 1988; Strenk, 1977). A classic exam-
social organization but also the supporting ide- ple of this was Adolf Hitler’s use of the 1936
ology. The norms are internalized in this Olympic Games to strengthen his control over
process. To the degree that this process works, the German people and to legitimize Nazi
individuals are not forced to conform, they culture. According to Mandell (1971), the festi-
want to conform. As Berger has observed: val planned for those games was a shrewdly
‘Most of the time we ourselves desire just that propagandistic and brilliantly conceived cha-
which society expects of us. We want to obey rade that reinforced and mobilized the hysteri-
the rules’ (Berger, 1963: 93). cal patriotism of the German masses.
Direct social control refers to attempts Before the break-up of the Eastern bloc coun-
to reward those who conform and to punish tries, the reunification of the two Germanies,
or neutralize (render powerless) individuals and the demise of the Soviet Union, the
372 KEY TOPICS

Communist nations used sport for promoting provides a relatively inexpensive tool to
their common cause. Their domination of accomplish national objectives of prestige
the Olympics, the Communists argued, pro- abroad and unity at home.
vided convincing proof of the superiority of As a final example of political elites using
the Communist politico-economic system sport to unify its citizens, consider the racially
(Rosellini, 1992). This heritage continues for divided nation of South Africa (Eitzen, 1995).
one of the few remaining Communist nations – Sport has been used to break down this divi-
Cuba. Cuba spends about 3 per cent of its sion, at least in part. After the formal fall of
budget on sport. In the Pan American Games, apartheid and the election of Nelson Mandela,
Cuba generally wins about 15 times more the sports world lifted its ban on South African
medals than the United States on a per capita participation in international competition. In
basis, allowing its premier, Fidel Castro, to pro- 1995 the World Cup in rugby was held in South
claim that this is proof of the superiority of the Africa and Mandela used this opportunity to
Cuban people and the Cuban social system. achieve greater national unity. Even though the
Clearly, these victories by Cuban athletes are a nation’s team, the Springboks, symbolized
source of collective pride and national unity. white South Africa with a white sport and with
National efforts to use sport for political pur- white players, Mandela did what he could
poses are not limited to Communist countries. to get blacks to think of this team as their
International sports victories are just as impor- team. Speaking to a black audience, and wear-
tant to nations such as Canada and the United ing a Springbok’s cap, Mandela said: ‘This
States. Canada has a federal agency, Sport Springbok cap does honor to our boys. I ask
Canada, and similar organizations at the you to stand by them because they are our
provincial level that work to promote sports kind.’ To which Sports Illustrated editorialized:
excellence. There is a federal Athlete ‘Our kind. Not black. Not white. South African.
Assistance Program, which gives living and The rugby team became a symbol for the
training grants to outstanding athletes. There country as a whole’ (Swift, 1995: 33).
is a network of national training centers, with
professional coaching, and a calendar of Sport as an Opiate of the Masses Sport, as
events. These efforts are made to enhance we have seen, can unite a nation’s citizens
Canadian nationalism and the Canadian state’s because the people are manipulated by propa-
legitimacy (Kidd, 1991; see also, Macintosh ganda and the use of symbols, because they
et al., 1987; and Macintosh and Whitson, 1990). unite in pulling together to defeat ‘them’, and
Since 1972, the United States has organized because of a shared pride in their country’s
sport to encourage athletic excellence in inter- athletic accomplishments. This unity stifles
national arenas. Athletes have been subsidized challenges to ruling elites and in so doing sport
by government and corporations, funds appro- serves as an ‘opiate of the masses’. For exam-
priated for the establishment of permanent ple, Janet Lever (1983) has shown how a fanat-
training sites and eligibility rules modified to ical interest in a sport (soccer) by Brazilians,
permit athletes to retain their ‘amateur’ stand- enables the poor to forget partially the harsh-
ing while receiving money for appearances, ness of their lives and thus inhibits efforts to
performances and endorsements. Also, com- change the social conditions that oppress them.
missions have been formed to investigate the Similarly, in l994, when Haiti was on the verge
‘problem’ of inferior international perfor- of a severe crisis, the embattled military ruler,
mances by US athletes. The clear assumption Raoul Cedras, paid for the broadcasting rights
behind these efforts was that if the United to the World Cup soccer matches. The spirits of
States made the appropriate commitment to its the Haitians were lifted as their adopted team,
athletes, they would prevail in international Brazil, was successful. Rather than massing in
sports – proving the superiority of its politico- the streets to demonstrate against a political
economic system. Not incidentally, such ath- regime that oppressed them, the masses
letic superiority would have the added benefit danced in the streets as their favorite team
of societal unity. won. Moreover, as the games were broadcast
Sport is also an instrument of national policy on the government-owned station, the rulers
among the developing nations. A study of the used halftime to inflame anti-American feel-
133 members of the United Nations in 1973 ings by showing footage of the US invasion
showed that although 26 per cent of all nations of Panama in 1989, focusing on the bombing of
had a cabinet-level post related to sport, 87 per residential areas (Squitieri, 1994). Thus, sport
cent of those classified as ‘developing’ had serves as both a temporary escape from the
such a position (Goodhue, 1974). The probable problems of world politics and as a safety valve
reason for such keen interest is that sport for releasing tensions that might otherwise be
 SOCIAL CONTROL AND SPORT 373

directed toward disrupting and changing the Most especially, sport advances male hegemony
existing power relationships in society (see in practice and ideology by legitimating a
Brohm, 1978; Hoch, 1972). certain dominant version of social reality.
Sport also acts as an opiate by perpetuating Bryson (1987) has argued that sport reproduces
the belief that persons from the lowest social patriarchal relations through four minimaliz-
classes can be upwardly mobile through suc- ing processes: definition, direct control, ignor-
cess in sports. Although the chances of this ing and trivialization. By definition, ‘dominant
occurring are exceedingly rare, most believe forms of sport in most cultures are played and
that sport is a mobility escalator. Again, poor organized in ways that work to the advantage
youth who might otherwise invest their ener- of most men and to the disadvantage of
gies and talents in changing the system work women’ (Coakley, 1998: 232–3). Male standards
instead on honing their athletic skills. The are applied to female performance, ensuring
potential for change is thus impeded by sport. female inferiority and even deviance. As Willis
has argued: ‘[The ideal description of sport] is
a male description concerning males. Where
Sport as an Agent of Ideological women become at all visible, then the terms of
Social Control reference change. There is a very important
thread in popular consciousness which sees
Sport, as a social institution, is conservative. the very presence of women in sport as bizarre’
Sport promotes traditional values and societal (1982: 120).
arrangements. To illustrate this assumption, Sports participation is expected for men.
this section examines how social control mech- Sport is strongly associated with male identity
anisms in sport are employed to foster the and popularity. For women, though, the situa-
status quo in three representative areas: the tion is entirely different. As Willis has stated:
transmission of societal values, traditional gen- ‘Instead of confirming her identity, [sports]
der roles, and compulsory heterosexuality. success can threaten her with a foreign male
Sport and the Transmission of Values Sport identity. ... The female athlete lives through a
serves to control persons ideologically by rein- severe contradiction. To succeed as an athlete
forcing society’s values among the participants. can be to fail as a woman, because she has, in
In the United States sport transmits the values certain profound symbolic ways, become a
of success in competition, hard work, persever- man’ (1982: 123). Superior women athletes are
ance, discipline, teamwork and obedience to suspect because strength and athletic skill are
authority to participants and observers. This is accepted as ‘masculine’ traits. Thus, since 1968
the explicit reason given for the existence of the International Olympic Committee has a
children’s sports programs such as Little mandatory sex test for women participants
League baseball and the tremendous emphasis (Cahn, 1994: 263).
on sports in US schools. Coaches commonly Women’s sport is minimized when it is con-
believe that they should not only teach sport trolled by men. This is the case in the gender
skills but that they should also promote values. composition of leadership positions in the
Thus, there is the common practice by coaches International Olympic Committee, various
of placing signs in locker rooms to inspire traits international and national sports bodies, the
in their athletes such as hard work, never giv- National Collegiate Athletic Association, and
ing up and teamwork. Some examples of the the administrative and coaching roles in
messages on these signs include: ‘The will to schools (Acosta and Carpenter, 1994).
win is the will to work’; ‘By failing to prepare Women in sport are minimized (and men
yourself you are preparing to fail’; ‘Winners maximized) when women’s activities are
never quit and quitters never win’; ‘United we ignored. The mass media in the United States
stand, divided we fall’ (Snyder, 1972). have either overlooked women’s sports or,
Whether sport actually transmits these when they are reported, the stories, photo-
values or not is an empirical question. As sport graphs and commentary tend to reinforce gen-
is organized, it clearly makes the effort. der role stereotypes (Eitzen and Sage, 1997,
According to Matza: ‘The substance of athletics Chs 11 and 14). Regarding the former, studies
contains within itself – in its rules, procedures, of television coverage indicate that men’s
training, and sentiments – a paradigm of adult sports receive about 92 per cent of air time.
expectations for youth’ (1964: 207). Moreover, 97 per cent of the athletic figures
employed in television commercials were
Sport and Traditional Gender Roles Sport males (Turner et al., 1995).
in its organization, procedures and operation Women’s sports are also ignored when
serves to promote traditional gender roles. cities and schools disproportionately spend
374 KEY TOPICS

enormous amounts on men’s sports. As inference, as less capable than men in many
Nelson has argued: areas of life. As Bryson has posited:

We live in a country in which the manly sports The dialectical element of the ideological processes
culture is so pervasive we may fail to recognize the underpinning contemporary sport is of crucial
symbolic messages we all receive about men, importance. These processes construct a form of
women, love, sex, and power. We need to take dominant masculinity and in doing so define what
sports seriously – not the scores or the statistics, is not approved. Each cultural message about
but the process. Not to focus on who wins, but on sport is a dual one, celebrating the dominant at the
who’s losing. Who loses when a community same time as inferiorizing the ‘other’. This domi-
spends millions of dollars in tax revenue to con- nant form of masculinity has been usefully called
struct a new stadium and only men get to play in hegemonic masculinity, and the message it con-
it, and only men get to work there? Who loses veys renders inferior not only femininity in all its
when football and baseball so dominate the public forms but also non hegemonic forms of masculin-
discourse that they eclipse all mention of female ity. (Bryson, 1990: 173)
volleyball players, gymnasts, basketball players,
It is important to note that while this dominant
and swimmers? (Nelson, 1994: 8)
ideology is perpetuated in many ways, it is
Women are also minimized when they are also challenged and contested with some suc-
trivialized in sport. As noted above, the media cess in all institutional areas, including sport
framing of the female athlete reinforces gender (Messner, 1988).
stereotypes. Considering photographs of Sport and Sexuality Sport has been socially
women and men athletes, Duncan (1990) constructed as a masculine activity. Young
found that these images emphasized gender boys are inducted into a fiercely heterosexual
differences: world of male toughness and competitiveness
l female athletes who are sexy and glam- that embodies a fear of effeminate and subor-
orous are most common; dinates gay men (Hargreaves, 1994; see also
2 female athletes are often photographed in Foley, 1990; Messner and Sabo, 1990; Pronger,
sexual poses; 1990). In the United States boys learn to play
3 in the framing of photos, male athletes are (gridiron) football, where they develop both a
more likely to be photographed in domi- social and a personal identity that is consistent
nant positions and female athletes in sub- with the hegemonic conception of masculinity
missive positions; (Sabo, 1987). This is the common pattern in
4 camera angles typically focus up to male other societies as well. In Australia, for exam-
athletes and focus down on female athletes; ple, virtually all boys are introduced to cricket,
5 female athletes are more likely to be shown football (soccer) and rugby, which contributes
displaying emotions. to ‘the construction of hegemonic masculinity’
(Bryson, 1990: 175). Boys who do not partici-
As Messner has argued: ‘The choices, the filter- pate in these manly sports are socially margin-
ing, the entire mediation of the sporting event, alized by peers as ‘sissies’. Older boys and
is based upon invisible, taken-for-granted young men who do not fit the dominant
assumptions and values of dominant social behavior patterns of masculinity often face
groups, as such the presentation of the event serious questions about their sexual orienta-
tends to support corporate, white, and male- tion, with labels such as ‘fag’, ‘gay’ and ‘queer’
dominant ideologies’ (1988: 204–5). used to describe them (Coakley, 1998: 236). A
Another example of the trivialization of common motivational ploy by some coaches is
women’s sports activities is the naming of their to question a male athlete’s heterosexuality
teams. A study comparing the unifying sym- (calling him a ‘pussy’ or a ‘fag’ or placing tam-
bols of women’s and men’s teams found that pons in his locker) if he does not play as
more than half of colleges and universities in aggressively as the coach demands. Curry’s
the United States employ names, mascots (1991) research on the male bonding in athletic
and/or logos that demean and derogate locker rooms found that the talk there focused
women’s teams (Eitzen and Baca Zinn, 1989). on the affirmation of traditional masculinity,
Thus, the naming of women’s teams tends to homophobia, and misogynistic slurs against
define women athletes and women’s athletic women. Curry reasons that athletes do not
programs as second class and trivial. want to be singled out as unmasculine in any
In short, the secondary treatment of women way. Thus, the ‘expression of dislike for
in sport culturally defines and perceives femaleness or homosexuality demonstrates to
them as inferior not only in sport but also, by oneself and others that one is separate from it
 SOCIAL CONTROL AND SPORT 375

and therefore must be masculine’ (Curry, 1991: SOCIAL CONTROL IN SPORT

128). Needless to say, gay males are not
welcome in the masculine sports world.
Female athletes, just as other women who Athletes engaged in sport beyond the informal
enter traditional male domains, especially play stage are subject to the authority of sports
those in sports that require strength, organizations. This section examines the organi-
endurance and aggression, face the social con- zational control of athletes and the roles within
trol mechanism of slander. sport that control the participants.

Slander against female athletes usually takes Organizational Control of Athletes

the form of describing them as mannish, butch,
musclebound, unpretty, unnatural, and otherwise Social order in sport is obtained through the
unfeminine. It contains two related messages: one, establishment of sports organizations with
that to be a female athlete is to be a lesbian (or at the authority to establish and enforce rules for
least in danger of becoming one), and two, that to the play itself as well as the determination of
be a lesbian is wrong. (Whitaker, 1982: 83) participant eligibility. The key to social order is
the term authority, which implies legitimate
Women in sport, more than men, endure power. That is, the authorities are vested with
intense scrutiny about their sexual identities. power and this power is accepted by those
Many in society fear that women in sport affected, either because of tradition, the law, or
transgress gender lines and that this disrupts charisma (Weber, 1947).
the social order. ‘The lesbian label is used to In the sports world there is a hierarchy of
define the boundaries of acceptable female authority over athletes and individual sports
behavior in a patriarchal culture. When a (Harmer, 1991). Assuming that the athlete is in
woman is called a lesbian, she knows she is out an ‘amateur’ team sport, the nearest governing
of bounds’ (Griffin, 1992: 252). organization is the club or school, followed, in
Lesbians are punished in sport. They are ascending order, by league, district association,
considered deviants. They are stereotyped by state association, national body and interna-
the media (Burroughs et al., 1995). Women tional body (for an analysis of international
(whether lesbian or not) sometimes face dis- sports organizations, see Houlihan, 1994:
crimination as they compete against men for 55–81). Another line of authority may involve
coaching or sports administration jobs specific events such as the Asian Games or the
because of the assumption of homosexuality. Olympic Games. Here, typically, political deci-
Some coaches openly prohibit lesbian athletes sions have barred the athletes from various
from participation. Highly successful athletes nations from participation (for example, the
(for example, Martina Navratilova) have lost 1964–91 Olympic ban of the Union of South
millions of dollars in endorsement money Africa). Professional sports have their own
after acknowledging their homosexuality. The organizations (for example, the National
Ladies Professional Golf Association has Football League is divided into 30 teams, two
faced allegations, epithets and innuendo that leagues with subdivisions, and a commis-
its athletes were disproportionately lesbian in sioner, who is elected by the team owners).
sexual orientation, which has damaged Political entities such as states or provinces and
women’s professional golf through losses of the nation-state constitute the final level of
sponsorships, television coverage and fan authority over sport. Legal authorities shape
support. sports in many ways. They subsidize through
The result is that many lesbian athletes and the building of sports arenas and furnishing
coaches stay closeted. Others develop a lesbian infrastructure such as roads and mass transit.
identity (Palzkill, 1990). Others resist and work They regulate (through licenses), restrict
with heterosexuals to overcome homophobia, (through taxation) and insist (through legisla-
heterosexism, and sexism in sport (Griffin, tion such as Title IX). They regulate television,
1992). The larger consequence of homophobia provide anti-trust exemptions to professional
in sport is that compulsory heterosexuality sports leagues, and define criminal codes
remains the norm. And, as with gender roles, (Wilson, 1994). National leaders may also
the mechanisms of social control in sport have decide to prohibit their athletes from partici-
sustained ‘compulsory heterosexuality [as] pating in an international event (for example,
part of a system of domination that perpetu- 34 Islamic nations prohibited their women
ates patriarchal relations and the wielding of from competing in the 1996 Olympics because
power over other sexualities’ (Hargreaves, participating violated Muslim rules for appro-
1994: 261). priate women’s dress).
376 KEY TOPICS

Sports organizations serve several controlling when they bet on a game or match). They also
functions. First, they provide the essential func- sanction negatively, again with considerable
tion of determining and enforcing the rules of variation, off-the-field behaviors by athletes,
a sport. Secondly, they decide who shall be such as criminal acts, use of recreational drugs
allowed to compete: ‘From Little League to and, most especially, gambling on sports.
interscholastic athletic teams to the Olympic The sanctions used by sports organizations
Games, entry into ever more competitive are- on deviant athletes, coaches and teams include
nas is not predicated on an individual’s desire reprimands, monetary fines (for professional
[or ability] to compete. Instead, it rests on the athletes), suspensions and expulsions (Lumer,
sanctioning of athletes by an appropriate 1995). While necessary, the imposition of these
sports authority body’ (Harmer, 1991: 24). The sanctions by governing organizations is not
sports authority bodies establish the rules of always fair (Yaeger, 1991).
eligibility. They do so to ensure fairness and
equalize competition (weight classes in boxing,
gender and age proscriptions, and minimal Controlling Roles
performance criteria). This gatekeeping func-
tion, while necessary, has been used, histori- Within each sport social organization there are
cally, to exclude or limit the participation of positions whose occupants exert control over
athletes from certain social categories. The others. This section focuses on three: officials,
notion of ‘amateur’ was used, for example, by coaches and participants.
the affluent to exclude members of the work- Officials A sports contest is governed by the
ing class from their athletic activities official rules of the sport. Officials (rule
(Guttmann, 1978). ‘Amateur’ has also been enforcers) are assigned by leagues or associa-
used as an exploitative ideology (Eitzen, 1989) tions to ensure that the rules of the sport are
whereby colleges and universities use ‘ama- enforced during each contest. These officials
teur’ athletes to generate considerable income (referees, umpires), interpret the formal rules
for the schools and the sponsoring organiza- of the game, assign penalties for infractions,
tion (Byers, 1995). African Americans were and keep the game under control.
excluded from participation in mainstream US Research on officials has focused on their
college and professional leagues, with rare psychological traits (Fratzke, 1975) and pro-
exceptions, from the First World War until after filed aspects of their subculture (Mitchell et al.,
the Second World War. This exclusion was a 1982). Other studies reveal that there is a vari-
consequence of tradition, Jim Crow laws, insti- ation of rule enforcement within the fluid
tutional racism and even explicit rules in the social context of a game (Askins et al., 1981;
bylaws of certain sports (for example, profes- Snyder and Purdy, 1987).
sional baseball, golf and bowling) (Chalk,
1975). Girls were excluded from participation Coaches Coaches have the formal tasks of
on teams in Little League baseball until the teaching and training athletes to maximize
‘boys only’ clause was dropped as a result of a their athletic performance and devising game
court case in the l970s. Women were kept from strategies that maximize the chances of
competing in Olympic track and field events winning. Most important, the coach/player
until 1928 by the men running the Inter- relationship is an asymmetrical power rela-
national Olympic Committee. Slowly, and tionship. Coaches decide who makes the team,
reluctantly, women’s events have been added who plays and when. They divine the pro-
to the Olympics, with women finally allowed cedures for determining and enforcing team
to run a marathon in the 1984 Olympics. rules. Coaches determine training schedules.
A third function of sports organizations is to They sanction player behaviors that they deem
control the athletes’ behavior on the field. detrimental to team goals.
While these bodies vary in their rules and There is a wide variation in coach-centered
enforcement zeal, they attempt to control power over athletes (Pratt and Eitzen, 1989).
excessive violence (Eitzen, 1985), the use of A few coaches are open and democratic, allow-
banned substances to enhance performance ing their athletes to make and enforce rules,
(see Wadler and Hainline, 1989, and Figone, and involving them in strategy decisions. At
1988, for the case in the United States; see the opposite extreme, some coaches are
Johansson, 1987, for the situation in Sweden; tyrants, demanding total obedience to their
and Pilz, 1988, for Germany), and point authority. Except for the most democratic
shaving (the unethical efforts by a player, coaches, most are either paternalistic (Shogan,
coach, or referee to keep the points scored 1991) or authoritarian in their methods. With
within the point spread used by gamblers few exceptions, coaches impose their will over
 SOCIAL CONTROL AND SPORT 377

athletes. The result is that often the privacy from such diverse settings as work
rights of athletes are violated, their individual (Roethlisberger and Dickson, 1939) and urban
rights denied, and in extreme cases, athletes street corners (Whyte, 1943) have found that
are subject to oppression, brutality and terror social norms, sanctions and roles emerge in
(Eitzen, 1992). informal interaction, resulting in social order.
Why are so many coaches autocratic? Some This social phenomenon has also been
have suggested that the coaching profession observed in sport settings where regulars par-
attracts those with inflexible and manipulative ticipate as individuals with others they see
personalities but empirical research does not during the activity but with whom they
support this contention (the following relies on exchange few words. Nixon (1986) found, for
Coakley, 1994: 191–8). The key to understand- example, that the regular participants in swim-
ing the tendency toward autocratic coaching ming constructed and maintained social order
behavior lies in the role of coach and the in that setting. This order involved an informal
unique demands they face. First, the limits code of behavior, enforcement of rules, and
on coaching behaviors are set by communities role differentiation. The social control mech-
and societies. Within the United States, for anisms by the participants included non-
example, there is wide approval for demand- verbal cues, polite verbal prods and even
ing, autocratic coaches. Most players accept aggressive retaliation.
their subordination to higher authority Wacquant’s (1992) ethnographic study of a
(Hughes and Coakley, 1991). Ironically, a boxing club/gym located in a Chicago ghetto is
democratic society permits, even demands, instructive concerning the informal but elab-
undemocratic coaches (Eitzen, 1992). orate social order maintained by the partici-
A second and crucial basis for authoritarian pants. These implicit norms of the club ‘are
coaches is the uniqueness of the coaching role. visible only in the conduct and demeanor of the
Coaches face distinctive pressures not found regulars who have progressively internalized
in other occupations. They are held totally them, and they are brought to explicit attention
accountable for game outcomes. The games are only when violated’ (Wacquant, 1992: 236).
unpredictable, highly visible and the outcomes Children at play also exert control over each
are objectively measured. Coaches react to other. Peers may mock behaviors that go
their pressured situations in three characteris- beyond their norms such as boys not being
tic ways. They seek public support by demand- aggressive or girls who are tomboys. Thus,
ing that their athletes behave according to behaviors are channeled in approved ways
community norms (in dress, demeanor, patrio- and gender is socially constructed (Kunesh
tism and religiosity). Moreover, they generate et al., 1992; Thorne, 1993).
community support by showing an absolute Male locker rooms are a sports setting where
confidence in their methods and strategies. the informal norms promote homophobia and
The other tactic is to control as much as pos- sexism. Peer group dynamics encourage such
sible. Thus, most coaches control on- and off- talk since to avoid such behaviors calls into
the-field behaviors, determine game strategy, question their masculinity (Curry, 1991).
and make all decisions during games. Ethnographic studies of sport subcultures
Coaches are subject to social control also. (for example, among bodybuilders, surfers,
Coaches are employed by clubs, schools and climbers, gymnasts) reveal that new members
professional teams. When their behaviors engage in the deliberate act of identity con-
go too far, they are subject to sanctions by struction; that is, they adopt the attitudes, style
those with authority over them. These out- of dress, speech patterns and behaviors of the
rageous behaviors include physical abuse of established members of the subculture
players, gambling, point shaving, drug abuse/ (Donnelly and Young, 1988). In short, the
alcoholism and insubordination. On rare occa- behavior of these neophyte members is con-
sions, coaches have been sanctioned because of trolled even before they become full members in
the initiatives of aggrieved players who com- the subculture through a process called ‘antici-
plained to authorities, threatened boycotts and patory socialization’.
brought grievances to the civil courts.

Participants Social control is not just the

result of actions from the powerful who super- FUTURE DIRECTIONS FOR RESEARCH
vise and manage those below them in a social
organization. Most significantly, social control As a central feature of social organization,
emerges from interactions among peers within social control has been studied and analysed
the informal social order. Sociological research by sociologists since the beginning of the
378 KEY TOPICS

discipline. Future research on social control construct the inequalities in power and
will continue to be grounded in the fundamen- privilege for women in sport?
tal social properties and processes of norms,
values, socialization, deviance, social inequal-
ity, power, hegemony and bureaucracy.
Future research, while based on the connec-
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Free Press. the Athlete. Philadelphia: F.A. Davis.
Pilz, Gunter A. (1988) ‘Fairness in sport – Eine fiktive Walton, John (1990) Sociology and Critical Inquiry: the
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Ethische Aspekte des Leistungssports. Clausthal- CA: Wadsworth Publishing.
Zellerfeld, Germany: Deutsche Vereinigung fur Weber, Max (1947) The Theory of Social and Economic
Sportwissenschaft. pp. 23–34. Organization (trans. A.M. Henderson and Talcott
Pratt, Stephen R. and Eitzen, D. Stanley (1989) Parsons). Glencoe, IL: Free Press.
‘Contrasting leadership styles and organizational Whitaker, Gail (1982) ‘Social control mechanisms:
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Homosexuality, and the Meaning of Sex. London: Willis, Paul (1982) ‘Women in sport in ideology’, in
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Boston, MA: Little, Brown. pp. 117–35.
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Wilson, John (1994) Playing by the Rules: Sport, Society, Wolff, Kurt H. (1964) ‘Social control’, in Julius Gould
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Wolfe, Alan (1991) ‘Introduction: change from the Yaeger, Don (1991) Undue Process: the NCAA’s
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California Press. pp. 1–13.
 25
SPORT AND VIOLENCE

Kevin Young

The concept of ‘sports violence’ is elusive. SPORTS VIOLENCE: MANIFESTATIONS

Like other aspects of the social process, such AND EXPLANATIONS
as culture, the family, or crime, everyone
thinks they know what it is until challenged Crowd Violence
to define it, or faced with having to do some-
thing about it. This is true not only for ordi- Sports crowd disorder is considered to have
nary members of the public, but also for become a critical social problem in many coun-
sports organizations themselves and those tries. Fans of British and European sport, par-
responsible for policing sport, including the ticularly soccer, have gained notoriety for their
courts. violent proclivities inside and outside stadia.
Most people usually conceive of sports However, violent crowd disturbances have
violence as falling into two areas – crowd also occurred with some frequency in many
violence (which often involves both crimes other parts of the world, including Australia
against persons and property) and player and New Zealand, Central and South America,
violence. In fact, if the conventional para- Africa, Asia and North America. In fact, disor-
meters of sports violence are broadened to derly incidents at sports have occurred in
include violent, abusive or otherwise injurious almost all societies containing rich sports
acts related to sport, it becomes clear that the cultures and consistent spectator followings.
subject may be far more heterogeneous than A wide range of sports have been affected,
commonly assumed. Other forms of violence some perhaps more surprising than others.
related to sport that go beyond crowd and These include baseball (Dewar, 1979), golf
player violence in the traditional sense are (Wade, 1978), cricket (Crofts, 1984; Gammon,
introduced below. 1981; Lynch, 1992), Australian Rules football
This chapter has three objectives: first, to (Main, 1985), wrestling (Kingsmore, 1968), ice
descriptively and interpretively outline the hockey (Smith, 1979, 1983), boxing (Crothers,
principal manifestations of sports violence 1996; Lang, 1981), horse racing (Vamplew,
both on and off the field; secondly, to highlight 1980), basketball (Greer, 1983), motorcycle rac-
the ways in which various aspects of sports ing (Cunneen and Lynch, 1988; Veno and Veno,
violence have been policed by the authorities; 1992), blood sports (Atyeo, 1979), lacrosse
and thirdly, to examine the relationship (Dunstan, 1973; Metcalfe, 1978), American and
between sports violence and the mass media. Canadian football (Young, 1988), rugby
The chapter concludes by summarizing the (Thompson, 1977) and, of course, soccer
approaches which show the most promise in (Dunning et al., 1988; Williams et al., 1984).
explaining the different aspects of sports- It is equally clear that sports crowd disorder
related violence, and by proposing some direc- is not isolated to the present, as numerous
tions for future research. historical accounts attest (Cameron, 1976;
 SPORT AND VIOLENCE 383

Cashman, 1992; Dunning and Sheard, 1979; account for sports crowd disorder by looking
Guttmann, 1981, 1986). Whether it is rival at social demographics such as religion, race
groups of spectators fighting at Australian and ethnicity. For example, numerous race-
cricket games in the mid-nineteenth century or related riots at US high school and college
English soccer games in the last quarter of the football and basketball games in the 1960s
nineteenth century, crowd problems at and 1970s support Edwards’s (1973) claim that
American baseball or football games during sports crowd disorder may develop out of
the inter-war years, or rioting fans at Canadian racial tensions. In Canada, Levitt and Shaffir
ice-hockey games in the 1950s and 1960s, the (1987) have shown how the Christie Pits softball
violent sports crowd is anything but new. riots in Toronto in 1933 resulted from a series of
anti-semitic acts perpetrated by English
North American Approaches Given the Canadians. What remains one of the largest
cultural significance of sport in North single crowd riots in the history of North
American life, and historical evidence of American sport – the Montreal ‘Rocket Richard’
crowd problems associated with North riots of March 1955 – has also been interpreted
American sport, remarkably little sociological in terms of ethnic hostilities between
work has actually been written on the phe- anglophone and francophone Canadians
nomenon. For the most part, much of the work (Duperreault, 1981; Katz, 1955).
that does exist is weakly theorized, ahistorical,
or outdated. However, at least three general
thematic orientations may be identified. The celebratory nature of sport A second
set of explanations for collective violence in
Social and psychological conflicts taking North American sport has been based on the
place in society Under this general heading, notion that the organization and structure of
a number of attempts have been made to sport encourages expressive and often aggres-
explain crowd disorder in terms of tensions sive behavior by players and fans alike, nor-
that have emerged in the second half of the mally under carnival-like conditions. Because
twentieth century between the fan, the athlete many sports spectators have an informed
and society. Fimrite (1976), for example, knowledge of their game, they can immedi-
argued that work and family pressures in ately identify the significance of an event either
American society cause widespread social in terms of seasonal goals (making the play-
frustration which becomes vented by crowd offs, winning championships) or in terms of
members at sports events. Similarly, Fontana the relations and rivalries that have developed
(1978) proposed that violent conduct in a historically between the contestants or, in some
sports crowd could be explained in terms of a cases, the fans. Unlike crowds in other social
loss of individuality in an increasingly compet- contexts, the result is that sports crowds show
itive, fractured and impersonal society. From a vested interest – a fanaticism – in the out-
this vantage point, disorder is seen as an come of the event at hand. Combined with
attempt to reassert individualism and personal factors caused by aggregation (physical close-
distinctness in a culturally meaningful setting. ness, milling, tension, noise), sporting contests
Based on these and similar assumptions, a are thus characterized by emotionally charged
so-called ‘re-integration’ thesis emerged in the behavior on the part of participants and spec-
1960s and 1970s focusing on spectators’ needs tators alike where proceedings can, under the
to re-establish forms of group identification appropriate conditions, ‘get out of hand’.
(Beisser, 1967; Petryszak, 1977). In the words of Adopting this approach, Listiak (1981) and
Irving Goldaber, founder of the now defunct Manning (1983) demonstrate how sport is
Centre for the Study of Crowd and Spectator a setting for organized revelry. Listiak, for
Behavior in Miami: example, uses the context of Grey Cup celebra-
... more people aren’t making it. You work hard, tions in Canada to show how widespread
you exist, but you haven’t got much to show for it. public revelry and in some cases disorder are
There are increasing numbers of people who are often rationalized by authorities, as well as
deeply frustrated because they feel they have very local business people such as bar owners. In
little power over their lives. They come to sporting a study of the macro and micro aspects of
events to experience, vicariously, a sense of power. North American sports crowd disorder, Young
(cited in Gilbert and Twyman, 1983) (1988) showed that stadium vandalism and the
now infamous post-event riot (see Table 25.1)
Also under the aegis of social conflicts tak- are consistently manifested forms of such
ing place in society fall approaches that excess. While the former has included the
384 KEY TOPICS

Table 25.1 Post-event riots in North America: select cases

Date Location Event Damage Source
June Vancouver Canucks lose Police react to thousands of Macleans, 27
1994 in Stanley disgruntled fans using tear June 1994
Cup Final gas, chemical spray and
a fatal rubber bullet. 1 dead,
200 injured (including 8 police),
50 arrests, and approx.
$500,000 (Cdn.) in damage
June Chicago Bulls win third 2 dead, 682 arrests, shops looted, Sports Illustrated, July
1993 NBA title cars burned, $150,000 in damage 1993
June Montreal Canadiens win 168 injured (including 49 police Macleans, 21 June
1993 Stanley Cup officers), over 110 arrests, stores 1993
smashed, $5 million (Cdn.) in
damage
February Dallas Cowboys win Fighting, vandalism, and looting Dallas Police Dept.
1993 Super Bowl results in 26 injured, 25 arrests, (personal
$150,000 property damage communication)
June Chicago Bulls win 1,016 arrests, 2 police officers shot Calgary Herald,
1992 second and 90 others suffer injuries, 14 fires 16 June 1992
NBA title set, 2 celebrants seriously burned
June Detroit Pistons win 8 dead, hundreds injured by fighting, Calgary Herald,
1990 NBA title stabbing and gunfire, over 100 arrests 16 June 1990
November Hamilton, Tiger-Cats Fires and vandalism resulting in Hamilton Spectator,
1986 Ontario win $55,000 (Cdn.) in damages, 1 Dec. 1986
Grey Cup 13 arrests, 1 police officer
hospitalized
May Montreal Canadiens Several thousand fans gathered in Globe & Mail,
1986 win Stanley downtown Montreal, 20 stores looted, 26, 27 May 1986
Cup 6 arrested, 76 charges of mischief &
breaking and entering laid,
$1 million (Cdn.) in damage
October Detroit Tigers win 1 dead, 80 injured, 41 arrested, cars Time, 29 Oct. 1984
1984 World overturned and burned, mass looting,
Series $100,000 in property damage
November Toronto Argonauts win $100,000 (Cdn.) tab for thefts and Toronto Daily Star,
1983 Grey Cup vandalism, 22 fans charged 29 Nov. 1983
October Pittsburgh Pirates win Over 100 arrests, over 100 injured, Time, 29 Oct. 1984
1971 World Series 30 shops looted, 2 sexual assaults,
8 armed robberies, 4 vehicles
overturned
October Detroit Tigers win Looting, fires, cars overturned, one rape, Time, 29 Oct. 1984
1968 World Series over 200 fans arrested

destruction of stadium property such as goal- structural conduciveness, Smith found one of
posts and the playing field, post-event revelry the most common causes of crowd hostility to
has involved widespread inebriation both be player violence and unpopular decisions by
inside and outside the stadium, brawling, loot- officials. These findings led Smith to conclude
ing, assault and even homicide (Johnson, 1993). that ‘Sport probably often exacerbates the very
strains that initially give rise to collective hos-
Precipitating factors at sports events A tility’ (1976: 205). Following Edwards and
third theme in North American work identifies Rackages (1977), C. White (1970) and Lewis
aspects of the sports event itself as precipitants (1982), Smith (1983) went on to validate the
to crowd disturbances. Smith’s (1976) early ‘violence-precipitates-violence’ hypothesis
work, for example, examined crowd violence using examples of crowd disturbances from
at a number of soccer games using Smelser’s hockey, baseball and basketball.
(1962) ‘value-added’ theory of collective Although some research into North
behavior. Focusing on Smelser’s notion of American crowd violence has attempted to
 SPORT AND VIOLENCE 385

couch the phenomenon in social, historical, impulses for young working-class adolescents.
and cultural antecedents, this body of work Writing in 1978, Marsh and his colleagues in
has tended to view disorder as a response to fact cautioned British authorities that the
aspects of the sports event itself. Dewar’s catharsis offered through soccer-related
(1979) attempt to link spectator fights at base- aggression contained social value, and that if
ball with such factors as the day of the week, they ‘take away the opportunities for boys and
starting time, seat location, inning of the game young men to engage in structured aggro, then
and temperature, and Green and O’Neal’s we might very well be faced with a set of prob-
(1976) account of how crowd size affects fan lems that are far more serious and much more
violence are classic examples. Consequently, difficult to control’ (p. 134). Ironically, then,
other than some isolated examples, surpris- from this point of view, authorities have been
ingly little is known about the social causes of faced with having to tolerate ritualized aggres-
sports crowd disorder or about the demo- sion at sports events such as soccer matches in
graphics, lifestyles and values of disorderly order to avert more ‘serious’ violence else-
fans in North America. This is a problem that where in society.
British research into soccer hooliganism has The approach of the Oxford School, and par-
attempted to overcome. ticularly its contention that hooliganism is
largely a ritualistic ‘fantasy’ of violence, has
British Approaches There seems little doubt met with strong criticism. What its advocates
that the greatest volume of research into sports failed to recognize was the regularity with
crowd disorder has examined forms and which serious, and sometimes fatal, injury has
causes of British soccer hooliganism. The been caused by violent soccer fans. In particu-
debates between sociologists on this issue have lar, Marsh paid little attention to the pre- or
become prolonged, complex and occasionally post-match context, where hooliganism has
fractious (cf. Dunning, 1994: 128–9; Williams, been particularly injurious for a very long time.
1991: 177) which, as a result, has made the Rather, the main focus of the Oxford work was
identification of certain strands within this on hand-to-hand combat between fans during
research rather complicated. While the recog- games. This completely overlooks several signifi-
nizable ‘Oxford School’, ‘Marxist’, ‘Leicester cant aspects of hooligan transaction, not the
School’ and ‘Cultural Studies’ camps continue least of which are highly organized clashes
to represent identifiable sets of ideas on the between rival fighting groups outside the sta-
hooligan question, it is also possible to identify dium, and aerial confrontations through the
more recent, perhaps less well known, but still use of missiles, both of which became well-
valuable approaches in this area. The different established characteristics of hooligan action
components of this body of work should not be during the 1980s. Moreover, theories focusing
thought of as mutually exclusive. No one on the ritual of soccer ‘aggro’ entirely omit any
approach is exhaustive; each has its own notion of structural differentiation within the
strengths and weaknesses. class background of violent fans, so fundamen-
tal to adequately explaining the phenomenon
The Oxford School ‘ritual of soccer vio- sociologically.
lence’ thesis Following observational work There is no denying some ritualistic dimension
at Oxford United Football Club in the 1970s, to the soccer crowd and soccer violence – many
Peter Marsh and his colleagues became the of the songs, chants, profanities and even aspects
principal exponents of the so-called ‘ritual of of inter-group fighting show elements of ritual.
soccer violence’ thesis (Marsh, 1975, 1982; But to argue that hooliganism is largely ritualis-
Marsh et al., 1978; Marsh and Campbell, 1982). tic, and that actual violence plays no more than a
Building on Tiger’s (1969) study of the aggres- peripheral role, raises serious doubts as to the
sive behavior of Men in Groups, Marsh concep- potential of this approach, particularly in the
tualized aggression as a constructive means of wake of (at this point) almost three decades of
controlling the social world in the process of widely reported, routinely injurious and, once
achieving certain goals. He argued that it is the again, occasionally fatal hooligan encounters.
specific culture of groups that determines how
aggression is expressed. With the focus on Social deprivation theses and the Marxist
Britain, soccer crowd disorder was thus viewed perspective of Ian Taylor Sports crowd dis-
as a unique cultural adaptation to the lower order has been explained in some North
working-class environment, which manifests American research in terms of the effects of
itself in terms of aggressive but largely sym- social deprivation and disenfranchisement.
bolic and harmless rituals in soccer stadia, and With respect to disorder that has occurred at
thus facilitates the release of aggressive British soccer games, several sociologists
386 KEY TOPICS

(Corrigan, 1979; Taylor, 1969, 1971, 1982a, contributions to the hooliganism debate locate
1982b) have posed similar hypotheses. The many of the participants themselves in an
work of Ian Taylor, which essentially interprets altogether different segment of the working
hooliganism according to two different histori- class than his earlier work. It is precisely this
cal periods, is foremost in this category. point of re-interpretation that has drawn criti-
First, Taylor argues that contemporary modi- cism in other research, particularly that of the
fications to the English game combined to bring Leicester School.
about changes in the behavior of traditional By situating soccer hooliganism in the con-
fans. Central to Taylor’s analysis are the con- text of changes that have occurred recently in
cepts of soccer subculture and soccer consciousness. the structure and form of the British game,
For him, the subculture of soccer in working- and in the effects of conservative politics on
class communities is comprised of groups of working-class experience as a whole, Taylor
working men culturally bound together in a succeeds in demonstrating that ‘no sensible
general concern – a consciousness – for the discussion’ (1987: 179) of this phenomenon
game and for the local team in particular. can proceed unless developed against a social,
According to Taylor, the rank-and-file supporter economic and political backdrop. His incisive
at the turn of the century viewed himself as a responses (1987, 1989) to the Bradford,
member of a ‘collective and democratically Brussels and Sheffield tragedies1 represent
structured enterprise’ (1971: 145) in which play- attempts to contextualize concrete events in
ers, managers, owners, and fans were all this fashion. Nevertheless, Taylor’s work has
engaged in a kind of working-class ‘participa- several limitations.
tory democracy’. First, Taylor nowhere provides convincing
However, Taylor notes that certain post-war evidence to support the notion of a ‘participa-
changes to the British game (its commercializa- tory democracy’ earlier this century. In fact, as
tion specifically) threatened this comfortable Carroll (1980) has noted, it is extremely doubt-
state of affairs. For the members of the working- ful whether current soccer hooligans are cog-
class soccer subculture, Taylor argues, these nizant of any ‘illusion of control’, as Taylor
changes had a traumatic effect. Their relatively puts it, or are concerned with regaining it.
deprived socio-economic status was, according Taylor’s image of a ‘golden age’ of British
to the argument, exacerbated by a feeling of soccer when all connected to the game shared
alienation from the clubs that traditionally pro- homogeneous backgrounds and experiences is
vided their cultural raison d’être. Taylor suggests in this sense more likely a romanticized image
that these groups constitute a ‘subcultural- of British sports history than one grounded in
rump’, and argues that it is principally they who fact. Second, if, as Taylor suggests, fans have
engage in rowdy conduct at soccer. Hence, prac- only recently turned to hooliganism through
tices such as the invasion of the playing field feelings of estrangement from the participa-
and the destruction of property in and around tory democracy of the club–fan relationship,
stadia are interpreted as attempts by the rem- how do we account for the soccer crowd dis-
nants of a working-class subculture to reclaim a turbances of the late nineteenth century and
game which has become increasingly removed early twentieth century when this relationship
from their control. From this perspective and, as allegedly reached a peak? Although he men-
Edgell and Jary have written, disorder repre- tions pre-1960 forms of violence sporadically
sents ‘a highly specific protest against football’s in his work, Taylor rejects the possibility of
loss of class exclusivity’ (1973: 227). extended phases of crowd disorder at soccer
In the 1980s, Taylor (1982a, 1982b, 1987, before the 1960s (which seems to have been
1989) revised portions of his earlier thesis in persuasively demonstrated in the empirical
accordance with his Marxist approach to argue work of the Leicester School). His failure to
that contemporary manifestations of soccer acknowledge the span of the phenomenon
hooliganism can better be understood if placed results in an overall lack of historical clarity in
against ongoing crises of the British state. Such his argument. Finally, since they are not based
crises included industrial and residential dis- on any systematic empirical work, many of
locations in working-class experience produc- Taylor’s insights regarding soccer hooliganism
ing differentiation within the working-class must remain speculative and impressionistic.
itself. For instance, Taylor (1987) argues that an
increased upper working-class jingoism – a Theories of working-class subcultures In
‘Little Englanderism’ as he called it – crystalliz- the 1970s, several researchers linked to the
ing during the period of Margaret Thatcher’s Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies at
Conservative rule exacerbated Britain’s hooli- Birmingham University, England ( J. Clarke,
gan problem. Thus, Taylor’s most recent 1973, 1978; Critcher, 1979; Hall, 1978) also
 SPORT AND VIOLENCE 387

attempted to locate soccer hooliganism in class perspectives. Unlike other approaches

terms of class and cultural experiences. As discussed so far, their work is grounded in
J. Clarke wrote: ‘Hooliganism comes out of the extensive and empirically tested comparisons
way in which the traditional forms of football of this phenomenon in its past and present
watching encounter the professionalization configurations. Theoretically, the group’s now
and spectacularization of the game. It is one of extensive body of work (cf. Dunning, 1979,
the consequences of the changing relationship 1990, 1994; Dunning et al., 1981, 1982a, 1982b,
of the audience to the game’ (1978: 49–50). In 1984a, 1984b, 1988; Maguire, 1986, 1988/89;
this way, soccer hooliganism was again inter- Williams, 1980, 1985, 1989, 1991; Williams et al.,
preted as a reaction by mostly working-class 1984, 1986, 1988) has been influenced most
males to commercializing processes develop- fundamentally by the ‘figurational’ or ‘process
ing in what has traditionally been seen as ‘the sociology’ of Norbert Elias (1978), and specifi-
people’s game’ (Walvin, 1975). cally Elias’s notion of the ‘civilizing process’.2
However, Clarke and others added to Supplementary impetus has also been pro-
Taylor’s thesis slightly by introducing a new vided by Suttles’s (1968) socio-anthropological
focus on adolescent subcultures (such as skin- work on the social order of American slums,
heads) emerging out of post-Second World War and by several social histories of British sport
changes in British working-class culture. (for example, Dunning and Sheard, 1979;
Clarke argued that, among other things, the Hopcraft, 1968; Hutchinson, 1975; Marples,
changing relationship between the generations 1954; Mason, 1980; Vamplew, 1980; Walvin,
in working-class communities had created 1975).
greater independence for youths, and resulted A key theme in the work of the Leicester
in fewer constraints placed upon them in the School, and one which represents a direct con-
public sphere, such as at sports events. Thus, flict with Taylor’s ‘Little England’ thesis, is that
traditional forms of crowd behavior at soccer hooligan groups are largely comprised of
such as profanity, pushing and other ‘con- individuals from the poorest sections of the
trolled’ forms of aggression now became seen working class. Dunning et al. argue that the
as escalating into more aggressive styles of hooligan’s deprived social condition is instru-
spectatorship at the hands of young working- mental in the production and reproduction of
class men. As Critcher (1979: 171) remarked, normative codes of behavior such as strong
‘Into the hiatus between the traditional sup- emphases on ties of kinship and territory,
porter and the modern consumer stepped the loyalty to peers and family, conjugal role sepa-
football hooligan’. ration, male dominance, and aggressive
There seems little doubt that the structurally expressions of masculinity. Their emphasis is
sensitive approaches of Taylor, Clarke and as much on the relational as on the material
others offer considerably more explanatory aspects of the position of these groups, and
insight into a complex social problem than the Dunning and his colleagues also stress the
ethological and microsociological ventures of reciprocity of ‘causation’ in the (con)-figurations
Marsh and his colleagues. However, as with concerned; that is, that the codes, bonding pat-
Taylor’s early work, Clarke, Critcher and terns and behavior of these groups, including
others produce little empirical evidence to sup- their hooliganism in soccer contexts, contribute
port the argument that hooliganism, at least in towards keeping them at the bottom of the
its 1970s and 1980s manifestations, has been a social scale.
response to destabilized working-class tradi- It is the reproduction of these social condi-
tions and values. Stability of working-class tions that is presumed to lead to the develop-
social relations in the pre-1960 era is a view ment of a specific violent masculine style
that both camps tend to assume rather too manifested regularly at soccer games. The con-
uncritically and, since both assume that soccer text is soccer because, as Dunning argues, ‘The
hooliganism began on a widespread basis for match on the field of play itself is a match as
the first time during the early 1960s, is a view they [the hooligans] see it on behalf of their
they are unlikely to relinquish. community, not just the wider city but in par-
ticular the working-class sections of their city’
The Leicester School and the ‘social roots of (Hooligan, 1985). This is the thrust of the
soccer violence’ thesis A number of socio- Leicester School’s ‘social roots’ explanation of
logists at the Universities of Leicester (Eric soccer hooliganism as it applies to Britain. In
Dunning, Patrick Murphy and John Williams) order to explain violence by English hooligan
and Loughborough (Joseph Maguire), fans at international soccer matches, we are
England, have situated the ‘sociogenesis’ of introduced to what Harrison had previously
British soccer hooliganism in historical and called the ‘Bedouin Syndrome’ (1974: 604).
388 KEY TOPICS

Simply stated, this suggests that in the same Centre for Football Research, 1988; Williams
way that rival neighborhood groups coalesce et al., 1984). This is a compelling aspect of their
to defend their ‘home territory’ against visiting work which others have been reluctant and/or
fans, so too is community solidarity of this unable to emulate.
type manifested on a regional scale (for ex-
ample, northern fans fighting against southern Other research on British hooliganism3
fans) and a national scale (for example, English Scholarly approaches to British soccer hooli-
fans fighting against Dutch fans). Hooligans ganism are diverse and go far beyond the
Abroad (Williams et al., 1984), the first of three parameters of these four models. Other studies
book-length studies produced by the Leicester which have contributed to the hooligan debate
group, was, in fact, an attempt to substantiate in Britain include: Murray’s (1984) social
such a scenario empirically in the context of history of the religious sectarianism that has
the 1982 World Cup in Spain. exacerbated hostilities between two Scottish
Much of the British research (for example, clubs and their supporters; Buford’s (1992)
Critcher, 1979; Marsh et al., 1978; Taylor, 1971, ethnography of life Among the Thugs; Hornby’s
1982b) has postulated that hooliganism began (1992) account of the dangerously obsessive
on a broad scale in the 1960s and is thus, his- appeal of soccer; Wagg’s (1984) Marxist-critical
torically speaking, quite recent. By contrast, appraisal of the cultural transformations tak-
historical work leads the Leicester School to ing place in the soccer world which have left
the conclusion that some patterns of soccer ‘spaces’ filled by the destructive activities of
crowd disorder can be traced as far back as the young working-class supporters; Redhead and
last quarter of the nineteenth century. In fact, McLaughlin’s (1985) and Robins’s (1984)
Dunning et al. argue that ‘every phase of the accounts of the intersections between soccer
Association game in Britain . . . has been accom- violence and the popular cultural and stylistic
panied by episodes of spectator disorder’ interests of young British men; Clarke and
(1981: 342), although the pre-First World War Madden’s (1986, 1987) socio-economic ana-
and post-1960 periods are seen as most prolific lyses of soccer’s fiscal problems; Redhead’s
in this regard. For example, the Hooligan docu- (1986) examination of the cultural meaning of
mentary shows that the English Football soccer for officials, players and followers;
Association was so concerned with increasing O’Brien’s (1988/89) descriptive account of how
crowd disorder prior to the Second World War soccer affects the lives of committed fans; stud-
that military personnel were frequently ies of hooliganism and social identity in
allowed into matches free of charge to help Scotland (Coalter, 1985; Finn, 1994; Giulianotti,
informally police the unruly crowds. 1994); studies comparing hooligan rates and
The work of the Leicester School has become practices in England and Scotland (Moorhouse,
extremely well known both in Britain and 1984, 1987); examinations of soccer, masculinity
internationally. It provides, arguably, the most and hooliganism in Northen Ireland (Bairner,
theoretically ambitious and, without doubt, 1995); and, finally, Giulianotti’s (1995) account
the most empirically tested approach to what of the methodological and hermeneutic com-
is clearly a complex social phenomenon. plexities in studying hooliganism.
Despite criticisms of having inflated the
‘problem’ of soccer hooliganism in earlier his- Research from other international contexts
torical periods (Curtis, 1986), Dunning and his Many countries where organized sport is
colleagues have gone far in mapping the socio- played, irrespective of the cultural or political
genesis of the phenomenon and linking it to background, have recorded problems of crowd
the broader culture in which it emerges. A key disturbances at one time or another. Regretfully,
strength of the Leicester School is that, quite however, despite a growing international
unlike other approaches, this perspective is body of work on sports crowd disorder, this
grounded in comprehensive and longitudinal literature remains limited, particularly that
empirical research (using methods as diverse portion of it written in or translated into
as content and archival analysis, participant English. There are no obvious international
observation, interviewing), not only of soccer schools of theory.
hooligan action, but also of the lifestyles, Perhaps best known of the work on sports
behaviors and attitudes of young men crowd disorder outside North America and
normally involved in hooliganism. This combi- the United Kingdom is Lever’s (1972, 1983)
nation of empirical and theoretical work has research on soccer in Brazil. Implementing
placed the Leicester School in a position to sug- a structural-functionalist approach, Lever
gest recommendations for conflict resolution shows how in South America, sport paradoxi-
and policy in this area (Sir Norman Chester cally demonstrates both unifying and divisive
 SPORT AND VIOLENCE 389

elements; unifying in the sense that it enhances experienced soccer hooliganism include:
inter- and intra-community relations, but divi- Greece, where fans behaved violently with
sive because it underlines that in Brazil only some consistency throughout the 1980s
empowered groups such as elite athletes may (Panayiotopoulos, 1989); France, where fans of
be socially mobile. Lever raises two important clubs such as Paris St Germain have been
issues. First, she shows how the way the known to attack police with tear gas, flares,
Brazilian government organizes and markets and other missiles, and where hooliganism has
soccer is consistent with the crude Marxist led to the closing of certain stadium sections
‘opiate of the masses’ argument. For example, and the playing of games behind closed doors
she writes that informal Brazilian policy ‘seems (Young, 1991a: 563); Spain, where violent inci-
to include the notion that soccer can be used to dents grew steadily during the 1980s
distract workers from their serious grievances’ (Gonzales, 1992); Belgium, where hooligan
(1983: 61). Secondly, and again paradoxically, fans have been known to meet each other to
this unofficial attempt to mask social depriva- fight on neutral territory (Van Limbergen,
tion apparently fails as often as it succeeds, 1989); Austria, where scholars have actually
since soccer games both consistently attract identified the existence of a ‘Viennese disease’
huge paying audiences and represent venues (Horak, 1991: 532); Sweden, where clubs have
for the expression of class conflict. The latter also been ordered to play games away from
includes the throwing of urine bags by home because of violent fan behavior (Calgary
working-class fans into sections of middle- Herald, 6 September, 1995: D2); and the
class fans. Lever ’s structural-functionalist Netherlands (Meijs and Van Der Brug, 1989;
approach cannot easily account for these lived Van Der Brug, 1994), Germany (Pilz, 1996), and
contradictions and her work is now outdated, Italy (Dal Lago and De Biasi, 1994; Roversi,
but her research constitutes a rich sociological 1991) where soccer hooliganism has for several
appraisal of the cultural meanings of sport in years intersected with far right politics and a
South America. More critical and updated burgeoning neo-Nazi movement.
accounts of sports crowd disorder in South Despite common references to a ‘British dis-
America may be found in Archetti and ease’, in terms of total numbers of fatalities,
Romero (1994) and Mason (1995); the latter some of the most serious cases of soccer crowd
shows evidence that a number of South disorder and stadium crushes4 in the history of
American countries including Argentina have the sport have not involved British supporters
‘been plagued by crowd violence in their stadi- at all. It is now well known, for example, that
ums’ (1995: 137). in May 1964 over 300 fans were killed in a riot
By now, most students of sports violence rec- that broke out at the National Stadium in Lima,
ognize the spurious nature of the claim that Peru (New York Times, 25 May 1964), and in
soccer hooliganism is a ‘British disease’. While another notorious case of soccer-related vio-
wanting to underplay neither the statistical lence, a one-week ‘soccer war’ was waged
normalcy nor the injurious outcomes of British between Honduras and El Salvador in the
hooliganism, it should be emphasized that this summer of 1969 following a game played
image is far from accurate. In content analyses between the two countries on neutral ground
of English newspapers, Williams et al. (1984) in Mexico. In order to end the conflict, the
unearthed over 70 reports of spectator disorder Organization of American States had to inter-
at soccer matches in 30 different countries in vene (Newsweek, 28 July 1969: 54). More
which English fans were not involved between recently, 83 people were killed and over 150
1904 and 1983. Additionally, research by others injured in a stampede linked to the dis-
Williams and Goldberg (1989: 7) has identified tribution of forged tickets at a World Cup qual-
numerous cases of hooliganism where English ifier held in Guatemala City in October 1996
fans were the ‘victims of foreign hooliganism’ (Sports Illustrated, 28 October 1996: 22).
rather than the assailants. Contrary to the popular myth that soccer
Notwithstanding significant cultural vari- hooliganism is unique to the United Kingdom,
ance in the nature and extent of hooliganism, then, soccer-related violence appears to have
evidence indicates that the phenomenon grew occurred wherever the game is played (see
in a number of European countries throughout Table 25.2). Young (1988) provides a long list of
the 1980s (Williams and Goldberg, 1989). examples from settings as diverse as Uruguay,
Prompted by domestic troubles of their own, Chile, the United Arab Emirates, China, Libya,
European scholars have increasingly turned Turkey, the former Soviet Union and
the spotlight on themselves, as may be wit- Bangladesh. A list published by the Office of
nessed by an expanding international litera- International Criminal Justice at the University
ture on hooliganism. Countries known to have of Illinois (1994) reports similar cases from
390 KEY TOPICS

Table 25.2 International sports crowd disorder: select cases

Date Location Sport Event Source
1985 Saudi Arabia Soccer Saudi spectators assault the Liverpool Echo, 7 June 1985
referee during a game played
against the United Arab
Emirates in Riyadh
1985 China Soccer More than 10,000 Chinese Globe & Mail, 10 May
soccer fans riot following a 1985: 1
loss to Hong Kong in a
World Cup qualifier
1989 Bangladesh Soccer 100 people hurt, including Calgary Herald, 26 Sept.
12 police officers, and 1989: A12
129 arrests made when
fans of rival teams fight in
port city of Chittagong
1989 Australia Cricket 24 fans arrested, over Lynch, 1992: 37
100 others evicted following
drunken celebrations during
a cricket game in Sydney
1990–93 Greece Basketball Numerous cases of fighting The European, 8–14 April
between rival supporters; 1994: 12
missiles thrown and cause
injury; teams ordered to play
games behind closed doors
1991 Chile Soccer 10 Chilean fans killed, Calgary Herald, 7 June
128 injured, 188 arrests as 1991: E4
fans ‘celebrated’ after
Liberator’s Cup
1993 Ghana Soccer 36 Ghanians injured after Calgary Herald, 11 Nov.
fighting breaks out at a 1993: E3
game between Ghana and
the Ivory Coast
1993 Zambia Soccer 30 fans injured in riot at Calgary Herald, 1 March
World Cup qualifying game 1993: D3
against Madagascar
1996 Guatemala Soccer 83 fans dead, over 150 Sports Illustrated, 28 Oct.
others injured in a crush 1996: 22
resulting from over-ticketing
in a World Cup qualifying
game in Guatemala City

Albania, Peru, Egypt, the Ivory Coast and football fans, Crofts’s (1984) and Lynch’s (1992)
Sudan. Semyonov and Farbstein’s (1989) work reports of crowd violence at cricket games
on the ecology of soccer riots in Israel is also in Australia, and Gammon’s (1981) account
worthy of note. of ‘unseemly behavior, on the pitch and off’
Finally, despite clear evidence that world (p. 37) in West Indies cricket.
soccer has more problems with violence off the
field than other sports, it should not be under-
stood as the only sport around which regular Player Violence
forms of collective violence have developed.
The few studies indicating the existence of vio- If crowd violence has prompted official and
lent crowds at other sports have unfortunately public concern, until recently this has been less
been theoretically unsophisticated and empiri- true of player violence, which has traditionally
cally limited but include Adedeji’s (1982) study been condoned in many settings as ‘just part of
of violence in Nigerian school sports, Main’s the game’. At the very least, this can be seen in
(1985) brief commentary on Australian Rules the way that aggressive and injurious practices
 SPORT AND VIOLENCE 391

are encouraged to occur as routine components 3 Quasi-criminal violence violates the formal
of games that would be socially and legally rules of the given sport, the law of the land
intolerable were they to transpire in other areas and, to a significant degree, the informal
of life. In fact, only a cursory glance at the norms of players. This type of violence usu-
nature and organization of sport is necessary ally results in injury and, as a result, con-
to demonstrate that many of our most popular siderable official and public attention.
sports, both at the recreational and elite level, Quasi-criminal violence in hockey includes
are immersed in cultures of aggression and so-called ‘cheap shots’ or ‘sucker punches’,
violence. and has often been responded to by in-
Several conceptual approaches have been house suspensions or fines.
offered for making sense of participant violence 4 Criminal violence includes cases so seriously
(Coakley, 1989; Goldstein, 1989). Emphasizing and obviously outside the margins of
the heterogeneous origins of the phenomenon, acceptability that they are handled as crim-
Coakley (1989: 88) cautions that ‘There is no inal from the outset. The broadly cited case
single cause of violence in sport’. According to used by Smith is that of Toronto hockey
him, the commercialization of sport with its player Paul Smithers who, as a teenager in
emphasis on heroic values and winning, the 1973, assaulted and killed an opponent in a
social organization of sports teams where ‘vio- parking lot following a local game.
lence becomes a means through which athletes
cope with the social psychological deprivations Although Smith’s socio-legal approach
they experience as team members’ (p. 97), and remains useful, it has two limitations. First,
the socialization of the athlete where violence as discussed below, there has of late been some
learning takes place, are among the most likely collapsing of his player violence categories
causes of player violence. prompted by shifting scales of public and legal
Perhaps the most widely adopted typology of tolerance. For example, incidents considered
player violence was developed by the Canadian ten years ago as ‘quasi-criminal violence’,
sociologist Michael Smith.5 In his 1983 book ‘borderline violence’, or merely ‘brutal body
Violence and Sport, and while aware of the reduc- contact’ are being more closely scrutinized
tionist tendencies of typologies, Smith classified today by the authorities and, where litigated,
player violence into four basic categories; the may be dealt with under criminal rather than
first two being relatively legitimate and the last civil law. Secondly, Smith’s typology overlooks
two relatively illegitimate in the eyes of both the manner in which aspects of player violence
sports organizations and the law: may grow out of the gender process.
From antiquity to the present, masculinist
1 Brutal body contact includes what Smith spectator sport has traditionally been pro-
called the ‘meat and potatoes’ of our most foundly violent (Guttmann, 1986). As a bur-
popular sports such as tackles, blocks, body geoning literature (see Waddington, Chapter 26
checks, collisions, hits and jabs. Depending in this volume) shows, male athletes especially
on the sport under consideration, these are appear to be hyper-susceptible to injury and
all acts that can be found within the official disablement.6 Athough parallels may be drawn
rules and to which most would agree that here between the occupational hazards of pro-
consent is given or at the very least implied. fessional athletes and those of other groups
2 Borderline violence involves acts prohibited (especially blue-collar workers in the heavy
by the official rules of a given sport but industries such as construction workers, meat
which occur routinely and are more or less packers, offshore oil workers, miners and pro-
accepted by most people concerned. duction line workers), most other types of
Examples include the fist-fight in ice workplace violence are neither normatively
hockey, the wandering elbow in basketball, perpetrated by co-workers nor seen in such a
soccer, or road racing, or the ‘knock-down’ positive fashion. Regarding professional
pitch in baseball or the ‘bouncer’ in cricket. athletes’ use of force, injuries and their mean-
Importantly, all of these practices carry ings, perhaps the closest parallel may be
potential for prompting further violence – found between athletes and military person-
the bench-clearing brawl in hockey, or retali- nel, who also follow strongly institutionalized
atory fighting in any of these other sports. regulatory structures – that is, they become
Traditionally, sanctions imposed by sports injured, maimed, or sometimes killed, and
leagues and administrators for borderline go on to receive commendations such as
violence have been notoriously light, and awards, medals, special honors, and tributes
fines have sometimes been covered by the for their dedication and sacrifice. Official
clubs themselves. recognition of this nature serves not just to
392 KEY TOPICS

honor the individual involved but to rationalize they do to racehorses’ (Leiber, 1989: 16). In a
any doubts one might have as to the merit of way, male sports ‘workers’ become locked into
the act, and ultimately consolidates it in domi- an occupational trap. Despite acknowledging
nant ideology as admirable and manly. that playing with injuries can lead to perma-
Feminist work on sport and gender (Bryson, nent physical damage, most are aware of their
1987; Messner and Sabo, 1990; Theberge, 1997; commodification by an industry largely intol-
Young et al., 1994; White and Young, 1997) erant to injury. Under further pressure from
urges us to understand male tolerance of risk cultural requirements to display a particular
and injury linked to sports violence not only as brand of tough and unemotive masculinity, the
a passive social process but as a constituting professional athlete falls prey both to legally
one through which violence, injury and dis- binding contractual obligations (‘play or don’t
ablement become reframed as masculinizing. get paid’) and to the revered values of his own
Thus, the cultural meanings of sports violence work culture (‘play hurt and show that you can
and living with injury for many men is linked take the pain like a man’). As we have seen,
to ideological issues of gender legitimacy and this is particularly true of heavy contact sports
power, and rather than being understood as such as ice hockey and football where dis-
mere rituals associated with sport, now reflect course is often telling. For example, the phrase
wider forms of gender ordering. ‘you play unless the bone sticks through the
As students of contrived sports identities (cf. meat’ has long been used to rationalize injury
Coakely, 1989; Donnelly and Young, 1988; in North American football. Emphasizing the
King, 1996) have suggested, many sports are gendered and often gynephobic trappings of
replete with players who have deliberately forceful sports models, Messner has noted, ‘To
carved out gladiatorial, Rambo-like images for get the most out of athletes, coaches tend to ...
themselves in accordance with the assumed threaten the athlete’s masculinity and call him
cultural expectations of their peer groups and a “sissy” or a “woman” if he doesn’t play
hegemonic notions of manliness more broadly. while he’s hurt’ (1992: 101). Similar evidence of
Although players of certain positions (linemen institutional complicity in player violence and
in football, central defenders in soccer, for- injury is provided by Vaz (1982), Colburn
wards in rugby) are typically singled out for (1985) and Smith (1983) with regard to macho
purposes of illustration, this masculinizing participant roles and values in ice hockey.
practice may actually be far more institutional In sum, while the causes of player violence
than individual. The views of an NFL player are diverse, it is important to note, as Coakley
on the ‘adrenaline surge’ he gets from ‘decleat- (1989: 97) reminds us, that they are inevitably
ing’ opponents are far from unorthodox: ‘grounded in the social processes involved in
the sport experience and in the socio-structural
I don’t mind that I’m going to break blood vessels
context in which sport exists’.
in my forehead when I hit somebody . . . I enjoy
hearing guys wheeze and seeing the snot run
down their faces. I like the rush of numbness that Other Forms of Violence Related
goes through my body. (‘The Poet’, 1991: 64) to Sport
Messner (1990) documents similar cases of the
Following the definitional argument made in
violent appetites of many male athletes. For
the introduction, incidents of sports-related
hockey ‘enforcers’, football ‘warriors’, rugby
violence in the past few years have included
‘barbarians’, soccer ‘hard men’ and the like, the
not only the aggressive practices of soccer fans,
costs of violence and injury become mediated
and the usual spate of on-field assaults and
by the contributions they are assumed to make
catastrophic injuries done by and to athletes,
to male peer group solidarity at and away from
but also, for example:
the arena.
At the professional level at least, such mas- • A pipe bomb explosion at the Centennial
culinizing features of male sport also function Olympic Games that killed 2 people and
as occupational imperatives with very practi- injured over 100 (Sports Illustrated, 5 August
cal consequences. For example, many athletes 1996: 22–31).
feel an economic in addition to cultural pres- • The stabbing of a female professional tennis
sure to work through body crises such as player – the Monica Seles case (Sports
injury in order to sustain what for most is an Illustrated, 17 July 1995: 18–26).
inevitably brief career anyway. In the words of • The involvement of a world-class female
another NFL player whose leg was broken in figure skater in the off-ice assault of an
the 1988 Super Bowl, ‘My career is in my legs. opponent – the Tonya Harding/Nancy
My position is in jeopardy. You know what Kerrigan case (Time, 24 January 1994: 34–8).
 SPORT AND VIOLENCE 393

• The rape conviction and jail term of a world research emphasizes the heavily gendered
boxing champion (Mike Tyson) who is underpinnings of athlete–athlete and fan–
known to have made the claim ‘I like to athlete victimization.
hurt women when I make love to them’
(Sports Illustrated, 31 July 1995: 62–74).
• The murder trial of an American football
‘hero’ – O.J. Simpson (Newsweek, 11 July POLICING SPORTS VIOLENCE:
1994: 20–7) DETERRENCE, LITIGATION
• The depressingly common involvement of AND SOCIAL CONTROL
male athletes in sexual assault against
women (cf. Benedict and Klein, 1997). Crowd Violence
• The disclosure of the involvement of many
male athletes in what Sports Illustrated aptly Concern with sports crowd disorder has
called ‘sport’s dirty little secret’ (31 July prompted solicitous responses around the
1995: 62), that is, partner abuse. world. Proposed and implemented measures
• Widespread cases of harassment, stalking emanate from a number of groups represent-
and threat throughout the world of sport ing diverse interests, although in most coun-
that have spawned a thriving muscle-for- tries they have been initiated almost
hire security industry for both male and exclusively by legal authorities, politicians and
female athletes (USA Today, 14 July 1995: sports officials. With the notable exception of
3C).7 the British context, scholarly assessments of
• Scandals throughout most levels of social control measures introduced to curb
Canadian hockey regarding the sexual crowd violence are actually quite rare.
abuse of young boys, some of whom, now So many recommendations for resolving
as adults, are beginning to ‘go public’ with hooliganism have been offered in the United
their histories of victimization.8 Kingdom that there is space here to summarize
only a select few. During the 1980s, the
As far as we can tell, cases such as these may Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher
represent only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. perceived hooliganism as a national social
They are not normally thought of as ‘sports problem requiring remedial action. A so-called
violence’, but they are all clearly intentionally ‘War Cabinet’ was implemented and aimed,
abusive or injurious acts that cannot easily be especially in the immediate post-Heysel (1985)
separated from the sports process and that era, at resolving the hooligan issue. In practice,
only begin to make sense when the socially, however, a number of what have been called
culturally and historically embedded character hit-and-miss and present-centered policies
of sport is closely scrutinized. The domestic were introduced that increased criminal
violence cases particularly underscore the fact charges and harsh sentencing procedures but
that, far from operating as a world apart, the ultimately did little to resolve the problem of
problem of violence related to sport interfaces hooliganism per se. For example, the 1984–1985
with problems of violence elsewhere in society. soccer season in England witnessed the first life
At the time of writing, and possibly due to jail term imposed on a violent fan (although it
the methodological complexities of tapping was subsequently rescinded by the courts).
these kinds of sports-related acts by compari- In fact, the British government has sponsored
son with crowd or player violence, little empir- investigations into hooliganism since the late
ically validated work has been done and even 1960s.9 For the most part, documents resulting
less is actually known about any one of these from these inquiries have met with criticism
‘other’ forms of sports-related violence. from sociologists concerned with the long-term
Research that is available includes examina- effectiveness of law-and-order responses.
tions of the intersections between sex, violence Typical here was the Report of Committee of
and power in sport (Lenskyj, 1990; Messner Inquiry into Crowd Safety and Control at Soccer
and Sabo, 1994), studies of male athletes and Grounds supervised by Mr Justice Popplewell
sexual assault (Benedict and Klein, 1997; following the 1985 Bradford fire and Heysel
Crosset et al., 1995; Melnick, 1992), and Stadium riot. Taylor’s (1987) description of the
accounts of fraternal bonding and rape culture report’s content is broadly applicable to most
in sport (Curry, 1991). Importantly, in addition other official reports written to date:
to raising critical questions regarding the cul-
tural significance of sport that leaves (espe- The Report is ... notable for the general support it
cially elite) athletes relatively immune to gives to the theory, held to so fruitlessly by author-
charges of abuse and assault, all of this ity in Britain since the mid-1960s, that there is
394 KEY TOPICS

some kind of solution to the problem of soccer thoughtful social change is likely to seriously
hooliganism in the extension of police powers of challenge the hooligan problem. Recognizing
search and arrest and in the general revision of the the unlikelihood of such social change in the
criminal law. (p. 174) immediate or long term, the Sir Norman
Chester Centre for Football Research (1988) has
Similar criticisms have been made of mea- made or supported several practical recom-
sures taken by British soccer clubs themselves, mendations for tackling hooliganism domesti-
some of which can only be described as des- cally and abroad. These include more efficient
perate. Such was the case with Chelsea and careful ticket distribution, comprehensive
Football Club in 1985 when the club chairman travel schedules enabling specially appointed
suggested installing an electrified fence stewards to supervise groups of travelling
around the playing field until the Greater fans, fan membership schemes, adequate seg-
London Council pressured him and his club regation by host clubs, the establishment of
into rejecting the idea.10 Most other measures stronger community links with soccer fans,
taken or considered by sports officials have and even treatment programs for hooligan
been more thoughtful, if no more successful. offenders. However, it remains the case that
Possibly the most widely publicized sugges- there is little agreement between scholars, soc-
tion in this regard was the idea of introducing cer officials and the authorities with respect to
a national identity card scheme aimed at appropriate responses to hooliganism, and that
removing the protection of anonymous mem- harsh criminal sanctions tend to resurface in
bership in the soccer crowd normally enjoyed the wake of highly publicized hooligan
by hooligan fans. From its inception, the encounters.
long-term effectiveness of the scheme was While it is often assumed in North America
questionable. Critics raised concerns about the that sports crowd disorder is minimal and
feasibility of implementing an expensive iden- unworthy of scholarly attention, there is evi-
tity card program at a time of fiscal retrench- dence to suggest that a large number of clubs
ment, especially when many of the larger clubs are also sufficiently concerned with a per-
in Britain enjoy huge cumulative regular and ceived crowd disorder problem to have
occasional spectator followings. Additional attempted corrective measures of late (Young,
concerns surrounded the wisdom and practi- 1988). Generally, these changes have taken the
cality of introducing a widespread identity form of revisions in security procedures and in
card program when those with hooligan pro- the sale of alcohol, and efforts to decrease the
clivities represent a relatively small percentage abusive, destructive and violent behavior of
of the total fan population. fans. Other specific examples include stiff
Assuming that violence inside stadia is increases in fines for trespassing on the field of
caused or exacerbated by the traditional play, increases in numbers of security person-
arrangement of standing to watch soccer nel at games and reductions in the level of
games, most British clubs have in recent years police tolerance regarding profane, abusive
reconfigured their stadia to include all-seat and/or violent fan conduct, the construction of
arrangements. Since a significant amount special family enclosures and protective tun-
of hooligan violence still occurs outside the nels for players to enter and exit from the play-
stadium itself, and since hooligan groups have ing area safely, the closing of stadium sections
been known to vandalize newly installed seat- known to contain consistently disorderly fans,
ing, and have been captured on film using and increases in frisking at stadium entrances.
seats as missiles in aerial confrontations with While North American clubs have also
police, the long-term effectiveness of curbing expressed concern with alcohol-related
hooliganism by changing the stadium environ- offences, and while recommendations are reg-
ment once again remains uncertain. ularly made by officials and police to restrict
In contrast to measures of this type, scholars the sale of alcohol, the vast majority of North
have generally been critical of looking solely to American stadia continue to sell alcohol.
game-centered solutions for soccer hooligan- Although many stadia have reduced the
ism, and the implementation of short-term strength and volume of the alcohol they sell
punitive measures. Events over the past two and frequently terminate sales prior to the end
decades in the United Kingdom show that the of the game, these attempts may be understood
incidence of hooliganism does not decrease as in part as public relations efforts by clubs to
more draconian policies are imposed. Despite mollify frustrated orderly fans and other con-
their theoretical differences, both Taylor and cerned parties. Young’s (1988) data suggest
Dunning would agree that since hooliganism that clubs experiencing security problems with
is symptomatic of broader social crises, only inebriated fans have at times underplayed the
 SPORT AND VIOLENCE 395

seriousness and number of offences taking charges related to Canadian ice hockey
place. This may be explained by the fact that (including 6 civil suits and 60 criminal charges)
many North American clubs are actually spon- between 1905 and 1982. As Young (1993) has
sored or owned by breweries. noted, the routine litigation of sports assault
As Williams (1985) indicates, a similarly cases in Canada is, however, a post-war and
delicate scenario exists for British soccer clubs. relatively recent phenomenon. For example,
The Control of Alcohol Bill, introduced in 1985, approximately 75 per cent of Watson and
has banned the possession or consumption of MacLellan’s cases occurred between 1972 and
alcohol inside all soccer stadia; this again rests 1982. Similarly, an extensive review of the case
uneasily with the fact that many clubs are law leads Reasons (1992) to identify what he
sponsored by breweries. One might note here calls ‘the emergence of a “hockey crime wave”’
that suggestions to reduce or ban the sale of (p. 9) in the 1970s.
alcohol at sports events, a popular position An examination of sports law on both sides
with politicians, may in fact not be as effective of the Atlantic since the 1970s suggests that at
as is often assumed. For example, in the United both amateur and professional levels athletes
Kingdom anti-alcohol policies have had only are increasingly concerned with their legal and
limited results since fans who choose to do so civil rights. While the masculinist culture of
are quick to discover new and innovative ways sport still generally condones the violent
of drinking. premise of sports such as football, rugby and
ice hockey, and while many players still expect
to get hit, hurt and injured (Messner, 1990;
Player Violence Nixon, 1993; Young et al., 1994), part of this
revelation is that excessively forceful conduct
As essentially self-regulating organizations, may be unacceptable and redressed legally.
much like those of doctors and lawyers, sports This reasoning has prompted a recent increase
leagues have traditionally preferred to practice in the numbers of players willing to move
their own versions of common law in dealing beyond traditional codes of in-house policing
with player misconduct. This has included and initiate charges against other players, as
punitive responses such as warnings, fines, well as against coaches and owners, for
suspensions and other forms of deterrence. In various ‘assaults’ on their bodies.
North America, until the 1970s, such a process In a review of litigated sports violence cases
of self-regulation and in-house accountability from the 1970s involving charges of assault,
met more or less with legal approval (Barnes, Horrow (1982) described some of the common
1988: 97) and, where litigated, sports violence defenses that jeopardize judicial resolution in
cases typically troubled judicial experts. favor of the plaintiff: the ‘Battery and the
Although much of the player violence occur- Problem of Establishing Intent Defense’; the
ring in Canada and the US satisfies the require- ‘Assumption of Risk Defense’; the ‘Consent
ments of assault set out in their respective Defense’; the ‘Provocation Defense’; the
criminal codes, it is equally clear that assault in ‘Involuntary Reflex Defense’; and the ‘Self
sport is, in principle at least, distinguished by a Defense’. Still applicable to Canadian law in
degree of immunity from criminal liability. the 1990s, this list is by no means exhaustive of
Evidence for the inconsistent interpretation of all defenses available or those used, but it
legal jurisdiction over sports violence may be underlines the difficulty litigators have had
found in the now hundreds of investigations separating illegal from aggressive but never-
across the continent reviewed in socio-legal theless acceptable play. Underlying notions of
research (Barnes, 1988; Horrow, 1980, 1982; voluntary assumption of risk (or, what in legal
Reasons, 1992; Smith, 1983; Young, 1993; jargon, is known as volenti non fit injuria) have
Young and Wamsley, 1996). Many other ex- become associated with most of them (Young,
amples remain scattered and untapped in case 1993).
law annals. Such is true in National Hockey League
To my knowledge, no one has conducted a (NHL) case law (Reasons, 1992). A precedent-
systematic analysis of all sports assault cases setting example, the 1969 R. v. Green case,
over the twentieth century in any one setting, showed evidence that Ted Green of the Boston
although Grayson’s (1988) review of British Bruins came off the boards and swiped his
law and Barnes’s (1988) meticulous survey of opponent Wayne Maki with the back of his
Canadian law remain the most comprehensive glove. Maki retaliated by chopping Green on
exegeses in this regard. Of the few quantitative the head with his stick. In Horrow’s (1980: 19)
studies that do exist, Watson and MacLellan account, ‘Green sustained a serious concussion
(1986) found 66 cases of player–player assault and massive haemorrhaging. After two brain
396 KEY TOPICS

operations, he regained only partial sensation grievances initiated by players against other
and has never recovered 100 per cent.’ While players, a review of the case law suggests that
charges were brought against both players, their numbers are growing. As D. White (1986:
Green, having used a ‘self-defense’ argument, 1030–4) has argued:
was acquitted with the following judicial
There is a clear trend that the criminal justice
assessment:
systems in Canada and the United States are
No hockey player enters onto the ice of the becoming more and more willing to control illegal
National Hockey League without consenting to violence in sports ... Canadian prosecutors have
and without knowledge of the possibility that he is used the criminal law . . . frequently against ath-
going to be hit in one of many ways once he is on letes accused of violently injuring fellow players.
the ice ... we can come to the conclusion that this There have been more than one hundred criminal
is an ordinary happening in a hockey game and convictions for offences involving player–player
the players really think nothing of it. If you go violence in the last fifteen years.
behind the net of a defenceman, particularly one
To date, case law indicates that charges and
who is trying to defend his zone, and you are
convictions for assault causing bodily harm are
struck in the face by that player’s glove, a penalty
most widespread, although criminal charges of
might be called against him, but you do not really
common assault, and even manslaughter and
think anything of it; it is one of the types of risks
homicide are being heard (Reasons, 1992: 25).
one assumes. (Horrow, 1980: 186)
Along with boxing, hockey appears most
Perhaps more than any other single act of frequently in criminal reports, especially in
player violence, fist-fighting in ice hockey has Canada. Indeed, as Reasons notes, ‘it may be
been comprehensively researched (Bloom and said that Canada leads the common law world
Smith, 1996; Goranson, 1982; Gruneau and in criminally prosecuting its athletes for crimi-
Whitson, 1993; Smith, 1975, 1979, 1983; nal violence’ (1992: 8). A number of highly
Weinstein et al., 1995; Young and Smith, publicized cases from other international con-
1988/89; Young and Wamsley, 1996). It has texts suggest a wider trend toward the crimi-
been a common court response to fight-related nalization of sports violence. In the past
injuries to acquit defendants on similar grounds decade, such cases include assault charges
of consent. This has been true at both profes- brought against a Canadian NHL player,
sional and amateur levels in Canada. Horrow manslaughter charges against another
(1980: 186) cites the Ontario case of R. v. Starratt, Canadian playing in the Italian Ice Hockey
where the court argued that fist-fighting was League, a Scottish soccer player jailed for three
so frequent in the NHL as to be viewed ‘nor- months for head-butting an opponent, and a
mal’ as long as the force of the fight ‘does not French soccer star playing in England sen-
exceed that level authorized by the other play- tenced to two weeks in jail for kicking a spec-
ers’. More recent Canadian cases are detailed tator (see Table 25.3). Drawn from professional
in Young and Wamsley (1996). or top-level amateur sport, these are all ex-
In brief, players have traditionally been amples of player violence entering the juris-
understood to either express or imply consent diction of either civil or criminal law. Over the
to certain levels of force used against them, same ten-year period, dozens of similar inci-
except in cases of extraordinarily savage and dents at the amateur and recreational level,
injurious attacks. As tolerated as sports vio- including college and high school, have
lence cases have been historically, their pres- resulted in charges, litigation, and/or prosecu-
ence in tort and criminal law, coupled with tion across North America.
what appears to be a decreasing social toler- However, it would be a mistake to assume
ance towards aspects of violence generally, has that legal intervention into sports violence has
led litigators to more stringently re-evaluate been uncontested or unilinear; this is not the
certain sports offences as excessive and unjus- case. In general, player violence is still defined
tifiable (D. White, 1986). Contrary to its legal ambiguously at best, and there remains little
conventions, volenti does not imply absolute agreement among sports administrators and
consent, but consent only as a matter of degree. legal authorites as to the acceptable limits of
Needless to say, absolute notions of volenti are aggressive, injurious, or otherwise risky sports
further diluted by acts of violence occurring conduct. Also, while civil and criminal charges
outside the rules of games, or after the play has against athletes may be on the increase, prose-
stopped, neither of which are given direct or cutions remain rare and sentences light. For
implied consent by players. example, in the first of the cases cited above,
While, again, there has been no systematic hockey player Dino Ciccarelli’s conviction on
tally of litigated sports violence cases involving an assault charge was followed by a sentence
 SPORT AND VIOLENCE 397

Table 25.3 Recent ‘sports crimes’: select cases

Year Location Sport Charges and Legal Ruling Source
1994 Italy Ice hockey Canadian ice-hockey player Jimmy Boni Macleans, 28 Feb.
charged with intentional homicide in 1994: 11
on-ice death of opponent. Boni eventually Sports Illustrated, 6 Dec.
pleads guilty to the reduced charge of 1993: 66–79
manslaughter and is fined $1800 (Cdn.)
1994 Wales Rugby Welsh rugby player Howard Collins Calgary Herald, 22 Dec.
sentenced to up to 6 months in jail for 1994: D2
stomping on an opponent’s head
1995 England Soccer Manchester United star Eric Cantona Calgary Herald,
charged with common assault and 24 March 1995: D3
sentenced to 2 weeks in jail for kicking
a fan
1995 England Rugby Rugby player Simon Devereux found guilty The Sun, 23 Feb.
on charges of grievous bodily harm and 1996: 16
jailed for 9 months by English court for
punching an opponent
1995 England Soccer Scottish soccer player with 3 previous Toronto Star, 26 May
convictions for assault sentenced to 1995: C10
3 months in jail for head-butting opponent
1995 Australia Cricket 18-year-old Alexander Natera is charged Toronto Star, 17 May
with unlawful killing after he clashed 1995: B7
heads with an opponent in a rugby game.
1996 Canada Ice hockey Criminal charges, including assault, Globe & Mail, 28 Feb.
laid against Canadian university players 1996: 12
who swarm referee, punch and spear him
with sticks following controversial goal
in play-off game.

of one day in a Toronto jail of which he spent messages that accompany violence; messages
less than two hours in a cell signing auto- often serving to condone or legitimize the
graphs (Sports Illustrated, 5 September 1988: behavior of violence-doers. Nowhere do these
34). At the same time, massive variability messages seem to be more blatant and perva-
within and across societies in the implementa- sive than in media presentations of sports.
tion of the law in sports continues to under- Precisely how much sports violence is given a
mine the integrity of legal intervention. And positive slant is not known, but unquestion-
complicating this legal quagmire further still, ably the media frequently convey the idea that
there remains no compelling evidence that violence is accepted, even desirable, behavior
criminalizing player violence actually works. and that violence-doers are to be admired. This
is done in a myriad of ways, some crude, some
artful, some probably a reflection of the accep-
SPORTS VIOLENCE AND THE MASS tance of pro-violence values and norms by
media personnel. Examples may be found in
MEDIA an expansive literature (Adams, 1978; Gillett
et al., 1996; Hall, 1978; Murphy et al., 1988;
Because the various manifestations of sports Smith, 1983; Walvin, 1986; Whannel, 1979;
violence reach most people indirectly through Young, 1986, 1990, 1991b, 1993; Young and
the mass media, it seems reasonable to argue Smith, 1988/89).
that the media must take some responsibility Notwithstanding qualitative differences in
for our perceptions and misperceptions of the the conventions and approaches of media out-
forms and meanings the phenomena assume. lets (Young, 1990), Hall’s (1978: 26) early
One of the most common sociological description of the treatment of soccer hooli-
approaches to understanding the relationship ganism in the British popular press since the
between sports violence and the media – the 1960s is in a sense indicative of the manner in
so-called ‘legitimation’ perspective – focuses which soccer-related disorder and other
not so much on violence as such, but on the aspects of sports violence have been reported
398 KEY TOPICS

in the press more generally in a number of Vulliamy, 1985; Whannel, 1979; Young, 1986)
countries: and the continental European context (Pietersen
and Holm Kristensen, 1988; Stollenwerk and
graphic headlines, bold type-faces, warlike
Sagurski, 1989; Van Limbergen and Walgrave,
imagery and epithets, vivid photographs cropped
1988; Williams and Goldberg, 1989; Williams
to the edges to create a strong impression of phys-
et al., 1988).
ical menace, and ... stories [that] have been deco-
Numerous studies of media coverage have
rated with black lines and exclamation marks.
explored ways in which the North American
Hall speaks of ‘editing for impact,’ a process in electronic and print media also exploit aspects
which hooligan action comes to be marketed by of sports crowd and player violence (Bryant
a newspaper industry concerned largely with and Zillmann, 1983; Coakley, 1988/89; Gillett
profit maximization. A cluster of issues includ- et al., 1996; Morse, 1983; Smith, 1983; Theberge,
ing lurid news values, dramatic and distorting 1989; Young, 1990, 1991b, 1993; Young and
reporting techniques, and conservative world Smith, 1988/89). For example, emphasizing
views combine to ‘excite’ the phenomena, common trends in sports commentary found
argues Hall, an effect that can be witnessed in especially in the daily and tabloid newspapers
the heightening of public and official sensitiza- (such as the use of melodramatic and eye-
tion to the problem (public overestimation catching headlines, commendations of violent
of threat, increases in policing procedures, athletes and their bellicose styles of play, and a
etc.). reliance on graphically violent photographs),
Also in relation to British soccer hooligan- Smith (1983) and Young and Smith (1988/89)
ism, Walvin (1986: 88) argued that ‘television concentrate on the messages that accompany
violence may be less significant in stimulating acts of sports violence in the Canadian press.
acts of violence than it is in encouraging a stiff- The result of these common coverage tech-
ening of the law-and-order lobby’. In a similar niques, they contend, is at least to condone vio-
but perhaps more historically and politically lent play and at worst to reproduce it. Morse
sensitive study of the relationship between (1983) and Gillett et al. (1996) have also shown
hooliganism and the press, Murphy et al. how television coverage manipulates sport by
(1988) illustrated the importance of long-term stressing its rougher and often injurious ele-
social processes and trends. For example, they ments, and P. White et al. (1995: 159) indicate
showed how at various phases of British how ‘potentially health-compromising norms
history official responses to and press coverage [are] reinforced by many well-known and
of hooliganism have played both amplifying respected sports figures who promote and
and de-amplifying roles in what appear to be defend violent play as a relatively harmless
contrived ways. In the years immediately fol- feature of sport’. Finally, the active role played
lowing the 1985 Brussels riot, for instance, and by the North American media in their treat-
despite continuing disturbances at soccer ment of violence has also been shown to
games, media treatment of hooliganism was, if include the dissemination of myths, such as the
anything, underplayed. Clearly, the Leicester notion that fist-fighting in ice hockey is non-
group understands political backdrop as a key injurious (Young, 1990), and that soccer hooli-
determinant of the nature and extent of hooli- ganism is an indigenously ‘British disease’
ganism news coverage. In this specific case, in (Young, 1988).
the post-Heysel era when English soccer clubs The question of the effects of mass media por-
were banned from European competition by trayals of violence on ‘spill-over’ violence in
the sport’s ruling bodies and eager to return to society has also produced a substantial body
it, British authorities and the media made fre- of research (Comisky et al., 1977; Duperrault,
quent claims that soccer’s problems were under 1981; Goranson, 1982; Gordon and Ibson, 1977;
control. Such claims, so the argument runs, Hall, 1978; Moriarty and McCabe, 1977;
seemed to disseminate the less-than-accurate Russell, 1979; Singer and Gordon, 1977; Smith,
impression that stringent law-and-order mea- 1978, 1983; Whannel, 1979, 1986). While this
sures undertaken in Britain had been success- outpouring of energy has not resulted in the
ful. Of course, what they also underlined was conclusive establishment of a direct cause-
the complicity of the media in political matters. and-effect relationship between media and
That the media may have played an active real-life violence, the bulk of the evidence,
rather than a passive role in aspects of especially that pertaining to television, points
collective violence at European soccer is also a strongly in this direction. Assuming that media
view advanced in other research on the British presentations of aggressive sports dispropor-
context (Keen, 1986; Taylor, 1982b, 1987; tionately privilege violent aspects of play, to
 SPORT AND VIOLENCE 399

what extent do viewers, including presumably From a learning point of view, modelling
impressionable young athletes, consume and studies suggest that young athletes learn how
become affected by such material? to perform assaultive acts by watching big-
Several early laboratory and field experi- league models on television and subsequently
ments (cf. Baron, 1977; Geen and Berkowitz, enact what they have learned, especially in
1969) showed that subjects exposed to filmed sports leagues where such conduct is
or televised models displaying aggression tend rewarded. This effect seems to be cumulative
to exhibit similar behavior when subsequently and long-term. Legitimation studies, focusing
given the opportunity. Most of this work, how- more on the messages that accompany vio-
ever, took place in the laboratory, raising lence than on violent acts themselves, suggest
inevitable questions about generalizing from that the media approve of sports violence and
artificial environments to the real world. Also, violence-doers in a myriad of subtle and not-
most experimental work has been concerned so-subtle ways, including selling products on
with immediate effects, subjects usually being the basis of their violence appeal. One suspects
tested within minutes of viewing the aggres- that such messages add up to one more way in
sive model. In real life, of course, opportunities which people learn that violence is acceptable
to aggress do not usually present themselves sports behavior. But this has not been demon-
quite so readily. For example, the young strated unambiguously. More research on the
hockey player who views a professional game effects of this kind of media content on vio-
on television does not have an opportunity to lence in amateur sport is needed. Finally, the
engage in imitative aggression immediately arousal–aggressive cues theory of aggression
afterward. What about the longer-term and found in early work in media effects (cf. Arms
cumulative effects of exposure to an aggressive et al., 1979, 1980; Geen and Berkowitz, 1969) is
model? less than convincing. This approach, which
A handful of Canadian studies of sports vio- suggests that the media imbue persons and
lence (Goranson, 1982; Moriarty and McCabe, objects in sports contexts with the capacity to
1977; Russell, 1979; Smith, 1974, 1983) have ‘pull’ aggressive reactions from frustrated or
gone some way in answering this question, angry players, has been widely criticized on
but Smith’s (1979) study of Toronto hockey methodological grounds.
players seems to have approached the model- Studies by Coakley (1988/89), Young and
ling hypothesis in the most direct way. Smith’s Smith (1988/89) and others have cautioned
respondents were asked: ‘Have you ever that a direct cause-and-effect relationship
learned how to hit another player illegally in between media coverage of sports violence
any way from watching professional hockey?’ and imitative violence is yet to be validated
Fifty-six per cent of the 604 respondents empirically. Moreover, because audience read-
replied affirmatively, with only slight varia- ings of images and discourses in the sports
tions by age and level of competition. These media are probably heterogeneously linked to
players were then asked to describe what they factors such as social class, gender, culture,
had learned. A selection of their responses (for regionality and ethnicity (Fiske, 1987: 17), cau-
example, ‘I learned how to trip properly’) may tion should also be exercised in assuming that
be found in Smith (1983). Learning, however, media coverage affects all sports audiences in
is not necessarily doing. The above players the same way or indeed at all.
were then asked: ‘How many times during Nevertheless, Taylor (1982a), Keen (1986),
this season have you actually hit another Young (1988), Young and Smith (1988/89) and
player in this way?’ Two hundred and twenty- others have all shown that certain styles of
two said ‘at least once or twice,’ and 90 of these, sports violence coverage are associated with
mostly elite amateurs, said ‘five times or more’. discourse effects and perhaps some limited
Official game records verified these verbal behavioral effects. At the very least, the weight
responses; players who said they performed of the evidence suggests that media presenta-
such acts received significantly more penalties tions of sports violence, particularly at the pro-
than those who indicated they did not. Viewing fessional level, contribute to a social climate in
aggressive media models in hockey, and per- sport conducive to violent behavior. Once
haps sport in general, does appear to have a again, it is a fact that most people are exposed
systematic long-term impact on the behavior of to sports violence both on and off the field not
amateur players of different ages. directly but indirectly through the media. For
In brief, theoretical attempts to ascertain the this reason alone the mass media are of consid-
effects of media portrayals of sports violence erable importance in any comprehensive
fall into several different theoretical camps. attempt to understand violence in sport.
400 KEY TOPICS

CONCLUSION studies of risk-taking, physicality and violence

among girls and women are required, espe-
cially in light of evidence from a number of
Violence in sport is clearly a multi-dimensional countries that females are increasingly partici-
and complex topic that has generated a huge pating in aggressive, traditionally male-
volume of research and writing. The portion of defined sports such as rugby, ice hockey and
it reviewed here underlines the importance of soccer. After years of research on the sports
approaching the topic in the following three violence/media nexus, an impressive body of
ways: sociologically, because far from existing in material has been amassed on coverage styles,
a vacuum, violent aspects of sport grow out of but the question of ‘media effects’ remains
and exist relationally with other parts of the prickly, and how audiences deconstruct and
social process – witness the deeply gendered are impacted by mediated sports violence
character of violence both on and off the field remains uncertain. And finally, next to nothing
(cf. Dunning, 1986; Messner, 1990; Taylor, 1987; is known about what I have called here ‘other
Theberge, 1989, 1997; Young, 1993); culturally forms of violence related to sport’ – the
and cross-culturally, because the often hetero- involvement of sports personnel, as victims or
geneous manifestations and meanings of offenders, in practices such as stalking, harass-
sports violence are forged in the workshops of ment, threat and abuse.
distinct cultures – witness the manner in which Of course, in drawing attention to these
spectators from European countries differen- lacunae, my intent is not to discredit the
tially articulate their allegiance to the game of important work that has been done in each of
soccer (cf. Williams and Goldberg, 1989); and these areas, but simply to paint a ‘what’s been
historically, because these manifestations and done, and what needs to be done?’ type of pic-
meanings are often far more grounded than ture. Assuming that readers agree with my
new, and often as fluid as they are fixed – wit- assessment, perhaps we can begin the task of
ness the multilinear developments and shifts in attending to some of these omissions in future
English soccer hooliganism across the last cen- sports violence research.
tury highlighted by the figurational branch of
the Leicester School (cf. Dunning et al., 1988).
Despite the colossal volume of work that has NOTES
been produced on violence in sport, I would
caution against complacency and contend that 1 In the history of English soccer, 1985 is con-
we still know relatively little about the phe- sidered a ‘crisis year’. On 11 May 1985, as
nomenon. This depends on the specific aspect Bradford City played at home against
of violence in question. For example, symbol- Lincoln City, a fire broke out in a wooden-
ized by the differential weighting of the framed stadium structure built in 1908. The
sections in the early part of this chapter, there section of the stadium burned to the
seems little doubt that the most substantial and ground in less than 10 minutes, and
rigorously theorized body of work in this area 57 people were burned to death trying to
has examined forms and causes of British soc- escape the fire. Then, 18 days later, on
cer hooliganism. By comparison, relatively lit- 29 May 1985, the European Champions
tle is known about sports crowd disorder in Cup was due to be played between
other parts of the world. This is also true of the Liverpool of England and Juventus of
phenomenon in North America where, with Turin, Italy. Approximately one hour prior
some exceptions, much of what we know to kick-off, and following a period of
comes from descriptive journalistic accounts.11 mutual taunting between rival fan groups,
Inevitably, the literature on violence in sport a charge by the Liverpool fans into the
is limited in other ways. From a burgeoning lit- Juventus ‘end’ resulted in the collapse of a
erature on both sides of the Atlantic, we know retainer wall, injuring hundreds of fans.
something about the relationship between Thirty-nine mostly Italian fans died in the
sport, violence, injury and pain, but more ensuing crush (Taylor, 1987; Young, 1986).
information is needed. After a hiatus in the On 15 April 1989, Liverpool fans were
1980s, socio-legal work on the relationship again involved in a tragic incident prior to
between sport and the law, and on what I have a cup game against Nottingham Forrest
called elsewhere ‘sports crimes’ (Young, 1993, played at Hillsborough Stadium, Sheffield,
1997a), is only just beginning to be revitalized. although this time the tragedy was not
Because the bulk of the research on sports hooligan-related. After the police opened a
violence has privileged the experiences of men, gate to accommodate latecomers, as many
 SPORT AND VIOLENCE 401

as 4000 Liverpool fans were channelled mail, and was sentenced to 3 years in a US
into the stadium, unaware that hundreds of psychiatric centre. In the case it was
fans inside the stadium were being crushed revealed that Harry Veltman II had,
against a control fence. At least 94 fans among other things, followed Witt
were killed, over 200 injured (Scraton et al., around the world attempting to distract
1995; Taylor, 1989). her as she skated in competition (USA
2 Although he continues to work at the Sir Today, 14 July 1995: 3C).
Norman Chester Centre for Football 8 In early 1997, the world of Canadian ice
Research, in the early 1990s John Williams hockey was stunned by claims made by a
splintered off from the Leicester School, current NHL player that his junior coach
expressing concerns, much as Ian Taylor had sexually abused him on over 300
has done, that the figurational approach of occasions. After a short trial, in which the
his colleagues has, among other things, led complicity of others, including some high-
to a miscalculation of the ‘scale and seri- profile names within the hockey commu-
ousness’ of early outbreaks of English nity, was revealed or implied, hockey
hooliganism (1991: 177). Three years later, coach Graham James was sentenced to
Eric Dunning (1994) published a compre- 3 years in jail. In February 1997 another
hensive rebuttal to Williams’s self-titled man laid sexual abuse charges against two
‘rethinking’. employees of Maple Leaf Gardens (home
3 Although the generic term ‘British hooli- of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs). In the
ganism’ is used in this chapter, research inquiry that followed, it was acknow-
into the phenomenon in Britain has high- ledged that the Maple Leaf Gardens had
lighted, in Williams’s words, ‘important earlier reached an out-of-court settlement
national and cultural differences in pat- of $60,000 with the man in return for not
terns and forms of hooliganism’ (1991: 177). bringing criminal charges against them.
There seems little doubt that among the At the time of writing, police have
countries of the United Kingdom, the most received a flood of calls from male hockey
consistently bellicose and violent episodes players across the country alleging similar
at home and abroad have involved fans of types of abuse; the inquiry is ongoing.
the national English team. 9 These Government-sponsored reports
4 Although they may co-exist, there is nor- include the Harrington Report (1968), the
mally an important difference between Lang Report (1969), the Wheatley Report
crowd injuries being caused by violent fans (1972), the Report of a Joint Sports
and by crushes and stampedes brought on Council/Social Science Research Council
by such things as over-ticketing, negligent Panel (1978), as well as the Popplewell
security procedures, or stadium collapses Report (1985).
or fires. My intent is not to conflate these 10 The use of penning, perimeter fencing, and
processes, but to indicate that their out- segregation as crowd control procedures
comes may nevertheless be similar. in British soccer has proved to be highly
5 Mike Smith, a pioneer in North American controversial. After perimeter fencing was
research on sports violence and an interna- installed at most grounds in the 1970s and
tionally respected scholar, died in June 1980s, it was subsequently discovered that
1994. He is greatly missed by his colleagues such fencing may in fact endanger not
and friends. enhance crowd safety. Among other
6 Preliminary work on women, sport and incidents, the Bradford fire and the
physicality (Theberge, 1997; White and Hillsborough Stadium tragedy in which
Young, 1997; Young, 1997b; Young many fans lost their lives trying to scale
and White, 1995) suggests that many elite walls and fences designed originally to
female athletes adopt similar play-through- protect them, brought this fact into sharp
pain attitudes as their male counterparts relief. Numerous English clubs have actu-
and also risk injury and disablement in ally removed perimeter fencing; from both
their athletic pursuits. a crowd control and crowd safety perspec-
7 Among a long list of male and female tive, the change seems to have been suc-
athletes from a range of sports who report cessful so far (Sir Norman Chester Centre
being stalked, harassed or threatened is for Football Research, 1989: 19).
figure skater Katarina Witt. In 1992, an 11 A thoughtful attempt to theorize North
obsessed fan was charged on seven counts American sports crowd disorder may be
of sending obscene and threatening found in Chapter 7 of Dunning (1999).
402 KEY TOPICS

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 26
SPORT AND HEALTH: A SOCIOLOGICAL
PERSPECTIVE

Ivan Waddington

There is a large and expanding literature on the societies, in capitalist and communist societies
relationships between physical activity and and in democratic and totalitarian societies,
health. Almost all of this literature has been there is a broad consensus that ‘sport is good
written from a physiological perspective and for you’.
has typically been concerned with issues such The ideology linking sport and health has a
as the relationship between physical activity long history. In nineteenth-century Britain, the
and cardiovascular functioning, or the way in birthplace of many modern sports, an ideology
which exercise can help to control obesity. of athleticism that linked sport with health,
However, very little has been written about the both physical and ‘moral’, was developed in
relationship between exercise, sport and health the Victorian public schools (Mangan, 1981),
from a sociological perspective. The central while the promotion and maintenance of the
objective of this paper is to try to develop a dis- health of schoolchildren has long been an area
tinctively sociological approach to understand- of concern to physical educators. Colquhoun
ing some of the key issues in the relationship and Kirk (1987: 100), for example, note that
between exercise, sport and health. More when physical education was introduced as a
specifically, the objectives of this paper are subject in the elementary school curriculum in
threefold: to outline and critically to examine the early twentieth century, it ‘had the express
the widely accepted idea that sport and exer- purpose of improving the medical, physical
cise have beneficial consequences for health; to and hygiene provision for children in schools’.
examine the different patterns of social relations Throughout the inter-war period, The Health of
associated with sport and exercise; and to the School Child, the annual report of the Chief
examine some of the physiological conse- Medical Officer of the Board of Education, reg-
quences of these social differences, in terms of ularly made reference to the importance of
the rather different impacts that sport and physical education for the health of school-
exercise can have on health. children, and the idea that sport and exercise
are associated with health is widely known
and accepted by British schoolchildren today;
SPORT, EXERCISE AND THE HEALTHY a study for the Sports Council (1995: 128) noted
that ‘the health and fitness message seems to
BODY ETHOS be well known by children. Virtually all of
them, 92 per cent agreed that it was important
There are probably few ideas which are as to keep fit ... In addition, most children, 82 per
widely and uncritically accepted as that link- cent, agreed that they felt fit and healthy when
ing sport and exercise with good health. What they did sport and exercise.’ Not surprisingly,
is particularly striking about this ideology is its the idea that sport is health-promoting
near universal acceptance across a range of and even life-enhancing is one which is
societies, for, in developing and developed frequently stressed by those involved in sport;
 SPORT AND HEALTH 409

to quote the former Olympic gold medalist health has only relatively recently come to be
Sebastian Coe: ‘Sport is an integral part of a applied to women as well as men for, during
healthy lifestyle in today’s society’ (foreword much of the nineteenth century, women were
to Mottram, 1988). actively discouraged from taking part in vigor-
Such views have been endorsed in a variety ous exercise, which was often seen as damaging
of official and semi-official health publications. to their health. Patricia Vertinsky (1990: 39), in
In 1988, The Nation’s Health, a report from an describing the situation in late nineteenth-
independent team (Smith and Jacobson, 1988), century Britain, writes:
noted that regular and moderate exercise has a
The widespread notion that women were chroni-
number of health benefits while The Allied
cally weak and had only finite mental and physi-
Dunbar National Fitness Survey (Sports Council
cal energy because of menstruation had a strong
and Health Education Authority, 1992) and
effect upon the medical profession’s and conse-
the Department of Health in its Health of the
quently the public’s attitude towards female exer-
Nation (1993) similarly noted a number of
cise and sport.
health benefits associated with regular physical
activity. She argues that:
Such statements are not confined to Britain.
Not infrequently, medically defined notions of
In 1993 an authoritative report from the
optimal female health ... have justified the practice
American College of Sports Medicine and the
of viewing female physiological functions as
Center for Disease Control recommended that
requiring prescribed and/or delimited levels of
adults should take 30 minutes of moderate
physical activity and restricted sporting opportu-
activity on most days of the week (Wimbush,
nities. (Vertinsky, 1990: 39, 1)
1994). Nor are such views limited to capitalist
societies, or to countries in the developed Sheila Fletcher (1987: 145) has similarly
world. Riordan, for example, has pointed out noted that women’s growing participation
that governments in developing societies in cycling, swimming, golf and hockey in the
frequently place considerable stress on the late nineteenth century was met with resis-
development of sport, not only for the conse- tance from eugenists such as Dr Arabella
quences which sport can have for nation- Kenealy who, in 1899, argued that women
building and national integration but also for were in danger of neutering themselves by
the effects it can have on hygiene and health; over-indulgence in athletics. The resistance to
indeed, Riordan (1986: 291) argues that ‘of all women’s full participation in sport has simi-
the functions of state-run sport in modernising larly been documented for nineteenth-century
societies, that to promote and maintain health New Zealand (Crawford, 1987), Canada
must take first place’, and he goes on to point (Lenskyj, 1987) and America (Vertinsky, 1987).
out that ‘in many such states sport comes
under the aegis of the health ministry’. THE IDEOLOGY OF HEALTHISM
Elsewhere, Riordan (1981: 18) has pointed out
that, following the Bolshevik Revolution in AND VICTIM BLAMING
October 1917, the new Soviet government saw
regular participation in physical exercise as It is perhaps not surprising that those involved
‘one – relatively inexpensive but effective – in what is sometimes called the ‘fitness indus-
means of improving health standards rapidly try’ have generally supported the idea that
and a channel by which to educate people in sport and exercise are health-promoting,
hygiene, nutrition and exercise’. Similarly, fol- though it might be noted that such people have
lowing the victory of the communists in China frequently conflated the concepts of fitness,
in 1949, emphasis was placed ‘on the need to health and beauty as a means of more effec-
promote national sports, expand public health tively marketing their services. Perhaps of
and medical work, and safe-guard the health rather greater importance, however, since they
of mothers, infants and children’. This policy, directly affect every schoolchild in many coun-
which dates from 1950, was endorsed by Mao tries in the developed world, have been recent
in June 1952 when he called upon the Chinese developments in school physical education
people to ‘promote physical culture and sport, which have promoted the role of regular phys-
and build up the people’s health’ (Clumpner ical activity in achieving and maintaining
and Pendleton, 1981: 111). health. In this context, Colquhoun (1991: 5) has
However, it might be noted that although written of an ‘explosion’ of interest from the
the ideology linking sport and health is very physical education profession in teaching
widespread, the view that sport is good for health-related issues, an explosion which, he
410 KEY TOPICS

suggests, is indicated by the burgeoning wider social processes – for example, poverty,
number of professional articles and curriculum unemployment, industrial pollution, or the
guides in several countries, especially Britain, poor quality or lack of accessibility of health
Australia, Canada and the USA. services – which may be associated with high
This is of course not a new role for physical levels of illness; by thus shifting responsibility
education which, as we saw earlier, has had an for health away from manufacturers, govern-
association with health and medicine reaching ments and other powerful groups, the ideol-
back to the introduction of physical education ogy of healthism diverts attention away from
in the primary school curriculum in Britain. the key issues in the politics of health. As
However, Kirk and Colquhoun have sug- Crawford (1980: 368) has noted, it perpetuates
gested that: the misleading – or, at best, greatly oversimpli-
fied – idea that we can, as individuals, control
the recent re-emergence of health matters to
our own existence. Moreover, our assumed
occupy a place of central importance in school
ability individually to control our lives gradu-
physical education marks a new moment in both
ally becomes transformed into a moral impera-
the production of physical educators’ views of
tive to do so, for, suggests Crawford (1984), we
their professional mission and in the production of
live in an era of a new health consciousness
a new health consciousness in society at large.
where to be unhealthy has come to signify
(1989: 417)
individual moral laxity. Thus slimness signifies
Colquhoun and Kirk (1987) have identified not only good health but also self-discipline
several processes which, they suggest, have and moral responsibility whereas fatness, in
influenced this re-orientation of physical edu- contrast, signifies idleness, emotional weak-
cation towards health-related issues, including ness and moral turpitude. In this sense our
a growing societal interest in health matters, bodies, whether slim or obese, signify not
the prevalence of heart disease and the spi- merely our health status for they also become,
ralling costs of medical care; to these might be quite literally, the embodiment of moral pro-
added the fact that many physical education priety or laxity. Within this context, those who
teachers, perhaps conscious of the relatively fall ill are increasingly likely to be seen not as
low status of their subject vis-à-vis what are unfortunate and innocent victims of processes
often considered more ‘academic’ subjects, beyond their control but, rather, as people
have been more than happy to draw upon the who, through their moral laxity and lack of
prestige associated with medicine and science self-discipline, have ‘brought it on themselves’.
to provide what they hope will be a more The Victorian differentiation between the
secure and ‘intellectual’ basis for their subject. ‘deserving’ and the ‘undeserving’ poor is, in
However, Colquhoun (1991) has suggested some respects, in the process of being repli-
that this emerging ideology of health-based cated in the differentiation between the
physical education (HBPE) is not unproblem- ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’ sick.
atic, for it presents a very partial and distorted
view of the causes of health and illness.
Drawing upon Crawford’s (1980) concept of SPORT AND HEALTH: COMMERCIAL
‘healthism’, Colquhoun argues that health-
based physical education is premised upon
LINKS
and helps to disseminate the idea that our
health is largely under our own control. More One area that casts doubt on the assumed close
specifically, he argues that: relationship between sport and the promotion
of healthy lifestyles is that of sports sponsor-
by focusing on individual lifestyle as the major
ship and, in particular, the widespread spon-
determinant of an individual’s health, health
sorship of sport by the manufacturers of two of
based physical education (HBPE) conforms to the
the most widely used drugs in the Western
practices of conventional health education and
world: alcohol and tobacco. In relation to the
has therefore been severely restricted in its poten-
former, concern has been expressed about
tial for emancipation, social justice, equality and
sponsorship of sport by breweries. Dealy
social change. Indeed, the political issues which
(1990), for example, has drawn attention to the
accompany HBPE have not yet been fully
health problems associated with alcohol abuse
exposed. (Colquhoun, 1991: 6)
and with the widespread practice of under-age
The ideology of healthism, it is argued, drinking in the United States and has
serves to focus attention on individual expressed concern at the close relationship
responsibility for our own health and, simulta- between the NCAA and the breweries. It is,
neously, to divert attention away from however, the relationship between sport and
 SPORT AND HEALTH 411

the tobacco industry which has been the cause manufacturer of products which are explicitly
of greatest concern. Taylor (1985) has pointed designed to help people give up smoking
out that since the 1970s, business sponsorship (The Times, 14 September 1995; Guardian,
of sport has grown rapidly in Britain with the 27 September 1995).
tobacco companies being by far the biggest The widespread sponsorship of sporting
spenders. Sports sponsorship is, he notes, a rel- events by tobacco companies would not, at
atively cheap and highly cost-effective means least in the context of the present argument, be
of advertising for the tobacco companies, not of any significance were it not for the fact that,
least because in Britain it enables them to by the early 1980s, cigarette smoking was esti-
circumvent the 1965 ban on the advertising of mated to be responsible for more than 300,000
cigarettes on television, for cigarette manufac- premature deaths a year in the United States,
turers have continued to reach large television and nearly half a million deaths a year in
audiences via the televised coverage of such Europe. In a 1982 report, the US Surgeon-
popular sporting events as the Embassy General described cigarette smoking as ‘the
Snooker World Championships, Benson and chief, single, avoidable cause of death in our
Hedges Cricket and the Silk Cut Rugby League society, and the most important public health
Challenge Cup. Sponsorship of sporting events issue of our time’, whilst in Britain the Royal
by tobacco companies is now very widespread; College of Physicians, in their report Smoking
sports that have been sponsored by tobacco and Health Now, referred to the annual death
companies in Britain include motor racing, rate caused by cigarette smoking as ‘the pre-
power boat racing, cricket, speedway, snooker, sent holocaust’ (Taylor, 1985: xiv, xvii). Without
darts, bowls, horse racing, tennis, rugby union, labouring the point, one might reasonably sug-
rugby league, basketball, badminton, show gest that the ideology which associates sports
jumping, motor cycling and table tennis. with healthy lifestyles sits uneasily with the
Sponsorship of sporting events by tobacco widespread acceptance of sports sponsorship
companies is, of course, not confined to Britain. by breweries and, even more so, by tobacco
In 1982 Dr Thomas Dadour introduced into the companies.
Western Australian parliament a Bill to ban all
forms of cigarette advertising and promotion.
Had the Bill been passed, one of the first casual-
ties would have been the advertising at the EXERCISE AND HEALTH
Australia vs England Test Match, which was
sponsored by Benson and Hedges who had There is now a substantial body of data from
been the Australian Cricket Board’s main both epidemiological and clinical studies
sponsor for more than ten years. The Bill was which indicates that moderate, rhythmic and
narrowly defeated. The following year, the state regular exercise has a significant and beneficial
government of Western Australia introduced impact on health. In Britain, the Coronary
another Bill similar to Dr Dadour’s. This Bill Prevention Group (1987) has listed the follow-
was also defeated following intensive lobbying ing range of beneficial effects on health:
by, amongst others, those associated with the
cigarette-sponsored sports under threat (Taylor, • Improved cardiovascular function, which is
1985: 48–9). In a more recent and perhaps even associated with reduced cardiac morbidity
more revealing incident in 1995, the highly suc- and mortality.
cessful Swedish yacht Nicorette, which is spon- • Increased metabolic rate with advantages
sored by a company that manufactures from a nutritional viewpoint.
products designed to help people give up smok- • Better control of obesity.
ing, was banned from the Cape to Rio Race, • An increase in the HDL/LDL ratio (HDL –
which is sponsored by the tobacco giant high-density lipoprotein – is the ‘good’
Rothmans. The captain of the Nicorette protested type of cholesterol; LDL – low-density
against the decision (which was reversed some lipoprotein – is the ‘bad’ type of cholesterol).
two weeks later) by saying that ‘Rothmans is • Decreased blood pressure.
scared of [the] boat and the healthy lifestyle it • Delayed onset of post-menopausal osteo-
seeks to promote.’ Given the close relationship porosis.
which is often claimed between sport and • Improved glucose tolerance in diabetes.
healthy lifestyles, many people may find it more • Antidepressant, and possible anti-anxiety
than a little incongruous that the organizers of a effects, which may be associated with an
sporting event should not only accept sponsor- increase in the brain of levels of endorphins –
ship from a cigarette manufacturer but that they substances whose effects are broadly those of
should also ban an entry sponsored by a an intrinsic heroin-like substance.
412 KEY TOPICS

The Royal College of Physicians of London suggest that all exercise is beneficial; rather,
(1991: 28) has echoed these views, arguing they indicate that exercise of a particular kind,
that: amount and intensity has a beneficial impact
on health. The Nation’s Health (Smith and
There is substantial evidence that regular aerobic
Jacobson, 1988: 126) for example, refers quite
exercise such as walking, jogging, dancing or
specifically to the beneficial effects of what it
swimming is beneficial to general physical and
calls ‘moderate, rhythmic and regular exer-
psychological health. Regular exercise appears to
cise’, which it goes on to define as exercise
be particularly effective in prevention of coronary
such as that involved in brisk walking, running
disease and osteoporosis and of some value in the
or swimming for 20–30 minutes about three
management of obesity and diabetes.
times each week. The British Medical
Studies in North America point to similar con- Association (1992: 14) similarly suggested that
clusions, and suggest that regular exercise is the ‘recommended amount of exercise from a
associated with reduced mortality from all health perspective is about twenty to thirty
causes, from cardiovascular disease and from minutes of moderate exercise three times a
cancer of combined sites (Paffenbarger et al., week’. It noted that the exercise that is most
1986; Blair et al., 1989) while a review of four frequently suggested is brisk walking, and
population surveys (two carried out in Canada added that the level of activity which produces
and two in the United States), suggests a posi- significant health benefits ‘is related to the ini-
tive association between physical activity and tial level of fitness: for the middle-aged seden-
lower levels of anxiety and depression tary individual, this may correspond to
(Stephens, 1988). walking, cycling slowly or gentle swimming’
It should be noted that some of these health (1992: 14). The precise activity which is consid-
benefits are very substantial. The British ered to constitute ‘adequate’ exercise varies
Medical Association (BMA), for example, has from one study to another, but activities men-
noted that insurance statistics indicate that tioned in this context include ‘energetic getting
men with only moderately high blood pressure about’ and manual work around the house
can expect to live about 15 years less than and garden (Morris et al., 1980), dancing
men with low blood pressure, and it noted that (BMA, 1992) and regular climbing of stairs
regular exercise ‘is potentially a major non- (Paffenbarger et al., 1986). It is important to
pharmacological method of lowering blood emphasize therefore, that what these studies
pressure’ (BMA, 1992: 18). Similarly, one of the have documented is a beneficial effect on
studies in the United States (Paffenbarger et al., health of ‘moderate’, or even gentle, forms of
1986) indicates that death rates among men exercise; as Morris et al. noted, the activities
whose work or leisure involves regular exer- which were defined in their study as constitut-
cise are between one-third and one-half lower ing adequate exercise were ‘by no means
than those among men whose lives are more extreme’, and they added, of the 17,944 men
sedentary. There are, moreover, three items of who took part in their study, that ‘our men are
good news for those who would seek to no athletes’ (1980: 1210). The British Medical
improve their health via regular exercise. First, Association similarly noted that several stud-
the evidence indicates that the protective effect ies, and ‘particularly those from North
of exercise persists at all ages, and after other America, have suggested that only rather low
risk factors such as smoking and weight are levels of activity are necessary to confer some
taken into account; secondly, these benefits can degree of protection against heart disease both
be produced relatively quickly – in just a three- in terms of the intensity of effort and of the total
month period – in both men and women of all amount of exercise taken’ (BMA, 1992: 19).
ages, though it should be noted that they are This is an important point to note for, quite
maintained only while the activity is main- clearly, one cannot assume that the health ben-
tained; and thirdly, the beneficial effects are efits associated with moderate exercise will
more striking in those who are least active (that simply be duplicated – still less can one
is, elderly people or those with chronic dis- assume that they will be increased – by exercise
ease) (Smith and Jacobson, 1988: 126–8). which is more frequent, of longer duration and
At first glance, studies like those cited above of greater intensity, for exercise of this kind, as
might seem to indicate that the health-based we shall see later, may generate substantial
arguments in favour of sport are overwhelm- health ‘costs’ in terms of additional stresses or
ing. There are, however, important provisos to injuries, for example those associated with
be borne in mind when considering studies on ‘overuse’. In short, to suggest that a 30-minute
the relationship between exercise and health. gentle swim three times a week is good for
The first of these is that these studies do not one’s health does not mean that running
 SPORT AND HEALTH 413

70 miles a week as a means of preparing for implications for their potentially very different
running marathons is good for one’s health in health consequences.
an equally simple or unproblematic way. As we have seen, most of the studies cited
Indeed, it might be noted that one of the earlier were concerned with the health conse-
American studies, which found that death quences of ‘moderate, rhythmic and regular’
rates generally went down as levels of physical exercise. One important difference between
activity increased, also found a reversed trend sport and exercise is that non-competitive exer-
at the highest levels of physical activity. The cise involves a rather different pattern of social
authors note that this result may have been relations than does sport and, associated with
associated with methodological difficulties in this, the former is much more likely than is the
the study, though they also recognize that it latter to involve physical movements of a
may reflect ‘actual increased hazards associ- rhythmic nature and, of critical importance, the
ated with vigorous activities’ (Paffenbarger intensity of the exercise is likely to be, to a
et al., 1986: 606). It might also be noted that one much higher degree than in the case of sport,
study in New Zealand (Sullivan et al., 1994) – under the control of the individual participant.
significantly it was a study of competitive Consider, for example, the situation of a person
athletes, many of whom were ranked in the top who regularly takes a brisk walk, or goes jog-
10 per cent nationally in their age group and ging or swimming, as a means of ‘keeping fit’,
might therefore be expected to have engaged or perhaps as a means of weight control. When
in relatively intensive training – found a strong such activities are undertaken alone, as they
positive association between exercise and a frequently are, the precise nature of the physi-
large number of symptoms, including anxiety cal movement – that is the action of walking,
related to competition, stitches, lightheaded- jogging or swimming – as well as both the
ness, muscle cramps, wheezing, chest pressure, duration and the intensity of the exercise, are to
‘spots in front of the eyes’, retching and incon- a high degree under the control of the individ-
tinence of urine and stool, while it was nega- ual involved in the exercise. Thus, for example,
tively associated with only a few symptoms, a person jogging or swimming alone can deter-
including headaches, abdominal bloating, mine for how long to continue the exercise, and
sneezing and depression. at what pace. Where exercise of this kind is
The second proviso concerning the studies undertaken in a small group of perhaps two or
cited above is that most relate primarily to three friends, as is also common, the duration
exercise or activity levels rather than specifi- and intensity of the exercise are likely to
cally to sport. Although sport and exercise are involve a level of activity agreed upon by all
overlapping categories, there are nevertheless participants and with which all participants are
important differences between them, and these reasonably comfortable. It is important to note
differences have important implications for that this is not the situation in the case of sport.
their health consequences. It is to these issues As we noted earlier, sport cannot be played
that we now turn. alone for it must involve two or more opposing
players. This, together with the fact that sport
involves not only cooperation but also, and in
a highly institutionalized form, competition,
EXERCISE AND SPORT means that sport, and particularly team sport,
is usually a considerably more complex social
Most sociological definitions of sport include activity than is non-competitive exercise.
the element of physical exertion as an essen- Consider, for example, a game of soccer or
tial component (Edwards, 1973; Guttmann, rugby or American football. The game involves
1978; MacPherson et al., 1989). However, if all a complex interweaving of the actions of a sub-
sport necessarily involves physical exercise, it stantial number of players, together with the
is not the case that all physical exercise relationships between players and match offi-
involves sport, for what is usually considered cials, club coaches and many others including,
a further necessary component of sport – the at the elite level, large numbers of fans. Even if
competitive element – is frequently more or we considerably oversimplify the situation by
less absent from many forms of physical exer- confining our analysis simply to the interac-
cise. Moreover, since sport is inherently com- tions between the players, it is clear that we are
petitive, it must involve more than one dealing here with a social phenomenon of
person, for while one can exercise alone, one some complexity. Elias and Dunning (1986:
cannot play sport alone, since one needs an 193) drew upon the example of Association
opponent. This relatively obvious difference football (soccer) to illustrate what they called
between sport and exercise has important the ‘dynamics of sport groups’. They wrote:
414 KEY TOPICS

From the starting position evolves a fluid figura- often involves sharp and intensive bursts of
tion formed by both teams. Within it, all individu- anaerobic activity, interspersed with short peri-
als are, and remain throughout, more or less ods in which individual players may be able to
interdependent; they move and regroup them- take a ‘breather’. It is important to emphasize,
selves in response to each other. This may help to first, that the frequency and intensity of these
explain why we refer to this type of game as a spe- bursts of anaerobic activity are, at least in com-
cific form of group dynamics. For this moving and plex games, largely beyond the ability of any
regrouping of interdependent players in response single player to control; secondly, that players
to each other is the game. are almost inevitably constrained by the moves
It may not be immediately clear that by using of their opponents to engage in activities
the term ‘group dynamics’ in this context we do which are anything but rhythmic; and thirdly,
not refer to the changing figurations of the two that many of these movements, such as those
groups of players as if they could be considered in involved in rapid acceleration and decelera-
separation, as if each had dynamics of its own. tion, or the twisting or turning movements
That is not the case. In a game of football, the figu- involved in rapid changes of direction, impose
ration of players on the one side and that of play- considerably greater stresses on the body than
ers on the other side, are interdependent and do the much more rhythmic movements
inseparable. They form in fact a single figuration. involved in non-competitive walking, jogging
If one speaks of a sport-game as a specific form of or swimming. These considerations, however,
group dynamics, one refers to the overall change do not exhaust the health-related differences
in the figuration of the players of both sides between sport and exercise. The competitive
together. character of sport, in particular, requires fur-
ther elaboration.
One aspect of the complex structure of
sports such as football is that each match tends
to develop what is often called a ‘game pat-
tern’. Though there is sometimes a tendency to
SPORT AND COMPETITION
speak of this game pattern as though it were
something separate from the players, it is Dunning (1986a) has pointed out that the
important to remind ourselves that it is in fact growing competitiveness of modern sport is a
nothing other than the complex interweaving long-term trend which may be traced back
of the actions of a large number of players. over two or more centuries. This process has,
However, it is also important to note that, as however, been particularly marked in the post-
the game pattern becomes more complex – for 1945 period, and has been associated with,
example as we move from a two-person game amongst other processes, the increasing politi-
such as tennis to a multi-person game such as cization and commercialization of sport, both
soccer – it becomes increasingly beyond the of which have had the effect of greatly increas-
ability of any single player to control this game ing the importance of, and the rewards associ-
pattern and, indeed, from the perspective of ated with, winning while downgrading the
any single player, this game pattern may traditional value associated with taking part
appear to have a life of its own. (Waddington and Murphy, 1992). This trend
An associated aspect of the complex struc- towards the growing competitiveness of sport
ture of many sports is that, in comparison with has not, however, been without health ‘costs’
non-competitive exercise, any individual for athletes, most particularly in the form of
player is much less able to control his/her own more stress injuries and overuse injuries, and
movements and the pace and intensity at increased constraints to continue competing
which he or she is required to play. Thus while while injured.
the lone jogger and walker can determine their A common sight in many sports is that of the
own movements with minimal reference to trainer or physiotherapist running on to the
others, the movements of, for example, a soc- field of play to treat an injured player, often by
cer or rugby or ice-hockey player can only be the application of an aerosol spray to a painful
understood in relation to the movements of area, thereby enabling the player to continue.
other players on their own and the opposition However, as Donohoe and Johnson (1986: 94)
side. Moreover, as a means of beating opposing have pointed out, one of the functions of pain
players, players frequently initiate moves, or is to ‘“warn” us that we need to rest the dam-
respond to the moves of others, involving aged area’, and they suggest that most athletes
rapid changes of pace and direction. In most and coaches ‘fail to recognize the damage that
sports, this gives rise to a pattern of movement can be caused by suppressing pain’. This issue
which is the very opposite of rhythmic, for it is part of the more general concern about
 SPORT AND HEALTH 415

overuse and recurrent injuries, a growing Wigan Rugby League team by their coach,
problem which is clearly associated with the John Monie:
increasing constraints on sportsmen and
There’s just one more thing I want to enforce. It
women to compete and more particularly to
doesn’t matter what’s wrong with you when
win with, one suspects, often scant concern for
you’re injured, I want you on your feet and in the
the potential longer-term health risks.
defensive line . . . I don’t care if the physio’s out
Donohoe and Johnson (1986: 93) have noted
there and he wants to examine you and all that
that ‘To succeed in modern sport, athletes are
stuff. That’s not important. What’s important is ...
forced to train longer, harder, and earlier in life.
you’ve got twelve team-mates tackling their guts
They may be rewarded by faster times, better
out, defending like anything inside the 22 and
performances and increased fitness, but there
we’ve got the physio telling a guy to see if he can
is a price to pay for such intense training’. Part
straighten his knee out.
of the price of such intense training and of the
I don’t care what’s wrong with you ... if the
readiness – often encouraged by coaches and
opposition’s got the ball, I want you on your feet
medical advisers – to continue training and
and in the defensive line . . .
competing despite injury, is unquestionably
There are no exceptions to that rule. So from
paid in the form of overuse and recurrent
now on, the only reason you stay down hurt and
injuries, which now constitute a serious
get attention from the sideline is because there’s a
problem in sport, and not just at the adult elite
break in play or you’re unconscious – no other rea-
level. As Donohoe and Johnson (1986: 93) have
sons will be accepted. (Hanson, 1991: 77)
noted, the ‘long-term effects of overuse injuries
are not known, but some concerned doctors Monie’s team talk may perhaps be regarded
have asked whether today’s gold medallists as the English equivalent of the American view
could be crippled by arthritis by the age of 30’ that ‘you play unless the bone sticks through the
and they cite world-class competitors who meat’ which, as Young (1993: 382) has noted, has
have, in their words, ‘been plagued by a suc- long been used to rationalize injury in the NFL.
cession of overuse injuries’. Although it may not always be expressed in
Examples of athletes who have continued such blunt terms, it is clear that, particularly at
to compete with painful and potentially serious the elite level, there is a common expectation –
injuries are almost innumerable. In her auto- which is shared by many players – that when-
biography, Olga Korbut, the former Olympic ever possible, players should continue to play
gold-medal-winning gymnast, described through injury ‘for the good of the team’, even if
how, following the 1972 Munich Olympics, this means playing with painkilling injections.
the successful Soviet gymnastics team was Hanson reported, for example, that Wigan
taken on a tour of what was then West Rugby League players frequently played
Germany. She wrote: after having been given painkilling injections;
before the Rugby League Cup Final at Wembley
During that tour of Germany, the lumbago in my
in 1990, so many players had painkilling
back began to hurt more and more. The novo-
injections that the club doctor, Dr Zaman, came
caine injections took away the pain for a while,
into the dressing room ‘clutching a collection
but I needed time to rest and heal. By the end of
of used syringes and needles’ and asked of a
the tour, I walked as though I had a stake in my
Wembley official, ‘Do you have a box for
spine . . .
sharps?’ (Hanson, 1991: 193). Don Strock, former
She added that ‘My strongest memories of that quarterback with the Miami Dolphins, has
entire period are fatigue, pain, and the empty described how players would group around
feeling of being a fly whose blood has been ‘injured teammates during a game to screen
sucked out by a predatory spider’ (Korbut, from spectators the use of painkilling injections,
1992: 81–2). then hide the needles under the carpet-like syn-
It would be very wrong to imagine that such thetic “turf”‘(cited in Young, 1993: 376). The
incidents only occurred under the now defunct Russian international soccer player Andrei
communist systems of Eastern Europe, for Kanchelskis, who until recently was playing
examples of athletes playing on despite painful in England, was reported to have played in
and potentially serious injuries are common- an international match for Russia after having
place and there is considerable evidence to no fewer than eight painkilling injections for
suggest that, particularly at the elite level, a stomach strain (Guardian, 3 April 1995), while
there are considerable constraints on players to the former England soccer captain Gary Lineker,
play through pain and injury ‘for the good of who retired after a long struggle with a chronic
the team’. Consider, for example, the following foot injury, indicated that he had been concerned
extract from a pre-match team talk to the about continually using painkilling drugs. He
416 KEY TOPICS

was reported as saying of his retirement: ‘It is as denied is provided by the example of ‘D’, one
if a huge weight has been lifted from me. I no of the elite women athletes interviewed by
longer have to worry whether I’ll be fit enough Young and White (1995: 51):
to get through a match and I will no longer
The first time my injury occurred, I ignored it
have to suffer the dizzy spells and stomach
assuming it would go away, as did my previous
complaints that come with a dependency on
aches and pains. Bruising, swelling, and muscle
anti-inflammatory drugs’ (Daily Mirror,
pain are integral aspects of basketball. Once the
21 November 1994).
pain persisted, it became annoying. It never
It is clear that experiences of this kind are
occurred to me at the age of 14 that my body was
commonplace among elite players; in England
breaking down and needed a rest. I simply pushed
a survey of 725 professional soccer players
harder because my injury was causing me to fall
carried out by the magazine Four Four Two
behind in my progress.
(October 1995) revealed that 70 per cent of
players had been asked to play when not fully Young and White (1995: 52) add that:
fit. As Young et al. (1994: 190) have noted:
Years of denial and persistence have seriously
weakened D’s knees and ankles, and surgery to
Overt and covert pressures are brought to bear on
repair cartilage tears has left her legs badly
injured athletes to coerce them to return to action.
scarred. At the time of writing, D remains in pain,
These may include certain ‘degradation cere-
is unable to play her sport, and uses painkillers
monies’ ... such as segregated meal areas, constant
almost daily.
questioning from coaches, being ostracized at
team functions, or other special treatment that D’s reference to injuries during her teenage
clearly identifies the injured athlete as separate. years suggests that the problem of overuse and
recurrent injuries is not confined to adults. In
An example of this kind of ostracism con- relation to children’s sport, Donnelly (1993: 96)
cerns the former Liverpool Football Club man- has noted that:
ager, Bill Shankly, regarded by many as one of
the greatest-ever soccer club managers; As children encounter opportunities for increas-
Shankly refused to speak to any player who ingly lucrative careers as professional athletes,
was unavailable to play because of injury (On parents are tempted to encourage their children to
the Line, BBC Radio Five Live, 12 March 1996). become heavily involved in professional sports at
Young et al. (1994: 190) have argued that: early ages. As evidenced by increasing demands
for international success in sport as a justification
for government and corporate spending on elite
Pressure placed on the player to return to action
participation, and by a variety of attempts to
before full recovery is in one sense intended to
establish schemes for the early identification of
enhance the team’s ability to win, but in the
athletic talent, there is an obvious trend toward
process, the long-term health of the athlete is often
earlier and more intensive athletic involvement for
given little consideration.
younger and younger children.
Although such pressures on players to toler- Donnelly notes that injuries characteristic of
ate and to play through pain may in some overtraining among young athletes have been
respects be associated with particular concep- widely reported in the literature (for example,
tions of masculinity – to be examined later – it Rowley, 1986), and that such injuries were also
is also clear that there are broadly similar con- reported by a majority of the 45 recently retired
straints on women athletes to continue com- high-level athletes who were interviewed in
peting despite pain and injury and that many Donnelly’s study and who spoke about their
women athletes respond in a broadly similar own experiences as young athletes.
way to their male counterparts. For example, Given the highly competitive characteristic
in comparing their research in Canada on of much modern sport, it should come as no
female athletes’ experience of pain and injury surprise to learn that overuse and recurrent
with their earlier research on the experience of injuries are very common. Thus Lynch and
male athletes, Young and White (1995: 51) Carcasona (1994) have noted that a study of 123
write that ‘If there is a difference between the male players in a Danish soccer club found that
way male and female athletes in our projects 37 per cent of all injuries were overuse injuries,
appear to understand pain and injury, it is only while a Swedish study of 180 senior male soc-
a matter of degree ... it is clear that both men cer players found that 31 per cent of injuries
and women adopt similar techniques to help to were due to overuse. FIFA’s report on soccer’s
displace the centrality of pain in their sports 1994 World Cup, held in the United States,
lives’. An example of the way in which pain is indicated that 12 per cent of all treatments of
 SPORT AND HEALTH 417

players were for chronic injuries or ailments modern West, sport is probably the main – for
which predated the World Cup Finals (Nepfer, many people the only – activity in which they
1994: 190). It would, however, be quite wrong are regularly involved in aggressive physical
to think that such injuries only occur at the elite contact with others.
level, for there is little doubt that in most The link between sport, aggression and vio-
Western countries sport at all levels has become lence provides an important key to under-
increasingly competitive and this has given rise standing why sport is a major context for the
to large numbers of recurrent injuries at the inculcation and expression of gender differ-
non-elite, as well as the elite level. A large-scale ences and identities, for sport constitutes per-
survey carried out in England and Wales for the haps the most widely available arena for the
Sports Council found that one-third of all legitimate expression of masculine aggression
injuries resulting from participation in sport or and for the display of traditional and dominant
exercise were recurrent injuries. On the basis of notions of masculinity involving physical
this study, the Sports Council estimated that in strength and courage. Thus, Young et al. (1994:
England and Wales there are 10.4 million inci- 176), drawing upon their interview data with
dents a year resulting in recurrent injuries Canadian adult male athletes, have noted that
(Sports Council, 1991: 25). Quite clearly, we are the use of force and violence and the tolerance
not dealing with a phenomenon that is con- of risks, pain and injury are valued by many
fined to elite sport, but one that is extremely male athletes as masculinizing, while the
widespread. sporting performances of women, gay men
and men pursuing alternative versions of man-
liness are, by contrast, trivialized. In similar
SPORT, VIOLENCE AND AGGRESSIVE fashion, Sheard and Dunning (1973), in their
MASCULINITY essay on the rugby club as a type of ‘male pre-
serve’, have noted that many of the songs tra-
ditionally sung in rugby clubs stress and
Many sports, unlike most forms of non- reinforce masculinity by mocking not only
sporting exercise, involve physical contact and women, but also gay men.
are, in effect, mock battles. This is perhaps Young et al. (1994) have pointed out that
most evident in the case of combat sports, in these traditional and dominant concepts of
some of which – for example, boxing – a masculinity involve, as a central proposition,
central object is to inflict physical damage on the idea that ‘real’ men play sport in an
one’s opponent. Clearly, however, the use of intensely confrontational manner. In the more
violence is not confined to combat sports, for violent contact sports, this may mean that bod-
though the level of physical violence permitted ies are used as weapons for, as Messner (1990:
in sport has, in general, shown a long-term 203) has noted:
decline as sports have become more ‘civilized’
(Dunning, 1990; Dunning and Sheard, 1979), In many of our most popular sports, the achieve-
the use of physical violence to a greater or ment of goals (scoring and winning) is predicated
lesser degree remains a central characteristic of on the successful utilization of violence – that is,
modern sport. In this regard, Dunning (1986b: these are activities in which the human body is
270) has noted that: routinely turned into a weapon to be used against
other bodies, resulting in pain, serious injury, and
All sports are inherently competitive and hence even death.
conducive to the arousal of aggression. Under spe-
cific conditions, such aggression can spill over into In such a context, players are expected to
forms of open violence that are contrary to the
give and to take hard knocks, to injure and to
rules. In some sports, however – rugby, soccer,
be injured and, when injured, to ‘take it like a
hockey and boxing are examples – violence in the
man’. A prime example is provided by
form of a ‘play-fight’ or ‘mock battle’ between two
American football which, though considerably
individuals or groups is a central and legitimate
less violent than it was in the late nineteenth
ingredient.
century, remains, by comparison with most
sports, relatively violent; it is significant that
Many sports have, in present-day societies, proponents of American football list among
become enclaves for the expression of physical what they see as the positive features of the
violence, not in the form of unlicensed or game its bellicosity and its similarities to actual
uncontrolled violence, but in the form of warfare and the pain and self-sacrifice which it
socially sanctioned violence as expressed in requires, whilst injury becomes what
violently aggressive ‘body contact’; indeed, in Guttmann (1978: 121) has called ‘a certificate of
the relatively highly pacified societies of the virility, a badge of courage’. For many players
418 KEY TOPICS

and fans alike, relatively violent sports such as new and recurrent injuries were estimated at
American football and rugby are, precisely £422 million, with costs of lost production (due
because of their violent character, arenas par to days off work) estimated at £575 million,
excellence for young men to demonstrate their giving a total annual cost of sporting injuries of
masculinity. Not surprisingly, injury rates asso- £997million (1991: 25, 31). In the light of these
ciated with such sports are considerably higher data, one can understand why one text on
than those associated with most other sports sports injuries (Vinger and Hoerner, 1982) is
and very much in excess of those associated subtitled ‘The Unthwarted Epidemic’.
with non-competitive exercise. In relation to As was noted earlier, injury risks vary
American football, for example, Guttmann markedly from one sport to another with, not
(1988: 161–2) has pointed out that: surprisingly, the highest risks being associated
with contact sports. The Sports Council study
The percentage of players incurring injuries severe
(1991: 33) found, for example, that rugby was
enough to cause them to miss at least one game a
by far the most dangerous sport, in terms of
season is over 100 percent; this means not that
risk of injury, with an injury rate of 59.3 per 100
every NFL player is injured at least once each sea-
participants per four weeks. The second most
son, but that those who are not injured are more
dangerous sport was soccer (39.3) followed by
than offset by those who are injured several times.
martial arts (36.3), hockey (24.8) and cricket
The average length of a playing career has
(20.2). A study in New Zealand (Hume and
dropped to 3.2 years, which is not long enough to
Marshall, 1994) similarly found that rugby
qualify a player for inclusion in the league’s pen-
union had the highest injury rate, while other
sion plan.
high-risk sports included horse riding, soccer,
Studies from England (Sports Council, 1991) cricket, netball, rugby league, basketball and
and New Zealand (Hume and Marshall, 1994) snow skiing. That there is a close association
similarly indicate that injury rates in rugby are between physical contact and injury risk is
substantially above those in any other sport. clear; Lynch and Carcasona (1994: 170-1) cite a
study of youth outdoor and indoor soccer in
the United States which found that 66 per cent
THE EPIDEMIOLOGY OF SPORTS of injuries in the outdoor league and 70 per
cent of injuries in the indoor league resulted
INJURIES from physical contact.
Not surprisingly, the Sports Council study in
Sports injuries are extremely common and, England and Wales found that the activities
quite clearly, the risk of injury has to be taken with the lowest risks of injury were the non-
into account in any attempt to assess the health contact and rhythmic (and largely non-
‘costs’ and ‘benefits’ of sport and exercise. In competitive) activities involved in ‘keep fit’
this context, a large-scale study carried out for (6.5 incidents per 100 participants per 4 weeks)
the Sports Council in England and Wales and swimming and diving (2.9). However,
(1991) provides a great deal of relevant infor- even relatively rhythmic and non-contact
mation and is worth examining in some detail. activities may be associated with substantial
A postal questionnaire, which asked about injury risks; Heil (1993: 5) notes that it has been
participation in sports and exercise and injury estimated that in the United States a third of
experiences in the previous four weeks, was the nation’s 15 million joggers sustain a mus-
sent to a sample of 28,857 people, selected at culoskeletal injury each year and nearly a half
random from the lists of family (primary care) of habitual runners experience lower extremity
physicians. The response rate was 68 per cent. injury, while there are also one thousand spinal
Of the 17,564 usable responses, 7,829 respon- injuries each year as a result of swimmers div-
dents (45 per cent) had taken part in vigorous ing into water.
exercise or sport; 1,429 had been injured, and Although the majority of sporting injuries
they reported a total of 1,803 injuries (1991: 2). are relatively minor, a substantial number are
The number of injury incidents was more serious. The Sports Council study (1991:
weighted and multiplied to provide estimates 18–19) found that 25 per cent of new injuries
of the annual incidence of sports injuries in and 31 per cent of recurrent injuries required
England and Wales. On this basis, it was esti- treatment by a family doctor, hospital or other
mated that there were 19.3 million incidents health professional, while 37 per cent of new
resulting in new injuries and a further 10.4 mil- injuries and 43 per cent of recurrent injuries
lion incidents resulting in recurrent injuries, involved some restriction on activities. This
making a total of no fewer than 29.7 million restriction was usually on the injured taking
injuries a year. The direct treatment costs of part in sports or exercise, though 7 per cent of
 SPORT AND HEALTH 419

all injuries resulted in the participants taking forms of ‘industrial disease’. No other single
time off work; in all 11.5 million working days milieu, including the risky and labor-intensive set-
a year are lost in England and Wales as a result tings of miners, oil drillers, or construction site
of sports injuries. A study in New Zealand workers, can compare with the routine injuries of
(Hume and Marshall, 1994) found that 15 per team sports such as football, ice-hockey, soccer,
cent of consultations at the Dunedin Hospital rugby and the like.
Emergency Department were for sports In general, it is probably reasonable to
injuries, which also accounted for 9 per cent of suggest that in the case of rhythmic, non-
all injury hospitalizations in New Zealand, and competitive exercise where body movements
17 per cent of all injuries compensated by the are, to a relatively high degree, under the con-
Accident Compensation Corporation. Both the trol of the individual participant, the health ben-
risk of injury, and also the risk of serious injury, efits substantially outweigh the health costs.
increase in more violent contact sports. Thus However, as we move from non-competitive
Young (1993: 377), writing of American foot- exercise to competitive sport, and as we move
ball, has argued that: from non-contact to contact sport, so the health
No workplace matches football for either the regu- costs, in the form of injuries, begin to mount.
larity or severity of injury . . . football injuries may Similarly, as we move from mass sport to elite
include arthritis, concussion, fractures, and, most sport, the constraints to train longer and more
catastrophically, blindness, paralysis and even intensively and to continue competing through
death ... a review of heat stresses such as cramp, pain and injury also increase, with a concomi-
exhaustion and stroke related to amateur and pro- tant increase in the health risks. The health-
fessional football . . . reported 29 player deaths related arguments in favour of regular and
between 1968 and 1978 . . . the 1990 season repre- moderate exercise may be overwhelming, but
sented the first in over 60 years without a player such arguments are rather less persuasive in
death. relation to sport in general, and very much less
persuasive in relation to elite, or professional,
sport.
CONCLUSION

What conclusions, then, can we draw about the

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 27
SPORT AND DISABILITY

Howard L. Nixon II

DISABILITY AND HANDICAP or mental make-up. Impairment can result

IN SOCIETY from disease, an accident, or a defective gene.
Impairments generally are distinguished in
Definitions: Impairment, Disability terms of physical, organic, emotional, sensory,
mental, learning and speech conditions.
and Handicap People with impairments that have persisted
for several months or more are considered dis-
The term ‘disability’ often has a different con- abled when their impairment hinders their
notation in sport than in the larger society. To ability to use certain skills, carry out certain
be disabled in sport typically means that an tasks, or participate in certain activities or
athlete is out of action for a while and is named roles. Impairments are the basis for disabilities,
on the ‘disabled list’. Thus, the reference is to a but people who are impaired are not neces-
temporary restriction of an athlete’s opportu- sarily disabled. The extent to which impaired
nity to participate. Disability can mean some- persons are disabled depends on the nature of
thing entirely different in relation to sport, the task, role, or activity demands of the situa-
however. The term can refer to persons with tion and how they relate to impaired persons’
permanent disabilities that restrict the use of capabilities. Thus, disability is situational, and
certain physical or mental capacities and par- the amount a person is disabled depends on
ticipation in certain kinds of activities but do how much a situation demands skills that a
not necessarily prevent involvement in sport. person has or does not have.
For example, a person who is paralyzed and Being handicapped is a social phenomenon.
relies on a wheelchair for mobility is perma- A disabled or impaired person is handicapped
nently physically disabled but also can be a when he or she is cast into an inferior status
serious wheelchair road racer, competing regu- merely on the basis of being impaired or dis-
larly in races across the United States. In this abled. The relationship of a person’s impair-
case, disability does not necessarily imply ment and disability to his or her personality
being out of action as an athlete. Thus, a person and to the resources and social attitudes in a
can be disabled in society, but not be disabled particular situation affects role performance.
in certain kinds of sports or sports roles. When environments or relationships do not
We can see from the preceding paragraph accommodate or adapt to impairments or dis-
that some definitions are needed to clarify the abilities, handicapping may result. Thus, hand-
basic terminology for discussion of disability icaps are like disabilities in that they are the
and sport. Impairment, disability and handi- result of how people construct environments,
cap should be distinguished first (see Nixon, relationships, or roles; they are not inevitable
1991: 2–15). An impairment is a biomedical results of impairments. Handicaps more than
condition – that is, an organic or functional dis- disabilities, however, incorporate negative
order that underlies a disability or handicap. value judgments of the social or moral worth
Its existence implies that something is missing of impaired persons. These discrediting judg-
or deviant in a person’s physical, physiological, ments constitute stigmatization, with the
 SPORT AND DISABILITY 423

discredited impairment or disability – which is sport and in society, people with disabilities
the stigma – serving as the defining quality of frequently experience degrading, demeaning,
a person’s identity. inferior and generally unsympathetic treat-
An example from sport should help clarify ment merely because they are disabled. While
the distinctions among the terms just pre- high-status members of sports teams and
sented. Joan was born with an eye disease that society may at least initially have enough
produced a retinal deficiency and is visually social credit to offset tendencies toward handi-
impaired. As a result of the retinal deficiency, capism for a while, they ultimately may feel
Joan cannot play baseball or softball because the sting of the handicapism embedded in
she cannot see the movement of the ball in the society.
field or at bat. Thus, in baseball or softball This handicapism involves patterns of preju-
played by conventional rules, she is visually dice and discrimination built into the attitudes,
disabled. When peers poke fun at Joan or treat rules, regulations and laws by which organiza-
her as inferior because she cannot see or play tions, communities and society normally oper-
softball with them during recess or in physical ate. When coaches accord encouragement and
education classes at school, she is handi- respect only to active players, subtly or explic-
capped. Joan is not disabled or handicapped in itly tell players that ‘real men’ play hurt, and
these cases merely because she cannot see very relegate injured players to visibly stigmatized
clearly; she is disabled because the rules of the status on the sidelines, they are intentionally or
game structure it to require the ability to follow unintentionally displaying negative attitudes
a silent ball in motion. Joan is handicapped toward disabled players and undermining
because her peers believe she is inferior to their status. The fact that athletes became
them because she cannot see or play ball with injured as a result of physical sacrifices for the
them. If a beeper were placed inside the ball good of the team typically has little impact on
and another player or coach called out the path how they are treated when they are disabled
of the ball as it headed toward her, she would because the culture and structure of sport are
be able to participate in the game – called ‘beep oriented toward keeping players in action. The
baseball’ – and would no longer be severely unwillingness of coaches to consider candi-
disabled in relation to it. If peers viewed her dates with permanent disabilities and rules
with respect for her effort instead of with scorn that prohibit athletes with certain disabilities
because she happened not to be able to see, she from trying out for teams also illustrate handi-
no longer would be handicapped. capism in sport.
People with impairments and disabilities In this chapter, we will explore what is
have been accustomed to being handicapped currently known about disability and handi-
and treated as members of a deviant minority cap in sport and how sport disables athletes.
group (Stroman, 1982; Nixon, 1984a). Deviant In considering these topics, the definitions
status has meant that disabled persons have and conceptual distinctions previously pre-
been relegated to a position outside the main- sented should be kept in mind. Bear in mind
stream. Minority status has meant that dis- that relatively little sociological research has
abled persons as a stereotyped and stigmatized focused on permanently disabled persons and
category or group have been accorded sport and that despite their prevalence in
degraded status, little power, and few oppor- sport, injuries, pain and disability only began
tunities for economic advancement or success. to attract attention among sport sociologists
In mainstream sports, injuries are very com- during the 1990s.
mon and tend to be expected as a normal part
of the sports experience (Nixon, 1993a). A
number of injuries are serious enough to pre-
vent athletes from competing. Thus, temporary DISABILITY AND HANDICAP IN SPORT
disability is relatively common in sport, espe-
cially at the highest and most serious levels of Disability and Sports Performance
competition. Despite its relative prevalence,
disabled status in sport has shared some of the The essence of sport is organized physical
stigma of disability in the larger society. The competition in which opponents use their nat-
labeling and segregating process that has ural physical endowment and the physical
accorded disabled persons deviant or minority skills they have developed through training
status is illustrated by an injured football and experience to perform physical tasks more
player who must appear at practice wearing a proficiently than their competitors in an effort
highly visible red cross or other stigmatizing to win. In some cases, such as boxing, football,
symbol of inactivity or disability. Thus, in rugby, hockey, and wrestling, physical contact
424 KEY TOPICS

is an expected part of the competition. In Barriers to Participation

others, such as basketball, baseball, soccer and and the Exclusion of Disabled
road races, physical contact occurs, but is
often outside the rules. In sports such as ten-
Persons from Sport
nis, physical contact is not part of the compe- Many sports are structured in ways that
tition even though competitors directly prevent persons with certain kinds of disabili-
interact with one another, while in sports such ties from participating. In fact, the highest levels
as crew and events such as high jumping, of competition in sport, such as intercollegiate,
competitors do not directly interact and com- Olympic, or professional sports, may require
pete in parallel fashion or against a standard types of physical endowment and degrees of
such as a clock or a height. Since sports com- proficiency that only an elite few can attain. Yet
petitions are varied and can have complex for- even at the non-elite and recreational levels of
mal and informal structures, the adaptations sport, people with various disabilities find bar-
needed to accommodate persons with certain riers to participation.
kinds of impairments within a sport and Sports often require modifications of their
across different sports may be varied and structure, equipment, or facilities for people
complex. with impairments to be able to surmount the
When a sports role emphasizes or requires barriers to participation that disable them in
certain physical or mental capacities and no those sports. The types and amount of adapta-
adaptation or accommodation is made to com- tion or accommodation required to make a
pensate for impairments related to those sport accessible to people with disabilities may
capacities, persons with such impairments depend on whether the competition is inte-
will be disabled in that sports role. For exam- grated or segregated. Resistance to adaptation
ple, blind persons are disabled in sports or of a sport is an important factor in preventing
sports roles requiring vision, such as ball disabled persons from participating. For ex-
sports or sports such as boxing or wrestling in ample, if wrestling did not have a special rule
which a competitor has to fend off an attack- to accommodate blind competitors, it would be
ing opponent. People who cannot use their very difficult for them to compete fairly against
arms or legs are disabled in sports requiring sighted opponents. Few mainstream sports
the use of those impaired limbs. Although dis- make accommodations to permit accessibility
abilities have an objective dimension and for persons with disabilities. Thus, physically
imply some restriction of activity or perfor- talented athletes with disabilities typically have
mance, people with disabilities can play sports to display their athletic talents in segregated
that do not require the impaired abilities or competitions against other disabled competi-
parts of the body or are adapted to minimize tors. Indeed, in some cases such as the Special
the significance of particular impairments. For Olympics, competition has been ‘controlled’
example, in the former case, many popular (Coakley, 1994: 84–7) so that fellowship and
individual and team sports, from tennis to pride in the display of physical skills are valued
football, can be played without restriction by more than competitive outcomes. In other set-
people who cannot hear. In the latter case, tings, highly competitive athletes with disabili-
blind people can wrestle as long as the com- ties compete alongside non-disabled athletes in
petitors maintain physical contact throughout parallel competitions, such as wheelchair racers
the match. It is also possible that a person dis- in marathon road races.
abled for one type of role in a sport may be
able to play another role in the same sport. It
is not unusual for baseball players in the twi- Controlled Competition: the Case
light of their careers who no longer have the of the Special Olympics
arm strength or mobility to play center field or
shortstop to perform competently at first base, The Special Olympics Sport Program was
which does not emphasize either of those established in 1968 by the Kennedy
qualities. The designated hitter role has also Foundation, with the help of the Chicago Park
extended the careers of many baseball players District, and quickly grew to become the
who could not play the field any more, but world’s largest sports program of training and
still were able to hit. While sports and sports competition for mentally retarded individuals
roles currently exist that allow people with (Songster, 1986). The First International Special
impairments, disabilities, or declining skills to Olympic Games took place in Chicago, where
participate in sport, many sports and sports over 1,000 mentally retarded athletes from
roles continue to present substantial barriers across the United States and Canada competed
to participation for such people. in track and field and swimming. By the 1980s,
 SPORT AND DISABILITY 425

the program involved more than one million in a supportive environment, and improve
athletes and thousands of coaches and volun- their physical skills. They also saw the benefits
teers from the United States and 60 other coun- of parental involvement with their child and
tries in summer and winter events, and widespread community involvement in the
included over 20 officially approved and Special Olympics. At the same time, they con-
demonstration sports, ranging from aquatics to tended that organizing the Special Olympics as
weight lifting. The Special Olympics remains a segregated program focused public attention
the world’s largest program of physical fitness, on the disability rather than ability, which was
sports training and sports competition for contrary to the professed goals of the organiz-
people with mental retardation. The Develop- ers. That is, the notion of equal physical or
mental Sports Skills program was created to sports ability was only applied in relation to
expose severely and profoundly mentally other mentally retarded people. As long as
retarded people to physical fitness and sports mentally retarded children, youths and adults
activities. Nearly one million people take part are only compared with each other, they will
in the Special Olympics in every state of the not be given other, less restrictive recreational
United States and in over 140 other countries opportunities. That is, they will be handi-
(Gran-Net Communications, 1995). capped by a philosophy of segregation, which
The Special Olympics philosophy empha- may be intended to protect them in controlled
sizes the values of physical fitness, courage, competition. To the extent that such restriction
joy, sharing, maximum effort, fairness in com- of opportunity occurs, the attainment of
petition, friendship and family togetherness another professed goal of the Special Olympics,
(Songster, 1986). Its motto is ‘Let me win but if to propel participants into regular sports pro-
I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt’. grams, will be thwarted. Orelove and Moon
Underlying this philosophy is the assumption also observed that fund-raising practices that
that controlled sports competition can make induce pity, sympathy, or the need for charity
everyone feel like a winner, which is assumed encourage a protective attitude that can handi-
to build self-confidence, self-esteem and a cap people who are mentally retarded and seek
sense of achievement. Furthermore, Special more independence and respect. Furthermore,
Olympians who display such qualities are they argued, segregated activities give men-
assumed to destigmatize their mental retarda- tally retarded people little practice in routine
tion by getting other people to focus more on mainstream interactions and little motivation
their abilities than their disabilities. Awards to seek such experiences.
such as ribbons or medals are given to every
competitor to convey their actual level of per-
formance and to enhance their pride of From the Special Olympics
achievement. Special Olympians, who are to the Paralympics
eight years old or older and generally have an
IQ of 70 or less, compete against others of With limited research, we cannot draw any
roughly equal ability, based on age, gender and clear conclusions at this point about the direct
prior sports experience. A major goal of the effects of the Special Olympics on the ‘main-
Special Olympics is for participants to move on streaming’ or integration of people with men-
to regular sports programs. Participants in reg- tal retardation. Some evidence has been cited,
ular interscholastic or intramural sports cannot however, indicating that participation in the
compete in the Special Olympics. Special Olympics elevates levels of social com-
Although Special Olympics officials and petence, self-esteem and physical fitness
organizers have seen this program as a vehicle (Shriver, 1995/1996).1 It is evident, too, that
for participants to enter the mainstream of advocacy activities, legislative initiatives, court
society free of the stigma of their disability decisions and ‘normalization’ and deinstitu-
(Songster, 1986; Whitman, 1995), others have tionalization movements on behalf of people
questioned its potential for achieving this goal with mental retardation and other impair-
(Orelove and Moon, 1984; Orelove et al., 1982). ments have increased the legal rights, visibility
For example, after identifying several benefits and participation of these people in the main-
of the Special Olympics, Orelove and Moon stream of society in the United States and other
(1984) argued that this program hurt the nations (Labanowich, 1988; Nagler, 1993;
mainstreaming of mentally retarded people Stroman, 1989; West, 1994). We have even seen
by promoting handicapism and segregation. athletes with disabilities on Wheaties cereal
They recognized that the Special Olympics boxes, a site where some of the most promi-
could enable mentally retarded participants to nent American sports heroes have been dis-
experience success, increase their social contacts played (Nixon and Frey, 1996: 222–3).
426 KEY TOPICS

Opportunities for outstanding athletes with Paralympic sports may include minor
physical and sensory impairments to compete modifications of the rules to accommodate the
at a high level and achieve some visibility have disabilities of competitors. Athletes are classi-
been provided by the Paralympics, which have fied into competitive units by a three-step
developed into a counterpart of the Olympic process: medical classification with certifiable
Games. The Paralympics grew out of the disabling conditions; functional classifications
International Wheelchair Games organized at according to levels of functional ability such as
Stoke Mandeville Hospital in England in 1948 balance, coordination, movement, and motor
by Dr Ludwig Guttmann, who organized his skills; and functional classification by sport to
Games to coincide with the 1948 London determine functional ability within particular
Olympics (Dukes et al., 1995a). Although these sports. Combining the four basic categories
sports competitions have been segregated, defined by the four international federations
unlike marathons in which wheelchair racers with the different functional classifications
compete, they have little resemblance to the results in approximately 700 Paralympic
Special Olympics. Athletes are intensely com- sporting events, compared to the approxi-
petitive and highly serious about their sport, mately 330 events in the Olympic Games
and the competitions are advertised for elite (Dukes et al., 1995c).
athletes with physical or visual impairments. Cook (1995) sought to dispel misconceptions
Athletes must meet strict qualifying criteria to about the Paralympics and their participants
be selected for their national teams and be by challenging ten popular myths about the
allowed to compete in the Paralympics. The Paralympics. Her analysis clarifies the nature
guiding philosophy of the Paralympic move- of these competitions and important facts
ment is to provide these elite athletes with ath- about the athletes as people with disabilities.
letic opportunities and experiences equivalent For example, she pointed out the distinction
to those of their elite able-bodied counterparts between the types of participants in the Special
in sport (Dukes et al., 1995b). Olympics and the Paralympics, the elite nature
Held first in 1960 in Rome shortly after the of Paralympic athletes, and the separate identi-
Rome Olympic Games and limited only to ties of the Olympic Games and the
wheelchair athletes, the Paralympic Games Paralympics. In fact, the increasing involve-
have evolved into an event sponsored by four ment of people with varied types and degrees
different international federations: the Cerebral of disabilities in many different sports below
Palsy International Sports and Recreation the elite international and national levels
Association (CP-ISRA); the International Blind (Hamel, 1992; Sherrill, 1986) has very likely
Sports Association (IBSA); the International contributed to changing attitudes about the
Stoke Mandeville Wheelchair Sports Fede- capabilities of these people and added to the
ration (ISMWSF); and the International Sports interest in sport and physical recreation among
Organization for the Disabled (ISOD). The people with disabilities.
latter organization has control over sports for
amputee athletes as well as athletes with a
variety of other impairments, including dwarf Issues of Competition and Integration
athletes (Dukes et al., 1995a). The four member
federations are joined together under the At the elite level, the growth of the Paralympic
auspices of the International Coordinating movement alongside the increasing visibility
Committee of World Sports Organizations for of wheelchair sports has increased interest in
the Disabled (ICC). integrated sports among elite athletes and their
The tenth Paralympics in 1996, held in the advocates (Brasile, 1990; Labanowich, 1988;
host city – Atlanta – of the 1996 Summer Lindstrom, 1992; Paciorek et al., 1991).
Olympics, involved approximately 100 nations, Labanowich (1988), for example, has criticized
17 sports (including 14 Olympic sports) and 2 the Paralympics because it has been segregated
demonstration sports over a ten-day period. from the mainstream and because it has segre-
The 1996 Paralympic Games were about one- gated athletes with different types of impair-
third the size of the Olympic Games, with ments from each other. He argued that
approximately 4,000 athletes, 1,000 coaches and disabled people in general challenged these
team staff members, 1,500 officials and technical types of restrictions of their opportunities. He
personnel and 15,000 volunteers. These Games also argued that elite disabled athletes aspired
are officially recognized by the International to participate alongside and against able-
Olympic Committee (IOC) and are governed by bodied athletes at the highest levels of their
the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) sports, including the medal sports of the
(Labanowich, 1988; Dukes et al., 1995b). Olympics.2 He saw wheelchair sports, with
 SPORT AND DISABILITY 427

their mix of competitors with different hand, eligibility for sport for athletes in various
categories of physical impairment, such as disability categories was conceived with the
spinal paralyzed, amputees and cerebral idea that being disabled created a disadvan-
palsied, as a model for integration. tage in competition with able-bodied partici-
The general approach to integration has pants, which was rectified by sports involving
been to include disabled athletes in competi- only disabled athletes. Yet some athletes in
tions for able-bodied athletes. The participa- these categorical or segregated sports have
tion of wheelchair racers in marathon road become so proficient that they are capable of
races, such as the Boston Marathon and the competing on relatively equal footing against
New York City Marathon, is an example of able-bodied athletes in certain sports. At the
this approach. Although George Murray, same time, the disability eligibility criterion in
Craig Blanchette, Doug Heir, and a number of certain sports for disabled athletes is set at a
other wheelchair racers have achieved interna- low enough level to permit minimally disabled
tional prominence in such competitions, they persons to participate. Thus, Lindstrom (1992)
also have faced some resistance from race identified three types of integration situations
organizers, based mainly on questions about for policy consideration:
safety, spectacle and authenticity (Brandmeyer
and McBee, 1986). Organizers have claimed 1 athletes who are not significantly disadvan-
that wheelchairs create dangerous risks for taged by their disabilities in competitions
runners, and that serious accidents could occur with able-bodied athletes, as in the case of
on wet and uneven pavements at high speeds. former Major League pitcher Jim Abbott,
Some also have been concerned that partici- who has one hand;
pants in wheelchairs might be more concerned 2 athletes with minimal disabilities who are
about conveying a political message about the not generally seen as disabled persons but
capabilities and rights of disabled persons than who qualify for certain disabled sports, such
about competing in a race, which could turn as people with circulation defects in a lower
their races into spectacles (Nixon and Frey, limb or with a cruciate ligament injury who
1996: 223). The serious attitudes and high are eligible for sitting volleyball in the
levels of accomplishment of wheelchair racers Paralympics or World Championships;
as athletes have silenced many of these types 3 able-bodied athletes in sports adapted for
of criticisms, but the issue of integration athletes with disabilities.
remains salient both in the mainstream and in
disabled sports realms. The first situation also includes disabled ath-
Efforts by the Sport for the Disabled move- letes who are able to compete against able-
ment to integrate medal events of the Olympic bodied athletes with minimal adaptations of
Games have met resistance (Brasile, 1990; the sport, as in the case of blind wrestlers. This
Labanowich, 1988; Lindstrom, 1992). Results situation and the case of disabled athletes who
from Brasile’s (1989) survey of disabled and compete in mainstream sports without any
non-disabled basketball and track and field accommodations are likely to involve talented
participants showed that more disabled disabled athletes who represent a very small
participants expressed higher overall partici- proportion of the athletes in their sport and
pation incentive levels. His survey also generally create little controversy. They are
showed that among quadriplegic respondents, more likely to inspire admiration or awe, but
more severely disabled respondents had probably have little effect on general attitudes
higher mean scores than less disabled respon- and behavior toward people with disabilities
dents on social affective and social integration because they are seen as exceptional cases.
incentive measures. Brasile (1990) suggested Over the past two decades, newspapers,
that these latter results might mean that sports popular books and magazines, and academic
participation may be especially valued for its publications, have given attention to disabled
possible social reintegration benefits by ath- athletes in competitions with able-bodied ath-
letic participants who are most severely dis- letes (Nixon, 1989, 1994a). For example, many
abled. Perhaps less disabled athletes feel less sports fans are familiar with the stories of one-
stigmatized and are more content to partici- armed Major League outfielder Pete Gray and
pate in competitions with other disabled ath- one-armed Major League pitcher Jim Abbott.
letes, especially if the competition is intense Stories have also been written about athletes
and at a relatively high level. with a variety of other disabilities competing
Lindstrom (1992) pointed to a paradox that in high-level integrated sports, including deaf
emerged with the development of elite sports college basketball players (Keteyian, 1985) and
programs for disabled athletes. On the one professional boxers (Cook, 1987) and amputee
428 KEY TOPICS

triathletes and marathoners competing against integrated into mainstream sports without
able-bodied opponents (Iole, 1988; Young, being disadvantaged by their impairments or
1989). In addition, blind and visually impaired disabilities.
athletes have successfully competed with and In an analysis of the mainstream sports inte-
against outstanding sighted athletes in gration of people with disabilities, Nixon
triathalons, wrestling, judo, karate, swimming, (1989, 1994a) showed how integration efforts
crew, track and field, marathons, powerlifting, can be complicated by a mismatching of struc-
gymnastics, tandem cycling, sailing, basket- tural aspects of sports and the abilities of par-
ball, soccer and football (Becker, 1988; Buell, ticipants with disabilities. This analysis also
1986; Cordellos, 1981; Ludovise, 1988; Sullivan demonstrated conditions under which persons
and Gill, 1975; Whiteside, 1992; Young, 1989). with disabilities can succeed in sport and
The stories of these athletes reflect their strong achieve broader social integration through
desire to compete at high levels of sport and sport. Genuine integration is not simply having
achieve recognition as athletes rather than as disabled and able-bodied athletes participate
athletes with disabilities. in the same sport or event (see Labanowich,
Strong motivation to compete often is neces- 1979; Nixon, 1984b; Sherrill, 1986). By ‘genuine
sary to overcome a variety of personal and integration’ of disabled and able-bodied ath-
social barriers to participation in mainstream letes is meant here that: (a) interaction is not
sports. For example, the resistance of many affected by stigma, prejudice, or discrimina-
mainstream sports to mixing disabled and tion; (b) disabled competitors do not feel
able-bodied athletes, as with wheelchair racers deviant, inferior, or specially favored because
and runners, and especially, the resistance to they are disabled; and (c) disabled athletes’
adapting mainstream sports to open them up impairments and disabilities are recognized
to athletes with various disabilities has limited and accepted but do not disable these athletes
the number of opportunities for disabled ath- in competition or handicap them in interaction
letes in mainstream sports. The Disabled with their able-bodied counterparts. In gen-
Sports movement itself has also at least implic- eral, genuine integration occurs when interac-
itly resisted such forms of integration. tion between disabled and able-bodied athletes
Organizations such as the IPC have sought to does not involve stigma or handicapping or
preserve the identity and status of the avoidable disability.
Paralympics as sport for disabled athletes, Genuine sports integration occurs when
which for them has meant reinforcing a segre- there is appropriate integration (Nixon, 1984b).
gated sports model (Lindstrom, 1992). Appropriate integration refers to conditions
Brasile (1990) proposed that having able- when the personal sports-related attributes,
bodied athletes compete in wheelchairs against abilities and backgrounds of participants with
disabled athletes in wheelchairs was a novel disabilities match the structural parameters of
approach to integration, which made the dis- the sports situation. Included among the para-
abled athletes and their sports the agents of meters of sports structure that could affect
integration. However, critics of this notion (for competitions involving disabled and able-
example, Lindstrom, 1992) have argued that bodied athletes are: (a) the type of sport; (b) the
having athletes with minimal disabilities and amount of adaptation or accommodation to
able-bodied athletes compete in sports for dis- disability; and (c) the degree or intensity of
abled athletes places substantially disabled competition. An important aspect of efforts to
athletes at a competitive disadvantage and match disabled athletes to particular sports is
may result in minimally disabled and non- to determine the degree of actual limitation or
disabled athletes squeezing them out of oppor- disability of disabled athletes in specific roles
tunities to compete at high levels. Lindstrom and situations in the sport. Structuring sports
(1992) proposed that trying to integrate to provide appropriate integration can be espe-
majority-group able-bodied athletes into cially difficult when an impairment, such as
sports developed and adapted for minority- hearing or seeing, is invisible or hard to mea-
group disabled athletes amounted to reverse sure (Nixon, 1989, 1994a). The basic principle
integration that effectively undercut the origi- for genuine and appropriate integration of dis-
nal rationale for creating the sports for dis- abled athletes in mainstream sports is the
abled competitors. Concern about relegation of matching of the abilities of these athletes to the
disabled athletes to second-class or minority demands of the various situations likely to be
status within sports constructed for them or encountered in their role in a sport. When dis-
their exclusion from competition altogether abled athletes are able to meet the demands
raises a question about when and how athletes of their sport, they can compete on an equal
with disabilities generally can be effectively basis with able-bodied athletes and increase
 SPORT AND DISABILITY 429

the likelihood of avoiding or minimizing distinguished themselves with outstanding

impairment or disability-related stigmatiza- performances. The Sports for the Disabled
tion and handicapping. movement, leading up to the Paralympic
The principle of ability-role matching applies Games, has met the goals and needs of many
to sports participants who are not normally other disabled athletes, and its categorical and
considered disabled as well as to disabled par- segregated structure has been staunchly
ticipants. Any person could be inappropriately defended by the leaders of this movement.
integrated in a sport when he or she is grossly The Special Olympics and other less competi-
deficient – or unable or disabled – in the per- tive models of sport have met the needs of
formance of his or her role in that sport and in other disabled people. The notion of appropri-
the social skills needed to interact effectively in ate integration implies that people with dis-
the sport. People who are not competent to abilities ought to have opportunities for sports
meet the demands of their sports and related participation that match their motivation, abil-
social roles risk disapproval, blows to their ities and skills, just as able-bodied people
self-esteem and, if they are otherwise disabled, have. Thus, an opportunity structure that best
a reinforcement of stigma and their sense of meets the sports needs and interests of dis-
being handicapped. Under such conditions, abled people includes a continuum of options
interaction beyond sport is also likely to be in different sports, ranging from relatively
adversely affected. Competition always carries uncompetitive recreational sports where
certain social and emotional risks associated ‘everyone is a winner’ to highly competitive
with losing. The risks are compounded for dis- elite sports where only a very talented few are
abled competitors in more intensely competi- selected or earn the right to compete. Battles
tive environments, which could amplify over which sports model is most appropriate
unacknowledged performance disabilities or for disabled people reflect disagreements in
amplify unaccommodated performance dis- the mainstream of society over the amount
abilities for which there are no accommoda- and types of emphasis to place on competition
tions in equipment, rules or the physical and achievement values and over whether dis-
demands of the sport itself. Thus, inappropri- abled people benefit more from trying to
ate integration could result from a poor fit adjust to institutionalized roles in the main-
between an individual’s competitive motiva- stream, having mainstream society accommo-
tion, abilities and skills, and the motivation, date to their special needs, or staying within
abilities and skills required by a particular segregated realms where roles have been
sports role. Inappropriate integration in sport developed especially for them and their sense
could lessen chances of genuine integration of of difference is minimized.
disabled and able-bodied people outside sport
by reinforcing negative or demeaning concep-
tions of disabled people that stigmatize and
handicap them. On the other hand, appropri- DISABLEMENT THROUGH SPORT
ate integration could facilitate genuine integra-
tion by generating respect for the abilities and We have been considering how persons with
skills of disabled people and ‘normalizing’ permanent disabilities participate in sport. The
them. idea that people who are disabled can partici-
A basic premise underlying this reasoning is pate in sport, especially at elite levels, contra-
that disabled and able-bodied people interact dicts the idea that an athlete who is disabled
comfortably and with mutual respect in and must be placed on a disabled list and held out
out of sport when both are able to handle the of action. We have observed that disabilities
performance and interaction demands of their are defined in terms of specific role and situa-
respective roles. Nixon (1989, 1994a) offered tional demands, which means that a person
case study evidence to provide a provisional who is viewed as disabled in society due to
empirical justification for this reasoning. Some physical, sensory, or mental impairments, still
(for example, Hahn, 1984) have questioned may be able to meet the demands of a role in a
whether disabled people benefit from integra- particular sport. In some cases, the sport may
tion when it involves emulating or adjusting be adapted to accommodate for a disability, as
to able-bodied achievement values that gener- in the case of wrestling for blind people; in
ally have not accommodated the special others, the disabilities of athletes are essen-
needs of people with impairments and disabil- tially irrelevant to the demands of the sport, as
ities. Yet, disabled athletes themselves have in the case of deaf basketball players.
shown that they want opportunities to compete While disabled people may be able to com-
in elite mainstream sports, and some have pete successfully in sport at very high levels,
430 KEY TOPICS

sport also may disable people through serious seriously injured said they had ‘played hurt’,
injuries that make it difficult or impossible to about half of these athletes said they felt some
continue to perform in that sport or even meet influence from significant others to play hurt,
the demands of other kinds of roles in society. and over 90 per cent agreed with the statement
Sport as a cause of disablement through that ‘being an athlete means that you have to
chronic pain and injuries is a troubling social be willing to accept risks’. A high percentage of
issue that will be the focus of the remainder of these athletes also agreed with statements
this chapter. about the difficulty athletes have in quitting,
The idea that sport disables participants is even after serious injuries; the need for athletes
contrary to a popular belief that sport pro- to push themselves to their physical limits; and
motes health and fitness (Edwards, 1973; the expectation that athletes have to play with
119–20, 325–8). The reality is that for high-level an injury or pain sometime. In addition, many
athletes, sports participation can be a source of agreed with the popular slogan ‘no pain, no
chronic pain (Brody, 1992; Kotarba, 1983), and gain’. Overall, a majority of the surveyed ath-
for professional athletes in sports such as foot- letes agreed strongly or with reservations with
ball, it may even reduce longevity (Breo, 1992; 20 of 31 statements indicating a willingness to
Huizenga, 1994; Munson, 1991). Although the play hurt. When these results are coupled with
reality of physical risks, pain and injuries is the finding that over 45 per cent of the previ-
understood to be part of the experience of ath- ously injured athletes reported lingering
letes at all levels, sports cultures and socializa- effects of their injuries, we can see that athletes
tion often minimize, normalize, or glorify this are highly vulnerable to chronic pain and lin-
reality (Curry, 1991; Curry and Strauss, 1994; gering or permanent disability as a result of
Frager, 1995; Huizenga, 1994; Kotarba, 1983; their sports involvement.
Messner, 1990; Nixon, 1993a, 1993b; Sabo, 1986;
Stebbins, 1987). In fact, a ‘sport ethic’ that
emphasizes the need for serious athletes to Sports Status and Gender Effects
accept risks and play through pain appears to on Pain and Injury-related Attitudes
be an important cultural influence on athletes and Behavior
(Hughes and Coakley, 1991).
‘Positive deviance’ describes cases where Being a lineup regular increased the likelihood
conformity to this kind of ethic is so intense, of having lingering effects of sports injuries
extensive, or extreme that the behavior exceeds and of having more injuries. Males and holders
conventional expectations for effort or commit- of an athletic scholarship had more surgeries
ment (Ewald and Jiobu, 1985). Athletes who for athletic injuries, and males were more
engage in positive deviance are not deviant in likely than females to be significantly disabled
the sense that they are violating the rules of by sports injuries for periods of weeks or
sport; their deviance is instead a case of being months. Athletes were most likely to talk to
overzealous in conforming to the norms or athletic trainers and doctors about their pain
‘ethic’ of the sports culture. Hughes and and injuries when they seemed sympathetic
Coakley (1991) hypothesized that athletes are and caring. They also were more likely to seek
especially vulnerable to pressures to overcon- medical attention when their coaches seemed
form to norms of the sport ethic such as accept- sympathetic and caring, but they tended to
ing risks and playing with pain when they avoid or conceal their injuries from authorities,
have low self-esteem, have identities tied to such as coaches, trainers and doctors, when
sport and rely heavily on sport for social these people were seen as likely to push them
mobility and status. to play hurt.
Athletes are socialized to accept pain and Although males were more inclined to
injuries as a normal part of sport because pain express tough attitudes about risk, pain and
and injuries happen so frequently in sport. For injury and to feel pressure from coaches and
example, in one study of nearly 200 male and fans to play hurt, no gender differences were
female varsity athletes at a medium-sized found in help-seeking or avoidance behavior
NCAA Division I institution (Nixon, 1993b, regarding injuries (Nixon, 1996b). In fact, male
1994b, 1996a, 1996b),3 80 per cent said that they and female athletes in this study did not sig-
had been seriously hurt in sport, and over 66 nificantly differ on most measures of pain and
per cent said they had been disabled by sports injury attitudes and behavior. Males may expe-
injuries for two weeks or more on at least one rience more injuries and more serious disabili-
occasion. The amount of pressure to play with ties because the intensity of contact or violence
pain and injuries is indicated by the findings in male sports is greater. Males may differ in
that 94 per cent of the athletes who had been certain attitudes, such as toughness, and feel
 SPORT AND DISABILITY 431

more pressed to play hurt because they are and even play well in spite of pain and injuries.
generally more intense about their sports Thus, the physicality that leads to pain and
involvement and feel a greater need to affirm injuries was defined by these female hockey
their gender identity through physical risk- players as an important dimension of their
taking. Thus, the gender differences in pain sport, indicating the lack of gendering of these
and injury attitudes and behaviors found in qualities in sport at high levels of competition.
this research may reflect residual effects of tra- Not surprisingly, the trainer was routinely pre-
ditional stereotypical Western or North sent in the locker room of the team that
American socialization into manhood through Theberge studied.
sport.
Another study, based on in-depth interviews
with a small sample of Canadian adult male Pain and Injury from the Student
athletes, revealed that serious injury typically Trainer’s Perspective
was seen as a masculinizing experience (Young
et al., 1994). These men tended to accept physi- An interview study of 22 male and female
cal risk in sport and not to question their past undergraduate and graduate students enrolled
injuries and the continuing pain and injury in an athletic training internship program at a
they caused. Although the men saw it as mas- large NCAA Division I university showed the
culinizing, elite female athletes in Western kinds of social relations involving trainers,
Canada were also found to be willing risk- coaches and athletes in regard to the handling
takers who were relatively unreflective about of pain and injuries (Walk, 1994). Athletes
the implications of playing with injuries demeaned the student trainers and tried to
(Young and White, 1995). These two studies avoid their services, but they also used the stu-
suggest that the few but noteworthy gender dent trainers to help them fake injuries, avoid
differences in pain- and injury-related attitudes highly demanding workout sessions, and mis-
and behavior found among Division I college use athletic training and medical services in
athletes in the United States may disappear or other ways. At times, student trainers formed
narrow substantially at higher levels of sport. alliances with athletes to circumvent the
That is, both male and female athletes may feel wishes of sports authorities. At other times, the
the effects of a culture of sport that tells them to student trainers formed alliances with staff
take physical risks and play hurt. Unless trainers to deal with the resistance of athletes
coaches, trainers, or doctors appear sympa- and coaches to their provision of medical ser-
thetic and caring when they are hurt, these ath- vices. These alliances reflect the complicated
letes may risk a series of disabling injuries that tensions surrounding medical treatment in
could lead to chronic pain or lifetime disability. sports networks on college campuses – and
The notion that physicality and injuries in elsewhere in sport (see Nixon, 1992).
sport are associated with masculinity is belied A universally held belief among the trainers
by increasing evidence to the contrary from was that serious injuries were an inevitable
women’s sports. Another study revealing the part of sport. While the acute injuries in sports
inaccuracy of this notion was conducted by such as football and hockey did not surprise
Theberge (1993). Her research showed that for the student trainers due to their intensity of
members of an elite Canadian women’s ice- violent contact, the number of seemingly
hockey team playing at the highest AA level in avoidable chronic overuse injuries, such as
their country, pain and especially injury were stress fractures and bursitis, in these and other
taken for granted as part of their sport. The sports surprised them. The student trainers
women did not fight on the ice because penal- observed that the athletes were aware of the
ties were too severe, but the manner of play risks of chronic or later-life disabilities from
was still highly aggressive. Despite rules their sports participation, but they seemed
against intentional body checking, players fre- willing to accept these risks. As in the case
quently unintentionally and intentionally used of athletes, acceptance of the inevitability of
their bodies and body contact, colliding with injuries as ‘part of the game’ was necessary
opponents and crashing against the boards, to for trainers to justify their involvement in
maneuver for position. The intense and aggres- sport.
sive style of play resulted in numerous injuries One means for trainers to deal with the
affecting virtually all the main parts of the injury issue was to encourage the use of pro-
body. Among these women, as it is among men tective equipment as a preventive measure,
studied in elite amateur and professional which conveyed the message that anyone
sports, players measured their ability partially could get hurt. They realized, however, that
in terms of their capacity to stay in the game they had little power to force athletes to use
432 KEY TOPICS

such equipment or to take other preventive reported in a five-part series in the Chicago Sun
actions. To the extent that athletes downplay Times (Hewitt, 1993a, 1993b, 1993c, 1993d,
their own chances of being seriously hurt (see 1993e) focused on the post-career conse-
Breo, 1992), they are unlikely to engage in such quences of sports injuries for athletes who
preventive or precautionary behavior. Student reached the professional level. This study con-
trainers also noted the general unwillingness sidered whether former NFL players thought
of athletes with chronic injuries to quit sport their careers were worth the pain and injuries
despite the risk of arthritis and other disabling they suffered. It surveyed 645 players whose
conditions. In a number of cases, injured ath- careers covered the period from the early 1940s
letes pushed themselves too hard during rehab- to 1986.
ilitation and recovery, and contributed to the Although every NFL player is injured every
chronic nature of their injuries and re-injuries. year, many players end their careers with an
Few seemed to question the costs of recurrent injury, and the NFL replaces its 1,650 players
and serious sports injuries. Most of the trainers every four years, only approximately one-third
believed that the reason athletes stayed in of the players carried the optional NFLPA-
sport despite pain and the risk of permanent negotiated career-ending injury coverage.
disability was ‘love of sport’. Another reason According to Miki Yaras, director of benefits
that athletes may have stayed in sport was that for the NFLPA, her efforts to sell the insurance
trainers were reluctant to advise them to dis- to players were complicated by players’ per-
continue participation. Indeed, the general ori- ceptions that they will escape serious injury.
entation of medical personnel affiliated with She observed that the players tended to be
sports organizations tends to be to return ath- macho young men who thought of themselves
letes to action. as invincible. She further noted that the players
often made the mistake of assuming that the
NFL would take care of them if they experi-
RETIREMENT, INJURIES, DISABILITY enced a career-ending injury (Breo, 1992). The
AND THE ROLE OF MEDICAL realization of their mistake often comes when
players retire and face a lifetime of costly
PERSONNEL disability.
More than one-third of the former players in
Chronic pain and injuries are a major reason the NFLPA survey indicated that they had
for the end of athletic careers, and athletes in retired as a result of a disabling injury, and
more combative and violent sports are likely to almost two-thirds indicated that they had a
be more damaged by their sports involvement permanent injury from football. Despite public
(Huizenga, 1994; Nixon and Frey, 1996: 201–3). statements by many of the players that they
College athletes whose careers are ended by would play again despite their injuries and
injury may also suffer emotional or psycholog- disabilities, the responses to the survey
ical damage from their injury. Research by showed that most recently retired players have
Kleiber and Brock (1992) showed that five to expressed increasing doubts about the value of
ten years after the end of their athletic careers, the physical damage from football. This pat-
college athletes who aspired to play profes- tern of increasing doubts may reflect the fact
sional sport and suffered a career-ending that professional football became more violent
injury had lower self-esteem and life satisfac- and disabling between the early years and the
tion than their counterparts with professional 1970s. The percentage of retired players who
orientations who did not have their careers said they had a permanent injury from football
ended by injury. Their research also showed rose from 38 per cent for those retiring before
that there was no difference in self-esteem or 1959 to 60 per cent for those retiring in the
life satisfaction between former college ath- 1960s and then to a peak of 66 per cent for
letes whose careers were ended by injury and those retiring in the 1970s. The figure for the
those whose careers did not end by injury late 1980s was 65 per cent, and based on an
when the athletes were not seriously oriented update of the survey, the preliminary figure for
toward a professional sports career. These for- 1993 was 61.1 per cent. The update also
mer athletes who had a low professional orien- revealed that the percentage of players who
tation had levels of self-esteem and life said the main reason they retired was a dis-
satisfaction approximately equal to the level of abling injury increased from 37 per cent in 1990
athletes with a high professional orientation to 41.4 per cent in 1993. The disabling injury
who did not suffer a career-ending injury. rate in the NFL in the 1990s was over three
A study conducted for the National Football times the injury rate for workers in the high-
League Players Association (NFLPA) and risk construction industry. Furthermore, the
 SPORT AND DISABILITY 433

average length of life of NFL players is Boston Red Sox, who lost a $1.7 million
62 years, which is 10 years shorter than the judgment to a Red Sox player, Marty Barrett.
average lifespan of American males. According Barrett’s lawyers argued that Pappas’s med-
to Hewitt (1993a), the NFL challenged these ical judgment was clouded by his financial
statistics, but whether or not they are precise interest in the club and its drive to earn a place
indicators of changes in injury rates, the pat- in the American League Championship Series
tern they indicate is clear. Injuries have become (Nocera, 1995). When the power of owners,
more severe and costly over the history of the management and coaches dictate the condi-
NFL. tions of medical treatment of athletes, the ath-
Although professional athletes today (for letes become very vulnerable to unintentional
example, Stebbins, 1987) may be more inclined or intentional medical malpractice. Thus, ath-
than elite amateur athletes (for example, letes can be disabled by the physical strains,
Young and White, 1995; Young et al., 1994) to pressures and contact of the contest on the
question the value of physical sacrifice for field or by the inadequate, inattentive or
their sport, there still is evidence that profes- incompetent medical treatment of the pain
sional football players continue to take serious and injuries produced on the field of play.
risks with their bodies and health (Huizenga, When their disability forces retirement, they
1994). Perhaps in the late stages of their career often must wait 35 or more years to begin
and in retirement, the costs of chronic pain receiving their sports pension.
and disabling injuries become more apparent.
In recent years, a number of former profes-
sional athletes have sued for multimillion
awards to compensate for the disabling effects HEALTH, DRUGS AND SPORT
of sports injuries. The largest award in suits
against team doctors in North America by The prevalence of drug use of various kinds in
1995 was $5.5 million, which former profes- high-level amateur and professional sport has
sional hockey player Glen Seabrooke won in a been highly publicized over the past decade,
suit against the former orthopedic physician with stories ranging from the steroid use of
for his team, the Philadelphia Flyers (Nocera, sprinter Ben Johnson, which cost him an
1995). Due to an excessively demanding and Olympic gold medal, to the deadly cocaine
painful rehabilitation program without proper experimentation of basketball star Len Bias,
medical monitoring following surgery, he the ultimately deadly lifelong alcohol abuse of
developed a condition called ‘reflex sympa- baseball legend Mickey Mantle, and the dop-
thetic dystrophy’. This condition left him ing of Soviet bloc Olympic athletes (Nixon and
without use of his left arm and shoulder and Frey, 1996: 116–20). The NFLPA survey
with chronic pain that offered no prospect revealed that former players used a variety of
of relief. drugs, including novocaine, cortisone, anti-
The tendency of team medical personnel to inflammatories, amphetamines, caffeine
downplay or ignore chronic or acute pain and tablets, alcohol, steroids, marijuana and
other indicators of potentially debilitating cocaine, to cope with injuries or to enhance
conditions often stems from the difficult role performance. Nearly 10 per cent of the players
strain that team doctors and trainers typically said they did not know what drugs they were
face (Huizenga, 1994; Smith, 1994). These taking. The sources of prescription drugs for
medical personnel are torn between respond- more than half of the players were the team
ing to the demands of their employer to keep doctor and trainer (Hewitt, 1993b). Former
players on the field and to their ethical com- NFL team physician Robert Huizenga specu-
mitment in medicine to attend to the long- lated about the linking of the use of steroids
term health needs of players as patients. A and other performance-enhancing drugs to
former NFL team physician, Robert Huizenga, chronic injuries and disability on the basis of
commented that the tendency to feel like a his first-hand observations inside the locker
member of the team often subtly affects one’s room (Huizenga, 1994; Smith, 1994). The
decisions as a doctor (Nocera, 1995: 82). dilemma for athletes in responding to team or
Doctors often succumb to pressure from own- peer pressure to use drugs is that they lack the
ers and management to rush players back into medical expertise to question a doctor’s judg-
action, despite medical doubts about their ment, they are discouraged from seeking med-
readiness to play. The clearest case of conflict ical opinions not authorized by the team
of interest in this regard involved Dr Arthur physician, and their judgment is often colored
Pappas, an orthopedic surgeon and part- by the intense desire or perceived need to get
owner of the Major League baseball team back on the field (Huizenga, 1994).
434 KEY TOPICS

CHILDREN, YOUTHS, INJURIES leg the most frequent injuries. Injured runners
AND DISABILITY averaged two injuries per season, and the inci-
dence rate was 61.4 injuries per 100 runners.
Boys’ cross-country running ranked fifth in
Serious injuries and disabilities are not con- injury rates, with a rate approximately two-
fined to athletes at the university, elite amateur thirds of the girls’ rate. The second-, third- and
and professional levels of sport. For example, it fourth-ranked sports for injuries were football,
has been estimated that approximately 25 per wrestling and girls’ soccer. Among the factors
cent of the 8 million participants in secondary thought to contribute to the high injury rates
and high school sports programs in the US for female cross-country runners are the lack of
experience some kind of injury (National fitness for this sport, which is staged during
Institutes of Health, 1992: 3). Government sup- the later months of the year, after a summer
port for efforts to reduce the incidence and layoff and the pressure to train harder to earn
severity of injuries in scholastic sports pro- the increased recognition and opportunities for
grams has been motivated by both the physical college athletic scholarships that have become
and financial costs of these injuries. The costs available for female athletes. Anatomical and
of personal injury and product liability insur- physiological factors also seem to contribute to
ance, for example, have escalated with the females’ greater susceptibility to certain kinds
increasing incidence of injuries, especially of injuries, such as stress fractures.
severe injuries. Thus, injuries have become a Other studies (for example, Murray, 1992)
major factor in athletic budgets in American have shown generally comparable patterns of
schools and colleges, and we can assume that injuries across sports, with the incidence of
this portion of budgets has grown as participa- injuries for females less than for males due to
tion in interscholastic and intercollegiate ath- the smaller number of female participants but
letics has grown with the increased number of with the rates of injury about the same for
female participants since legislation prohibit- females and males in high school sports. The
ing gender discrimination in school programs main injury ‘agent’ has been contact with
was passed in 1972 (Nixon and Frey, 1996: 260). another person, in about half the cases; and the
Furthermore, growing interest in sports such proportion of injuries in practices and contests
as soccer and the attraction of larger and more has been found to be about the same (Murray,
aggressive athletes to such sports have con- 1992). Relative injury rates in practices and
tributed to increased numbers of injuries. contests vary according to the degree to which
According to the US Consumer Product practices simulate contests. For example, in
Safety Commission, in 1994, 1.3 per cent of the wrestling and basketball, practices often
162,115 soccer players treated in hospital emer- closely approximate actual matches or games,
gency rooms had to be admitted to the hospi- while in football, players usually tackle dum-
tal, and 1.3 per cent of the 425,000 football mies and have limited and less intense physi-
players given emergency room care had to be cal contact with teammates in practice (Powell,
hospitalized. The National Electronic Injury 1992).
Surveillance System of the US Consumer It has been estimated by a sports medicine
Product Commission also estimated that the researcher (Requa, 1992) that, on average,
number of soccer injuries in the United States approximately one of three high school ath-
increased from nearly 140,000 in 1990 to over letes, or about 2 million athletes, will have at
162,000 in 1994, which is nearly a 16 per cent least one time-loss injury during a season.
rise. A major cause of soccer injuries, up to 25 About one-quarter of these injuries is likely to
per cent, has been field conditions (Birch, result in a visit to a physician. An estimated
1995). Many knee injuries in indoor soccer 2–3 per cent of these injuries result in hospital
have been attributed to the hard artificial turf. visits and 1–2 per cent in hospitalizations.
The high injury rates in male contact sports Since injury rates decrease with age, the junior
are easy to understand. Perhaps surprisingly, high school rate is likely to be less than the
though, a girls’ non-contact sport, cross- high school rate. Injury rates in youth sports
country running, was found to produce the programs outside the school are very difficult
highest injury rates in a 13-year study (from to estimate, but one survey of nearly 1,000
1979 to 1992) of 18 high school sports and adult San Francisco Bay area exercisers
60,000 participants in the Seattle area (reported involved in more than 100 competitive sports
in Bloom, 1993). Approximately one of every and recreational activities (Alvarado, 1992)
three female cross-country runners was indicated that the highest injury rate was sus-
injured, with tendinitis of the knee, shin tained by in-line skaters, at 20 per 1,000 hours
splints, ankle sprains and stress fractures of the of activity (20/1,000). The injury rate per 1,000
 SPORT AND DISABILITY 435

hours for competitive sports was 16, which athletes and that the foundation for chronic
was twice the average rate of injuries, with bas- and potentially disabling conditions can begin
ketball 18, racquetball 14, volleyball 9 and ten- very early in an athlete’s career. Under-
nis 8. Individual activities, including walking, standing the factors contributing to playing
exercise equipment and bicycling, had fewer with pain and injuries in childhood and youth
total injuries than group activities and sports, should help ameliorate the long-term disabling
10 per 1,000, but running was an exception, consequences of sports injuries. Sociologically,
with an injury rate of 16. People with prior an athletic environment that offers encourage-
injuries were more likely to sustain injuries ment of athletes to talk realistically about their
again than other people were to sustain a first pain and injuries, to seek medical attention
injury, indicating that even in recreational when it is needed, and to take an appropriate
sports, there may be a tendency to downplay amount of time for healing and rehabilitation
the significance of past injuries. Furthermore, seems especially relevant to the reduction of
although we expect more and more serious unnecessary chronic pain and disability from
injuries to occur at more competitive and sport. In addition, athletes seem less likely to
intense levels of highly organized sports, a risk injury when they avoid overtraining,
large number of injuries are likely to occur in which sport psychologist William Morgan
unsupervised and relatively unorganized called ‘the disease of excellence’ (quoted in
physical recreation and sports activities Phinney, 1988). Perhaps surprisingly, Morgan
because of the large number of casual partici- proposed that recreational bicyclists may be
pants (Requa, 1992). more prone to overtraining than elite riders
US government officials have sought better because recreational cyclists may have more
injury data collection to improve the surveil- difficulty fitting their rides into their daily
lance system for injuries and facilitate the schedules and may ride too many miles when
implementation of measures to reduce injuries. they are able to get on their bicycle.
One of the obstacles to establishing effective
surveillance systems is the liability issue. Some
experts have suggested that better injury data
could invite more lawsuits and that data sup- CONCLUSION
plied by insurance companies may be unreli-
able as it could be contaminated by the The risks of pain and injury cannot be elimi-
financial interests of these companies, which is nated from sport, especially at the higher levels
to reduce the amount they must pay for injury of sport that are implicitly structured to pro-
claims (National Institutes of Health, 1992: 4). duce pain and injury through highly intense
Obtaining accurate injury data has been made and often combative competition. Yet unless
problematic in part because of the social the authority of sports medicine practitioners
factors in sport that make the treatment of is independent of coaches, owners and other
injuries difficult, that is, factors such as athletes sports management personnel, the welfare
who hide injuries so that they can continue to of athletes will be unnecessarily at risk.
play, coaches who encourage athletes to over- Furthermore, unless the rules of sport are con-
look pain and injuries so they continue com- structed and enforced to eliminate excessively
peting and athletes who exaggerate pain and violent or risky actions, athletes will risk
injuries to avoid workouts. severe and chronic pain, injury and disability
In developing useful surveillance systems every time they step on the field of play. When
for assessing the rates and effects of sports, it is athletes are driven by the Sport Ethic, sports
important to focus on long-term effects. Most authorities, or their personal motives to over-
studies have concentrated on short-term train or play hurt, they will put themselves at
effects and have overlooked re-injury and risk of serious and continuing pain, injury and
long-term effects (Requa, 1992). One study of disability. Sports officials who fail to address
ankle sprains in 84 young athletes (Smith and the physical safety and well-being of athletes
Reischl, 1986) revealed that 70 per cent had or who put athletes at risk by irresponsibility
sustained an ankle sprain, and 80 per cent of or incompetence are likely to find themselves
those who had been injured had sprains on in court as targets of lawsuits, especially in the
more than one occasion. At the time of the United States. Thus, future research should
study, 50 per cent still showed residual symp- focus not only on collecting better medical data
toms and 17 per cent said they were participat- about pain, injury and disability in sport. It
ing even though their actions were still also should examine the cultural and social
affected by their injury. It is evident from these conditions of sport that contribute to high rates
results that playing hurt begins with young of pain, injury and disability production; the
436 KEY TOPICS

reactions of athletes to the consequences of amputee skiers in 1984 and 1988, two
acute and chronic pain, injury and disability; wheelchair races in 1984, and a modified
the attentiveness of sports officials to pain, giant slalom for amputee skiers and a
injury and disability in sport; and the role of cross-country race for blind skiers in 1988
legislators, public officials and the courts in (Labanowich, 1988: 269).
making sport safer. 3 Results from this research have been sum-
For athletes considered able-bodied, chronic marized in Nixon and Frey (1996: 104–6).
disability typically portends or represents the
end of their athletic career. For other athletes
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 28
BODY STUDIES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT:
A REVIEW OF THE FIELD

Cheryl L. Cole

The conversations accompanying the current attention to the limitations of this past–present
surge of work in body studies tend to cast logic is not to advocate a ‘presentist’ reading of
the historical relationship of the body and classical sociological texts. Instead, I mean to
sociology in terms of absence or neglect. draw attention to the historical specificity of
Efforts to explain that exclusion have turned to perception – which is to say that, where, when
themes variously related to the mind–body and how bodies appear and how they are per-
dualism and its manifestation in academic divi- ceived are intimately bound to historically
sions of labor (cf. Franklin, 1996; Hargreaves, specific dynamics and pressures. To some
1987; Turner, 1984; Waldby, 1997). The well (perhaps, even a great) extent, contemporary
rehearsed and commonly accepted diagnosis – concern with the body has been shaped by
summarized by Loy, Andrews and Rinehart medical and health crises, particularly AIDS,
(1993) as the ‘non-body bias of sociology in new reproductive technologies, epidemics of
general and sport sociology in particular’ – addiction and genetic engineering, in a context
leads, somewhat predictably, to calls for marked by the general privatization of health
‘embodying’ or bringing the body back into and citizenship. These historical and culturally
sociology and the sociology of sport. Although specific events foster anxieties and contribute
‘body studies’ and a distinctive sub-area called to wide-ranging political contests organizing
‘sociology of the body’ are recent develop- and organized around various bodies. More-
ments, the coordinates of exclusion (‘absence’ over, these dynamics and events challenge
and ‘imperative embodiment’), at least by my apparently clear-cut distinctions between self
view, misconstrue the historical appearance and other, give rise to disputes around tradi-
of the body in sociology, including the sociol- tional forms of authority and knowledge, and
ogy of sport. Indeed, Loy et al. hint at the destabilize modern foundations.
ambiguity and confusion embedded in the Emily Martin (1992) articulates and affirms
‘non-body bias’ claim by identifying the ‘re- the thesis of the historical specificity of bodily
discovery of the early writings of Norbert appearance when she proposes that contempo-
Elias’ and the ‘re-reading of essays by Erving rary interest in the body is inextricably bound
Goffman’ as indispensable to the development to economic and technological transformations.
of the contemporary intellectual body enter- Martin, like the scholars I review below in the
prise (1993: 71). ‘modern bodies and modern sport’ section,
These prominent narratives of neglect pre- views one of ‘Fordism’s’ primary effects to be
sent two interdependent problems: they effec- the organization of the collective nature of bod-
tively locate scholars as agents of intervention ies.1 That is, factory-based production and cor-
and thereby encourage the displacement of porate capitalism, which created new demands
the historical affinities between the body and for a new kind of worker, enabled and were
sociological themes. My purpose in drawing enabled by new forms of discipline permeating
440 KEY TOPICS

sexuality, reproduction, family life, leisure and In this chapter, I discuss the broad, diverse
consumption. Recalling Lévi-Strauss’s (1967) and theoretically incongruent investigations
proclamation that phenomena become the of the body and sport. Given the rapid growth
object of acute analysis precisely when they are of body studies, the review I offer is neither
ending, Martin argues that the newly invigo- definitive nor comprehensive; instead, my aim
rated academic body industry is an expression is to introduce some of the most productive
and effect of the transformation from Fordism trends in body studies. My approach to this lit-
to post-Fordism. Drawing on David Harvey’s erature is generally thematic and is organized
(1989) characterization of post-Fordism, she around three (despite the wide continuum of
describes contemporary conditions in terms of possibilities) primary, but interdependent, cor-
just-in-time production, constant innovation, poreal manifestations: the modern sporting
accelerated labor processes, requisite deskilling body; deviant/transgressive bodies; and com-
and reskilling, time–space compression, and modified bodies. Because the body–sport cou-
the continual flow of capitalism across borders. pling is deeply enmeshed in modern beliefs
These late-twentieth-century characteristics of and dynamics (see Andrews, Chapter 7 of this
production and consumption, by Martin’s volume), I begin by reviewing literature that
view, reconfigure and produce a contradictory contemplates the relations among bodies,
bodily formation rooted in ‘the ability to sport and modernity. In the second section, I
respond to constant change in the environment examine research on deviant and transgressive
and the nature and kind of work one does in bodies, emphasizing those investigations that
a context of widespread fear of mortal loss challenge commonsensical or more familiar
of employment, status, housing, and health’ formulations of deviance and violence. I con-
(1992: 129). clude by surveying the research on commodi-
Moreover, theoretical resources are like fied, spectacular fit and athletic bodies, the
technologies delineating the body’s appear- sort of desires and practices such bodies incite,
ance. Works inspired by feminism, Foucault, and their extension into the political realm.
Bourdieu, de Certeau and Deleuze exemplify The final section directs attention to the potent
mutually reinforcing ways of thinking and lines force of mass produced and commodified
of inquiry shaping contemporary body studies. bodily images.
Feminism, perhaps more than other theoreti-
cal developments, has stimulated far-ranging
debates as it has shaped sociology’s and sport SPORTING BODIES AND MODERN
studies’ self-consciousness about the body.
While early feminist work tends to cast body PROCESSES
issues in familiar terms of repressive power, a
self-authorial-self contained within the body Scholarship whose fundamental concern is
(that is, the liberal individual), and liberation modern processes and practices, sport and the
aimed at throwing off repression in the name of body tends to address a wide range of ques-
self-sufficiency and will, more recent feminist tions related to the stabilization of modern
criticism builds on Foucauldian interventions in state formation, industrialization, urbaniza-
traditional ways of thinking about power. tion, colonialization and normalization. It
Indeed Foucault’s conceptualizations of the draws attention to the place of sport and the
normalization of power and the power of modern athletic body in securing ‘our ’ sense
normalization have been central to advancing of ‘selves’ as particular kinds of individuals,
arguments about the body. (Andrews, 1993, Rail people and nations; it investigates the implica-
and Harvey, 1995, and Theberge, 1991 provide tion of science and technology in the produc-
strong overviews of Foucault’s application to tion of modern sporting bodies – including
sport-body studies. Defrance, 1995, Laberge, multiple expressions of the normal and abnor-
1995, and Shilling, 1993 provide provocative mal; and, it examines how modern moral dis-
analyses of Bourdieu’s theoretical influence on courses and corporeal norms are implicated in
body–sport studies.) Despite prominent theo- producing responses of fascination and horror
retical directives to examine everyday opera- to various athletic bodies. The overview of the
tions of power and the body, to investigate historical sociological examinations of sport,
relationships among power, bodily practices, bodies and the modern state and contempo-
gestures, motions, habits, styles and location, rary investigations of modern science and
and the body politic, what it means to study sporting bodies provides a useful background,
the body and sport, to subject the body–sport as well as multiple possibilities, for making
relationship to the analytic gaze, remains far sense of various corporeal expressions dis-
from settled. cussed throughout this chapter.
 BODY STUDIES 441

Modern Bodies and Modern Sport body; Dunning and Sheard (1979) examine the
civilized body; and Gruneau (1993) and
The role of sport in the modern project of pro- Hargreaves (1987) discuss the effects of sport
ducing desirable and normalized bodies is and the worker’s body. As Hargreaves, among
examined by Dunning (1993), Dunning and others, notes, athletics were a means of
Sheard (1979), Gruneau (1993), Gruneau and expanding the authoritative gaze of non-school
Whitson (1993), Hargreaves (1986, 1987), work activities to the ‘soul’ of the students;
Harvey and Sparks (1991), Kimmel (1990) and they were bodily and emotional practices
Messner (1992). In general, they investigate constitutive of the gentleman’s body. These
the various ways in which sporting practices, practices, Hargreaves explains, were never
within a context defined by the values and ‘simply’ about the cultivation of proper values,
dynamics of modernity, are indissolubly con- gait and posture. Instead, the cultivation of
nected to what might be called the ‘somatiza- the bourgeois sporting body was a means of
tion of social stratification’. That is, they seek to marking bodily differences which delineated
understand how sport, as a physical activity, is and rationalized hierarchies of privilege.
related to observable bodily movements and Moreover, by Hargreaves’s view, these bodily
postures embedded in the social order and activities were vital to the cultivation of
bodily competencies associated with the needs an English self and all that entailed: the
defined by capitalism. bodies produced were positioned as naturally
In an exceptionally suggestive essay, Harvey superior to internal subordinate groups such
and Sparks (1991) contend that adequate as the working class and women as well as
accounts of modern sport and the body must to Continental foreigners and the external
address ‘fundamental questions about the colonialized in the context of empire.
political status of the body and the processes of Gruneau (1993) and Hargreaves (1987)
politicization of the body . . . the political ends describe the political effects of asymmetrical
the body serves and the political means used to bodily resources and bodily practices by
secure those ends’ (p. 164). To this end, and fol- examining the distinction between team sport
lowing Defrance (1987), Holt (1981, 1982) and (an instrument for confirming class superior-
Rosanvallon (1990), Harvey and Sparks exam- ity) and physical exercise and rationalized
ine the development of nineteenth-century sport (deployed as technologies to produce
French gymnastics. By locating gymnastics in new and respectable workers’ bodies). While
this context, they show how bodily practices, Gruneau and Hargreaves both identify mili-
like gymnastics, were shaped by concrete and tary and national efficiency as central concerns
practical struggles to unify the nation, secure shaping disciplinary bodily practices, Gruneau
state authority and force, and manage a society privileges the concrete struggle around sport’s
of individuals. Initially, gymnastics was banned early association with spectacle, vice and
as a practice that potentially undermined the moral depravity. He discusses how the ideolo-
state’s struggle for authority and its active pro- gies of civilizing amateurism and health were
duction of citizens; that is, gymnastics was used to inflect sport with moral and economic
banned because it potentially endowed bodies, utility; that is, he examines how ways of think-
particularly working-class bodies, with capaci- ing about sporting practices were reshaped
ties at odds with the state, while providing a through modern metanarratives, particularly
space to promote republican ideology. But, those directed at the body. As Gruneau states
Harvey and Sparks show how the state’s posi- clearly, ‘The objective in all this was not just the
tion on gymnastics changed when external pursuit of better sporting performances, it was
threats made clear the state’s needs for physi- to participate in a certain kind of culture and
cally fit and obedient military bodies. Inspired live life in a certain way’ (p. 90). The division
by gymnastics’ capacity to enhance national between rationalized physical activity, a posi-
goals, the state sanctioned and expanded mili- tive force invested in social improvement and
tary gymnastics to schools and public fairs. the production of bodies capable of perform-
Gymnastics, according to Harvey and Sparks, ing the tasks required in industrial societies
became part of a disciplinary regime – a peda- (Gruneau, 1993; Hargreaves, 1987; Kimmell,
gogical instrument – for encoding and enacting 1990) and other sport forms associated with
a sense of individual and collective duty and unruly practices, ‘valueless diversionary spec-
responsibility. tacle’, and hedonistic distractions like idleness,
A collective body of sociological literature gambling, drink and violence (Gruneau, 1993:
examines athleticism in English public schools 86; Hargreaves, 1986, 1987), established moral
and bodily production. Hargreaves (1987) con- parameters which fragmented the working
siders sport as a technology of the gentleman’s class. For Gruneau, it is telling that even
442 KEY TOPICS

sport defined through civilizing amateurism, science studies that is useful for understanding
muscular Christianity and healthy bodies was the body–sport relationship. I divide this work
easily subject to commercialization. into two categories based on the larger prob-
While Kimmel (1990) builds on premises lems that direct their research: those studies
similar to those discussed above, he pursues concerned with the negative effects of scientific
the making of white middle-class masculine interventions into natural human bodies and
bodies in and through modern sport. Most those that presume that scientific productions
specifically, he stresses the relationship between of the natural body are expressions and effects
the crisis of masculinity in late nineteenth- of modern power. It is the second project that
century America, sport as a bodily practice, and offers the most potential for guiding studies of
the characteristics of modernity. For Kimmel, the body–sport relation.
the changes associated with modernism, the John Hoberman is author of two of the few
erosion of traditional foundations, women’s book-length studies (Mortal Engines and
gains, the increasing number of immigrants in Darwin’s Athletes) which interrogate scientized
urban–industrial areas, fear of effeminacy athletic bodies. Here, I focus on Mortal Engines
associated with urban areas (its visible homo- (1992) because in it Hoberman traces what
sexual subculture) and loss of economic and he calls the unknown story of scientific sport.
workplace autonomy, played a large part in the In his routing of history, he divides the
crisis of masculinity. Modern sport, particu- science–sport relation into two moments dis-
larly baseball, was a practice used to contain tinguished by the science–body relation: the
and relieve anxieties associated with white age of scientific truth-seeking, which sought to
middle-class masculine insecurities. Kimmel is reveal and record; and the Age of Calibration
quick to note that sport did not simply relieve (marked by preoccupation with measurement
anxieties nor simply bolster white middle-class and transgression of natural limits), which
identities, but functioned as a disciplinary emphasized science’s capacity to enhance per-
apparatus that instilled submission to author- formance. Hoberman characterizes the early
ity, bodily ideals and the values of the work- science–sport relation as dominated by a mode
place. of perception and optical techniques aimed at
In fairness, I need to say that although the revealing and clarifying natural laws of the
above research acknowledges antagonisms body. This ‘pre-modern science’, Hoberman
and resistances generated through the bodily suggests, includes the anthropology of racial
practices associated with modern sport, I have biologies which questioned the relationships
stressed the prominent dynamics (in order to between intelligence and physical attributes,
clarify them) discussed by these scholars. Yet, civilized and savaged bodies; the work of
it is curious that while all recognize sport as Brown-Sequard (the forerunner of modern
a disciplinary domain, and recognize the rela- endocrinology) which considered the biological
tion between sporting practices, bodily posture and regenerative significance of testicular
and deportment, and social hierarchy, none abstracts; physiologist and inventor Etienne-
systematically interrogates the interdependency Jules Marey’s photography which rendered
of corporeal identities.2 This notion of inter- movement visible in ways not accessible to the
dependency is key to much of the work human eye; Galton’s eugenics; and Taylor’s
(particularly post-structuralist) on the body. fatigue research. Hoberman’s concern is with
Moreover, while the research reviewed implies those sciences that most enthusiastically inter-
the position of modern science in sport (through rogated sport performances. Most specifically,
categories such as hygiene, social improve- Hoberman is interested in the manifestation of
ment and allusions to the coupling of the scientized corporeal violences of the self: the
machine and the body), modern science is not mutant identities developed through high-
a central concern. Science, the production of performance sport. ‘Human identity’ (which is
corporeal identities and their interdependency Hoberman’s self-defined concern) is breached
are more explicit objects of analysis in the next when the source of performance is other than
section and throughout the chapter. the original self or the exercise of that self, as it
would be with the hidden hand of science and
prosthetics. By Hoberman’s view, scientized
Modern Sport, Science and the Body sport is dangerous and pathological to the
extent that it calls into question or violates
Although a rapidly developing area of body human identity.
studies, science studies is ‘just’ beginning Whereas Hoberman (1992) presumes neutral
to influence the body–sport literature. In and universal categories of the human and self
this section, I discuss the literature related to that are then pressed upon by science, much of
 BODY STUDIES 443

the social study of science and sport examines civilized and normal and of teaching
the implication of modern science in the pro- Westerners how to read bodies and bodily
duction of bodies, boundaries and truths movement for signs of the primitive and
which it claims to simply reveal. Cecile savage.
Lindsay (1996) concretizes the historical devel- The role of science in the production of the
opment of seemingly ahistorical categories by natural body in sport and through exercise has
drawing attention to scientific attempts to been discussed by Cole (1998), Cole and Orlie
order bodies at the turn of the century. She (1995), Derrida (1993), Franklin (1996),
argues that the display, and popularity of Hausmann (1995), Sedgwick (1992) and Urla
such displays, of unnameable and anomalous and Swedland (1995). In outlining the para-
bodies (for example, freak shows) were a doxical dimensions of modern sport, Franklin
response to scientific observation, classifica- (1996) focuses on the contradictions made
tion and ranking of bodies. She explains the apparent through appeals to the natural. She
fascination with extraordinarily strong and compares, for example, the contradictory logic
muscled bodies: of ‘the natural’ guiding the deployment of
steroids and sport and new reproductive tech-
Although a number of important studies have
nologies. In the discourse of new reproductive
demonstrated the establishment of restrictive cul-
technologies, the natural body is preserved
tural norms (particularly gender roles and appear-
through the use of steroids, while in sport-
ance) at about this time, it also seems clear that the
drug discourses, prohibitions of steroids are
era of the freak show was in some ways more
implemented in the name of preserving the
receptive to the transgression of such classificatory
natural body. Along similar lines, Derrida
categories than twentieth-century culture has
(1993) and Sedgwick (1992) address the prob-
become. For although Gould and Pyle [authors of
lematic modern logic of absolutes that distin-
Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine] considered
guish sport/exercise (the embodiment of free
Eugen Sandow’s muscular development to be
will) from drugs/addiction (the embodiment
anomalous enough to merit photographic plates in
of insufficient free will). Derrida does so by
their work, they also praise his beauty and
foregrounding the discourse of ‘drugs’ and
grace. ... At a time when the conventional distinc-
the concept’s historical and cultural inscrip-
tions and categories by which we have come to
tions and its moral-ethico valuation. Derrida
order existence were crystallizing, a measure of
argues that the scientific policing of chemical
‘play’ still existed within and between classes of
prosthetics in sport denies and persistently
beings. (p. 360)
elides the body’s technological condition; he
Rony (1992) examines the documentation of complicates the practice of drug-tracking by
bodily movement of ethnographic subjects challenging which substances are – and are
through the chronophotographe, a device not – labelled drugs; and, finally, he argues
invented by physiologist Etienne Jules-Marey that sport is a drug – intoxicating and depoliti-
to record serial movement (a device crucial to cizing. Sedgwick considers the invention of the
time–motion studies and the development of exercise addict, which she views as the limit-
capitalist workers). Her investigation of the case of addiction because the object of addic-
visualization of bodily movement and its tion is replaced by the self (the self addicted
implication in the taxonomic ranking of to the self), as an expression of the crisis of
peoples clarifies the broader political implica- modern logic – its outmoded absolutes of
tions of posture and movement which legiti- the organic body, free will and the natural.
mated modern sport practices, discussed by For Sedgwick, steroid-man (the cyborg), not
Dunning and Sheard (1979), Gruneau (1993), the organic body, is a sign of our contempo-
and Hargreaves (1987). Most specifically, Rony rary cultural condition. For both, scientific
examines the films made of West African attempts to visualize interior spaces of purity
bodies by French physician Felix-Louis and authentic performances, exemplified in
Regnault (who believed that film was the sport domains, are efforts to conserve concep-
ideal scientific medium to study race because tual oppositions that no longer hold in late
film would capture ‘the raced body’ as it was modernity.
revealed through movement). Her work sug- Susan Birrell and I (1990) examine the case of
gests more than scientific bias; it suggests male-to-female transsexual Renee Richards to
that science is inseparable from narratives of investigate fissures and disruptions in the sex/
evolution governing in the films. As Rony gender system. Our analysis acknowledges how
points out, the representation of the savage such fissures and disruptions are incorporated
through movement was simultaneously a under the sign of the ‘natural’ through the
means of identifying Westerners as the scientific category of gender dysphoria and
444 KEY TOPICS

technologies of gender; yet, our focus remains sex. Ultimately he endorses an ahistorical
on the media’s negotiation of the problems constructionist position which erases the mate-
posed by Renee Richards. In short, we suggest riality, the historical, cultural and structural
the media obscure the historical relationship formation of sex, and limits our understanding
between women and sport by staging the of the relations among sex and other identities.
debate through essentialist and liberal terms. M. Ann Hall’s (1996) comments regarding sex
We conclude that these at time correspondent testing demonstrate how universal constructs
and at times contradictory liberal and essen- erase historical understanding of the body and
tialist claims represent women through their categories grounded in nature. While trying to
appearance as suitable objects of masculine avoid the power relations implicated in one
pleasure. In Changing Sex, an investigation of category (woman), Hall argues for a contin-
the historical development of scientific and uum of sex, suggesting that the two-sex system
medical technologies that sustain the medico- itself is a defiance of nature. This argument,
legal regulation of transsexuals, Bernice appealing as it seems, positions the body out-
Hausmann (1995) turns to academic analyses side of history, and actively participates in the
of Renee Richards to demonstrate dominant elision of power relations by invoking the
research patterns which emphasize the repro- liberal notion of personhood. Much important
duction of gender to the exclusion of techno- criticism has been directed at the notion of
logies. She draws attention to the Barr body personhood as it has been invoked to replace
test in order to demonstrate how scientific women (for example, Brown, 1996; Gatens,
technologies ascribe values to ‘chromosomes 1996; Pateman, 1988) and as it has been
as the supposedly undeniable signifiers of sex’ produced by science.
(p. 12). In so doing, Hausmann makes the My own work on gender verification (Cole,
crucial point that ‘technology impinges on the 1995) is based on the assumption that universal
constitution of “women” as well as transsexu- categories like sex accrue meanings in particu-
als’ (p. 12). Hausmann’s theoretically and lar contexts. Therefore, I argue that to under-
empirically rigorous study is an exemplar of stand the political significance of ‘sex tests’ we
post-Foucault (1980a) and post-Laqueur (1990) need to radically contextualize our object of
scholarship: her historical insights into the study. For example, my research examines ‘sex
centrality of scientific technology in the consti- tests’ in the context of Cold War America: it
tution of sex will no doubt help shape body attempts to unravel the mass media’s presen-
studies as it advances through science studies tation of Soviet athletes, particularly in terms
of sport.3 of how they differ from American athletes. In
Most obviously, Hausmann’s argument is this case, I show how the bodies of Soviet
related to academic investigations of sex- athletes were made to appear different and
testing technologies in high-performance deviant and, specifically, how they were made
sport. Although these examinations have to represent the anti-democratic body and
provoked much public debate and remain an ‘creations of a filthy workshop’. The deviant
ongoing source of controversy, the Barr body female Soviet athlete was one of these cre-
and other ‘gender verification’ tests have ations. Such makings (through photography
received only limited attention by academics. and narrative) show how the Soviet body
Jennifer Hargreaves (1994) situates her exami- served as a phantasmatic space on which
nation of gender verification within a larger anxieties, speculations and fantasies were
narration of the historical discrimination faced projected in order to imagine the American
by women since the beginning of the modern body, the operation of power in America, and
Olympic Games. By her view, sex testing is the body’s implication in democracy. In the
yet another symptom of the more general context of the Cold War, scientific probes for
backlash directed at women in the Olympics. sex in high-profile sport, I argue, cannot be
Although she offers numerous criticisms of the separated from popular constructions of
procedures, her criticisms coalesce in what she democratic and communist bodies. Sex testing
identifies as the public and private indignities brings together numerous dynamics woven
suffered by the women subjected to the various throughout this section. It is deployed to
technical practices. render visible suspected deviance in ways
Hood-Williams (1995) approaches gender that establish the normal and desirable: it is
verification by considering the limits of the implicated in the production of national
analytical construct of gender deployed in identity, a sense of self, and even who counts
feminist work on gender verification. By his as human. Indeed, much of the research on
view, the feminist distinction between sex and normalization of feminine bodies bridges work
gender conceals the discursive construction of on science, sport and bodies in the realm of the
 BODY STUDIES 445

popular.4 The deviant body, the necessary theories of criminal biology, research and
other of the normal, is interrogated in the next public policies. For example, Wilson and
section. Herrnstein (1985) provide evidence of the
decidedly racist motives advanced through the
articulation of violence, character and bodily
appearance. In their words,
EMBODIED DEVIANCE AND SPORT
An impulsive person can be taught greater
self-control, a low-IQ individual can engage in sat-
The modern dynamics of identity (normal/
isfying learning experiences, and extroverted meso-
abnormal) discussed previously help us make
morphs with slow autonomic nervous system
sense of what otherwise might be the puzzling
response rates can earn honest money in the
regular appearance of non-normative bodies
National Football League instead of dishonest
in a domain ostensibly dedicated to universal
money robbing banks. (quoted in Dumm, 1993: 103)
humanity and bodily perfection. Indeed, in the
sporting realm, images of immoral and/or evil Thomas Dumm (1993) clarifies the implica-
bodies are not atypical but are routinely tions of such ways of thinking in his analysis
conjured up through a proliferation of cate- of the Los Angeles Police Department’s abuse
gories and images related to the aberrant, of Rodney King.5 As Dumm explains, such
abject, anomalous, corrupt, criminal, cyborg, a theory assumes that King was predisposed
grotesque, hybrid, monstrous, queer, subver- to violence and responsible for the choice
sive, unruly and violent (Halberstam, 1995). he made: in this case, King’s crime was his
Such bodies appear controversial and threaten- ‘decision’ not to play professional football.
ing; they are represented as social problems Wilson and Hernnstein’s declaration is an
which, in particular moments and cases, un- expression of what I identify in my research as
settle familiar models of humanness and mod- a central dynamic governing the national
ern categories of existence. Not surprisingly, imagination in 1980s America – the sport/gang
science is typically called upon to render visi- dyad (Cole, 1996).
ble and treat such bodies. Our understanding In the context of 1980s America, sport,
of scientific visualizations and inscriptions of posited as a bodily activity vital to crime
embodied normative violations and the possi- control, simultaneously produces and legiti-
bilities created through these inscriptions is mates racial representations of bodily deviance
indebted to science studies (for example, and dangers. These monstrous representations,
Terry and Urla, 1995; Treichler et al., 1998). which signify crime out-of-control, justify
Scholarship in this area does not in any simple increased investment in the police/control
way seek to prove science is sexist nor racist; industry. Accruing momentum during Reagan’s
instead, it attempts to illuminate the levels of war on drugs, national discourse linked
mediation that participate in the presentation racially coded, bodily sporting practices to
of ‘the Objective’ and ‘Nature’. The exponen- social order and utopic possibilities and non-
tial increase in investigations of deviant and sporting alternatives (appearing most vividly
exoticized bodies is not just attributable to in the figure of the gang), with breakdown
science studies, but is a response to contempo- of law and order. A crucial effect of this dis-
rary conditions, complex shifts in representa- course is the sort of violences, particularly
tion and the fascination, as well as the those associated with transnational capitalism
discomfort, such bodies mobilize. and its economic reorganization like those
noted by Martin earlier, that it obscures
(Cole, 1996). Jay Coakley (1997) and Toby
Bodies, Violence and Sport Miller (1997) offer insightful discussions of
the need to rethink our common-sense image
The diverse and far-ranging literature of violence as simply acts performed by
related to bodies, violence and sport has been particular bodies. Coakley and Miller both call
shaped by seemingly incompatible psycho- for attending to violences that are not so easily
physiological theories (Dunning, 1993). imagined. We begin to understand why it is
‘Catharsis theory’ depicts as integral to the difficult to think about and see violence in
development of modern sport its sanctioned other ways – in less embodied forms – when
status for channelling otherwise instinctual we consider the dynamics of modern logic and
aggressive, unproductive and criminal drives the categories of act/identity (what/who)
and desires. The pervasiveness (as well as the governing the national imagination.
implication) of this way of thinking about sport Related to the representation of dystopic and
and bodies is demonstrated in contemporary violent bodies is the belief, as described by
446 KEY TOPICS

Dunning, ‘that we are living today in one of acts associated with corporeal acquisitions)
the most violent periods in history. A not affectively manifest in ‘self’. Wacquant (1998a,
insignificant part of this belief consists in the 1998b) summarizes the moral conduct proper
widespread feeling that violence is currently to professional boxers through the category
increasing in, and in conjunction with, sports’ of ‘sacrifice’. Sacrifice is defined in terms of
(1993: 39). The violences associated with sport, a series of relations: a relation in which one
particularly those associated with masculine gives over body and soul to the sport and the
display, have been investigated by Messner reorganization of series of relationships of self
(1992) and Gruneau and Whitson (1993). Such and others and self to self.
research documents not only the bodily vio- In his research on the intense practices
lence directed at others but the sorts of vio- fighters engage in (that is, labor on the body) to
lence enacted on one’s own body (Connell, convert bodily into pugilistic capital, Wacquant
2000; Kimmell, 1990; Messner, 1992). Gruneau draws attention to the numerous knowledges
and Whitson (1993) also discuss the aggressive and skills accrued by fighters. Among those
masculine physicality of hockey as a requisite skills is the capacity to ‘read’ bodies – the
practice for deflecting aggressive behaviors of ability to instantaneously assess opponents’
others. Moreover, they suggest that economic bodies, to locate vulnerabilities, in order to
class is intertwined with and shapes ideal determine strategies that should be deployed.
masculine physiques, notions of appropriate Questions related to ‘reading’ and ‘recognizing’
strength and expressions of force. The complex bodies (as mentioned explicitly by Rony [dis-
relationship among social location, bodily cussed previously] and implied in many of the
ideals, expressions of strength and force, is investigations reviewed herein) continually
elaborated in work influenced by Bourdieu surface in body studies and constitute crucial
(see, for example, Bourdieu, 1986) and, most dimensions of the investigations of body-
prominently by Loic Wacquant’s ethnographic building, particularly female bodybuilders
studies of boxing. which I discuss below.
By examining ‘the pugilistic point of view,’
Wacquant (1995, 1998a) strives to disrupt tropes
of violence that reduce boxing to an excessively Bodybuilding and the Un/Making
brutal and uncivilized activity and its practi- of the Natural Order
tioners as naturally predisposed to violence.
Multiple and inter-related dimensions shape the Abject bodies, those which unsettle conven-
pugilistic point of view. Boxers view their prac- tional couplings and distinctions related to sex,
tice as a highly skilled bodily craft distinct from raise compelling questions.6 In so doing, they
street violence; as a skill compelling sophisti- create occasions to examine typically con-
cated technical and tactical know-how; and as a cealed operations of power as they render
career which enables earning a living. Physical visible the contests that maintain proper
excellence in the ring is understood to be a dis- boundaries. Scholarship on abject and abnor-
play of character; evidence of hard work and mal bodies builds on theories that undermine
discipline; a sign of overall moral excellence the illusory autonomy of bodies and identities
and commitment; and a means to otherwise as bodily property (the self-contained self)
elusive symbolic capital. In this sense, boxing, and investigate the dynamics that enact,
for its practitioners, is a vehicle for ontological encode and enable these illusions (dynamics
transcendence – a practice and form through associated with classificatory systems, threat,
which fighters can fashion themselves into new containment, resistance, moral codes, self/
beings who transcend social determinations. other identities, and social order). Although
Wacquant neatly summarizes his point: this scholarship shares a critique of universal
and absolute categories foundational to modern
to outsiders it stands as the penultimate form of
ontological claims, critical interpretations of
dispossession and dependency, a vicious and
such disruptions and claims about their subver-
debasing form of submission to external con-
sive implications depend upon the theoretical
straints and material necessity. For fighters, boxing
perspectives (particularly the conceptualization
represents the possibility of carving out a margin
of power) underlying the analysis.
of autonomy from their oppressive circumstances
Although recognizably normal bodies are
and for expressing their ability to seize their own
bound up in bodybuilding practices (Feher,
fate and remake it in accordance with their inner
1987), my focus in this section is on scholarship
wishes’. (1995: 501)
concerned with public competitive body-
In short, then, a pugilist is not simply a building culture, a culture that explicitly seeks
‘doer’ but the ‘doing’ (‘doing’ refers to the to produce and display physiques wilfully
 BODY STUDIES 447

transformed in terms of size, shape, definition them appear like the girl next door. ‘The girl
and tone (Linder, 1995). Given the immense next door with muscles,’ Patton writes, ‘looks
amount of research concerned with the rela- so much like the presumably male models who
tionship between sport and representations of populate ads for transsexual phone lines in
women’s bodies as foundationally weak or both heterosexual male and gay male sex mag-
defeminized and masculinized, it is no coinci- azines that one wonders how heterosexuality
dence that the hypermuscular female body- can survive its own gender construction’ (p. 12)
builder, a vivid illustration of disturbances or Haber (1996) examines the recuperation of the
boundary breaches, has been taken up as an bodies of female bodybuilders, particularly
object of study across disciplines. Numerous those who remain proximate to consumer
investigations trace the range of practices and culture. She maintains that the bodies of
techniques of production of the female body- women bodybuilders hold more subversive
builder as well as the possibilities that she potential than the other female athletic bodies
holds for destabilizing the heteronormative because of bodybuilders’ elevated ability to
equation of body, sex, gender and sexuality:7 disturb phallocratic ways of seeing. By Haber’s
lines of inquiry have been dispersed around a view, subversion is an effect of ‘shock’ pro-
wide-ranging set of issues related to consump- duced by a radically altered aesthetic code that
tion and capitalism; transformation, resistance makes spectators aware of the artificiality of
and empowerment; recuperation or normali- sexuality, sex and gender.
zation of the threats posed by the muscular Because the Pumping Iron films encapsulate
female; complex stigmatizing processes; iden- the contradictions and questions animated by
tification and desire; and the performativity bodybuilding, they are key objects of social
of gender.8 criticism.9 In Pumping Iron II: The Women, the
Bolin (1992a, 1992b) and Mansfield and visible struggle over the line demarcating the
McGinn (1993) investigate the tensions gener- normal and deviant woman bodybuilder
ated through bodybuilding’s promise of is represented by a contest between the femi-
agency and empowerment. They contend that nine Rachel McLish and muscular, mannish
bodily transformations among women body- Bev Francis (Balsamo, 1996). Robson and
builders are powerfully enabled and con- Zalcock (1995) examine ‘radical elements of
strained by beauty culture. By Bolin’s view, a reading gender’ by focusing on Francis’s
racially regulated beauty culture mediates and unruly and deviant female body. By their view,
governs women’s bodybuilding experiences as the film’s emphasis on ‘gender trespass’
it complicates (and produces inconsistent) demands that the audience reconsider what it
judging and shapes the ideal that practitioners is to be a woman.
seek to approximate. Bodybuilding culture, Holmlund (1989) compares and contrasts the
again by Bolin’s view, is gendered in ways narrative structures of the two Pumping Iron
which contain deviations associated with mas- films. She contends that, although apparently
culinizing effects in order to maintain the parallel, the narratives are driven by asymmet-
female body as an object of male desire. rical questions: Pumping Iron is primarily con-
Mansfield and McGinn (1993) similarly con- cerned with who will win, while Pumping
clude that beauty conventions ‘make safe’ Iron II is fundamentally concerned with visual-
bodybuilding for social, cultural and economic izing sexual difference. Indeed, Robson and
consumption; but they draw attention to the Zalcock argue that the questions of ‘Who will
maintenance of the feminine through a mas- win?’ and ‘Who should win?’ are indissolubly
querade akin to the hyperbolic feminine codes paired through the filmic narrative and simul-
adopted in drag. taneously undermine any sense of a dispas-
Drag, performance and shock are central sionate selection of the winner. That is, by their
themes organizing the analyses of women and view, the typically concealed mechanisms that
bodybuilding. Kuhn (1988) and Schulze (1990) fix heteronormative femininity are rendered
call attention to the performative dimensions visible by the film. Viewing the film, according
of gender arguing that, in women’s body- to Robson and Zalcock, requires witnessing the
building, it is muscle (rather than hyperbolic reconstruction of the female body in ways that
feminine codes) which functions as drag: erase its reproductive signs. Given this, they
‘while muscles can be assumed, like clothing, conclude that the abject bodybuilder violates
women’s assumption of muscles implies a not only the biological but the social program.
transgression of the proper boundaries of In their analyses of Pumping Iron II,
sexual difference’ (p. 17). Patton (2001) points Kuhn (1988) and Balsamo (1996) consider the
to the irony of dressing up women body- interceding position of Carla Dunlap, the
builders in order to erotize them and make only African American competitor and winner
448 KEY TOPICS

of the contest. Kuhn contends that Dunlap’s through us: specifically, Connolly is concerned
position as mediator signifies the film’s failure with the conditions of the desire to punish, the
to resolve the conundrum of the female body- ways in which desire is embedded in revenge,
builder. Balsamo, however, suggests that and the desire for particular identifications
Dunlap’s position clarifies the interarticulation and bodies. Questions of desire – desire’s
of racial and sexual difference. As sexual multiple and far-reaching forms – are central
difference is less easily seen, Balsamo argues, to the investigations of celebrity bodies
attention is directed to seeing racial difference. which follow.
Questions of visible sexual difference are
fundamental to those investigations informed
by psychoanalysis. In these studies, the Celebrity, Bodies and Deviance
emphasis clearly shifts from the effects of the
sport on the female body to masculine desire, Reeves and Campbell (1994) suggest that
the politics of looking at masculine and sport, like Hollywood, functions as a ‘chrono-
feminine bodies, and the psychic dynamics tope’ (a term borrowed from Bakhtin (1981) to
produced by the masculine, muscular female. explain the narrative relevance of setting).
Patton (2001) suggests that the partial era- Sport, like Hollywood, evokes magical trans-
sure of differences between men’s and formations, individual triumphs, boundless
women’s bodybuilding (comparable contest opportunity and exhilarating freedom. These
procedures and musculature) is reinscribed utopic themes are visualized through the bod-
through judging ‘metastandards’. These meta- ies of the Hollywood or sport star. Given this,
standards draw on conventions of sport and disruption to ideal embodiment – the result of
spectacle to govern pleasure and looking at a star’s participation in some event or act
bodies. The pleasure associated with sport is which challenges the ideal – results in scandal.
governed by objective ideals through which In this section, I review research that examines
bodily performances are judged (through the bodies of sport celebrities and scandal,
knowledges reducing the body to an effect of drawing attention to ways in which these stud-
judging) and identification with particular ies consider the political dimension of repre-
players; the pleasure associated with the spec- sentations of corporeal deviance.
tacular is achieved through the simple act of Several studies have examined how Leonard
viewing the body. Based on this distinction, Bias (an African American basketball player
Patton offers an explanation for the inconsis- who died from cocaine-related causes within
tent judging noted by other researchers. The 48 hours after being drafted to play for the
vacillation between sport and spectacle in Boston Celtics) was made into a central figure
women’s bodybuilding is an effect of the recog- in Reagan’s war on drugs. Indeed, Reeves and
nition of the sexual dimension of judging – a Campbell (1994) claim that Bias was posi-
dimension repressed in male bodybuilding. tioned as ‘the chief transgressor of the cocaine
Similarly, Pelligrini (1997) contends that in narrative’ and functioned to elevate fear of
male bodybuilding same-sex identification is black males and to justify enactment of repres-
foregrounded while same-sex desire is pushed sive policies (1994: 67, see also Baum, 1996).
to the background. As Patton (2001) explains, They examine the media’s coverage of Bias’s
‘the erotic pleasure derived from viewing death through the sequential stages of ‘social
women athletes makes visible the possibility drama’ (breach, crisis, address and separation).
of the male viewer’s pleasure (homosexual In addition to demonstrating the symbolic
desire) in viewing male athletes’; thus, the capital of the racially coded athletic body, they
vacillation between spectacle and sport func- show how each stage of social drama necessi-
tions to contain and relieve male spectatorial tated and produced visible embodiments. By
crisis. Schulze (1990) agrees that ‘the danger to their view, these visualizations worked to
male heterosexuality lurks in the implication locate and contain deviance in the bodies of
that any male sexual interests in the muscular others, to identify threat and justify interven-
female body is not heterosexual at all, but tions at bodily levels.
homosexual: not only is she ‘unnatural,’ but the Research on Magic Johnson’s public
female body builder has the power to invert announcement that he tested positive for HIV
male sexuality‘ (p. 40). antibodies, like that by Reeves and Campbell,
Questions of desire and deviant bodies, of underscores the media’s active production
course, exceed competitive body bodybuilding of corporeal deviance. Rowe (1994) defines
and sexuality. For instance, in his article ‘The the Magic Johnson crisis in terms of a ‘robust
desire to punish,’ William Connolly (1995) asks sporting body acquiring the virus’ and
about the multiple codes of desires circulating investigates how contradictory meanings and
 BODY STUDIES 449

the potential unmaking of celebrity were “photo-illustration” of O.J. Simpson’s mug

managed. King (1993) considers how popular shot that darkened his skin, blurred his features,
conjectures about ‘mode of transmission’ and thickened the stubble on his chin’ (Gubar,
(associated with moral depravity and perver- 1997: 169). Gubar intimates the encoding and
sion) challenged the specific meanings that a enactment of two tragedies: domestic violence,
sports hero’s body must carry to maintain com- allegedly culminating in the murders of Nicole
mercial value. By Rowe’s account, Johnson’s Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman; and the
appeal and marketability were jeopardized historical racial violence against black men. In
because the virus potentially reinstated the the latter case, Gubar directs attention to the
requisite displacement of hierarchies of differ- interplay of ‘blackface’ and character assassi-
ence (racial difference and the burden of racist nation. ‘Blacken the man, Time magazine
stereotypes of bodily sexual excess). Studies implies, and you simultaneously drain him of
of the Johnson-AIDS media coverage demon- his moral discernment while accentuating his
strate how ‘the family’ performed a double physicality, thus intensifying brawn even as
function by temporizing Johnson’s deviance you criminalize it’ (p. 169). The bodily – racial
and making the bodies of women (groupies) and athletic – performances which fostered
bearers of infection of both athletes and family Simpson’s popularity and profitability are dis-
(Cole and Denny, 1994; Crimp, 1993; King, cussed in various ways in Morrison and
1993; Rowe, 1994). Cole and Denny (1994) Lacour’s (1997) Birth of a Nation’Hood. Popu-
show how the prominent narrative around larity, profitability and the modern dynamics
Johnson worked through a logic of contain- of corporeal subjectivity are foregrounded in
ment to visualize threat, infection and crimi- the remainder of the chapter.
nality on the bodies of African American
professional athletes and the more general
African American community.
Samantha King (2000) builds on and con- SPORTING BODIES
tributes to these insights, particularly those AND CONSUMER CULTURE
concerned with the deviant body and the body
politic, in her detailed examination of Skate the
Dream, a Canadian AIDS fundraiser held in As suggested above, the imperatives of indus-
1992 to pay tribute to Canadian skater Brian trial capitalism, including the development of
McCall. As King points out, while McCall’s science, shaped the relations among modern
AIDS-related death would appear to raise an- power, sport and body. In this section, I review
xieties about stigmatized sexualities (given the research that concentrates on and seeks to pro-
continual maintenance of the non-normative vide insight into another dimension of indus-
masculinity crucial to figure skating’s high trial capitalism – the growth of consumer
national profile and commercial success, see culture. Most specifically, I review those stud-
Adams, 1993), Skate the Dream is, most explic- ies that advance our understanding of the
itly, a public display of compassion and kind- dynamics that govern desire, ways of seeing
ness. King’s project considers how the bodies, and those that, in general, direct the
encoding and enactment of heteronormative relations among sport, bodies and consumer
codes (and corresponding performances of culture. The questions raised and addressed by
compassion and kindness) function to secure the research reviewed in this section bring
Canadian identity and citizenry. She shows together the multiple dynamics and issues
how identification with heteronormative previously raised throughout this chapter
figures makes this illusion possible by erasing (particularly those concerned with the somati-
Canada’s internal struggles and historical zation of social stratification and our sense of
responses to AIDS. The analysis also raises self as it is made over and against those
questions about the political implications of marked as deviant).
the representations of the body of the child-
citizen (a primary means of representing
McCall) and the dead body. Modern Bodies, Sport
Mechanisms for visualizing deviance in and and Consumption
through the body, a central feature of modern
power, are made evident in analyses on media Boscagli (1996), Featherstone (1982), Gruneau
coverage of O.J. Simpson. Several scholars have (1993), Hargreaves (1987), Lears (1989) and
discussed the ways in which ‘the unimaginable’ Mrozek (1989) describe and problematize
was made ‘imaginable’. Of particular interest the privileged position of the early modern
is the 27 July 1994 cover of Time ‘featuring a sporting body in advertising. Each argues, in
450 KEY TOPICS

different ways, that the durability and cultural advertisements stimulate ‘individuals’ to
strength of the bodily aesthetic generated at enthusiastically discipline themselves in ways
the intersection of sport and consumer culture that endorse ‘the modern, “normal” individ-
cannot be understood in purely economic ual’ (p. 141). That is, he conceptualizes com-
terms. Rather than reducing the commercial- mercialized among sport and fitness and the
ized sporting body to a means of consumer consumption of products as normalizing prac-
expansion, each explores various dimensions tices of the self. At the same time he invokes
of the social and political in order to more fully discipline as a meta-concept, Hargreaves
explain the capacity of the sporting body in underscores the importance of context in
securing consumers. Gruneau (1993) profiles understanding how particular values and
the sporting body as a sign of happiness, suc- identities are mobilized through commercial-
cess, health and youthful masculine vitality in ized fitness industries.
advertising, the narrowing boundaries of the Boscagli (1996) considers Eugen Sandow, the
healthy body and the stress on social improve- most famous of Edwardian bodybuilders, to
ment in the context of early industrial capital- examine the reformulation of masculine
ism. As Gruneau shows, the values associated physiques, ways of thinking about bodybuild-
with and displayed in ‘civilized sport’ are not ing and modern consumer culture. On one
sealed off from advertising. Instead, the values level, she explains this developmental phase of
are appropriated by advertising in ways that bodybuilding in terms of the zoo’s invention.
have facilitated the anxieties and aspirations The zoo, a space in which wildness and nature
mobilized through the bodily codifications are strategically displayed, was a product (a
associated with civilized sport and have con- space for looking and consumption) of the
stituted larger markets based around emergent ‘rationalization of urban space and modern
forms of social distinction. In general, Gruneau’s culture of consumption’ (1996: 102). Just as
project can be characterized as a study of the mechanization reduced the use value of ani-
pedagogic function of the sporting figure in mals, mechanization along with Taylorism
advertising and its relation to a new way of decreased the use value of the body and the
being in the modern world. cultural authority of masculinity: bodybuild-
Lears (1989), like Gruneau, acknowledges ing, then, served as a monumentalization of
the relationship between the sporting body in the masculine body. Boscagli adds another
advertising and the elevated preoccupation dimension to her explanation by building on
with health, self-improvement and cleanliness the Nietzchean notion of ‘beast of prey’. She
which accompanied early modern industrial- uses Nietzche’s concept to imagine ‘kitsch
ization. However, Lears is more interested in spectacles of eroticized masculinity’ and the
the connection between the iconography of the forms of consumption they incite. (Kitsch, in
athletic body in advertising and wide-ranging this case, is a category of representation that
racial relations. He underscores the ways in refers to an imitation in excess, aligned with
which racial ideals embedded in colonial rela- ornamentation.) Finally, she points to the
tions were expressed through the body and use of photography by Sandow to incite
associated products. Moreover, he shows how consumer participation in commercialized
the multiple meanings engendered by the ideal fitness practices and to promote the sales
body are deeply embedded in comparative cat- of other products (for example, cigarettes and
egories like nature/culture and civilization/ beer). The profitability of Sandow’s athletic
barbarism. Lears also draws attention to the clubs, the popularity of the training tools he
connections among athletic ideals, advertising, devised, his best-selling handbooks, and his
fears of immigrants, threats to bodily bounda- position as a physical trainer of kings and
ries and beliefs in scientific progress. In sum, queens, serve as evidence of the marketability
he shows how capitalism and colonial knowl- of knowledge and expertise of the body. Along
edges intersect to shape bodily practices and related lines, Mrozek (1989) examines Barnarr
consumer behavior. McFadden’s and Charles Atlas’s promotion of
John Hargreaves (1987) provides the most commercial physical culture. Mrozek argues
explicit discussion of modern strategies of that the shift from conversion (‘the banishment
power in the context of sporting advertise- of the physical sin of muscular weakness’)
ments. Building on Foucault, he invokes through moral reflection or spiritual convic-
discipline as a meta-concept to explain the tion to conversion through work on the body is
general dynamic which informs the relations crucial to understanding the profitability of
sport, consumer culture, the mobilization of their ventures. This theme is paralleled by
desire, and consumption. In short, he argues Lears’ history of sport, self and consumer
that the desires generated through such culture.
 BODY STUDIES 451

Featherstone (1982) extends Boscagli’s (1996) knowledges and governance of the self.
recognition of the role of communication tech- Glassner (1989, 2001) sees the increasing
nology in the commercialization of bodily emphasis on fitness activities in the US as a
practices. While Boscagli emphasized the use tactic to manage the increasing contingency
of photography by Sandow, the use of photo- and instability which characterize the post-
graphy in the development of sports-cards and modern era. For Ingham (1985), the escalating
the emerging cult of the sports celebrity, concern with ‘the fit body’ as a sign of a
Featherstone illuminates the pivotal position healthy and productive citizenry is indissol-
of the new media, particularly Hollywood ubly tied to the ways in which social problems
cinema, in the normalization and commodifi- and dependency are translated into individual
cation of the body. He addresses the relevance and characterological deficiencies.
of higher wages and the reorganization of According to Susan Jeffords (1994),
space and display in the commodification of ‘America’s’ concern with reinvigorating its
the body; yet, he continually returns to the economy during the 1980s is prominently
media’s pedagogic role, its reshaping of con- expressed in hard, muscular male bodies, par-
sciousness in terms of emotional vulnerability, ticularly film-celebrity bodies like Sylvester
and the self-scrutinizing encouraged by media Stallone. Ewen (1988), Howell (1990, 1991),
representations of the ideal (the fit and sport- Jeffords (1994) and Willis (1991) concentrate on
ing) body. Featherstone also highlights the the mass circulation of images of fit, hard bod-
heightened importance of the celebrity in ies in ways that echo Jeffords’s general argu-
media representations of the ideal and the con- ment. Ehrenreich (1990) and Sedgwick (1992)
temporary politics of fitness. The theme of highlight the hard body’s inverse by inter-
celebrity bodies and the present-day fitness rogating expressions of dependency and
industry is discussed in the next section. the logic of addiction during the 1980s. The
interdependence of fitness and addiction is
discussed in terms of free will and discipline
Celebrity Bodies and the and insufficient free will and threat by
Fitness Industry Sedgwick (1992), Wagner (1997) and Cole
(1998). All of the above work on hypermuscular
The contemporary crisis of health care and its celebrity bodies shows how such bodies are
corresponding images of public health have more than simple heuristic tools to imagine the
been mediated through the category of healthy body politic: hypermuscular celebrity
‘lifestyle’. Ingham (1985) characterizes the con- bodies are representations implicated in every-
temporary politics of lifestyle as a manifesta- day associations of order and disorder. That
tion of the post-Fordist crisis of the welfare is, these studies concentrate on the hyper-
state. The category of ‘lifestyle’, as Ingham muscular celebrity body as a sign of individual
explains, is a contemporary arrangement in and national well-being, embedded in values
which individuals are increasingly held which shape what and who count as other
accountable for their bodily conditions. By his and a threat to the nation: embodiments of
view, the rhetorical conflation of individuals, characterological failure defined through
unhealthy bodies and blame displaces broader addiction, dependency and economic poverty.
social and political issues. Indeed, various Ewen (1988), Feuer (1995) and Howell (1990,
scholars have identified this period as one 1991) explore ‘trickledown’ versions of the
governed by rhetoric of risk, independence ideal, hard, masculine body which fueled the
and self-sufficiency. Kroker and Kroker (1987) fitness industry by examining the links among
call it ‘Body McCarthyism’; Singer (1989) dis- consumer culture, individualism, yuppie
cusses it as ‘the new sobriety’; and Wagner lifestyle and the fit body. Advertisements
(1997) calls it the New Temperance. While which showed images of fit and hard bodies as
Ingham (1985) focuses on these dynamics in well as fitness clubs, according to Ewen, were
the context of the US, Peterson (1997) examines fundamental to ‘the middle-class bodily
these shifts in the Australia context. Research rhetoric of the 1980s. Such advertisements,
by Bunton (1997), Nettleton (1997) and Stacey taken together, represent a culture in which
(1997) consider the relations between popular self-absorbed careerism, conspicuous con-
knowledges and national and individual pre- sumption and a conception of self as an object
occupations with healthy bodies and lifestyle of competitive display have fused to become
in the UK. Most specifically, Bunton and the preponderant symbols of achievement’
Nettleton highlight the interplay between the (1988: 194). Willis (1991) draws a similar con-
categories of risk and individual respon- clusion in her work on the spatial governance
sibility (for managing that risk) which shape of contemporary women’s fitness practices. By
452 KEY TOPICS

her view, the workout, which she identifies as depends upon a somewhat problematic
perhaps ‘the most highly evolved commodity assumption about the declining importance of
form yet to appear in late twentieth-century reproduction in defining women’s bodies.
consumer capitalism,’ promotes bodily rivalry Hribar (1995, 1996) builds on and con-
and depoliticizes and isolates women (1991: 69). tributes to the analysis of celebrity, the market-
The constitution of the new (1980s) yuppie ing of transformations and self-mastery, and
fitness consumer is most explicitly elaborated fitness culture. For example, she examines the
by Howell (1990, 1991) in his examination of discursive effects of the representations of
Nike. Howell shows how Nike built on and Susan Powters’s transformations as they are
contributed to discourses which targeted Baby promoted under her signature ‘Stop the
Boomers. Most specifically, he highlights the Insanity’ (through seminars, infomercials and
link between 1960s artifacts, bodily aesthetics, books). In order to do so, Hribar contextualizes
possessive individualism and consumer fitness Powters’s celebrity in a contemporary thera-
in the discourses associated with Nike. By peutic culture dominated by self-help and
Howell’s view, the working-out yuppie is a New Age movements. Building on Wicke’s
symptom of a ‘consumerist definition of the thesis that ‘[t]he celebrity zone is the public
quality of life’ that ‘encompasses a self- sphere where feminism is ... now in most
preservationist conception of the body’ (1991: active cultural play’ (1994: 757), Cole and
266, 267). Moreover, Howell explains the inter- Hribar (1995) highlight the relationship
play between the fit body, political claims and between Nike’s celebrity status and women’s
related notions of character, morality and fitness. Most specifically, they are concerned
responsibility: with the ways of thinking that relationship
encourages. Most recently, Hribar (1997) has
Individuals are encouraged to adopt instrumental
considered the elaborate discourse of corporeal
strategies to biologically better themselves so as to
transformation ‘substantiated’ by talk show
avoid deterioration. . . . Such strategies are politi-
host Oprah Winfrey and its relationship to the
cally encouraged and applauded by state bureau-
constitution of ethical subjects. By drawing
cracies who seek to reduce health costs by
attention to work on the self in terms of the
educating the public against bodily neglect . . . The
ethical subject, Hribar is attempting to use
‘lean-machine’ lifestyle of self-betterment gives
Foucault’s later writings (which remain
the individual a sense of pleasure, freedom, suc-
relatively unexplored in sport studies) which
cess, mobility, and self-esteem. (p. 267)
redirect questions about subjectivity and
Although cinema celebrities like Douglas power.10
Fairbanks and Mary Pickford have been potent
forces in the commodification of fitness
(Featherstone, 1982), scholars argue that the Late Capitalism’s Transcendent
celebrity body is elevated to new levels in Celebrity Bodies
1980s and 1990s workout cultures. Indeed,
multiple analyses of the articulation of self, Just as the previously discussed work on
agency and body facilitated through contem- celebrity scandal and celebrities and fitness
porary fitness culture (including popular illustrates how celebrity bodies are implicated
feminism) have evaluated the pivotal position in historically specific fields of gender, class
of celebrity (Bordo, 1991; Cole and Hribar, and race relations, investigations of the ideal
1995; Radner, 1995; Urla and Swedlund, 1995). sports celebrity seek to show the ways in
Indeed, Radner argues that Jane Fonda’s which representations of celebrity, including
Workout Book represents ‘an exemplary the celebrity body, are socially and politically
moment in which exercise . . . becomes a central motivated. Because ideal sport celebrities are
discourse of feminine culture’ (1995: 145). habitually represented through bodily perfor-
Radner argues that ‘doing Jane’ (an abbrevia- mances which defy historical forces and loca-
tion meant to capture the relation among the tion, much of the work on ideal celebrities
celebrity sign Fonda, fitness practices, consu- seeks to provide a ‘thick description’ of the his-
merism and nationalism) is a symptom of a torical and political conditions of possibility
reconfigured American femininity which which ‘make’ celebrity and celebrity bodies.
offers women a model of agency and self- Here, I review research which considers the
mastery directed at bodily appearance. Her historical and political meanings and values
reference to Fonda as ‘Citizen Jane’ offers associated with ‘Michael Jordan’, perhaps the
much potential for new contributions to most recognizable celebrity body-image in the
this literature; however, she offers a notion of world. These investigations consider the com-
contemporary feminine citizenship which plex and multidimensional forces behind the
 BODY STUDIES 453

African American male body, contemporary exaggerate (even scientize) Jordan’s physical
capitalism and Jordan. feats. At the same time, she illuminates the
Michael Dyson (1993) argues that under- multiple practices are deployed to locate
standing ‘the use to which Jordan’s body is put Jordan in the new right’s normalizing discourse
as seminal cultural text and ambiguous symbol of family values. This discourse has two effects:
of fantasy’ requires investigating the wide it distances Jordan from threatening images of
range of influences shaping Jordan’s bodily a racially coded hypersexuality and it rein-
aesthetic’s commercial viability and exploit- forces the notion of the ‘failed black family’
ability. Most specifically, he draws attention to which is presupposed in the pro-family
the long history of sport in establishing com- agenda. (The failed black family is a central
munity; the complicated relationship between element in the discourse which translates inner
racialized masculinity, physical prowess and city poverty and crime into threatening images
black culture; and the processes of commodifi- of black masculinity.) These tensions between
cation in late capitalism. By Dyson’s view, Jordan’s celebrity and images of threatening
exploring the tension between the ahistorical African American masculinity is the primary
version of personhood advanced through concern of the final two studies I discuss.
Jordan and the ubiquitous influence of black In ‘American Jordan’ (1996), I examine how
culture embodied by Jordan is a productive Jordan’s body functions to reproduce an image
means of advancing theoretical and empirical of ‘America’ as a compassionate and caring
understandings of the Jordan phenomenon. nation in a moment defined by defunding of
Indeed, Dyson foregrounds the encoding and social welfare programs and punitive resent-
enactment of a black aesthetic as the key ment directed at urban black youth. It exam-
distinguishing motif in Jordan’s style of play. ines why Michael Jordan is such a profitable
By black aesthetic, Dyson refers to three ele- sign for Nike and prolific image for America
ments in Jordan’s play: the will to spontaneity by considering what Nike calls its ‘P.L.A.Y.’
(improvization); stylization of the performed self; (Participate in the Lives of America’s Youth)
and edifying deception (Jordan’s hang-time campaign. P.L.A.Y., which features Michael
which seemingly disrupts the time/space con- Jordan as America’s hero, is represented as a
tinuum).11 On one level, Dyson explains the practical challenge to recent developments
economic and symbolic migrations of the black that deny ‘kids’ access to sport activities.
bodily aesthetic and black cultural creativity – Through P.L.A.Y. advertisements, Americans
Jordan’s commodification – through ‘white are invited to look at Michael Jordan to see the
desires to domesticate and dilute [the black American mission, way of life, ideals and fan-
male body’s] more ominous and subversive tasies of childhood. America’s investment in
uses’ (p. 70). On another level, he addresses the Jordan is made evident when consumers are
complexity of desires mobilized through asked to imagine (through the sport/gang
Jordan by discussing late capitalism’s exploita- dyad) the dire consequences of an America
tion of black youth’s preoccupation with style without Michael Jordan. As Nike and Michael
and the possibilities of resistance (however Jordan come to signify the themes of self-made
minimal) Jordan’s visibility might provide to success and ‘made in America,’ both are made
black youth. into prominent signs of nation and national
Mary McDonald (1996) addresses the uneasy interests even as they are invested in and by
tension between the historical profile of transnational capital. This study shows how
African American men and Jordan’s ability to the sport/gang dyad and Jordan are used to
mobilize consumer desire without arousing advance understandings of urban America’s
dread. McDonald’s investigation, then, is problems that render visible easily recogniz-
aligned with Dyson’s argument about white able forms of violence and criminality.
desires to domesticate the black male. Key to ‘American Jordan’ is used as evidence of the
understanding Jordan, for McDonald, is the transcendent success promised by America
notion of the black male body as an ‘already while rendering invisible and unrepresentable
read text’ and Jordan’s ability to comfort con- the violences of the material conditions
sumers. By McDonald’s view, consumer com- (inseparable from transnational capital and
fort is achieved as Jordan is made into an the erosion of the welfare state) that shape
expression of the new right’s pro-family lived experience of already economically
agenda. While Jordan appears in the ‘already vulnerable populations.
read text’ in terms of natural physicality, Andrews (1995) traces the evolution of
McDonald shows how his athleticism is Jordan’s celebrity in relation to a genealogy of
given supernatural status through various modern racism and its changing tactics (from
camera angles and slow-motion replays which early modern scientistic bases to a cultural
454 KEY TOPICS

racism advanced by moral panics and social psychically consumed in a context dominated
science). Jordan’s celebrity image, Andrews by transnational trade in bodies.
contends, is not stable or consistent but is
bound up in how ‘race’ is articulated in partic-
ular historical moments. Thus, Jordan, like THE HORIZON OF THE BODY
race, is a ‘conjuncturally informed, and materi-
ally manifest, discursive construct’ (1995: 126).
Using Jordan as a means to discuss the prac- As I stated in the introduction, I have reviewed
tices associated with contemporary racism, only a limited sample of the scholarship on the
Andrews identifies four distinct and overlap- body which represents a productive direction
ping stages of Jordan’s racial signification. His for sport–body studies. The flood of work that
work suggests that the shift from Jordan’s posi- has investigated bodies would seemingly
tion as an up-and-coming star to his status as address the concern articulated by Loy,
an All-American icon was accompanied by a Andrews and Rinehart which I discussed in
shift in representations. At the representational the opening pages of this chapter. Yet, charges
level, Jordan’s physical achievements shifted of neglect and criticisms about the absence of
from evidence of innate skill to evidence of the body in scholarly work continue. Pamela
exemplary character. This conflation of Moore (1997) uses the introduction to her
(achievement/character) works in tandem recently published collection Building Bodies to
with discourses that deny the historical effects offer the latest variation of the theme of neglect
of racism. As accusations of gambling addic- and imperative embodiment. By Moore’s view:
tion surfaced and Jordan’s father was mur- Despite all this flurry of corporeal fascination,
dered, Jordan was cast as another black NBA bodies – in the more traditional sense of muscles,
player whose lifestyle slowed his productivity nerves, genes, and blood – are strangely absent in
and who was – in general – suspect. However, contemporary academic discussions. This strain of
in the final stage chronicled by Andrews, we body studies has reached an impasse. In doing
see a series of exchanges of bodily deviance away with biology, it has also done away with the
initiated by the arrest of two youths accused of ability to think of corporeality, rather than inscrip-
murdering Jordan’s father: from Jordan to tion or construction, in other than essentialist
Daniel Green, alleged killer of James Jordan; ways. It joins a contemporary abhorrence for aber-
Jordan, as the physically absent, but revitalized rant flesh, whether fat bodies or the leaking corpus
NBA superstar, taken up as a normalizing of AIDS. Abstract thought, social structures, or
figure to demonize the new rank-and-file NBA power are privileged over mundane flesh and
players; the scrutiny of NBA bodies in search blood. Uncomplicated, not an issue for those inter-
of (deviance/transcendence) the next Jordan. ested in politics, history, or language, bodies
As Andrews summarizes his project, it ‘iden- remain as they ever were – natural. Scholars are
tif[ies] the discursive epidemics that delineate happier with cyborgs, which exist in the head,
Jordan’s evolution as a promotional icon and than with uncontrollable, resisting, fleshy bodies.
that act as a marker of American cultural Only the steely-eyed ones with their bodies firmly
racism which oscillates between patronizing encased in plastic will do. (1997: 1)
and demonizing representations of African
American Otherness’ (1995: 153). How are we to make sense of Moore’s obser-
In sum, Andrews and the others who have vation and prescription?
written on Jordan show, albeit in various ways, Moore contends that the genre of body
how the claim of transcendence – the illusory studies is complicit with the historical neglect
body untouched by historical and political of the body. By Moore’s view, body studies
contexts (of which Jordan is the representative facilitates an exchange of sorts: the body is
par excellence) – is itself an element of racial dif- exchanged and displaced as it is used as a
ference and a formative and formidable aspect means to think about some other end. In this
of Jordan’s celebrity. It is in a context where chapter, the body has been linked to matters
everyday global pressures and forces are ranging from modern power, masculinity, femi-
so difficult to see that Michael Dyson offers ninity, desire, consumption, national identity,
a description of the consumer who ‘symboli- embodied deviance, celebrity and transna-
cally reduces Jordan’s body to dead meat tional trade in bodies. As Moore would have it,
(McDonald’s McJordan hamburger), which can the body should be both means and end: using
be consumed and expelled as waste’ (1993: 70). the body to address other matters, like subjec-
The depiction, meant to evoke images of tivity or technology, displaces, yet again, what
bodies that discomfort, asks consumers to she takes to be bodily matter – mundane flesh
think about what is being socially and and blood. For Moore, a more advantageous
 BODY STUDIES 455

perspective is achieved by focusing on the emphasizes the production of the self’s

biological because it maintains the properly border as a social process of producing and
bounded object. policing the other. For example, the cate-
I agree with Moore’s contention that the gory of free will (partially constitutive of
study of the biological is crucial. Indeed, the the liberal subject) is dependent upon what
biological is and will continue to be a crucial it excludes, the compulsive, abnormal and
dimension of body studies. But, its importance deviant. Later in this chapter I use the term
is not attributable to its privileged status as or ‘dyad’ to advance Foucault’s notion by
proximity to the real body (which seems to be weaving together insights from Foucault
implied in Moore’s quip about the scholarly and Derrida. See Andrews (this volume,
fashionable cyborg). The biological body to Chapter 7) for an outline of Derrida’s
which Moore directs attention is no more concerns.
stable, bound, objective (in terms of clearly 3 While Foucault historicizes the truth of
defined), nor grounded than the bodies inves- sexuality, Laqueur builds on Foucault’s
tigated in the research discussed within this work to historicize what appears to be a
chapter. Whether we focus on the biological, natural two-sex system.
individual bodies, or the body politic (all of 4 Urla and Swedland (1995) provide an
which are related), the body is always already excellent example of the complex construc-
invested in a complex network of power which tion of the normative feminine body.
works, in part, by rendering itself invisible. Indeed, much of the work on the normal-
Still, Moore’s comments are symptomatic of ized feminine body could contribute to and
and raise questions about visualizing bodies benefit from science studies. See, for exam-
and their continual elusiveness. While such ple, Bartky, 1988; Bolin, 1992b; Bordo, 1988,
anxieties and questions are symptoms of our 1991, 1993; Daniels, 1992; MacNeill, 1994;
historical condition, such anxieties and ques- Markula, 1992, 1995; Whitson, 1994.
tions will inform and direct body studies for 5 On 31 March 1991 the brutal beating of an
the foreseeable future. African American man named Rodney
King by four members of the Los Angeles
Police Department was captured by George
Holliday on home video. The 81-second
Acknowledgement video was shown repeatedly on CNN and
I would like to thank Jay Coakley for his gen- NBC and appeared to provide unquestion-
erous sharing of ideas and thought-provoking able evidence of the LAPD’s violent assault
exchanges regarding the body, sport and on King. Despite the evidence, the four offi-
power. cers were acquitted: their acquittal ignited
rebellions across Los Angeles. For discus-
sions on how it was possible that the video
was interpreted by jurors in ways that
NOTES made King the aggressor, see Gooding-
Williams (1993).
1 I use the term Fordism as it is typically 6 Elizabeth Grosz (1992) defines the abject as
used in sociological literature, to designate ‘borderline states in which there is confu-
a series of organizational and economic sion and lack of distinction between subject
strategies associated with mass production and object’ (p. 198). See Kristeva (1982) for
and consumption. For an overview of the discussion of the abject that has been
Fordism, see Harvey (1989). most influential in contemporary feminist
2 By ‘interdependency’ I mean to draw atten- scholarship. Jackie Stacey (1997) also pro-
tion to the way that the modern regime vides a highly accessible discussion of
organized itself through a division between abjection in Teratologies: A Cultural Study of
the normal and pathological – producing a Cancer (London and New York: Routledge).
deviance and threat located in the body 7 The term heteronormative refers to normal-
(corporeal subjectivity). Interdependency izing practices which produce systems and
points to the relational dimensions of iden- sex and sexuality that appear to be linked
tity and presumes that identity relies on the and natural. See note 8 and Butler (1990,
periphery to establish its center. Therefore 1993) for a more in-depth discussion of
it cannot posit any self-identical ideal upon heteronormativity.
which it is founded. Foucault names those 8 Performativity is a term popularized in gen-
self–other relations ‘dividing practices’. His der studies by Judith Butler’s (1990) Gender
work recognizes mutual dependence and Trouble. The notion of performativity, as she
456 KEY TOPICS

clarifies it in Bodies that Matter (1993), Bakhtin, M. (1981) The Dialogic Imagination: Four
refers to ‘“imitation” ... at the heart of the Essays (trans. M. Holquist). Austin, TX: University
heterosexual project and its gender bina- of Texas Press.
risms’. As Butler explains, ‘hegemonic het- Balsamo, A. (1996) Technologies of the Gendered
erosexuality is itself a constant and Body: Reading Cyborg Women. Durham, NC: Duke
repeated effort to imitate its own idealiza- University Press.
tions . . . heterosexual performativity is Bartky, S. (1988) ‘Foucault, femininity and the mod-
beset by an anxiety that it can never fully ernization of patriarchal power’, in I. Diamond
overcome ... its efforts to become its own and L. Quinby (eds), Feminism and Foucault:
idealizations can never be finally or fully Reflections on Resistance. Boston, MA: Northeastern
achieved, and ... it is consistently haunted University Press. pp. 61–86.
by that domain of sexual possibility that Baum, D. (1996) Smoke and Mirrors: the War on Drugs
must be excluded for heterosexualized and the Politics of Failure. Boston, MA: Back Bay
gender to produce itself’ (p. 125). Books.
9 Although the Pumping Iron films were made Birrell, S. and Cole, C.L. (1990) ‘Double fault: Renee
in the United States, the criticism repre- Richards and the construction and naturalization
sented here is not restricted to US scholars. of difference’, Sociology of Sport Journal, 7: 1–21.
10 In Foucault’s The Use of Pleasure he shifts Bolin, A. (1992a) ‘Vandalized vanity: feminine
the direction of the questions asked in his physiques betrayed and portrayed’, in F.E. Mascia-
middle works (Discipline and Punish and Lees and P. Sharpe (eds), Tattoo, Torture, Mutilation,
The History of Sexuality, Volume I) regard- and Adornment. Albany, NY: State University of
ing knowledge, power and the self. In his New York Press. pp. 79–99.
last works, he accounts more fully for the Bolin, A. (1992b) ‘Flex appeal, food, and fat: compet-
self as a relay of power – a self constituted itive bodybuilding, gender, and diet’, Play and
in and productive of power. For helpful Culture, 5: 378–400.
discussions of Foucault’s later work, see Bordo, S. (1988) ‘Anorexia nervosa: psychopathology
Dumm (1996), Orlie (1997), Ransom (1997) as the crystallization of culture’, in I. Diamond and
and Simons (1995). L. Quinby (eds), Feminism and Foucault: Reflections
11 Boyd (1997) discusses this bodily aesthetic on Resistance. Boston, MA: Northeastern University
associated with an altered, nuanced and Press. pp. 87–117.
faster-paced game in terms of improviza- Bordo, S. (1991) ‘Material girl: the effacements of
tion, and equates it to ‘jazz in its prime’ postmodern culture’, in L. Goldstein (ed.), The
(p. 112). This bodily aesthetic and playing Female Body: Figures, Styles, Speculations. Ann Arbor,
style have been taken up to formulate and MI: University of Michigan Press. pp. 106–30.
visualize popular distinctions between Bordo, S. (1993) Unbearable Weight: Feminism, Western
playground and textbook basketball Culture and the Body. Berkeley and Los Angeles:
(Boyd) and criminality and intellect. University of California Press.
Boscagli, M. (1996) Eye on the Flesh: Fashions of
Masculinity in the Early Twentieth Century. Boulder,
CO: Westview Press.
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Andrews, D.L. (1993) ‘Desperately seeking Michel: sity Press.
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 29
DOPING IN SPORT AS DEVIANT BEHAVIOR
AND ITS SOCIAL CONTROL

Günther Lüschen

Doping is the use of artificial substances or problematic, although the full range of
methods ‘foreign to the body’ to enhance phys- side-effects is not yet known.
ical performance. This is a definition that in • Human growth hormones are used with the
variant forms is found in announcements of widespread belief that they are beneficial for
the International and United States Olympic building certain muscle groups; in a recently
Committees (IOC and USOC), and a number of occurring form like IGF1 (Insulin Growth
other national sport organizations and sport Factor 1) they can also not be detected by
federations. It is built on a causal model that biomedical tests. However, effects are not
defines a stimulus (artificial substance) and an clear and research is inconclusive. What was
effect (enhancement of performance). found were discrepant side-effects in body
build among children.
• Amphetamines in sport help endurance and
THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF DOPING assist in overcoming fatigue, while their clin-
ical use is increasingly narrow. They were
A List of Doping Substances, used widely in the Second World War as part
of the so-called ‘pilot’s chocolate’. As they
References to Methods
have to be administered at competitions for
and Underlying Models immediate effects their detection is easy, and
with increased biomedical testing at sport
The range of doping substances is quite wide
events their use has strongly declined.
and includes stimulants as well as muscle-
Moreover, side-effects are widely known
building steroids. In more systematic detail the
and even after prolonged use can result in
most common doping substances and their
dizziness, tremor, hallucination, etc. allow-
uses are as follows (Hollmann, 1996; Wadler
ing their detection by outsiders as well.
and Hainline, 1989).
• Cocaine, a doping substance with a long
history, supposedly enhances muscle
• Anabolic steroids were originally developed strength for up to three hours, as a well-
at the Medical School of the University of known test by Freud demonstrated in 1884.
Rochester in order to strengthen muscle tis- It was widely used among NFL football
sue in old age, and were widely used in the players in the 1980s and among tennis play-
Second World War. They are now being ers to combat fatigue, although research
used to enhance muscle build and power. about its effects is inconclusive. In terms of
As testosterone, steroids are naturally side-effects cocaine is dangerous and, with
found in the human body, and in its many consequences like cardiac arrest, even life-
forms they have muscle-building and threatening.
masculinizing effects. They also enhance • Ephedrine, phenyle and associate substances are
aggressiveness, well-being and sexual often used in sports, yet their effects on per-
prowess. Side-effects are considered formance are ambiguous. Their side-effects
462 KEY TOPICS

are many, among them nervousness, higher, with performance increases of up to

agitation, confusion and stroke. 10 per cent (Berendonk, 1992: 131–93).
• Caffeine has some low-level effects on As far as the access to substances is
short-range endurance activities and some- concerned, many of them are readily available
what stronger ones on long-range activities. as ordinary pharmaceutical products and at a
Among its side-effects are hypertension, low price, while a few such products, like
delirium, increased cholesterol and even human growth hormones, are more difficult to
coma and death. obtain and thus fetch fairly high prices. There
• Barbiturates and benzodiazepines have some is often debate – and inconclusive evidence in
positive effects among athletes for tremor many cases – on the potential effects of the
control and for euphoric feelings, yet they substances, with the listing of products in a
have also negative effects on reaction time, generic list. Because of the common usage of
cognitive functions and visual skills. some of these products in ordinary medication,
an increasingly problematic area is also the
This is an incomplete list and there are a num- issue of wilful versus innocent violation of the
ber of other substances that have some popu- doping code; this includes the administration
larity in special sports, such as beta-blockers in of substances unknown to the athlete and the
shooting sports. usage of doping substances as a component of
These substances supposedly have a direct medication to fight an illness or impairment
effect on performance. They are internationally (Young, 1996).
typically classified as doping substances. In the A separate issue is the area of negative dop-
United States, the term ‘doping’ is not widely ing – that is, administration of substances that
used and such performance-enhancing sub- impair performance – which was widely
stances and their uses are subsumed with other known in equestrian sports (Scott, 1968). At
euphoric substances under the general term of times it comes to the attention of the public,
drug abuse. Doping substances are thus lumped when individual athletes state that they are
together with alcohol, nicotine and other sub- closely guarding their food intake for fear of
stances that have no apparent effect on sport being secretly administered performance-
performance. Given their general negative decreasing substances. No attention is being
image and levels of heavy abuse, alcohol and paid to this phenomenon in official rulings and
nicotine received more attention in the US the extent of such violations is unknown.
Congress Hearings of the 1980s (1985, 1988) As not only pharmaceutical substances were
than doping substances that really had an being used to enhance performance but also
impact on performance. In so doing, these such methods as blood doping, that is, the
Hearings, in their efforts to control the whole withdrawal and later retransfusion of the ath-
range of drugs and enlightening substances, lete’s own blood, a reference to methods or
defeated the intent to regulate the fairness of procedures was introduced in definitions of
competitive sport and root out performance- doping. There was also debate over the inclu-
enhancing substances, let alone address the sion of psychological methods such as hypno-
various specific methods. The 1989 Hearings of sis in the list of illegal practices, adding to the
the US Senate Judiciary Committee, however, difficulties of definition and enforcement. Here
rectified that situation stressing explicitly the and for psychology in particular the fine line
use of steroids in American amateur and profes- between good coaching and illegal procedure
sional sport (1990). is demonstrated most aptly by Stemme and
As concerns substances that have a known Reinhardt (1988), in what they call psychologi-
effect on performance, these effects, except for cal ‘Super-Training’. For all practical purposes,
steroids, are often lower than anticipated, with it uses common insights and knowledge from
many results not proved through proper psychology in athletic coaching.
research. Moreover, side-effects are many and When reference to methods was introduced
the doping substances mentioned above are life- into the definition of doping, the strictly causal
threatening in quite a few cases. While many model as part of the definition was called into
sources assume only limited effects of doping question. When the typical time-lag in the
for performance enhancement, for example, inclusion of specific substances into respective
some American authors estimate performance lists was debated and the use of generic or
advantages for steroids to be no higher than groups of generic products rather than brand
3–5 per cent (Wadler and Hainline, 1989), newer names was suggested, the way was already
results and systematic observations from former prepared for reference to a new model of
East Germany put the advantage in the case of scientific reasoning. Also, illegal procedures
anabolic steroids for specific disciplines much and concern over psychological means and
 DOPING IN SPORT AS DEVIANT BEHAVIOR 463

methods such as hypnosis suggested an and fast, the subsequent Olympic Games up to
enlargement of the definition; thus, statements the late 1980s were probably as much influ-
like ‘intent to enhance performance’ appeared. enced by illegal use of doping substances as any
For quite a while in the 1980s this led to a defi- before and thereafter. Methods of detection
nitional debate in the United States and were not yet well developed early in this period
elswhere resulting in formulations that men- and thus allowed a fairly wide use.
tioned ‘sole intent’ and a normative formula- What is also of genuine interest is the fact
tion such as ‘unfair manner’ (USOC, 1989). Not that up to a 1974 IOC Commission meeting in
only did this open up the definition of doping Innsbruck, the use of steroid substances was
beyond material substances, it also meant mov- not considered problematic. Even in the late
ing over into a model of teleology in scientific 1970s, the German Sports Medicine Association
terms. Yet, it made testing and conviction of was still not unanimous in forbidding steroids
offenders also more difficult. Thus, after a ‘revi- (Berendonk, 1992: 44–7), taking a clear position
sionist interim’ there has been for mainly prac- only thereafter. Thus, the spectacular convic-
tical purposes of biomedical control a move tions and disqualifications of athletes have only
back to a predominantly causal model. Thus, occurred since the 1980s, when 19 athletes at
the list of forbidden substances that the IOC the PanAmerican Games in Caracas in 1983
Commission regularly publishes is again the were found in violation of the doping code.
sole basis for regulation and control, as the This development culminated in the disqualifi-
USOC Guide to Prohibited Substances and cation of the Canadian Ben Johnson at the 1988
Methods (March 1996) shows. Of course, the list Seoul Olympics and of the German Katrin
was and is never up to date and was revised Krabbe before the 1992 Barcelona Games.
from time to time since its first publication in In the meantime quite a number of biomedi-
1967, when new products were appearing or cal control centers have been established, and
new evidence was forthcoming. Thus, steroids it is now possible to monitor top athletes for
were only listed from 1975 onwards, the natural doping in many countries all year round, in
steroid-component testosterone was not listed and out of competition. With regard to testing
before 1982 and blood doping was added as machinery, a whole industry has emerged sell-
late as 1984. Of course, the debate around and ing the most modern instruments and, as of
the inclusion of intent with an implicit teleolog- 1996, at costs in excess of half a million dollars.
ical model had also suggested that an exclusive However, there seems to be a situation where
reliance on a causal model was not enough, the controllers and their methods continually
regardless of the fact that it was needed for lag behind the newest inventions and prod-
matters of prosecution and proof. ucts. Thus, Russian officials at the 1996 Atlanta
Games were claiming not to have known the
effects of the steroid-component Bromanton,
The Emergence of Doping in Sport although its effect was well documented in
Russian scholarly publications. Moreover,
Use of doping substances is not new. The pointing to the fact that this product was not
Greek physician Galenos (130–200 CE), an on the IOC list of forbidden substances, the
important forerunner of modern medicine and International Court of Arbitration accepted
a sports’ physician, mentioned the use of sub- that formal argument and re-established four
stances to enhance performance and there are Russians and one Lithuanian as medal winners
reports of doping animals since the eighteenth at the expense of, among others, a Briton and a
century. In recent times there are numerous North Korean who had supposedly competed
reports about incidents where athletes suffered fairly.
after the use of doping substances; this ranges The reasons behind the more recent high
from the collapse of the American marathon involvement and public concern with doping,
runner Thomas Hicks in the 1904 St Louis including methods of its control, are many:
Olympics, the death of the Danish cyclist
Jensen in the 1960 Rome Olympics to the death • Performance enhancement through doping
of the British cyclist Simpson in the 1967 Tour procedures has become widely known and
de France. acknowledged among athletes and their
In the 1950s Dianabol, a steroid component, supporting cast.
was widely used among American and Soviet • At a time of ever smaller differences in per-
athletes. The 1960 Rome Olympics were thus formance outcome even a small enhance-
quite irregular in results, as not all teams were ment through illegal means may result in a
‘in the know’. When knowledge, information win and thus justify the use of and rational-
and supply of steroids changed quite drastically ize doping.
464 KEY TOPICS

• The material profits from sport contests Considering the problems of definition, the
have risen exponentially for individual fact that biomedical doping control must be
athletes, in particular after professionals incomplete, and the existence of a wide-
were allowed to enter the Olympic Games ranging culture of experts and athletes with
and when the latter were increasingly factions for and against doping, there are
commercialized. major sociological problems to be addressed
• Pharmaceutical products have become concerning doping.
available on a much broader scale, and it
appears that the pharmaceutical industry 1 The implied model in the definition of dop-
or respective labs are capable of developing ing is a problem for sociology of knowledge.
ever more refined products. 2 Sociology identifies doping as deviant
• Opinion expressed in the media and com- behavior with a broader sense of control
mon public opinion have taken note of the that is based on a teleological model, in
illegality of doping procedures, thus sug- sociology proper referred to as social
gesting and demanding increased and control.
more efficient controls. 3 As an important basis and tool for doping
• Methods of control by biomedical tests and policy, sociology through proper research
respective machinery have become more has to address the problem of the magni-
sophisticated and effective, thus allowing tude and social organization of doping.
more convictions. Of these three major issues, there is empiri-
cal information available only for the last one,
A major influence in raising awareness pertaining to the magnitude and some inciden-
about doping and its subsequent control has tal structural information on doping. The two
occurred through the European Community former sociological issues can, so far, be dis-
(EC) since 1963 and the moves of the French cussed on theoretical grounds only.
government, which introduced a law against
doping in 1965 (Alaphilippe, 1977; Hallouin
and Jeannot-Pagès, 1990). Of course, these Some Further Observations
moves were preceded by the spectacular and on Definitions and the Structure
widely reported death of Jensen, and internally of Doping
in sport by the widespread use of Dianabol in
international competition since the late 1950s. Roger Caillois in his classic ‘Structure and clas-
The expansion of doping, paralleled by public sification of games’ (1955) identifies four
concern, occurred at an ever-higher level into classes of games in which agon, alea, mimicry
the 1980s, when more effective controls and ilinx (vertigo) predominate. As far as sport
emerged. One should also observe that med- is concerned, it is normally understood to be
ical experts gradually changed their position agonistic, but it has elements of mimicry and
on steroids and eventually, from 1980, came vertigo as well, while alea is out, after the toss
out more forcefully against doping and ana- of a coin at the beginning of a match has
bolic steroids in particular. occurred. But the experience of sport is not
The controls and convictions at the 1983 only that of agon. Sport is to a high degree a
PanAmerican Games in Caracas did mark a game of mimicry and pretence in dress codes
turning point (Lüschen, 1984); not to the as well as in the employment of pretence in
degree, of course, that there was no more use strategy and tactic. Such quality condones the
of doping substances and methods, but rather, administration of doping. For the problem of
the high amount of uncontrolled usage was no doping, vertigo is, however, of major impor-
longer possible. Of course, control from now tance. Csikszentmihalyi (1975) has observed
on had a double meaning. Control meant, on the feeling of ‘flow’ as part of specific sport dis-
the one hand, the possibility of detection ciplines, and in mountaineering in particular.
through biomedical tests; but control on the One might also suggest that the doping experi-
side of doping athletes and their cast also ence, where an athlete extends his/her means
meant discontinuing doping before an upcom- beyond the initial physical or mental control
ing meet so a substance could no longer be and capability, contains such an element of
detected. It is only recently that testing meth- flow or vertigo. Caillois himself referred to the
ods have been refined that allow the detection use of alcohol as a corrupt or paidiatic form of
of illegal substances long after their adminis- vertigo. The feeling of getting ‘high’ corre-
tration. Even so, substances are consistently sponds to flow, and the use of doping sub-
being generated that at any given moment can- stances and of amphetamines or cocaine in
not be detected. particular means a similar experience. Such
 DOPING IN SPORT AS DEVIANT BEHAVIOR 465

correspondent structures denote the kinship latter is a legal area widely uncontested. It came
between games, sports and doping. to bear when an American runner sued the
While the biomedical nature of doping has IAAF for compensation. It can also be envi-
so far been emphasized, the epistemological sioned that fellow competitors that were
concerns about the definition as well as the cheated out of a win could seek compensation
structure of the doping culture at large imply through the courts. An indication of concern for
that doping indeed is a sociological problem the issue is an increased number of legal dis-
(Bette and Schimank, 1995). The material sub- cussions and analyses pertaining to doping
stance and its consequence are predominantly since the early 1960s (Alaphilippe, 1977;
biomedical issues, but the structure of its uses Hallouin and Jeannot-Pagès, 1990; Jacobs and
is predominantly a question that sociologists Samuels, 1995; Karaquillo, 1994; Schild, 1986;
have to address. Vieweg, 1991, 1996).
Bette and Schimank (1995) in an analysis There are no clear indications at this time to
drawing on the systems theory of Luhmann what degree the control of doping might
have first and foremost identified the structure indeed become a matter for the legal system.
of elite sport as the condition under which After the French went all out to prosecute vio-
doping prevails; they make reference to the lating athletes, they revised their law in 1989
limitless victory code as well as to political and and the most recent developments stress con-
commercial influences, and society at large. ciliation and arbitration instead of penalizing
They identify the precarious structures of dop- the athlete (Braillat, 1994; Karaquillo, 1994;
ing before they advance their analysis to a Sfeir, 1996). In Germany the civil law case of
social critique of doping control. They see the Krabbe eventually reached the Supreme
role of sociology essentially in terms of proper Federal Court (Bundesgerichtshof). There is still
diagnosis and enlightenment with, in their legal activity in the United States, but the num-
opinion, not altogether optimistic prospects. ber of spectacular court cases seems to have
The analysis presented here, in identifying declined, in particular after a higher court
doping as deviant, has its roots in a belief in struck down the ruling of a local court for $20
sociological knowledge and wisdom that million compensation against the IAAF.
allows policy advice for direct social interven- The issue of deviant behavior and the defini-
tion. As part and parcel of society itself, this tion of doping as deviant is at times being chal-
type of sociology implies a more optimistic lenged on the grounds that more or less
prediction for doping in sport than Bette and everybody does it, that society is lenient
Schimank are willing to offer. towards doping anyway (Vargas, 1994) or that
anti-doping positions refer to an antiquated
view of sport ethics (König, 1995). Actually,
such arguments are based on little empirical
DOPING, DEVIANCE AND SOCIAL evidence and spring from common sense plus
CONTROL a distortion of the theoretical argument. The
fact that deviance goes on in society is no
Problems of Deviance, Deviant reason to call such acts normal and acceptable.
Behavior, Law and Control Neither law in general is built on such
premises nor does the system of sport have to
Calling doping deviant is a major point of abide by such understanding of violations of
debate. Doping, according to the basic idea of rules and principle. Arguments like these do
sport based on equality of chance in competi- pose a challenge, however, to outline the
tion, has to be understood as being illegal and degree and type of deviance plus its socio-
deviant. Doping is officially defined as illegal cultural determinants.
and deviant after sport organizations have so The socio-cultural dimension as well as the
identified the practice at variant times since the socio-historical one both suggest a number of
late 1960s. Its appearance as a wrongful action structural determinants of doping as deviant
in codes or court decisions of civil law also behavior. Moreover, sport organizations have
identify doping as deviant. But at this point taken a clear stance after their earlier reluc-
there also appear restrictions. tance to address the problem; after all, the use
Doping is not a criminal offence, and thus of doping substances severely alters a fair out-
not part of penal law. Even its inclusion in come of sport competitions. Thus, the German
codes of civil law does not go unchallenged. An Track Association (DLV) declared a number of
athlete can do things to his/her body as he/she records invalid; and more or less all national
likes it; only if there is an effect for somebody and international sport federations and disci-
else, is there a legal implication. Of course, the plines are now addressing the problem and
466 KEY TOPICS

establishing rules for doping control. At the the pattern that is found in doping. It means
same time, it is obvious that the present situa- the acceptance of the generalized goal of
tion in doping control offers a far from suffi- high performance in sport while at the same
cient degree of standardization (Jacobs and time it rejects the institutionalized means by
Samuels, 1995). Reasons for the inconsistencies replacing them with illegal doping. The term
are many, ranging from the early development ‘innovation’ carries no sense of morality at
of doping controls to the variety of legal inter- this point and refers to the illegal behavior of
pretations within countries. Moreover, there is the criminal as well as to the doping of athletes.
a wide variety of intercultural acceptance or From observations of criminal behavior,
rejection as far as the use of euphoric sub- Sutherland and Cressey (1974) proposed a
stances is concerned. Consequently, the IOC theory of differential association to explain crim-
Doping Commission finds itself cast into the inal and deviant behavior. This theory assumes
role of legal originator and major arbitrator. that deviant behavior is and cannot be per-
At least for consistency it can be stated so formed in solitude for a number of reasons.
far: The rules of the IOC Commission clearly There is the fact of mutual support and (in the
establish doping as deviant behavior (de case of doping) of supply; moreover, as crimi-
Merode, 1996), and there are no known cases of nal and deviant behavior require a certain
sport federations that accept doping as proper competence and knowledge, there is a need of
and within the range of normality. Body- social learning. Both suggest that doping is an
building may be the exception, identifying act that is performed as part of a deviant
itself in this regard as an activity outside of the subculture, or by a group of persons that show
institution of sport. It is widely known that features of secret societies. Also common expe-
there are variances in enforcement and engage- riences show that it is more than the individual
ment in doping among individual sport disci- athlete who is involved (Berendonk, 1992):
plines; still, the higher number of violations in there is mutual support and encouragement by
disciplines such as cycling or weightlifting a subculture of athletes. It is typical that
does not make doping practices in these sports coaches and physicians are involved; and so is
legal and normal either. a whole range of suppliers of illegal doping
substances or practices. The theory is mainly
descriptive, but it certainly suggests quite a
Deviance Theory and the Structure number of research questions and interpretive
of Doping Subcultures suggestions.
Finally, there are two variants of social con-
There are essentially two theoretical arguments trol theory. Reckless (1961) distinguishes a
that explain the emergence of doping on a theory of inner and outer containment. Inner
broad scale in modern society and sport. containment is the process of socialization of
Durkheim’s theory of anomie (1893) would the human personality, where an individual
explain it as a reflection of discrepant norms in via self control or inner containment is aware of
society. Merton’s theory (1968) would rather what is right or wrong. Outer containment is the
explain it as a result of the high demands, set of normative, group, organizational and
motivations and rewards in top athletics that societal controls, including those of the law.
would test the limits of performance and thus Containment, or its absence, is quite relevant
suggest the use of illegal means. Merton’s for doping in sport and, in the case of external
theory appears to be the more powerful expla- control by sports organizations, their weakness
nation for what happens in modern sport and in this respect may explain part of the present
society. It addresses on a more abstract level situation.
the systems analysis of Bette and Schimank Social control theory according to Albert K.
(1995), who incorporate a variety of structural Cohen (1955) is essentially a matter of subcul-
conditions in society and within elite sport tures, and in the case of deviance their delin-
itself in their analysis of the emergence of quent norms and morale. Cohen finds in his
doping. observation of delinquent boys that there is
In a more specific approach to deviance, also an apparent connection with the social
Merton, in his article on ‘Social structure and class system. Actually, with reference to Robert
anomie’ (1968), distinguishes generalized goals Merton’s general deviance theory, the stakes
and institutionalized means of action. In a sys- and material interests are higher the lower an
tematic distribution of acceptance and/or individual’s position by social class or status.
rejection of these dual patterns he generates Consequently, the payoff in the case of doping
four patterns that he labels conformity, ritualism, is higher as well; it would explain why mem-
innovation, retreatism. Of these, innovation is bers of lower social classes would consequently
 DOPING IN SPORT AS DEVIANT BEHAVIOR 467

be more easily enticed to seek success through of medicine in sport affairs from Clemens
illegal means. The affiliation of individual Tissot, Per-Henryk Ling to Emil Du Bois-
sport disciplines to levels of the social stratifi- Reymond and Rudolf von Virchow in the
cation system and the related higher occur- nineteenth century, there has been an increas-
rence of doping in disciplines like cycling and ing interest and engagement of medical practi-
weightlifting suggest the validity of Cohen’s tioners and of medical science in sport and in
observations. elite sport in particular. It obviously served
both sport and medicine alike. In modern
times and at major sports events a major part
Problems of Quasi-legitimacy of the typical supporting cast of a sports team
and Rationalization consists of a variety of medical personnel. In
terms of treatment and rehabilitation, sports
The occurrence of doping and weak social con- medicine has become a specialty by itself.
trols is not happening without a certain level of Modern highly trained athletes consistently
legitimacy and condonement. If one disregards and frequently suffer from a variety of ail-
the variance in cross-cultural mores and prac- ments that need a variety of medical interven-
tices, which, with regard to euphoric sub- tions. On the one hand, this means that the fine
stances, can be substantial, then in modern line between medical treatment of an injury,
societies as a source of quasi-legitimacy for the preparation of proper diets and the admin-
doping in sport the high incidence of medical istration of an illegal performance-enhancing
treatment and medical manipulation in society drug is often difficult to draw. On the other
overall come to mind. Moreover, the culture of hand, medicalization of the sport system sug-
medicine that emerged since the nineteenth gests that any means of propping up the
century parallel to modern sport has gener- human body may be legitimate as well.
ated a whole subculture of sport medicine Analysis of these developments may lead to
itself. athletes’ being identified as ‘Mortal Engines’
Ivan Illich in his publication Medical Nemesis (Hoberman, 1992).
(1976) has referred to this process in modern Of course, at this point, either externally or
society as ‘medicalization’. It refers not only to internally, the issue is not so much legitimiza-
the emergence of the medical profession but to tion but rationalization. After all, the rules are
a process and orientation, where modern man spelled out quite clearly, there is a list of
seeks out medical treatment and intervention forbidden substances put out by the IOC plus
by drugs for a whole variety of real and sup- the open invitation for an athlete to consult
posed ailments. One has to see this also on the with a medical specialist in many countries.
background of a lesser trust in God and religion Rationalization also occurs, of course, in other
with the emergent belief that mankind through ways. Quite typical is the argument or thought
science can interfere in human and societal that a win is not for oneself but for some other
affairs to a high degree. Among others, death unit – for a club, for a nation to which an ath-
through the merits of modern medicine can lete belongs. It is an open question to what
supposedly be escaped for longer than ever degree such rationalization is also suggested to
before. An indication of such expectation and an athlete by his or her deviant doping subcul-
implied reorientation toward medically manip- ture or by the club and team to which he/she
ulated health are the enormous costs that mod- belongs. Anyway, psychological displacement
ern societies bear without much regret from the appears to be easy and strongly suggests itself
general population. With rates of 14 per cent of when there is an inner conflict via containment
the GDP in the United States for health expen- or a set of norms and values an athlete was
ditures, medical efforts and interventions carry brought up with.
with them a high level of acceptance and legit-
imacy; and the annual debates concerning high
health costs originate rather among politicians A Descriptive Outline of Social Control
and the interests they represent than among the
general population Against this background, When discussing the issue of doping control,
the use of pharmaceutical products is basically it is first of all the enormous machinery of
condoned and has a supposed legitimacy, and biomedical controls that comes to mind; it is the
thus – to an albeit lesser degree – so do doping system of natural science that is modeled on
substances as well. the principle of causality. Social control actually
Medicalization can also be found in sport goes beyond such a model and implies a notion
itself, contributing to the aura of legitimacy of of teleology and intent without excluding
doping practices. Since the early involvements the causal model. It is further reaching and
468 KEY TOPICS

recognizes that causal-model controls will all course legally prompted, but there was no
the time be incomplete. In its most general question that such a pursuit was also politi-
meaning it means ‘the capacity of a society to cally motivated. In this case the difficulty will
regulate itself according to desired principles not only be to prove that doping occurred
and values’ (Janowitz, 1975). For the problem of without an athlete’s consent, it will also have
doping in sport, it refers not only to external con- to show without reasonable doubt that specific
trol by society, it means the capacity of organiza- doping substances were harmful in their side-
tions and groups as well as their members to effects, or more precisely, were prescribed in a
regulate their own affairs according to their harmful way. As the cases of a number of ath-
specific principles and values. With regard to letes in Western nations show, they often over-
the latter and to the situation of the sporting loaded themselves when taking doping
contest, such control has to refer to the specific substances. Such action was seemingly based
rules that govern the event as well as to the on the layman’s suggestion that more would
basic principles and the morality under which a produce higher performance.
contest occurs. Thus, it extends on the one hand Unlike German legal officials, representa-
to the level of society and on the other to the tives of the law in the United States would be
role that an individual is committed to. In a much more reluctant to move into the prosecu-
way, social control recognizes the athlete as an tion of athletes or officials. Politial institutions
autonomous person as well. and the federal government since the Nixon
A descriptive overview can identify such Administration have developed a hands-off
control on three levels as external macro-level, attitude as far as matters of sport are concerned
external meso-level and internal micro-level con- (Chalip, 1991, 1996). Thus, the campaign seen
trols. To a degree they reflect the theory of in the Federal Republic of Germany is less
inner and outer containment. likely to occur in the United States. While
France, with its centralized governmental
External Controls on the Macro Level structure, could be expected to show a political
Beyond the societal context with its system of involvement in doping affairs as well, it has
normative controls that extends into problems not shown the same engagement as have
of morality there is first and foremost the law German political circles, despite its early
that must be considered as an external control involvement in the introduction of anti-doping
of the macro level. It is an interesting question laws (Hallouin and Jeannot-Pagès, 1990).
to what degree the law should be involved in
the control of doping. External Meso-level Controls Meso-level
It is not at all certain that a matter like doping, controls can be understood as the quasi-legal
with relatively low concern for society at large, controls and anti-doping rules of sport organi-
should be a special concern for penal or criminal zations and federations from the IOC down to
law. Of course, one might envision that doping national level and local sport organizations.
violations would hurt moral concerns to such a This includes the whole system of biomedical
degree that the law would have to move in to testing centers that have developed in major
rectify such a situation. Actually, that does not sporting nations around the world. The IOC
seem to be the case; and the level of supposed and its special Doping Commission have been
legitimacy in a period of medicalization in involved in the problem of doping for more
society makes it unlikely that doping in sport than 30 years. Despite difficulty of enforce-
will become a major legal concern of society. On ment and periodic inefficiency, the IOC has
the contrary, should cases of doping in sport reclaimed a sense of authority in recent
clog up courts in the civil law, society might history. In part, the central position of the IOC
well react by disregarding the issue altogether. Commission is the result of a need for clear
Of course, doping is not only a matter of and consistent rules as well as identification of
morality and the law, it may concern the polit- illegal substances and methods, internation-
ical system beyond the sphere and institution ally and among all sport federations.
of sport itself. Such is the case in countries There is no question, however, and ample
like Germany, where the parliament and its evidence exists (Vrijman, 1996), that interna-
respective sport committee have become tionally the variety and inconsistency of dop-
involved in an anti-doping campaign and the ing control is high. So far there is no clear set of
demand for doping control. More recently, rules that is consistent throughout national
public prosecutors have investigated former and international sport federations. Moreover,
East German officials and sport executives, only recently has a common movement
claiming that they did physical harm to former emerged among sport organizations that dop-
athletes of the GDR. Such a move was of ing must be controlled by sport itself lest it lose
 DOPING IN SPORT AS DEVIANT BEHAVIOR 469

its moral authority and autonomy. In line with organizations to react accordingly. Secondly,
the theory of differential association (Suther- there is a need for control from within to stop
land and Cressey, 1974), there is no doubt that any future major case-loads of doping viola-
sport organizations themselves for long peri- tions in civil law. It would not be in the best
ods of time condoned illegal doping practices. interests of sport and its moral integrity for
Among others, the Dubin Report has shown athletes and sport organizations to routinely
this to be true for the Canadian Track Asso- settle their grievances over major payments
ciation (1990). Several national sport organiza- and doping violations in public courts. What
tions suggested the same in their lax attitude is suggested here is not the establishment of
or even wilfull neglect. The problem of ratio- quasi-legal suits within sport and its own
nalization, discussed in terms of the athlete courts, so much as the prevention of doping
above, can be equally observed in relation to violations as a matter of principle to make civil
sport organizations. Doping practices in the lawsuits obsolete. Conciliation as introduced
American NFL appear to be rampant because first in France (Karaquillo, 1994) may be one
of commercial interests, and there is no ques- way to strengthen the autonomy of sport and
tion that former East German athletes and in turn the moral fiber of the system.
physicians rationalized their behavior with Developments in the near future will show
overriding national interests (Berendonk, 1992). whether the autonomy of sport and the proper
The most recent past shows a common and enactment of quasi-legal rulings in its own
rising concern among sport organizations and courts and commissions can be established.
federations on the international as well as Commercial interests and those of individual
national level to control and root out doping. athletes with their supporting cast may well
While there are exceptions to this develop- interfere with such institutionalization. Should
ment, the major problem at this time is rather they succeed, it may well be the beginning of a
achieving universal consistency in rules as well new era of sport, where elite sport with mainly
as practices. It is not uncommon that federa- entertainment functions is clearly separated
tions have explicit rules and yet do not follow from the participant sport that could be
them. re-established in such a process, such as the
On the international scene it should have amateur rule or something similar.
been a priority to establish first an organization Indications are that the inconsistency in
or commission to secure the standardization of meso-level controls is in a period of transition.
doping controls; instead, controlled by legal The rapid advances in medical technology as a
experts, the International Court of Arbitration basis for the increase of doping practices found
in Lausanne was founded before there was any the sport scene and its organizations unpre-
serious attempt at standardizing rules and pro- pared for control for many years. Instead, the
cedures that would withstand the challenge of doping subculture corrupted major segments
legal authorities. Thus, this court will find of national and international sport organiza-
itself in a position of having to rule specific tions, and that included the Olympic Games
cases and convictions invalid because regula- up until very recently. External macro-level
tions are not standard or controls cannot controls, as well as those in line with the rules
keep up with the most progressive develop- of sport as a game and contest, will encourage
ments in the doping scene. And presently non- and should facilitate the development of meso-
observance of rules or inconsistencies among controls within sport organizations. After all,
sport organizations and their control commis- at the macro level the institution of sport and
sions are often to be found. Only in 1999, in the sporting contest are models of trust and
response to strong public pressure, did the IOC morality; and the sporting contest itself cannot
establish a new control commission. continue if principles of reciprocity, equality of
The issue of meso-level controls through chance and fairness are not observed. This
sport organizations addresses, in the end, the brings us to discussion of controls at the micro
question of autonomy of sport in controlling its level.
own affairs, and that of doping in particular
(Vieweg, 1991). The need to stress and build on Internal Micro-level Social Controls As
such autonomy appears to be strong for a internal micro-level controls one can identify all
number of reasons. First, and because of the those structures and processes that occur at the
minor concern with doping as an offence in interpersonal or individual level. The latter
criminal law, there is a need to address doping may be a matter of an individual’s personality
from within the system; the observation of and learning experiences – the inner contain-
basic principles in sporting contests, such as ment dimension. Foremost among micro-level
equality of chance and fairness, requires sport controls are those established during sports
470 KEY TOPICS

contests and in interpersonal or intergroup onslaught of doping in the 1970s and 1980s this
relations. They pertain to an athlete’s relation- seemed also to be the case for doping and its
ship to his or her own team or sport subculture. magnitude. Similarly, there is a widespread
They also include the relationship to an oppo- feeling about a general moral decay in society,
nent or an opposing team in a contest. assuming for doping that it is actually proof of
The moral implications at this level of struc- a general demise of culture and society. Such
ture and analysis are overwhelming and it is models of change as that of Spengler are
not only a matter of following the rules of the simple and popular, yet often unwarranted.
game or the sport organization. Paramount at They indicate a limited understanding of the
this level is what normally will be referred to interdependence of social structure and the
as fairness. It is a misunderstanding to relate character of structural change.
this to altruism and voluntarily giving up part Others have pointed to the fact that there are
of one’s own gains and rewards. It is a pattern rather eras of periodic change, and that, for
of behavior that is entirely related to the main- example, an emphasis on formality and society
tenance of the contest, its integrity and the may be followed by periods of informality and
preservation of the opponent, whose destruc- community again. The same might be
tion would itself destroy the contest and any advanced for doping in sport. After a period of
future encounter. It is a pattern identified heightened consciousness about this phenom-
within the context of the sporting contest dis- enon and increased concern from meso- and
tinguished from cooperation (Lüschen, 1970); macro-level controls, there will be a period of
it is a form of behavior that Kant observed also observance of the doping code and of princi-
for parties at war and that Simmel had in mind ples of fairness again.
when he talked about ‘Vereinheitlichung’ des That it is doping which brings issues of
‘Kampfspiels’(this refers to the unifying poten- morality, fairness and justice to the foreground
tial of the contest) (1923: 200), qualifying, how- has to do with the fact that it ultimately cor-
ever, that in its pure form there are no outside rupts and destroys the core of sport as it is
interests. found in the sporting contest. This is no small
There is every indication that in elite athlet- concern for sport, nor is it for society at large.
ics the individual athlete has and will pursue Hence the emergence of a variety of social con-
his or her selfish interests, but only to the trols and public concerns. The issue and socio-
degree that the opponent, who is also the future logical study of doping in sport also reveals the
opponent on another occasion, will not be hurt degree to which sociology is actually a moral
and betrayed. Application of this fine distinc- science (Durkheim, 1887/1993).
tion to what happens in the case of doping and
the abstention from such and similar behavior,
is one of the most powerful reasons why sport The Special Case of Legal Control
and the athlete are cast in a role of important
moral agent. There are violations of this princi- Legal or quasi-legal control within sport itself
ple, there is a high potential for cheating in can be understood as special forms of external
sport (Lüschen, 1976), but the challenge to the social control. It is an interesting problem by
principles of association and fairness posed itself that at least since the introduction of spe-
by such behavior are still a far cry from a situ- cial doping laws in France, with a number of
ation in sport where fairness has become non- other members of the EU with the notable
existent. Durkheim (1887/1993) reminds the exception of Germany following suit, doping
social science observer at this point that the has become a focus of legal discussions all over
existence of rules and norms is actualized the world. Within a sporting context only labor
through their violation and deviant behavior. It disputes in American professional sport have
is thus an error to conclude from doping code so far received similar attention from the law.
violations, and those of prominent athletes in This development warrants an analysis all by
particular, that violations are common and itself; it may be explained as a consequence
widespread. of the extension and increased specialization of
the legal system as much as it is the result of
the increased prevalence of and material dam-
Social Control, Morale age done through doping in sport. That is to
and Periodic Changes say, in terms of civil law, with increased
amounts of money to be earned, both sports
Models of change are typically unidirectional organizations and athletes deprived of their
and their authors often proclaim a period of renumerations have an interest in rectifying
moral and cultural demise. With the obvious the situation and suing for damages.
 DOPING IN SPORT AS DEVIANT BEHAVIOR 471

The situation is less clear with regard to expectation is that through an increased
criminal or penal law. The consequences for concern for the autonomy of sport internal
society and other parties as well as for the ath- social controls will also be encouraged that,
letes themselves do not suggest the law should eventually, will result in a decline of doping.
follow suit. It is this point of view that made A much further-reaching proposal to stress
the French retract part of their earlier law of the autonomy of sport and of the individual
1965 which criminalized the violating athlete. athlete has been developed by Bird and
Indeed, there is a tendency in France now to Wagner, with their proposal of a drug-diary
protect rather than punish an athlete found in (1996). The open listing of substances used will
violation of the doping code (Alaphilippe, allow inspection, it will severely punish undis-
1988; Breillat, 1994; Sfeir, 1996). In the United closed doping and it expects, through such a
States, there is a widespread belief that indi- procedure, by stressing the autonomy and self-
vidual autonomy, so dear in the US Consti- responsibility of the athlete, a reduced inci-
tution, means that everyone can do to his/her dence of doping. It is a rational, economically
body as he/she likes. Thus, there need not be inclined calculation; it tries to avoid disadvan-
any legal prohibition on the use of doping tages of the ‘negative list’ and expects, through
substances, and the damage done to others, to collegial control among athletes themselves,
a given sport organization or matters of due the development of specific norms and,
process – a frequent challenge of athletes through such a form of social control, a lesser
against sport authorities – can be handled by likelihood of doping overall.
civil law.
Court rulings in terms of the privacy princi-
ple have been somewhat two-edged. On one THE EXTENT OF DOPING IN SPORT
hand, the argument has been that nobody
AND THE STATE OF RESEARCH
under such provision should be exposed to a
urine or other tests that violate his/her privacy
rights (High Court of Colorado). On the other How much doping is going on in sport at this
hand, courts, such as the High Court of time nobody knows for sure; neither an exact
California, have ruled that participation in incidence nor a serious estimate can be pro-
sport is entirely voluntary and that privacy vided. That it is happening, and that it has
principles are not a concern, such as in open almost all sporting nations and a number of
exposure in the locker room; thus, privacy con- famous athletes involved has been sufficiently
cerns connected to drug testing were declared documented (Berendonk, 1992: 30–3).
void. It is such rulings, let alone inconsistencies As with all forms of deviant and criminal
in legal matters in certain countries, that behavior, this is a familiar situation most suc-
demonstrate the difficulty in achieving a cinctly demonstrated by an early research pro-
legally based doping control model around the ject on criminal behavior in the United States
world. German courts would be less likely to which, according to Wallerstein and Wyle
protect individual and privacy rights; courts in (1947), found 86 per cent of adults admitting
dictatorial systems will be even more lenient in that they committed an act of larceny (theft) at
approving tests of a supposedly doping athlete. least once in their lifetime. What can be con-
cluded for criminal behavior, that less than the
total amount of committed crime gets detected,
From Legal Concerns to Stressing of those detected a considerably lower number
the Autonomy of Sport go to court, and only a minority of those
engaging in such crime are finally convicted,
As legal systems are society-bound, their vari- can also as a general tendency be expected for
ance in structure emphasizes the need to place doping in sport. There is now modern techno-
the doping controls within the system of inter- logy that allows detection of the use of steroids
national sport itself. It will, however, be a for- months after their actual application. Testing
midable task to develop such an international throughout the year and unannounced test-
quasi-legal system. Moreover, it will not only ing is being performed, and all winners are
be a formidable task to set up the rules and being tested as a routine at major sport events.
norms for the anti-doping code, enforcement Thus, observation is probably more stringent
of the code will require an even greater effort. now in sport than typically occurs in law
This is yet another reason to focus as much on enforcement for criminal behavior, yet there is
normative and moral controls as on the con- a strong suspicion that the most sophisticated
trols built around a tight model of causality dopers still get away with it and enjoy an ille-
and biomedical testing. Moreover, the general gal advantage over those that have not doped.
472 KEY TOPICS

Although there is a high level of reliability of convictions, the number of tests performed
for the claim that the use of stimulants such as is also a good indication of the magnitude and
amphetamines has rapidly declined, since costs of biomedical testing.
these products have to be consumed at a sport German Control in Cologne for 1995
event itself to have any effect and conse- reported a total of 8,939 tests of which 125,
quently are easily detectable, the situation is equalling 1.4 per cent, were found to be posi-
different with steroids, which may have been tive. Of those found to be positive, relatively
used at a much earlier time and at the time of more were non-German samples (3.5 per cent).
testing are no longer detectable. There are also Of course, this does not allow the conclusion
substances like creatine which are found natu- that Germans dope less. One could equally
rally in meat products and, thus, as long as conclude that non-Germans were less sophisti-
they are not used in higher doses, it cannot be cated in hiding the use of doping substances.
confirmed that their occurrence in the body is Overall, and given the general publicity the
due to an artificial substance illegally adminis- practice of doping in sport receives, the rate
tered. Furthermore, there are a few known appears to be rather low. Yet, it is quite typical
substances like IGF1 (Insulin Growth Factor 1) that in the recent past other studies have come
that cannot be detected at all. up with similar figures. G.H. Pope et al. (1988)
With these provisos in mind, the following found a steroid use among male college ath-
results can only be considered rough estimates letes of 1.7 per cent.
and, by definition, reflect an incidence of Curry and Wagman (1999) reports for
deviant behavior lower than is actually true. American power-weightlifters that two out of
Of course, one should also observe that certain three of them used steroids at least once in
statements by anti-doping advocates are com- their lifetime. High rates of steroid users were
monly overstatements: one of the more infa- also found by Delbeke et al. in Flanders among
mous statements of a former British team bodybuilders (1995). Yet, the subculture of
physician prior to the Atlanta Olympic Games bodybuilding has for long been known for its
put the rate of expected dopers at 75 per cent of doping prowess and as a supply line for ath-
all athletes. Statements like these receive wide letes in other activities. Ljundqvist at the
attention in the mass media, even if their truth World Congress on Doping in Rome reported
value is low. One need only consider the fact a detection rate of 1.3 to 2.6 per cent at athletic
that in certain sport disciplines doping would events, although he cautions that detection
not result in performance enhancement to rates for steroids at athletic events were at that
reach the conclusion that a rate of three out of time almost useless as detectability and respec-
four Atlanta participants doping could not tive secure periods for the use of substances
possibly be true, even if in disciplines that are were well known among athletes and their
more prone to doping behavior every athlete supporting cast. Scarpino et al. (1990) report
had indeed doped. that in a quota sample 6 per cent of Italian
Distortions in public discussions also occur athletes acknowledged themselves to be drug
because an element of inner-group versus users, while 7 per cent stated that access to
outer-group or ethnocentricity is at work and doping substances was easy. Vogels et al.
assumes other teams to have notoriously (1996), in a study of regular gym attendants,
higher drug users. Such was the case before the found that 6 per cent of them had used some
Atlanta Games in public statements made in type of performance-enhancing substance at
the United States regarding Chinese athletes least once. These rates contrast with earlier
and by Europeans regarding American ath- reports (EC, 1964), when in the early 1960s at
letes. These observations on the non-reliability the Italian Championship 50 per cent of ama-
of doping rates support the general contention teur cyclists tested positive, while the rate for
that better research is needed than is available soccer players in the same year was only
so far and that presently available results 1.1 per cent.
should only be used after considerable In the United States there have been two
scrutiny. areas that have received wide attention
Some of the best results are those so far with regard to doping and drug abuse: profes-
provided by biomedical test institutes and sional athletes and adolescents. The former
from routine testing at sports events. For the enjoy more or less permanent attention in the
more recent past these results refer mainly to mass media. Shortly after the Atlanta Olympic
steroid abuse for reasons mentioned above. Games a number of the main television and
Stimulants are easy to detect and thus have radio stations had athletes or insiders appear
gone out of fashion. Regardless of the number and disclose anonymously their use of drugs
 DOPING IN SPORT AS DEVIANT BEHAVIOR 473

and pain-killers. Hearings in the US Congress its muscles for appearance. All indications from
in the 1980s confirmed a wide use of drugs, but studies like these suggest, of course, that the
because of definitional problems the attention rate of usage of doping substances among ado-
focused mainly on alcoholism among elite lescents is lower than is generally suggested by
athletes. What was noteworthy was the fact statements of politicians and commentators.
that athletes, team owners and union represen- One of the few quantitative surveys directly
tatives alike were of the opinion that they concerned with the use of doping was con-
would and could control their own affairs. ducted by Ferrando among former and present
That, by all indications, seems not to be the Spanish Olympic athletes (1995). Data about
case, since economic and commercial consider- attitudes, self-reported behavior and the
ations alone appear to be the overpowering potential for meso-level control by sport organi-
principles. Thus, in one confidential statement zations show the rate of those having ever
the players of one team disclosed that all of knowingly used doping substances is at a low
their regulars were routinely doped with sub- level of 1 per cent. Five per cent say they are
stances called Emperor 1,2,3 to enhance not sure, while 21 per cent fully or ‘a little’
aggressiveness, muscle build and to kill pain agree that doping is necessary in high-level
endured at and after a game. Their quarterback competition. Seventy-six per cent would never
star player, however, was not doped as the take drugs, even if they knew it was to their
side-effects of the doping substances were not advantage. Yet, only 27 per cent have trust that
known and might have destroyed the player as doping will be stopped in the near future,
a high-prized commodity, leading to a consid- while 53 per cent have doubts and 18 per cent
erable loss for the team owners. Also, a later do not expect sport organizations to have the
hearing before the US Senate Judiciary capability to do it. Regardless of the limited
Committee (1990) that focused exclusively on reliability of such data, they do indicate a low
steroids confirmed their wide use, and among conscious usage; more important, they indicate
professional athletes in particular. However, as that normative and moral controls were very
Vieweg maintained from German experiences, much on the minds of the respondent Spanish
a higher rate among professionals should not elite athletes.
necessarily be assumed as at that level chal- Picou and Gill (1990) identify the historical
lenges and controls by fellow athletes will also stages of doping since the Second World War
be stronger (1996). Yet, considering the theory and note there has been a steady increase in
of differential association, in team games and attention and usage among basketball players.
commercial sport organizations, when doping At the same time, an analysis of testing proce-
is uniformly engaged in by everyone, the con- dures and convictions in France shows a steady
trol by fellow athletes is not sufficient. increase in the number of athletes tested, while
The use of doping substances among adoles- at the same time the rate of convictions has
cents has been fairly well surveyed in the declined (Irlinger et al., 1994). There is also
United States due to the relatively high usage some evidence that indeed, as Donike claimed,
and its consistent appearance as an issue in there are differences in the periods ‘before and
electoral politics. One of the theoretically and after Caracas’ (Lüschen, 1984), when a number
analytically most interesting studies by Martha of athletes were convicted of doping at the Pan-
Stuck (1990) confirms a rather high usage of American Games or did not even attend the
drugs among adolescents and, in line with the games when they learned they would be tested
above interpretation of legitimization of drug by more powerful testing means.
usage in a medicalized society, finds the ado- The period of high and increased usage
lescent drug subculture to be conformist rather among athletes in the Olympic Games, so typ-
than deviant. For sport, however, she finds that ical of the period from 1972 to 1988, appears to
athletes take to drugs comparatively less than be over. Whether the Atlanta Games of 1996,
ordinary students. supposed to be ‘the cleanest ever ’, were
With regard to the use of steroids among high indeed so clean, remains an open question.
school students, Johnston et al. (1995) found in a Biomedical testing was certainly at an all-time
panel study on drug use that there was no high and yet produced only few positive tests.
increase in the consumption of substances like Suspicion abounds, however, whether indi-
steroids and that over a 5-year period the rate vidual athletes were able to conceal their
for at least one-time use of steroids was fairly involvement with drugs or got away with it
stable at 1.6–2.4 per cent. There is no indication, for reasons that have to do with the inconsis-
however, to what degree this usage relates to tency, reliability, and validity of testing meth-
sport or to an attempt to build one’s body and ods and procedures.
474 KEY TOPICS

CONCLUSION Bette, Karl-Heinrich (ed.) (1994) Doping im

Leistungssport. Stuttgart: Naglschmidt.
Bette, Karl-Heinrich and Schimank, Uwe (1995)
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 30
SPORT AND EMOTIONS

Mary E. Duquin

Sport is movement, belief and desire, bound injury in sport reflects this emphasis on repress-
together in a multisensual event whose epicen- ing and managing emotions. Emotions also
ter is emotion. From ecstasy to agony, whether figure prominently in our inventions of new
participating or spectating, emotions underlie sport forms, in our resistance to dominant sport
our motives for play, our most vivid and mem- forms, in our reasons for leaving sport and
orable experiences, and often our reasons in our changing identities as a result of our
for leaving the arena. Sport is a teacher and withdrawal.
shaper of value in emotional life. Sport experi- Research on sport spectating is primarily
ences can enrich emotional development by about the pleasures of being a fan, expression
cultivating capacities for care, self-worth, of community, social bonding and nostalgia.
strength of will, good judgement, compassion, The emotional experiences of sport spectating
understanding, love and friendship. Sport are sometimes compared to the sacred emo-
experiences can also undermine interpersonal tions of religious rituals that give meaning to
relations and self-worth by contributing to personal and cultural life. Media and commu-
feelings of fear, resentment, envy, malice, self- nication studies of sport spectating have inves-
pity, despair, insensitivity and alienation. tigated the personal pleasures of looking:
These examples illustrate the importance of voyeurism and narcissism. These studies have
emotions in understanding the impact of sport probed the effects of mass mediated sport on
and leisure on individuals and social relations. the emotional experience of spectating. The
Yet, emotion is a relatively new area of research study of emotions in culture-making institu-
in sociology, and few sport scholars have tions like sport and leisure raises a host of
focused specifically or primarily on emotions interesting questions about how individuals
(Elias and Dunning, 1986; Ferguson, 1981; learn to define emotion, experience emotion,
Maguire, 1991; Rail, 1990, 1992; Snyder, 1990). feel emotion and share emotion in contem-
Research on identity formation, social expres- porary life (Denzin, 1990).
sion and self-realization have, however,
yielded rich sources of insight into emotions in
sport and leisure. EMOTIONS: EXPRESSION
Emotions are significant in the construction
of athletic identities, as well as in the formation AND IDENTITY FORMATION
of culture, class, gender, race, sexual and moral
identities. Sport often plays a key role in how A significant number of studies on emotions
we learn to experience our physical and emo- in sport have focused on identity formation:
tional selves, how we come to define pleasure, on the emotional socialization experienced
and what emotions we learn to express (Rojek, in sport, the emotional work required in con-
1985). Much of modern sport involves learning structing athletic identities, and the effects
to control emotions, of disciplining the self and of sport on reproducing social identities of
managing emotional lives. The extensive culture, gender, class, race, sexuality and sub-
research on the normalization of pain and culture. Research in this area poses some of the
478 KEY TOPICS

following questions. How do emotions, ‘detachment’ in the production of theory and

expressed in sport and leisure, contribute to research (Dunning and Rojek, 1992: 162–6).
individual and group identity formation and For nations and cultures, emotions and
the expression and presentation of the self? emotional displays are used as expressive
How does the socialization of emotions in markers of meaning, values and identity
sport contribute to the reproduction of struc- (Nauright and Chandler, 1996; Tomlinson,
tures of stratification and hierarchy in culture? 1992; Werbner, 1996). On a cultural level,
How do sport and leisure contribute to the pro- emotions in sport can be used to generate
duction, experience and meaning of cultural national fervor or to express political ideology
emotional forms? (Hoberman, 1988). For example, in Soviet
muscular socialism sport came ‘closest to reli-
gious ritual in serving to provide ... cohesion,
Culture solidarity, integration, discipline, and emo-
tional euphoria’ (Riordan, 1987: 376). Emotions
The study of emotion is central to the figura- also reflect different cultural values, as in
tional sociology of Elias (1978, 1987) and his Curry and Weiss’s study (1989) of Austrian
followers (Dunning et al., 1988; Dunning and and US athletes. In this study, competition, as
Rojek, 1992; Dunning and Sheard, 1979; an emotional motivator for sport involvement,
Maguire, 1993). According to Elias, since the was more likely to characterize US athletes
Middle Ages there has been a long-term than Austrian athletes. Labeling emotional
trend toward control over affect and the displays can be a significant process in con-
restraint of emotion in society. With the pacifi- structing a culture’s identity. Giulianotti’s
cation of everyday life, mimetic forms of (1995) study of conflicting state, media and fan
behavior, where intense emotions are interpretations of the expressive behaviors of
expressed in controlled ways, have come to Scottish fans at football matches is a good
characterize modern forms of sport and example of how the meaning of a group’s emo-
leisure. Figurationalists contend that the plea- tional display can be contested, thus affecting
surable controlled decontrolling of emotions, control over a group’s identity formation.
the quest for battle excitement, or the quest for
exciting significance, underlies much of sport
and leisure practice. While the figurational Subculture
perspective has provided insight into the
Emotions play a key role in constructing sport
emergence of modern sport and the relation-
subculture identities (Gallmeier, 1987;
ship of sport to emotion, Maguire (1991) notes
Stevenson, 1991). Different sports evoke and
that research has tended to focus on sports
idealize identifying forms of emotional expres-
that confirm the theory’s model of sport, ‘That
sion. Sport subcultures offer different emo-
is, sports where a high degree of “battle excite-
tional experiences in terms of building
ment” is recurrently generated and where the
community, establishing individual identity
emphasis of identity formation is on intense
and demonstrating emotional control. For
forms of manliness’ (p. 29). Maguire (1991)
example, feelings of social bonding may be
suggests that the figurational research agenda
incidental or essential to group identity.
be expanded to explore in more detail the
Donnelly and Young (1988) found cama-
identity formation qualities of sport, to inves-
raderie, friendship and generosity to be impor-
tigate the self-expressive and emotional self-
tant emotions for display among rugby
management aspects of sport and to address
players, while Klein (1986) found bodybuilders
contemporary concerns with techniques of
to be emotional loners, who abandon social
bodily discipline. Hargreaves (1994), too, sug-
bonding and rarely emote freely. Displaying
gests that the figurational perspective needs to
appropriate emotional characteristics commu-
address gender relations in greater detail and
nicates important meanings not only to the
to consider the links between violence encour-
larger culture but to members within the sub-
aged in male sport and violence against
culture itself. In describing the rescue of a
women. Studies focused on the relationship
novice rock climber who froze on a climb,
between violence in sport and contemporary
Donnelly and Young report:
power relations may further illuminate
the concept of the civilizing process. On a the- The individual burst into tears upon reaching
oretical level, differences exist between safety, but neither Donnelly nor the third member
researchers, like Hargreaves, whose work is of the team could bring themselves to comfort
motivated by a ‘passionate objectivity’ and him. By freezing, losing composure, he had jeop-
those figurationalists who strive for emotional ardized the safety of the party, and in the harsh
 SPORT AND EMOTIONS 479

and somewhat unfeeling social world of climbers The ability of athletes to manage their
he could not be forgiven. The incident was never emotions is crucial in adopting sport identities.
discussed, the individual never climbed again, In an interesting study of the gymnastic sub-
and the resulting awkward interaction led him to culture, Snyder (1990) found that athletes were
drop out of the circle of friends. (1988: 228–9) expected to regulate feelings of nervousness,
control fears of injury and pain, and manage
This description of rock climbers may be feelings of frustration and disappointment. He
contrasted with the subculture of women’s ice noted that, while ‘subcultural norms do not pre-
hockey. In most team sports, a significant part clude individual variations in the display of
of subcultural identity formation is the emo- emotions, ... some gymnasts “flood out” and
tional bonding that develops among athletes. lose control of their emotions and composure ...
In her study of ice hockey players Theberge other gymnasts, perhaps the most competent,
(1995) noted the importance of shared emotion maintain their composure and emotional con-
in the process of building a community. She trol . . . These “ice maidens” are generally
observed that, ‘Following games that were par- admired for their poise, composure, and dig-
ticularly physical or . . . exciting, the dressing nity in a tense situation’ (p. 266). The artful
room was a loud and raucous place where (and gendered) expectation in women’s gym-
players shared stories . . . about their on-ice nastics is to make power, strength and speed
challenges and accomplishments . . . these occa- look graceful, smooth and elegant. Emotion
sions are defining moments in the construction management plays a crucial role in affecting an
of community ... Team membership . . . offers a ‘appropriately feminine’ presentation of the
context in which women hockey players col- self to judges and audience.
lectively affirm their skills, commitment, and The suppression of emotions related to
passion for their sport’ (1995: 400–1). pain and injury is a common expectation in
Rail’s (1990, 1992) classic phenomenological most athletic subcultures (Curry, 1986; Nixon,
study of physical contact in women’s basket- 1994b). Whether giving or taking pain, athletes
ball aptly demonstrates the myriad emotions learn to desensitize themselves to the pain or
athletes experience in establishing their identi- violence of their sport. When learning to inflict
ties in sport subcultures. Rail describes physi- pain on others is part of the sport socialization
cal contacts as embodied emotions that may be process, is rewarded and is connected to iden-
orientated toward either communication or tity formation, some athletes eventually learn
alienation. In the following passage she dis- to take pleasure in pain-giving. One effect of
cusses the emotional difference between play- the normalization of sado-ascetic sport prac-
ful and violent contacts in basketball. tices and the suppression of empathetic emo-
Feelings of control, as well as feelings of desire, tions related to pain, is that athletes may
hope, daring, physicality, toughness, powerful- become emotionally callused and thus morally
ness, strongness, cleverness, skillfulness, effective- compromised. While aggression and suppres-
ness, superiority, pride, bravery, and assertiveness sion of feelings are traditionally related to
are central to the organization of playful con- hegemonic masculinity, emotional manage-
tacts ... In violent contact . . . the self attempts to ment of feelings of pain, fear and injury is often
regain what has been lost or threatened, the emo- as characteristic of women’s sports today as
tional feelings of loss, shame, frustration, helpless- men’s sports (Nixon, 1994a, 1996a, 1996b;
ness, anxiety, fear, anger, rage, hostility and hatred Young, 1991, 1993; Young et al., 1994). Modern
are central to the organization of violent contact . . . sport practices and ideology exploit athletes’
the player’s emotions may flood over her, over- feelings of loyalty, need-achievement and self-
whelming her in a ‘blind rage’ or she may act identity. Overconformity to a sport ethic that
‘cold-bloodedly’. In either case, the player is requires self-sacrifice, risk-taking, rejecting
drawn into the violent contact and becomes part of limits, ignoring pain and playing hurt results
it. Violence radiates through the bodies of both the in normalizing injuries in sport and valorizing
player and her victim. (1990: 276–7) a self-destructive athlete model (Curry and
Strauss, 1994; Duquin, 1994; Hughes and
This insightful study is one of the few Coakley, 1991). Research into the relationship
ethnographic projects that has examined between sport practice and the emotions of
women’s emotional experience and under- care, empathy and sensitivity shows that over-
standing of physical aggression in sport. conformity to the sport ethic and unreflective,
Additional research is needed to investigate automatic obedience to authority is detrimen-
how violent emotional experiences in sport tal to the physical, emotional and moral well-
might affect the ongoing construction of self being of athletes (Duquin, 1984, 1993; Duquin
and social identity. and Schroeder-Braun, 1996).
480 KEY TOPICS

Althletes may resist dominant cultural and the fear of failure are all too well known ...
ideologies or highlight alternate values by The club I belonged to was a bourgeois club. Later,
defining or redefining the relationships when I joined the town’s working-class club, I
between physical activity, emotion and mean- noticed the difference . . . the boys did not act
ing (Birrell and Richter, 1987; Gotfrit, 1991; superior towards each other; they were straight
Midol and Broyer, 1995). In her compelling forward and cold when they felt like it ... I learned
ethnography of a skateboarding subculture, that you should not be feminine, sentimental,
Beal (1995) found that skateboarders actively over-friendly ... I cannot remember that masculin-
resisted high-pressured, competitive, con- ity was defined at all, other than through denial –
trolled and inflexible sport environments. through what a man should not be. By rules,
These athletes valued cooperation, friendship, hidden fears and the insolent language of the
self-esteem, flexibility, creativity and freedom gang – ‘homo’, ‘wanker’ – we became men.
of expression. Skateboarding was primarily (pp. 54–5) ... Because of asthma, I had to consider
about finding fun places to skate. Similarly, the relationship to myself and my identity ... The
alternate sports and alternate sport groups prolonged coughing attacks and constricted
may arise in response to marginalized or coun- breathing made me depressed and caused me to
tercultural values. Midol (1993) described how question the meaning and sense of sport. A good
the French, in the 1970s, developed the fun game, a successful performance, and the feeling of
movement around the concept of the whiz, belonging prompted me to try again ... the team
spirit, the things done together and the apprecia-
... that is, speed, fluidity, entertainment, freedom
tion of others ... attracted me. (p. 56) ... The disci-
linked to the imaginary notion of ‘kick’ which
plined body is the basis for the use of power, and
stands for new sensations, a sense of harmony, of
especially so in the army. This . . . body finds it dif-
risk, a taste for the extreme . . . whether it be on
ficult to express and receive emotion, which is con-
snow, water, concrete or in the air, fun space is a
tinually repressed by hazing ... I could not take the
‘sport’ – by which is meant a space situated mid-
military exercises, the only aim of which seemed
way between myth and reality . . . (p. 23)
to be to humiliate . . . Such exercises were carried
Alternate sports may thus be a search for the out in a way that my asthma could not bear; we
expression of emotions not permitted or too went at full pace with no pause for breath.
rarely experienced in traditional sport and (p. 58) ... For the most part I have enjoyed those
leisure forms. situations ... when I have done something for
someone with my body, as in a football game, or
by being united with other players and in front of
Structuring and Restructuring the spectators ... Imagine the feeling when, as an
Self-identities object under ... thousands of pairs of eyes, you
manage a good ball trick, a tackle, a pass, a goal.
Memory work (Haug, 1987; Messner, 1996; Even more important is the support you get from
Sironen, 1994; Viejola, 1994), life-mode bio- your own team, which, following a goal, exhibits
graphy (Ottesen, 1994) and deep hermeneutic strong physical emotions. Isn’t that something in a
procedures (Nagbol, 1994) are particularly culture which shies away from touching? (p. 58)
powerful methods for investigating the impor-
tance of emotions in forming self-identity and Memory is tied to emotion; feelings make
for examining the relationship between agency events significant. In memory work, replaying
and social structure. In a particularly poignant past emotions reveals the forces and everyday
example of memory work, Tiihonen (1994) events that helped to shape self-identity. In yet
relates how being asthmatic and an athlete another moving piece of memory work, Viejola
affected the construction of his multiple and (1994) describes developing her self-identity
changing self-identities. His illness created an through a series of face rituals played both in
anxious corporeality while various social con- and out of sport. She recalls learning female
texts, home, school, community, sport teams codes of behavior and remembers the different
and the army, shaped his experiences and emo- emotional patterns of females and males in
tional responses that affected his self-images. learning about friendship, dispute, love and
He relates how the emotional experiences he team play.
had in sport contributed to his learning about You extended yourself to win, and to outstrip, I
class, power, authority, social bonding, gender extended myself to tie, and to get closer. Your wills
relations and sexuality. were directed against each other; ours adjoined ...
Changing from a boy into a man is not the easiest Your relationships mostly began from the moment
task in Finnish culture. Suicides, the dangers of you hit the same sport, where there was something
life, fear of the unknown, the pressure to succeed, to play . . . Your friendships happened. Mine
 SPORT AND EMOTIONS 481

existed, very close, all the time, even when the severe chronic physical and emotional stress
other was absent . . . The form of energy in my (Hoberman, 1992; Koukouris, 1994; Swain,
social space is empathy, sympathy, feeling of close- 1991). For dedicated athletes who have little
ness; or as their opposite hate, bitterness, and time to develop themselves in areas outside of
exclusion. The energy of your social space is force, sport, self-identity can be very narrowly and
counterforce and collision. (pp. 32–9) precariously defined. As Coakley (1992)
explains, for these athletes
She goes on to describe the mixed team play of
a floorball game where emotions were felt and ... sport involvement became analogous to being
expressed differently. on a tightrope ... they knew they couldn’t shift
their focus to anything else without losing their
When I fail in something during the game, I get
balance ... and they knew there would be no net to
embarrassed and feel sorry for my team. You let
catch them . . . they started to feel insecure. Their
off steam by hitting the walls or the floor with
insecurity affected their performance. And their
your stick, or you play foul if the ball is otherwise
inability to meet performance standards led them
robbed from you. You and your friends don’t espe-
to withdraw socially and emotionally from those
cially mind breaking the rules, hitting ankles,
around them ... they had little to fall back on ... no
pushing ... but I get mad because in my mind
viable alternative identities for interacting with
these tricks violate the equality of the players . . .
other people in meaningful ways. (p. 276)
The game moves our emotions . . . Your emotions
are as ‘true’ as mine, as ‘real’ in the situation they Those who choose to leave sport have often
are felt in. But we interpret situations differently, been pejoratively characterized in sport
and, consequently, feel different feelings. We put research as ‘drop outs’. However, in the case of
our souls into the game with equal passion, but we high-pressured, sometimes abusive sport prac-
only project ourselves into our own emotions. We tices, athletes who decide to leave sport may be
are not able to enter into each other’s projections, seeking a healthier emotional environment
each other’s emotions. (pp. 36–8) than is available in their present sport setting
(Duquin, 1995).
Memory work reveals how emotions are
socialized in sport and how individuals can
become active agents in constructing their Gender and Sexuality
emotional lives. One major advantage of such
methodology is that personal memory work Research on women’s experience of emotion
exposes the complex interaction of various in sport has centered on two somewhat contra-
social statuses (for example, class, gender, dictory realities in relation to gender identity.
sexuality) in the emotional patterning of indi- While sport and exercise often empower
vidual lives. women, recent research has demonstrated
For many athletes self-identities must be how the sport/fitness movement has re-
restructured after leaving sport. The circum- territorialized women’s bodies, instilling feel-
stances under which one leaves sport affects ings of shame, constant self-surveillance and
one’s emotional responses to withdrawal. anxiety about meeting new standards of femi-
Career-ending injuries or sudden, unexpected ninity (Bolin, 1992; Bordo, 1989; Featherstone,
reasons for discontinuing sport involvement 1991). The fitness industry focuses women’s
can result in depression, a sense of loss and an energy on disciplinary practices in an attempt to
anxious search for a new self-identity (Astle, achieve ‘the look’ of a fit and desirable woman.
1986). Kleiber and Brock (1992) call this event a Duncan (1994) observes that, ‘For many
disruption in one’s life narrative that can affect women, the experience of shame that comes
life satisfaction for many years. Emotions sur- from not living up to beauty disguised as health
rounding leaving sport voluntarily after a suc- encourages confession in a way that reinforces
cessful experience can lead to feelings of the authority of the panoptic gaze ... the equa-
rebirth as well as feelings of excitement in tion between feeling good and looking good
being able to explore other options now that works in reverse. Look becomes a sign of feel, so
one’s sport career is over (Curtis and Ennis, if you look good you must therefore feel
1988; Johns et al., 1990). However, leaving good ... ’ (p. 57). This toned, tightened, no-fat
sport as a result of burnout can be an emo- feminine ideal distorts women’s body image,
tionally draining process. Modern training causing anxiety, a fear of fat and in many cases
procedures are often overcontrolled and dehu- a self-loathing that leads to serious eating disor-
manizing, resulting in athletes feeling trapped, ders. Markula’s (1995) revealing study of aero-
stifled and out of control. The continual pres- bicizing women notes that, ‘the very part of our
sure for higher performance standards leads to bodies that identify us as females: the rounded
482 KEY TOPICS

bellies, the larger hips, the thighs, the softer for granted. You then have a woman-activated
underarms ... are also the ones we hate the most women’s team ... in the sense that women become
and fight the hardest to diminish. Logically active in women’s company, by the touch of a
then, we hate looking like women’ (p. 435). woman, and by making love with a woman;
At the same time, women’s participation in woman-activated in the sense that a woman is
sport has challenged the idealized passivity actively drawn to relationships with women.
and weakness of hegemonic femininity. Sport (1994: 18)
and physical activities have long been power-
fully sensual and emotional experiences for However, she goes on to discuss the negative
women. Hargreaves (1994: 92) documents this emotional impact sport can also have on
historic reality in her reference to a nineteenth- lesbian athletes.
century woman’s euphoric description of the Although sport was felt to be a secure place to
pleasures of cycling: which one could escape the demands of feminin-
Hers is all the joy of motion, not to be under- ity, it later proved to be a very heterosexist area
estimated, and the long days in the open air; all the controlled by male interests. Sport required that
joy of adventure and change. Hers is the delightful the women sacrifice their gender and sexuality.
sense of independence and power . . . And, above Feelings associated with femininity – emotional
all, cycling day after day, and all day long will support, the need for warmth and gentleness, feel-
speedily reduce or elevate her to that perfect state ings of powerlessness and weakness – were
of physical well-being, to that healthy animal con- denied. (1994: 19)
dition, which in itself is one of the greatest plea-
sures in life. (Greville, 1894: 264) For lesbian athletes, confirming and positive
emotional experiences in sport depend a great
Research shows that women are likely deal on the degree to which the sport experi-
to have emotional experiences in sport that ence is women-identified, free of homophobia
not only strengthen their bonds with other and heterosexist assumptions, and openly wel-
women, but increase their feelings of self- coming of sexual diversity.
worth, power and control (Birrell and Cole, Within the past ten years a wealth of critical
1994; Blinde et al., 1994; McDermott, 1996; scholarship has shown how sport contributes
Theberge, 1987). These positive experiences to the construction of male identities and the
provide a basis for reshaping gender identity reproduction of a gender hierarchy (Connell,
and expression both in individual women and 1990; Corrigan, 1991; Laitinen and Tiihonen,
in the culture at large. 1990; McLaren, 1991; Messner, 1992; Trujillo,
Sexual identity and homophobia are critical 1995). The emotional consequences of sport
areas in the study of emotional experience in participation on male identity and male bond-
sport (Blinde, 1990; Burroughs et al., 1995; ing are complex. Messner (1992) describes
Griffin, 1993; Lenskyi, 1991). Harassment and many of the emotional benefits of sport for
discrimination are part of the emotional reality males.
of many athletes’ lives in traditional sport.
Lesbians in sport may experience fear, isola- . . . Vast numbers of boys and men . . . have found
tion, alienation, persecution and stigmatiza- sport to be a major context in which they experi-
tion as a result of heterosexist assumptions and ence fun, where they relax and build friendships
homophobic sport environments. Likewise, with others, where they can push their bodies
those who reproduce homophobic fears and toward excellence, where they may learn to co-
prejudice in sport are diminished in their ethi- operate toward a shared goal, and where they
cal capacities for care, understanding, compas- may get a sense of identification and community
sion, courage, tolerance, love and self-worth in an otherwise privatized and alienating society.
(Oakley, 1992). (1992: 171)
Women have long derived pleasure from the At the same time, feminist and critical schol-
homosocial and sensual interaction that sport ars have documented the emotional and phys-
affords (Hargreaves, 1994; Patzkill, 1990). The ical costs of male sport involvement that often
physical nature of sport lends itself to expand- reproduces a hegemonic form of masculine
ing erotic and hedonistic sensibilities. For les- identity characterized by violence, male domi-
bian athletes sport can be a site for emotional nance, ritualized aggression, homophobia,
support and emotional grounding. Kaskisaari misogyny and emotional callousness (Curry,
(1994) describes sport as a place to express les- 1991; Messner and Sabo, 1990; Sabo and
bian identity: Panepinto, 1990; Whitson, 1990). While many
if you have a team which not only accepts sport practices continue to reproduce dominat-
relationships between women but takes them ing forms of masculinity, recent scholarship
 SPORT AND EMOTIONS 483

has emphasized the importance of identifying identities, relations, and practices intersect with
other masculinities in sport as well as noting other kinds of differences and inequalities within
the importance of culture, race, ethnicity, class a socially structured matrix of domination?
and sexuality as they affect the range and qual- (1996: 230)
ity of emotional and expressive experiences These questions point to the importance of
that males may have in sport (Bissinger, 1990; sport in directing homo-social desire. The
Coakley and White, 1992; Foley, 1990; Maguire, highly physical nature of sport makes it a
1986; Tomlinson, 1992). For example, Klein’s likely site for the expression of erotic energy.
(1995) study of Mexican and Anglo baseball While traditional sport may officially promote
players revealed a continuum of masculinity heterosexism, opportunities for alternate forms
with Mexican players more capable than their of erotic pleasure are often realized in sport.
North American team mates of exhibiting ten-
der emotions, showing vulnerability and hurt,
and displaying physical affection. Majors’s Sport Spectating and Nostalgia
(1990) description of the strong, proud, ‘cool
pose’ expressive of black athletes, Connell’s Sport fans experience a broad spectrum of
(1990) study of the emotional discipline of an emotions, both personal and communal, when
Iron Man champion and Wacquant’s (1992) watching sport. Researchers studying emo-
study of the social construction of an emotion- tions in sport spectating have been primarily
ally protected and secure space for boxers in a interested in describing the motives of sport
Chicago gym all testify to the complex interac- fans, the pleasures of spectating, and the
tion of masculine identity formation and emo- effects of sport fandom and sport nostalgia.
tional experience in sport. According to Real and Mechikoff (1992), ‘The
The open expression of sexual identity in tra- nature of the interpretive community in which
ditionally heterosexist male sport is rare for the sport fan places himself or herself and the
gay men. To avoid suffering many gay men degree of psychological identification with the
pass as straight, and in their position as out- athletes contributes to dimensions of both
sider and observer, they develop what Pronger breadth and depth in fan mythic identification’
(1990) calls an ironic sensibility. Yet, the physi- (p. 324). For many fans, spectating is enjoyable
cal nature and social bonding aspects of sport because of the excitement, suspense, aggres-
can be a source of erotic pleasure for gay ath- sion and drama involved in sporting contests
letes. Pronger (1990) expresses the emotional (Bryant et al., 1994; DeNeui and Sachau, 1996).
experience of participating in the Gay Games When fans identify closely with teams they
when he writes: tend to feel deep emotions both positive and
negative. Fans experience anxiety, frustration,
In gay athletic culture, the athlete is someone with anger, hostility, sadness and depression when
whom one shares an erotic world and a way of their team does poorly and elation, ecstasy,
being in it. At the Gay Games, immersed in that enjoyment, self-fulfillment, self-esteem and
shared world for a week, most of us couldn’t stop social prestige when their team does well
smiling. The erotic desirability of that truly gay (Wenner, 1990; Zhang et al., 1996). As Trujillo
pleasure is an integral part of the gay sports and Krizek (1994) explain, ‘Despite ... problems
experience. (1990: 270) with sport, true fans seem to have an emotional
Messner (1996) has also discussed the impor- attachment ... powerful senses of identity, com-
tant role sport plays in shaping sexual identity munity, continuity, narrativity, therapy, spiritu-
and erotic desire. He concluded that systems of ality, and self-discovery’ (p. 321).
oppression and domination are intrinsically The enjoyment of spectating and the plea-
connected with the ways we come to shape our sures of looking have also been studied in
sexual desires and pleasures. He posed the fol- reference to mass-mediated sport (Gantz and
lowing important questions regarding erotic Wenner, 1995; Trujillo, 1995). Using media
desire: theory, Duncan and Brummett (1989) demon-
strated how three sources of spectating plea-
How do institutional power relationships shape, sure – fetishism, voyeurism and narcissism –
mediate, repress, sublimate, and desublimate characterized the televised sport spectacle
desire? How do individuals and groups respond of the 1988 Winter Olympic Games. Through
in ways that reproduce, subtly change, or overtly the discourses, technologies and practices of
challenge oppressive conventions? How do people television, athletes were made into fetish
(for instance, athletes and spectators) actively take objects and viewers offered the pleasures of
up the construction of their own sexual identities voyeurism, and narcissistic identification with
and communities? And how do these sexual athletes. The power of mass-mediated sport to
484 KEY TOPICS

affect emotions and cultural meanings is ‘In the postmodern era people feel unmoored,
supported by Real and Mechikoff when they uncentered, in a world viewed as spiraling
write that, ‘mass mediated sport today is capa- blindly toward oblivion ... Perhaps, postmod-
ble of providing for the deep fan crucial ern practices such as the flame tradition are
expressive, liminal, cathartic, ideational mech- efforts to keep reviving, through reference to
anisms and experiences for the representation, old situations, that which is deadened by tech-
celebration and interpretation of contemporary nology and instrumentalization’ (p. 247). The
social life ... ’ (1992: 337). These representations undermining of a sense of community and sol-
are not, however, always the preferred or dom- idarity in the modern era, the greater visibility
inant readings of the sport spectacle (Lalvani, of diversity in values, and the challenge by
1994). For example, in a media study of NFL minorities and women to traditional patterns
football, Duncan and Brummett (1993) found of authority may all be reasons for the growth
that some women spectators made ‘subversive in sport nostalgia.
attacks upon the televised football spectacle for
the oppositional powers and pleasures associ-
ated with it ... By remarking on the awkward- FUTURE RESEARCH
ness, arrogance, and stupidity of the football
players, the women symbolically reduced the
game to an absurd, comical spectacle, an event Given the relatively new status of emotions as
unworthy of great seriousness’ (pp. 68–9). By a research topic in the sociology of sport and
their ‘ironic detachment’ from the game these leisure, scholars have raised and begun to
women refused a patriarchal reading of the answer a number of interesting questions. Our
text and instead derived pleasure by comically understanding of the importance of emotions
undercutting the football spectacle. The refusal in sport and leisure, however, could benefit
to respond with ‘appropriate’ emotional affect from a research agenda focused specifically on
to the practices of culture-making institutions emotions.
is a form of radical empowerment. Memory work and life-mode biographies
Research in the sociology of nostalgia (a provide a rich and evocative source for under-
remembrance of the past) focuses on both pri- standing how agency and social structure
vate and public sport nostalgia (Howell, 1991; interact in sport and leisure to affect emotional
Mosher, 1991). Emotional themes related to life and identity formation. Denzin (1990) envi-
private sport nostalgia include remembering sions the study of emotions as primarily inter-
affiliative bonds, heroic efforts, overcoming pretive, biographical and phenomenological.
obstacles, self-discovery, pain and failure I envision our project as being one that interrogates
(Healey, 1991). People derive pleasure from human experience from the inside ... We must
recounting sport narratives that have helped inquire into what kind of gendered emotional
them define who they are and the values they being this late postmodern period is creating. We
hold. According to Snyder (1991): should be doing work on the structures of emo-
Nostalgia is defined in terms of the remembrance tional experience, on the forms of emotional feeling
of the past that is imbued with positive feelings and intersubjectivity, on the violent emotions, on
such as pleasure, joy, satisfaction, and goodness. temporality and emotionality, on moments of
(p. 228) ... Private sport nostalgia is linked to the epiphany and shattering emotionality, ... on the
benchmarks of people’s sport involvement and cultural constraints on emotionality, on the dis-
identity at different times in their life cycle; these eases of emotionality that our late postmodern
emotions are generally positive reflections on the period valorizes, defines, treats, and cures. (1990:
past, yet there is also the feeling of pathos and 108–9)
yearning for the past . . . collective sport nostalgia
Research should also continue in the area of
extends the concepts of the ‘sacred’ and ‘collective
historical change in emotional life as a result of
representations’ ... and seems to be related to
modernity. However, new research needs to
social conditions of change and unrest. (p. 237)
explore changes in emotional expression in
Public sport nostalgia, as represented for many different cultures and political systems
example in sports Halls of Fame, is conser- over time. In some cultures emotions are
vative in that these museums preserve and primarily viewed as self-expressions, while
affirm dominant or official values of a culture in other cultures emotions are better under-
while indirectly rejecting alternative values stood as public performances that convey infor-
(Snyder, 1991). Slowikowski (1991), in dis- mation about social situations or relations
cussing the emotional and symbolic effects of (Gordon, 1990; Harré, 1986). Research should
the Olympic flame ceremony, suggested that, take into account different groups with
 SPORT AND EMOTIONS 485

varying power and status positions in society. Sport structures and ideologies influence the
How do emotional experiences and expecta- moral climate of sport, the quality of the
tions for emotional control or expression in coach–athlete relationship and the moral con-
sport and leisure differ within social hierarchies sciousness of athletes (Bykhovskaya, 1991;
such as race, gender, class, sexuality, age and Cruz et al., 1995; Lee and Cockman, 1995; Pilz,
ability (Hochschild, 1990; Kunesh et al., 1992)? 1995). We need research on the links between
Researchers also need to demonstrate how long- emotional expression in sport and moral
term trends toward pacification, commercial- behavior. How do sport and leisure ideologi-
ization, privatization and individualization cally represent emotions like empathy, com-
affect emotional expression in contemporary passion and care? How do athletes come to
sport, leisure and cultural relations (Maguire, define the moral requirements of a sport? How
1991; McDonald, 1996; Rojek, 1985). can the ethic of care be incorporated into sport
More research is needed on the emotional practice? Are there long-term emotional and
effects of the disciplinary technologies of the moral effects of sport participation? Some
body that are part of sport and fitness practices important research has been done on the rela-
today. How is shame manipulated to increase tionship of sport to violence prevention and
discipline and self-surveillance (Scheff, 1990)? conflict resolution (Branta et al., 1996; Hellison
How do disciplinary practices empower us, et al., 1996; Taylor, 1996). Yet, more research is
increasing our feelings of freedom, achieve- needed on how emotions experienced in sport
ment and self-development? What, also, are and leisure contribute to the moral identities of
the dangers of emotional repression, obedience self and community.
and discipline in modern sport? As Heikkala How we approach our research on emotions
(1993) observes: in sport and leisure is also important. Trujillo
and Krizek (1994) believe that
Achievement and progress through discipline are
the certainties of our everyday lives and dis- ... all researchers ... should pay closer attention to
courses and, as such, are difficult to question. In the emotions of the people we study as well as to
the context of sport, the deep ethical question is the emotions we experience as researchers . . . Our
the value of the unquestionable subjection to the feelings and emotions as people influence how we
rationale of competing. Self-discipline in sport is a approach our subjects and how we interpret our
prerequisite for achievement . . . But this should data. By failing to pay attention to feelings and
not obscure the possibility that practices blindly emotions we lose an opportunity to understand
followed and not fully reflected on are the begin- our subjects and ourselves in richer ways. (p. 322)
nings of fascism. Not historical fascism, but fas-
Dispassionate research does not necessarily
cism that ‘causes us to love power, to desire the
privilege the rational or scientific but rather
very thing that dominates and exploits us’
privileges our right to obscure our own moti-
(Foucault, 1985: xiii) giving the feeling of power
vations, emotions and values that characterize
through obedience. (1993: 411)
our life and work.
How do disciplinary technologies teach ath-
letes to manage their emotions in sport? How
do sport and leisure dampen and heighten
emotional response? Which emotions are
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 31
MANAGEMENT, ORGANIZATIONS AND THEORY
IN THE GOVERNANCE OF SPORT

Ian Henry and Eleni Theodoraki

The aim of this chapter is to identify and analysis will form part of the commentary
evaluate key developments in the manage- which follows. Of course, analysis will have
ment of sporting organizations and the implications for practice and vice versa, and the
theorizing of the management of sporting divisions between these two approaches
organizations in the contemporary context. should not be watertight, but it is nevertheless
The focus of this account will be principally on worth emphasizing that the concerns of this
public sector, quasi-public sector1 and volun- chapter go beyond management prescription.
tary sector sporting bodies, rather than on The structure of the chapter falls into four
commercial sporting organizations. This is not substantive sections. The first identifies changes
to imply that commercial sporting organiza- in the context within which the governance of
tions do not have a significant role to play in sport takes place. The second reviews the major
the political economy of sport; clearly this is approaches to theorizing management and
not the case. However, the nature of organiza- organization theory developments in the sport-
tional behaviour in the commercial sector is ing domain. The third deals in detail with one
substantially different from that of those attempt to evaluate how sports organizations’
organizations, traditionally important in the structures and strategies are being adapted to
sporting world, which are constrained and changes in the wider context, while the final
guided by their memberships or by govern- section identifies the impact of new manageri-
mental influences, such that treatment of both alism on public, quasi-public and voluntary
categories of organization within a single sector sporting bodies.
framework is less than helpful.
Two further preliminary points are worth
stressing at the outset. The first is that much of
the commentary which follows relates to the THE CHANGING CONTEXT
governance of sport in the developed eco- OF THE GOVERNANCE OF SPORT
nomies of liberal democracies, and draws prin-
cipally upon English-language sources. Such
IN THE DEVELOPED ECONOMIES
limitations are worth acknowledging at the
outset in an international handbook of this The past few decades have seen major change in
type. The second point to emphasize derives political, economic, social, cultural and organi-
from the distinction between organization zational terms in the major industrialized soci-
theory and theories of organizations. The for- eties. Attempts in the social sciences to
mer refers to predominantly prescriptive conceptualize this change have resulted in the
accounts, guiding the organizational behaviour proliferation of terminology using the prefix
of managers and other stakeholders. The latter ‘post-’: terms such as the ‘post-welfare society’,
is rather more directly concerned with under- ‘postmodern’ and ‘post-Fordist’ reflect attempts
standing organizational behaviour rather to encapsulate the dimensions of such change. It
than spelling out prescriptions. Both types of is important, if we are to contextualize the
 MANAGEMENT, ORGANIZATIONS AND THEORY OF GOVERNANCE 491

nature of the governance and management of provided not so much directly from the public
sport in contemporary societies, that we outline purse, but increasingly from sources such as
the nature of change in these fields. Thus what national lotteries, football pools and other
follows below, is a discussion of the changing sports-related gambling income (as in the
environments of the governance of sport along funding systems in Greece, France and the
these five dimensions. United Kingdom).
The major shift in political terms since the The developed economies of the Western
early 1970s or so has been from the post-war world have undergone profound restructuring
consensus politics of social democracy to the over the period since the beginning of the
liberal individualism of the 1980s and early 1970s. The globalization of production systems
1990s. The politics of the welfare state is said to has, it is argued, featured the transfer of jobs
have given way to a post-welfare condition in from developed to low-wage economies, par-
which the role of the state as a provider of ticularly in South East Asia, with the Western
welfare services is diminished, while its role economies retaining only those forms of pro-
in facilitating the operation of a free market duction that either require high levels of tech-
is magnified (Pierson, 1991). Even non- nological input, or are automated. In addition,
Conservative governments in the 1980s and the developed economies have experienced
early 1990s, such as those of Spain under considerable growth in service sector employ-
Felipe González, France under Mitterrand, ment (Allen, 1988). Since growth in service
Greece under Papandreou, were said to be sector jobs has not compensated for loss of
promoting neo-liberal policy approaches. jobs in the manufacturing sector, high levels
However, the embracing of post-welfarism is of unemployment and underemployment
perhaps most closely associated with the poli- have been generated (with specific gendered
tics of Thatcherism (Henry, 1993). implications) (McDowell, 1989). Such shifts
The implications for sports policy of political have been explained by regulation theorists
change are spelt out most clearly in the British (Aglietta, 1979; Boyer, 1986; Lipietz, 1987) as a
case with a shift from the policy line advocated move from a Fordist economic system in which
in the 1975 government White Paper Sport and there is full employment, based predominantly
Recreation, in which sport and recreation was on mass production manufacturing, with high
said to be ‘one of the community’s everyday monetary wages and a high social wage (in
needs’, and ‘part of the general fabric of social the form of welfare benefits and services), to a
services’ (Department of the Environment, post-Fordist system in which production is
1975), towards that advocated in the 1980s and managed in such economies at low cost
early 1990s in which privatization of many through reduced financial and social wages.
public leisure services and the ‘marketization’ The financial wage is reduced by employing
of those services retained in the public sector, fewer people (though, in the case of ‘core’
were features reflecting the dominance of neo- workers with key skills, paying them more)
liberal thinking. with a pool of workers (the ‘peripheral’ work-
Sports does not disappear from the political force) who are in seasonal, part-time or inse-
agenda in the neo-liberal era, but sports policy cure, low-paid jobs or who are unemployed.
is no longer an aspect of welfare policy The social wage is reduced by doing away
(Coalter et al., 1988). In particular, as the role of with or reducing the universally available ben-
the nation-state itself begins to be questioned, efits of the welfare state and replacing them
its prominence threatened by the growing with safety-net low-level welfare provision for
importance of transnational political and eco- the most desperate cases. Thus consumer
nomic phenomena (such as the European rights for some (those in full employment)
Union, or the transnational corporation), so replace welfare rights (health care, education,
sport gains major significance to governments housing, and even leisure and sport for all)
in the process of nation-building and the repro- which had been virtually universally available.
duction of national identities (Maguire, 1993). The regulation theorists’ account may repre-
In the case of Britain this is very evident in the sent perhaps something of a caricature of the
rationale for sports investment given in the shifts that have actually occurred, since neither
1995 White Paper Sport: Raising the Game (see all low-tech jobs nor all universal welfare
especially John Major’s preface to the docu- rights have been lost (Allen, 1992), but it never-
ment: Department of National Heritage, 1995) theless serves to highlight significant under-
while similar rationales are rehearsed by the lying trends which have clear implications for
socialist governments of Spain (Gonzalez and sport and leisure (Bramham et al., 1993).
Urkiola, 1993), and Greece (Nassis, 1994). Economic changes that imply, in developed
Support for sport in the neo-liberal era is economies, a cleavage between a core and a
492 KEY TOPICS

peripheral workforce, are reflected in the Whether or not such changes constitute
development of what has been termed the two- structural shifts to a new set of economic,
tier social structure, with the gap between rich political and cultural realities is a matter of
and poor in Western European societies grow- debate in the literature (Featherstone, 1995),
ing from the period since the middle 1970s but what seems to be undeniable is that
(Lash and Urry, 1994) This phenomenon has significant change has occurred along each of
important consequences for all areas of policy the dimensions highlighted in this section and
and for sports policy and sports organizations that such changes will have had a significant
specifically, since, as the economic distance impact on the behaviour and management of
between the new poor and the new rich devel- sporting organizations. We are thus led on to
ops, so the cultural distance between these the question of how the theorizing of organi-
groups grows, reflecting in effect different zational behaviour has changed over the past
sporting markets or client groups. two decades and to the manner in which such
The cultural correlate of post-Fordism is theorizing has impacted upon the analysis of
postmodernism. Postmodernists promote the the activities of sports organizations.
claim that cultural distinctions between high
and low culture are dissolving and that new
cultural constellations of lifestyle groupings
are emerging as new social groups (particu- SPORTS ORGANIZATIONS AND
larly the ‘new service class’) seek to establish THE ORGANIZATIONAL
some cultural distance between themselves
and others (Featherstone, 1990). People no THEORY LITERATURE
longer identify themselves as they did in the
premodern period by reference to place, or as The organizational theory literature in the
in the modern by reference to their affiliation field of sports organizations is relatively un-
to a nation state or to a social class. New iden- developed. With the exception of a burgeoning
tities are fluid, in part globalized, but inter- group of studies in the Canadian literature,
preted at local level, promoting notions of there is an absence of systematic analysis of the
hybridity, with cultural selection of multiple sports field in the English-language literature.
identities from a range of available cultural This may be in part a reflection of historical cir-
resources (Hall, 1992). Thus national cultures cumstances, the growth of interest in sport as a
and class cultures are said to give way to more legitimate area of ‘serious’ social analysis co-
fluid lifestyle groupings in the ‘postmodern inciding with the intellectual crisis of organiza-
era’. Sport forms, it is claimed, are subject to tional theory represented in postmodernism. It
change with ‘individualized’, ‘commercial- may also simply be a reflection of the academic
ized’, and ‘mediatized’ sport forms emerging interest of those involved in the study of sport
in developed economies (DeFrance and and sports organizations.
Pociello, 1993; Rojek, 1994). To review the literature relating to organi-
Invariably the major shifts in political, eco- zational analysis and sports organizations it
nomic, social and cultural terms are reflected will be useful to build on the account of the
in changes in the dominant organization forms development of organization theory provided
evident in developed industrial societies. The by Reed and Hughes (1992), who suggest
dominant form of organizational structure of that since the early 1960s or so organization
the modern era was bureaucracy, and, particu- theory can be characterized as having de-
larly in the 1960s and early 1970s, the domi- veloped through three major stages, with the
nant organizational strategy was that of dominant emphasis of organization theory in
corporate management with its defining fea- the 1960s on organizational survival and
ture of vertical and horizontal integration to adaptation to new environments, giving way
gain economies of scale and synergies in pro- in the 1970s to a concern with the political and
duction and distribution with long chains of ideological dimensions of power in organiza-
organizational command in large-scale organi- tions, and subsequently in the 1980s and early
zations, operating in stable economic, political 1990s to a focus on discourse analysis and the
and cultural environments. The dominant reproduction of organizational realities.
form in the contemporary era is one of a Dividing work into this simplified, tripartite
smaller, flatter organizational unit, capable of chronological framework, allows us to catego-
responding quickly to changes in economi- rize that work on sporting organizations
cally, politically and culturally volatile envir- which has been undertaken, while highlight-
onments (see, for example, Peters and ing also gaps in the application of theory in
Waterman, 1982; Piore and Sabel, 1984). the sports context.
 MANAGEMENT, ORGANIZATIONS AND THEORY OF GOVERNANCE 493

Thus we can distinguish the following: to the contemporary concern with the
construction of organizational cultures, the
• Work derived from the rationalist, posi- hegemony of one set of cultural values, one
tivist approach developed from Weber’s organizational reality, over others.
analysis of bureaucracy, which seeks to
In the field of analysis of sports organiza-
capture organizational reality by identify-
tions, the main focus has been on the first of
ing structural features of organizations and
these three types of approach. Little has been
their environments and to evaluate the rela-
attempted in terms of analysis of power in
tionship between them, often by reference
sports organizations, with the exception of
to statistical association. (We will use the
some material inspired by feminist analysis,
term Weberian to refer to this tradition in
such as White and Brackenridge (1985), Hall,
this chapter, though Weber’s own work
Cullen and Slack (1989) and Hult (1989), and
was in part aimed at clarifying the lim-
occasional case studies, such as that of Ashton
itations of such a rationalist/positivist
(1992), an account of the construction of a new
approach.) Seminal work in this tradition
governing body for squash in Britain out of its
would include the contingency approaches
predecessor women’s and men’s organiza-
of the Aston School (Pugh and Hickson,
tions. Work of the third type outlined above,
1976) and of Burns and Stalker (1961).
even in its more applied form of analysis of
• Analysis of power and organizational poli-
emerging organizational cultures, has not been
tics, which in part reflects a radical critique
evident in the work on sports organizations,
of the unidimensional nature of Weberian
though one may find advocacy of the applica-
analysis; this represents a perspective (or
tion of such approaches in the sports and
set of perspectives) in which the organiza-
leisure field (Frisby, 1995).
tion is conceived, not as a set of structural
In the British context also there has been little
properties, but as an arena in which agen-
work in the Weberian tradition relating specifi-
cies compete for valued resources in shift-
cally to sports organizations or national govern-
ing contexts. Organizational reality is
ing bodies (NGBs). This tradition has, however,
determined by the outcomes of ongoing
been very evident in the Canadian work, and
struggles which characterize any organiza-
research relating to bureaucratization and
tion. Typical proponents are Clegg and
related phenomena has reflected the major
Dunkerley (1980) and Mintzberg (1983).
research efforts in this field in Canada. Four
• Analysis of organizations as constituted by
types of ‘Weberian’ work in this field may be
symbolic processes, generating social reali-
identified:
ties by the construction of varying types of
discourse. This tradition is influenced by 1 that which seeks to clarify the significance of
the critique of modernist notions of organi- conceptual frameworks relating to organiza-
zational theory. Modernist organization tional structural and environmental vari-
analysis implies a search for rational scien- ables (Frisby, 1982; Slack and Hinings, 1987);
tific theories of a distinctive object which 2 that which seeks to operationalize theoret-
will allow us to facilitate the development ical constructs, suggesting ways which in
of stability and control in organizations. principle would allow measurement of the
The postmodern critique focuses on, not a structural and environmental dimensions
single, distinctive theoretical object, the of national governing bodies (Frisby,
organization, but on the fragmented cul- 1985);
tural realities in an organization, in which 3 that which seeks to establish empirically
theories of management or of organization (by using the operational measures) the
are used as legitimating tools for promoting extent to which the national governing
one notion of reality over another. The result bodies exhibit bureaucratization, and
of this critique may be the displacement of related phenomena, such as standardiza-
the notion of a universal truth as the goal of tion, specialization, and professionaliza-
organizational theory, but it need not mean tion (Chelladurai and Haggerty, 1991;
the displacement of objectivity and reason. Kikulis et al., 1989; Slack, 1985; Thibault
Theories of organization, like all social et al., 1991); and finally
theory, may be culturally contingent, but 4 that which seeks to clarify the relationship
that is not to say that they are arbitrary. between structural features and efficiency of
Cooper and Burrell (1988) and Gergen (1992) NGBs (Chelladurai et al., 1987; Frisby, 1986).
provide examples of this type of approach to
understanding organization. In prescriptive We may conclude, then, that the application
management theory this approach is linked of organization theory in the sport domain
494 KEY TOPICS

has not in effect kept pace with that in the filled in and returned the questionnaire.
mainstream field of organizational analysis. Although the sample incorporates a wide spec-
However, we may also wish to consider trum of different sports, some types of sports
whether or not organizational forms them- organization are excluded. In particular,
selves in the sport sector have evolved in acknowledgement should be made of the fact
response to changes in the organizational en- that large and affluent NGBs with a high media
vironment. The following section seeks to pro- profile, such as the Football Association or the
vide a partial response to this question in Rugby League, were thus excluded from the
focusing on an empirical study which deals analysis.
with one type of such sporting organization The statistical analysis of the data generated
(national governing bodies of sport) in one by the survey involved two principal stages.
national context (that of Britain), but which The first is a review of the strength and direc-
also serves to illustrate the dominant form of tion of the relationship between the variables
organizational analysis in the sports field. employed in the study (a table of correlations
is presented in Table 31.1). The second involves
conducting cluster analysis on the data to
A REVIEW OF ORGANIZATIONAL establish whether homogeneous groups of
TYPES IN THE NATIONAL cases could be identified.3 The number of clus-
ters identified was six.
GOVERNING BODIES OF BRITAIN The cluster analysis had two principal objec-
tives. The first was simply to establish what
The aim of the study summarized in this types of structure existed in the NGB sector.
section (which is reported in full in Theodoraki This would allow, for example, a review of
and Henry, 1994) was to establish the types and whether growing professionalization in this
range of organizational structures of organiza- sector would be reflected in organizational
tions in the national governing body (NGB) structures. The second objective was to con-
sector in the United Kingdom. Focusing as it sider whether organizations for different types
does on the structural characteristics of the of sport, particularly the newer, individualistic
organizations, it constitutes a form of analysis forms of sporting activity, would differ from
that relates most clearly to the third of the forms those representing more established, tradi-
of traditional ‘Weberian’ analysis identified tional sports.
above. It adopts a methodology similar to that of The variables employed for clustering
Kikulis et al. (1989) in that it seeks to derive a purposes were adapted from those developed
taxonomy of British sport NGBs by reference to in the classical Aston Studies programme
structural features of those organizations. It dif- (Pugh and Hickson, 1976), falling into two cat-
fers, however, in a number of respects. In par- egories: contextual variables (complexity of
ticular, operational measures employed differ, organizational environment, task and technol-
reflecting in part the different context of the ogy, organizational size, age and resources)
British and Canadian sports systems, and their and structural variables (specialization, stan-
histories, and the availability of data. dardization and centralization).
The nature of this study was influenced by This tabular data displays some conforming
Mintzberg’s (1979) classic analysis of organiza- to, and some deviation from, the relationships
tional structures, and sought to establish anticipated by contingency theorists such as
whether the analysis of NGBs, would provide Burns and Stalker or by Mintzberg. It was
support for the existence of Mintzberg’s five anticipated that the size of organizations, for
ideal-typical structural configurations of organi- example, would be positively associated with
zations. The NGBs incorporated as subjects in standardization of tasks and the formalization
this study were selected in the following man- of objectives, specialization, age of organiza-
ner. All governing bodies for England recog- tion and professionalization of staff. Similarly,
nized by the Sports Council were approached to complexity of organizational environment
obtain permission to view any of their files held was expected to be negatively associated with
centrally by the Sports Council.2 For those that centralization and standardization, but posi-
replied positively annual reports and accounts tively associated with specialization. Older
were reviewed, and each of the organizations organizations would also be expected to
was subsequently sent a questionnaire, and exhibit greater professionalization of staff, and
where necessary contacted in person or by greater standardization of tasks. The reasoning
telephone, to elicit further information over an underlying these anticipated relationships is as
18-month period (1992–4). A response rate of follows. The larger organizations become, the
48.5 per cent was achieved and 45 sports NGBs more likely they are to require subdivision of
Table 31.1 Correlation between variables for the sample of national governing bodies of sport
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Context
Size (no. of 1.0000 0.1236 0.2528 − 0.1983 0.1452 0.1368 0.0518 0.0168 0.4237** 0.0327 0.1077 0.1030 0.0607 − 0.1022 − 0.0198 0.1083
employees)
Size (no. of 0.1236 1.0000 − 0.2166 − 0.1584 − 0.3415* − 0.1151 − 0.1849 0.0979 0.1017 0.1216 0.0200 0.0118 − 0.0818 0.0604 − 0.0460 0.2517
volunteers)
Age (number of 0.2528 − 0.2166 1.0000 − 0.3248* 0.1008 0.1871 0.0058 − 0.0663 0.2594 − 0.1568 0.0727 0.0463 0.1596 − 0.0337 0.1672 − 0.0211
years the organi-
zation has existed)
Professionalization − 0.1983 − 0.1584 − 0.3248* 1.0000 − 0.0631 − 0.1022 − 0.0910 0.1118 − 0.0712 − 0.0251 0.1000 0.1330 − 0.0856 0.1663 − 0.1279 − 0.0073
Percentage of 0.1452 − 0.3415* 0.1008 − 0.0631 1.0000 − 0.1447 0.1052 − 0.0558 − 0.0601 − 0.1051 − 0.0457 − 0.0861 − 0.1382 − 0.2069 0.1025 0.0120
women managers
Percentage of 0.1368 − 0.1151 0.1871 − 0.1022 − 0.1447 1.0000 − 0.0691 0.1179 0.1250 − 0.1058 − 0.1177 − 0.1400 − 0.2199 0.0617 − 0.1310 − 0.0078
women employees
Percentage of ethnic 0.0518 − 0.1849 0.0058 − 0.0910 0.1052 − 0.0691 1.0000 − 0.7484** − 0.3098* − 0.1937 0.0852 − 0.3826** 0.1819 − 0.1171 0.0284 − 0.1861
minority managers
Percentage of 0.0168 0.0979 − 0.0663 0.1118 − 0.0558 0.1179 − 0.7484** 1.0000 0.5002** 0.0768 − 0.0354 0.2927 − 0.1116 0.0594 0.0935 0.2424
employees from
ethnic minorities
Complexity of 0.0327 0.1216 − 0.1568 − 0.0251 − 0.1051 − 0.1058 − 0.1937 0.0768 0.1480 1.0000 − 0.3147* 0.1057 0.0114 − 0.3480* 0.0571 0.2097
environment
Task complexity 0.1077 0.0200 0.0727 0.1000 − 0.0457 − 0.1177 0.0852 − 0.0354 − 0.0053 − 0.3147* 1.0000 − 0.1710 0.0039 0.2672 0.6332** − 0.2721
(major events)
Task complexity 0.1030 0.0118 0.0463 0.1330 − 0.0861 − 0.1400 − 0.3826** 0.2927 0.3108* 0.1057 − 0.1710 1.0000 − 0.0029 − 0.1415 − 0.2327 0.0312
(sport development)
Structural variables
Specialization 0.4237** 0.1017 0.2594 − 0.0712 − 0.0601 0.1250 − 0.3098* 0.5002** 1.0000 0.1480 − 0.0053 0.3108* 0.2286 − 0.1758 − 0.0490 0.0897
Standardization 0.0607 − 0.0818 0.1596 − 0.0856 − 0.1382 − 0.2199 0.1819 − 0.1116 0.2286 0.0114 0.0039 − 0.0029 1.0000 − 0.0918 0.0255 0.0000
Formalization of − 0.1022 0.0604 − 0.0337 0.1663 − 0.2069 0.0617 − 0.1171 0.0594 − 0.1758 − 0.3480* 0.2672 − 0.1415 − 0.0918 1.0000 0.2290 0.0382
objectives
Centralization − 0.0198 − 0.0460 0.1672 − 0.1279 0.1025 − 0.1310 0.0284 0.0935 − 0.0490 0.0571 0.6332** − 0.2327 0.0255 0.2290 1.0000 − 0.0227
Political control of 0.1083 0.2517 − 0.0211 − 0.0073 0.0120 − 0.0078 − 0.1861 0.2424 0.0897 0.2097 − 0.2721 0.0312 0.0000 0.0382 − 0.0227 1.0000
executives
Significant at the 0.05 level.
*

Significant at the 0.01 level.

**

1. Size (no. of employees); 2. Size (no. of volunteers); 3. Age (number of years the organization has existed); 4. Professionalization; 5. Percentage of women managers; 6. Percentage of women employ-
ees; 7. Percentage of ethnic minority managers; 8. Percentage of employees from ethnic minorities; 9. Specialization; 10. Complexity of environment; 11. Task (complexity of organization); 12. Task (sport
development); 13. Standardization; 14. Formalization of objectives; 15. Centralization; 16. Political control of executives.
496 KEY TOPICS

duties and responsibilities to remain effective. more likely to be found in organizations with a
Thus, because of problems of control, larger greater degree of specialization (r = 0.50).
organizations would be expected to be more The presentation of the table of correlation
standardized in the way they operate, have coefficients, however, may mask underlying
more formalized objectives, and greater spe- relationships between particular subgroups of
cialization. They are also more likely to seek to organizations. For this reason, cluster analysis
ensure that standards are maintained by was undertaken, identifying organizational
appointing professionally qualified staff, as the groups with homogeneous characteristics.
resources of the organization increase with A breakdown of the key characteristics of the
size. Age and size might also be assumed to be clusters is provided in Table 31.2. All variables
related as new organizations will tend to be are standardized for the population of organi-
small until they are able to establish them- zations as a whole. Thus the means and stan-
selves. This rationale is specified more fully in dard deviations for each of the clusters may be
Mintzberg’s (1979) derivation of a series of easily compared with those of the population
hypotheses relating to expected relationships. as a whole.
Within the sample of NGBs, size was signif-
icantly positively related to specialization (r = • Cluster 1 contains the following 16 NGBs:
0.42), though no other statistically significant National Cricket Association, Tennis and
correlations were evident in respect of size. Racquets Association, Petanque Asso-
The complexity of organizational environment ciation, RAC Motor Sports Association,
was also negatively associated with the for- British Sub Aqua Club, National Federation
malization of objectives as anticipated (r = of Anglers, Eton Fives Association, Cyclists
− 0.35), and specialization was positively asso- Touring Club, National Caving Association,
ciated with one measure of complexity of task English Women’s Bowling Association, the
(that of sports development) (r = 0.31), though Croquet Association, British Association of
not with the other measure employed (organi- Paragliding Clubs, Amateur Fencing Asso-
zation of national and international events) ciation, Martial Arts Commission, British
(r = − 0.31). These relationships at least might Cycling Federation, English Bobsleigh
be said to be consistent with the hypotheses Association. This cluster exhibits the struc-
promoted by Mintzberg, though in general tural configuration that conforms most
correlations were weak. closely to Mintzberg’s machine bureaucracy.
However, some relationships were less con- The complexity of the organizational envi-
sistent with the anticipated findings. For ex- ronment in this cluster was fairly low, and
ample, younger organizations tended to be there was a relatively high degree of stan-
more, rather than less, professionalized than dardization. Organizations tended to be
their older counterparts (r = − 0.32), suggesting large, with some exceptions (these were
perhaps that newer NGBs were less likely to Petanque, Eton Fives, Bobsleigh and Martial
appoint unqualified staff to management posi- Arts), and specialization and centralization
tions. Organizations with a high level of were limited. The proportion of women in
involvement in the organization of national management positions in these organiza-
and international events also tended to be more tions was also relatively low compared to
centralized (r = 0.63) and to operate in less com- the figures for other clusters and the size of
plex organizational environments (r = − 0.31). the volunteer force was significant (though
The proportion of women in management for both of these variables there was a
positions was significantly related only to the greater variability than for the population as
size of the volunteer population working in the a whole, with standard deviations of 1.38
organization (r = − 0.34), suggesting perhaps and 1.53 respectively). Thus this cluster
that women were less likely to be employed in seems to exhibit some of the classic features
managerial positions when larger volunteer of traditionalist NGBs, with standardized
populations are incorporated within NGBs. work routines, relatively simple organiza-
Participation in voluntary organizations more tional environments, predominantly large
generally is disproportionately male (Central volunteer work forces and with traditional
Statistical Office, 1991). Organizations employ- gender roles in management.
ing managers of Afro-Caribbean or Asian • Cluster 2 contains seven NGBs: the Hockey
extraction tended to employ fewer people from Association, Amateur Rowing Association,
these ethnic groups (r = −0.75) and to exhibit British Water Ski Federation, British
less specialization (r = − 0.31) and to be less Korfball Association, British Mountaineering
involved in sports development (− 0.38). By con- Council, Squash Rackets Association and
trast, employees from these ethnic groups were British Ski Federation. This was the cluster
 MANAGEMENT, ORGANIZATIONS AND THEORY OF GOVERNANCE
Table 31.2 Characteristics of clusters – British national governing bodies of sport
Machine Professional Decentralized simple Bureaucratized simple Specialized
bureaucracy bureaucracy structure Simple structure structure simple structure
N = 16 N=7 N=7 N=8 N=5 N=2
Variables Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD
Size 0.21 1.36 0.63 0.97 − 0.40 0.51 − 0.53 0.23 − 0.06 0.60 − 0.20 0.22
Volunteers 0.39 1.53 0.01 0.70 − 0.27 0.19 − 0.32 0.24 − 0.24 0.44 − 0.30 0.23
Age − 0.03 1.01 0.18 0.96 − 0.63 0.52 0.27 1.10 0.20 1.50 0.24 0.19
Professionalization − 0.01 1.06 0.28 0.32 0.38 0.88 − 0.02 1.43 − 0.73 0.46 − 0.32 0.56
Percentage of women
in management − 0.29 1.38 − 0.08 1.01 0.19 0.55 0.13 0.70 0.64 0.00 − 0.17 0.46
No. of women employees − 0.10 1.02 0.14 0.31 0.00 0.71 0.29 1.39 − 0.87 0.80 1.32 0.77
Percentage of ethnic
minority managers 0.17 0.07 − 0.95 2.29 0.17 0.07 0.17 0.07 0.19 0.00 0.19 0.00
No. of employees from
ethnic minorities − 0.21 0.15 1.28 2.03 − 0.24 0.11 − 0.24 0.10 − 0.28 0.00 − 0.28 0.00
Specialization − 0.07 0.47 1.85 0.33 − 0.64 0.50 − 0.71 0.68 − 0.62 0.28 0.73 0.93
Complexity of environment − 0.69 0.93 0.60 1.52 − 0.34 0.81 − 0.18 0.75 0.10 0.98 0.01 0.86
No. of international
and national events 0.07 0.77 0.00 0.80 − 0.81 1.39 0.75 0.38 0.40 0.50 − 1.71 1.00
Sports development − 0.04 0.76 0.72 1.61 0.14 1.23 − 0.46 0.31 − 0.40 0.60 0.13 1.12
Standardization 0.67 0.78 − 0.02 0.64 − 0.96 0.00 − 1.12 0.47 0.89 0.72 0.36 0.00
Formality of objectives 0.16 1.23 − 0.09 0.45 − 0.37 0.43 0.53 1.21 − 0.24 0.65 − 1.23 0.00
Centralization − 0.19 0.34 0.20 0.62 − 1.42 0.00 1.11 0.00 1.11 0.00 − 1.42 0.00

497
498 KEY TOPICS

which most closely resembled Mintzberg’s • Cluster 5 contained five organizations: the
professional bureaucracy. The cluster is domi- English Indoor Bowling Association, British
nated by established Olympic sports and Gliding Association, British Microlight
outdoor pursuits (with korfball as a notable Aircraft Association, the Amateur Boxing
exception). This cluster contained predomi- Association, and the Hurlingham Polo
nantly larger organizations with higher lev- Association. These organizations exhibited
els of professionalization together with low levels of professionalization or special-
higher levels of specialization, and lower ization, with high levels of centralization of
levels of standardization and centralization, decision-making and standardization of
which are consistent with greater profes- role. The focus of these organizations in
sional autonomy. Although these organiza- terms of task was on organization of events
tions focused more on sports development rather than on sports development. In
than the population of organizations as a addition, though women were evident in
whole, and operated in relatively complex management positions, these organizations
environments, there was a high degree of employed fewer women and workers
variability in respect of these variables. from ethnic minorities, and operated with a
• Cluster 3 contains seven NGBs: the English low level of volunteers. Unlike Mintzberg’s
Ski Council, English Basketball Association, ideal-type simple structure, there was a
Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, high degree of standardization in such
BMX Association, British Federation of organizations, and they are perhaps, there-
Sand and Land Yacht Clubs and the fore, best described as bureaucratized simple
National Rounders Association. These structures.
tended to be small, young, professionalized • Cluster 6 contained two organizations: the
organizations operating with a low level of Women’s League of Health and Beauty and
voluntary involvement and a comparatively the English Table Tennis Association. These
low emphasis on organization of major organizations, though relatively small in
events. They operated in simple envir- terms of professional staff, and using few
onments, they were relatively unbureaucra- volunteers, exhibited some bureaucratic
tized, exhibiting little standardization, features such as standardization, specializa-
specialization and with formalized objec- tion and centralization. They employed a
tives. However, unlike Mintzberg’s ideal- higher proportion of women than any other
type simple structure, centralization was cluster, but a smaller proportion of these
low. Thus, this cluster reflected what was in occupied managerial positions. Perhaps the
effect a professionalized and decentralized defining feature of this cluster, which was
simple structure. clearly also an example of simple structure,
• Cluster 4 contains eight organizations: the is the level of specialization, which sets it
English Ladies Golf Association, British apart from the bureaucratized simple struc-
Surfing Association, British Crown Green ture. Thus we have termed this cluster the
Bowling Association, English Folk Song specialized simple structure.
and Dance Society, the Cricket Council,
Bicycle Polo Association and the Road Time What then are the lessons we can learn from
Trials Association. These organizations these sorts of empirical findings? Perhaps the
were very small in terms of professional most striking feature to emerge from the clus-
staff, though two of them, Ladies Golf and tering procedures was the preponderance of
Crown Green Bowls, had very large organi- variations on the simple structure. This, how-
zational memberships. The organizations ever, is not surprising, in the sense that sports
were similar to those of Cluster 3, being administration in a predominantly amateur set
small, with few volunteers, low specializa- of sports has traditionally implied amateur
tion and low standardization. However, by management. Such management, in relatively
contrast they tended to be events oriented small organizations, may implicitly rely on the
(rather than sports development oriented) flexibility which simple structures permit.
in their activities, and to be less profession- Although four of the clusters represented
alized. More significantly, they exhibited a variations of the simple structure form, it was
higher degree of centralization, conforming not possible to identify any of the clusters as
to the configuration which Mintzberg terms necessarily moving towards more developed
the simple structure but which we will refer organizational forms. Some had plans to for-
to as the typical simple structure in order to malize their operations in response to interac-
differentiate it from the other simple struc- tion with the Sports Council as a major
ture clusters. grant-aiding body (and this tendency is likely
 MANAGEMENT, ORGANIZATIONS AND THEORY OF GOVERNANCE 499

to have been reinforced by the increasing respectively. On the other hand the English
reliance on funding from the National Lottery Ladies Golf Association had recently benefited
with its insistence on the development of busi- from the building of a considerable number of
ness plans). In this sense they may be new golf courses, reflecting the availability of
described as ‘nascent professional bureaucra- grants for conversion of farm land.
cies’. Other organizations gave little indication Among the key issues to be addressed in the
of impending change. Indeed the average ages study were: whether any distinction could be
of the ‘typical’, the ‘specialized’ and the ‘pro- made between the organizational structures for
fessionalized’ simple structures were greater what might be described as traditional, collec-
than those of the other clusters, indicating per- tivist sport, and for new individualistic sports;
haps that they were not simply new organiza- whether there was any evidence of a move
tions in transition. away from traditional bureaucratic organiza-
The six organizational clusters identified in tional forms; and whether there was any evi-
the data operated in a variety of environments. dence of the emergence of new, more flexible,
Environmental complexity was operational- entrepreneurial organizational forms as the
ized in this study by reference to the number of economic base of NGBs experienced instability
organizations with which interaction took with the threatened (and in many instances
place and the rate of intensity of such interac- actual) reduction of public funding. A clear
tion. The organizational cluster operating in point to emerge from examining the clusters
the most complex environment was that of the identified, is that NGBs for both ‘traditional’
professional bureaucracy. Machine bureau- sport forms and for the new, more
cracies operated with the lowest level of envi- ‘individualistic’ sport forms, are incorporated
ronmental complexity, while the different in virtually all clusters. There is no differentia-
types of simple structure fluctuated about the tion in the data between organizational, struc-
mean. Mintzberg (1979) argues that the more tural configurations for ‘traditional’ and ‘new’
complex the environment in which an organi- or ‘individualized’ sports. These terms are
zation operates the more likely it is that the crudely defined but it is evident that whether
structure will be an organic one. It is argued NGBs are for sports which are low cost, ‘new’
that in a stable environment, an organization is sports (for example, Petanque Association),
better able to predict future conditions and so, ‘high-tech’, high-cost sports (for example,
all other things being equal, can more readily Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association), or
insulate its operating core and standardize its for exotic high-cost pursuits (for example,
activities, establish rules, formalize work and English Bobsleigh Association, Hurlingham
plan actions or standardize its skills. But this Polo Association), no distinctive configura-
relationship also extends beyond the operating tions are evident.
core. In a highly stable environment the whole It may be the case that it is not the nature of
organization may take on the form of a pro- the sport forms nor the age of the NGB which
tected, or undisturbed system, which can stan- will be key in influencing organizational
dardize its procedures from top to bottom. response so much as the health of the organi-
One of the claims advanced earlier in this zation in terms of size of membership base and
chapter is that sporting organizations in economic position, and as a consequence,
‘advanced’ industrial societies such as Britain resource dependence of the organization. It
are operating in an increasingly volatile social, may be that the need to seek new forms of
economic and political environment. However, financial support may result in pressures to
it is clear that complexity of environment does restructure. Thus, for example, at the time of
vary considerably between organizations and the research the Amateur Boxing Association
the dynamic nature of the environment in was considering forming itself into a limited
which some operate is by no means universal. company, while officials of the NGB for Crown
In relation to the physical environments in Green Bowling argued strongly for the need to
which NGBs operated major differences were streamline its committee structure to make
found in relation to facilities, resources and their organization more flexible and respon-
opportunities. The National Federation of sive to the environment. How such organiza-
Anglers for example, had had to allocate con- tions respond to environmental change and/or
siderable amounts of money to research into reshape their own environment can only be
water pollution, and the Royal Automobile adequately explained if the nature of historical,
Club and the British Gliding Association had contemporary contextual and contemporary
had to lobby politicians in an attempt to create internal figurations are subject to detailed
favourable opinions regarding recreational use investigation, underlying the need for comple-
of land for motor sport and of aviation air space mentary forms of analysis.
500 KEY TOPICS

What this study serves to illustrate then is not simply in the British case but more broadly
the complexity of the nature of organizational in the international context.
forms in the NGB sector in one national con- Lane (1995) highlights how such changes
text. Similarly patterns with an emphasis on have become evident across the spectrum of
variants of simple structures are also identified welfare services in developed economies,
in Canadian (Kikulis et al., 1989) and Dutch while Farnham and Horton (1993) provide
(Onderwater and Richards, 1994) studies detailed analysis relating to specific services in
which seek to construct taxonomies of organi- the British context, and Leach et al. (1994) pro-
zational structures for national or provincial vide an account of the impact on British local
governing bodies of sport. Nevertheless, government structures and approaches of the
despite this pattern of complexity, there are new managerialism.
some discernible commonalities across nation- In terms of the management of sports facili-
state boundaries, in particular the widespread ties specifically, the introduction of increasing
advocacy of ‘new managerialism’. revenue targets for management has fostered
the primacy of financial rather than social
sporting goals. The submission of manage-
NEW MANAGERIALISM AND SPORTS ment of these types of facility to competitive
bidding processes, has led in a number of
ORGANIZATIONS European countries (for example, France,
Britain, Spain and the Netherlands) to the
If one of the major foci of the development growing involvement of the commercial sector
of sports organizations has been sports organi- in the management and operation of public
zations’ structures and their response to sports facilities. Even where public sector man-
changing contexts, another has been the devel- agement of such facilities has been retained, a
opment of new managerial styles or philo- more commercial-like approach may well be
sophies. We have traced elsewhere the evident in the way that public sector managers
emergence and evolution of professionaliza- carry out their role. Financial efficiency con-
tion in the public sector delivery of sport and cerns may militate against social effectiveness
leisure services in Britain (Henry, 1993), argu- in the running of such facilities.
ing that there has been a shift from an initial Some cities, such as Sheffield (UK), have in
concern with the provision of physical infra- effect relinquished direct control of the work-
structure in the early 1970s to a concern with force in sport and recreation services. An
maximizing sports participation and providing independent body, Sheffield International
access for disadvantaged groups in the later Venues Ltd, was set up in the early 1990s by
1970s and early 1980s, to a concern with eco- the local authority as a trust employing the
nomic efficiency and economic return from personnel involved in running the city’s
public sector facilities in the later 1980s and newest sports facilities built for the World
early 1990s. Student Games in 1991. Policy in relation to
In the British context, the development of a the use of the facilities was, in effect, ceded to
leisure semi-profession in the 1970s and early the management of this Trust, with the local
1980s took the classic form of other welfare authority simply stipulating the required
semi-professions (Esland, 1980). However, this financial performance for the facilities.
strategy for the development of a profession Management of the older, traditional facilities
was founded in the supportive context of the in the city, however, remained under the
welfare system. As neo-liberal approaches to direct control of the city council and its own
macro-economic planning have developed, so workforce. This arrangement mirrors the
too welfare strategies have been replaced by, notion of a two-tier society, with a two-tier
for example, the privatization of services and/ system of consumer rights of access to sports
or the introduction of market competitiveness facilities for those who can afford it, and safety
into the public sector. Thus there is a far net ‘welfare’ provision of poorer-quality facil-
greater emphasis on market principles in man- ities at non-market prices for those who can-
agement both in the private sector expanded not (see Henry and Paramio-Salcines, 1996 for
by privatization and within the newly ‘market a detailed account of such changes).
oriented’ public sector. This has major impli-
cations for the management skills and
approaches and the management style of sport CONCLUSION
and recreation management, and reflects a
more generic turn in public sector management In this review of the management of sports
to what has been termed ‘new managerialism’, organizations and facilities in the public,
 MANAGEMENT, ORGANIZATIONS AND THEORY OF GOVERNANCE 501

quasi-public and voluntary sectors, we have agglomerative clustering with squared

sought to outline the changing context of Euclidean measures. The variables emplo-
sports management and the responses to such yed in the analysis were converted to
changing contexts of sports organizations. In Z-scores, since different scales had been
addition, the chapter has highlighted the used in the generating of raw scores. The
implications for theorizing behaviour of number of clusters employed was decided
sports organizations. It is certainly the case by inspection of the dendrogram produced
that the growing prominence of sport in con- by the SPSSX package. A full description of
temporary developed economies has fostered the methodology, the operationalization of
a more ‘professional’ approach to manage- concepts and the construction of variables is
ment. However, this professionalization has provided in Theodoraki and Henry (1994).
not led to adoption of a single set of organiza-
tional structures or strategies, even within a
given national context, as the discussion above
of emerging organizational structures in the
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‘Professionalism, structure and systems: the impact sport? Gender divisions in the power structure of
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International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 26 (1): national Review for the Sociology of Sport, 20 (1/2):
83–99. 95–107.
 32
EMERGING ARRIVING SPORT: ALTERNATIVES
TO FORMAL SPORTS

Robert E. Rinehart

New Year’s resolutions: ‘Not to watch any sport differences between alternative and extreme
described as extreme, ultra or radical. As soon as sport and folk sport, and the impact of tele-
they break out a ramp or a board of any kind, I’m vision might be one of the significant differ-
outta there’. Steve Hummer, Atlanta Journal- ences (though, of course, in some cases these
Constitution; cited in Mal Florence, ‘Morning distinctions elide: e.g., the Highland Games).
Briefing’, 1998. But the survival of contemporary sport forms is
dependent, to a large degree, upon the exis-
tence of critical mass. A critical mass of partici-
USER-FRIENDLY SPORT: pants surely is important, but a critical mass of
spectators at this point in history is also vital.
AN INTRODUCTION Thus, a relationship between mass media and
sport participants has led to the arrangement
At the turn of the century, a variety of factors of a new kind of marriage in which sport is
influence sport – both participatory and specta- wed to television. As columnist Dave Perkins
torial sport. Shifting attitudes toward leisure and writes about mountain biking in the 1996
sport, a market-driven global economy, the par- Olympics, the new sports are ‘primarily ...
ticipation of multinational corporations in sport made for TV. [They] certainly [are] not made
(whose loci are largely centered in ‘first world’ for spectating in person’ (1996: D1). While I
countries), and increased access to venues have might debate these inferences about in-person
all heightened participation and spectatorship spectating, it is true that the newer sports typi-
for many sport forms. In fact, much discourse cally move through space in a different way
surrounds the growing sense that sport is not from arena-bound sports like soccer and foot-
sport unless and until it becomes televised – ball and baseball. They lend themselves to
that the very act of being televised validates and tighter camera angles, quick shots and close-
authenticates its claim to being sport. Of course, ups of the action – reminiscent of recent
this approach begs the question of how we will Hollywood productions – a hyper-MTV, a
describe and label those physical activities that more virtual style of presentation.
children are doing in their neighborhoods. Many of these newer sports themselves
Of course, the question of sport/non-sport are self-conscious, seemingly aware of the
has a long history in discussion of sport in fact of being seen, and, though they are still
society.1 Most recently this question has been fundamentally practices of the body in space
related to funding issues, modernist concerns and time, they are also about presentation to
of high versus low sport, and, more broadly, the others. They are about performance. They are,
power relationships among the various players even at the grass-roots levels away from
of contemporary sport. In point of fact, the television cameras, about sharing the experi-
deliberate sense that sport and television are ence and about community. Sports like
linked may be a first-world, westernized American football had their roots in this type
ethnocentrism – but clearly, there are distinct of community – where college students and
 EMERGING ARRIVING SPORT 505

young professors (male) got together to test ‘Extreme’ sport might similarly exclude those
their abilities. Rules were implicit; and the activities that are not seen on television.
affiliative sense one got of belonging to a foot- Whatever we choose to name these new
ball group was larger than any other sense of sport forms at this point in time, ‘they’ have
self. In the early days, playing football was an arrived. Advertisers clearly are pleased that
end in itself, not a means to a professional the tough-to-reach 12–34-year-old male market
career. But that has changed, and now the so- is the fundamental market associated with
called ‘alternatives’ to the mainstream sports these sports and the related media coverage. In
of American football, soccer, rugby, baseball, 1996, the inaugural year of the newly named
basketball, volleyball and so on,2 are cutting- ‘X Games’ (and the second year of the event),
edge opportunities for alternative sports live attendance was calculated at 201,350;
enthusiasts. These opportunities are sought in 1997 it moved to San Diego and the atten-
actively by boarders of all varieties – surf, dance was 219,900, and in 1998 it was 242,850.
skate, snow, wake, skysurf – as well as in-line In 1997, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN International
skaters, to name just a few, in their quest to and ABC’s Wide World of Sports put out
become or remain active without the interfer- 37 hours of coverage; additionally, ESPN
ence of undue authority. In the eyes of many reached 71 million households, ESPN2 reached
alternative sports practitioners, ‘authority’ is 48 million and ESPN International was broad-
represented by coaches, managers, organizing cast in 198 countries in 21 languages (ESPN
committees, corporate sponsors, media, rules Sportszone, 1997). ESPN and ESPN2, respec-
enforcers, among many others. However, as tively, have garnered (in 1998) 0.7 and 0.5 rat-
will be discussed below, the ‘anti-mainstream’ ings for the X Games televised to US
impulse among some participants in many households. ABC pulled in a 2.3 rating in 1997
of these sports (cf. snowboarding) has gradu- and a 1.6 rating in 1998 (Brockinton, 1998).
ally eroded. The ‘alternative sports’ phenomenon is
worldwide, and this has not gone unnoticed by
people in the media. For example, London-
based writer Simon Barnes claims that his
ALTERNATIVE, EXTREME OR ‘favourite is an event called street luge racing –
GLOBAL FAD? I hope they won’t take the heat off the event by
stopping the traffic first’ (1995: 42). ‘X Games
New sports include what French scholar celebrate alternatives’ reads the headline in The
Nancy Midol might call ‘whiz’ sports (though Moscow [Russia] Tribune (1996), direct from the
her take on them is from a more participatory AP wire service. ‘Extreme Sports: Why
angle). These are sports in which time is com- Americans are risking life and limb for the big
pressed and action is rampant. New sports rush’ blares the front cover of the US News &
might include what Arthur and Marilouise World Report (Koerner, 1997). In New Zealand,
Kroker (1989) term ‘panic sport’, what some where extreme sports like bungy jumping pro-
athletes and analysts term ‘alternative’ sport, liferate, the focus is on tourist cash and eco-
and what US cable network ESPN and many nomic benefits (Henderson, 1998; Neems,
others term ‘extreme’ sport. One writer 1998).
explained it this way: Interest among athletes is a key dimension
of the alternative sport phenomenon. At the
The ‘extreme’ moniker simply refers to a growing 1997 X Games, there were nearly five hundred
number of physically and mentally intense activi- competitors from over 20 different countries,
ties that have not been formally recognized as including Russia, Italy, Brazil, Mexico, Japan,
legitimate sports by most media and/or society. . . . Israel, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, France,
But the need for legitimacy has been realized. South Africa, Kazahkstan and Canada. Daily
(Rees, 1997: 32–3) Bread, an in-line magazine started by skaters,
has had spreads on local in-liners from Asia
The terms used to identify these new sport (titled ‘Futuretrip’), the UK, Spain, Italy,
forms are fundamentally important, because Switzerland (with the Lausanne and Zurich
some terms have exclusive connotations, or competitions highlighted), Finland, Germany –
emphasize only one facet of the attraction of the plus a more recent photo spread of locals from
sports. Thus, for example, ‘whiz’ sport might 5 August to 30 September 1998 in 20 cities
exclude something like the teamwork-oriented, throughout the world, including Tokyo,
endurance-rewarding Eco-Challenge (or ESPN’s Munich, Düsseldorf and Flensburg in Germany;
Extreme Adventure Race) or endurance run- Brussels, Edinburgh, Melbourne, Barcelona,
ning and ultra marathons from the mix. Stockholm, Amsterdam, Dublin, Lausanne,
506 KEY TOPICS

Vienna, Belfast, Copenhagen, London, Ljubljana retaining recognition of the ideology associated
in Slovenia, and Sarnia and Toronto, Canada. with mass participation (often ecological in
And the corporations are leading the way. nature). Added to slo-motion replay, the zoom,
Interest among corporations, from small, sport- the heightened audio and so on, are the street
based sponsors to large, multinational corpora- luge’s ‘luge-cams, mounted directly on the
tions, has also been key to the growth of these sled, to enhance the viewer’s perspective by
newer, alternative sports. A small sampling of traveling at 60 mph just inches off the ground’
businesses who have aligned with alternative (Brooker, 1998: 251), the skysurfers’ helmet
sports includes the Italian multinationals cam; a variety of robotic, crane-robotic and pole
Benetton and Roces, and corporations such cams; the high-resolution video camera used by
as Salomon, Bauer, Senate and Tribe Distribu- camera-operators for the Winter X Games’
tion. There are also web-based companies/ Skier X (six skiers at once) and the snowboard-
distributors like rollerwarehouse.com, skate- ers’ slopestyle events; and the ‘rope cam, a
utopia.com, airbornesk8.com along with more miniature RF [radio frequency] camera located
typical corporate sponsors of the X Games, like on the handle of the rope to get close ups of the
AT&T, Coors, Nike, Taco Bell, Mountain Dew, competitors’ (Brooker, 1998: 253). The quality of
Chevrolet, Pontiac, Pringles, Rollerblade, Slim production is incredibly good, and any ‘rough-
Jim, VISA and Snickers. Clearly, these com- ness’ of shots is purposeful, seemingly adding
panies have found a niche market. to the virtual rush the at-home viewer is meant
The point is that, while the more conserva- to feel when watching these events.
tive sports guardians have marginalized
these alternative sports, there is a large
demand for and response to extreme and alter-
native sports. The sports themselves do not NAMING SOME NAMES: AMALGAMS
always matter to the companies (much as, it is
claimed, sports don’t really matter to Rupert OF SKILLS AND THRILLS
Murdoch).3 Some companies do profess
empathy with the sports. Nike’s social recon- What are alternative sports? They are activities
struction campaigns are perhaps the most that either ideologically or practically provide
famous. Notable as well are Benetton’s Colors alternatives to mainstream sports and to main-
campaigns, and Roces’s slogan ‘team unity – stream sport values. Raymond Williams’s
brotherhood – conviction – respect’ smacks (1977) categorizations of ‘dominant, residual,
of similar ‘social design’ strategies. The authen- and emergent’ can be helpful in providing a
ticity of the makers clearly matters to many of framework for determining what sports fall
these sports’ enthusiasts. Thus, snowboarders into mainstream or emergent categories. Of
will buy Jake Burton products because they are course, there is overlap between and among
aware of his involvement in and commitment the Williams’s categories, by sport and by level
to the sport. Of course many professionals of sport. Thus, a pick-up football game can be
in in-line skating have wheels named after both mainstream, because of the intersections
themselves, which is clearly an attempt to capi- with professional and collegiate football, and
talize on this authenticity/athlete-identification residual, because it is an ‘effective element
phenomenon. The wary buyer is faced with the of the present’ (p. 122) mainstream football
challenge of sorting out which wheels work best nexus.
for him or her. Alternative sports may have elements of
Since many of these ‘alternative’ activities are the mainstream or residual in them. However,
promoted as ‘made-for-television sports’, it their obvious difference from the mainstream
seems logical that television is key to these ‘is that they have not gained widespread
sports’ ultimate proliferation. As television acceptance from mainstream audiences’
increased its sensory appeal for viewers in (Rinehart, 1998a: 403). Other differences are
technological advances meant for mainstream highlighted by a range of debates. For exam-
sports, the technologies soon became app- ple, there are debates surrounding team versus
ropriated and combined with a quick-shot, individual sports (though media moguls have
hand-held camera, MTV-style of production. tried to extend individual extreme sports into
Sportscaster Jim Lampley once described the more of a team orientation). There are debates
immediacy of viewer involvement as the ‘you- about the importance of professionalism in the
are-there audio’ (Home Box Office, 1991). But sports, about incorporation of grass-roots
many of the appropriated-for-television sports oppositional sport forms into the mainstream,
have gone steps farther in attempting to ‘virtu- and about professional/amateur statuses.
alize’ the experience of elite participation while Finally, there are debates surrounding the
 EMERGING ARRIVING SPORT 507

lifestyle, aesthetics and competitive characters diving, BASE (buildings, antenna tower, span,
of the sports. earth) jumping, indoor climbing (artificial
There is, of course, overlap between main- climbing wall), ultra marathoning (Grenfell,
stream and these alternative-to-the-mainstream 1998), netball and bicycle stunt and freestyle
sports. ESPN certainly does not control exclu- (cf. Kubiak, 1997). Various countries and cul-
sively the coverage of these sports, though the tural regions also have emerging forms of
point could be made that the omnipresence of alternative sports. From Australia there are
ESPN, and the very dominance of the electronic trugo (a mallet game with rubber ring) and
media, provides a cultural dominance over the sphairee (miniaturized tennis) (The Sports
mere presentation of extreme, alternative Factor, 25 September 1998). In Switzerland
sports in the electronic sportscape (see Rinehart, there is ski-horsing (skiers drawn downhill by
forthcoming). Thus, until other media compa- horses). There is pelota, a demonstration sport
nies come on to the scene, ESPN will maintain in the Barcelona Olympics; belote, a similar
dominant market share and will play a major game, from Belgium; and pole sitting and pole
role in shaping for the [virtual] world what jumping from Holland, where, respectively,
extreme sports will consist of, constitute, and people sit in the middle of lakes on poles for
become. time and people jump irrigation channels in
Forms of what might be considered alterna- contests for distance (personal communication,
tive sports that are proliferating around the Morris Levy, 1999).
globe could be variously categorized as Additionally, according to Donnelly, ‘there is
extreme, alternative, whiz, lifestyle, or panic in also real risk – in solo climbing, deep sea
their fundamental expression though it may diving, ocean yacht racing, hot air balloon
not be appropriate to view them always as epics, Himalayan and other high altitude
‘extreme’. Alternative sports at this point in mountaineering . . . ’ (Sportsoc discussion,
history include, but are certainly not limited to, 3 February 1997). Seemingly calmer alterna-
sport forms such as the following:4 hang glid- tives to mainstream sports (though partici-
ing, high wire, ski flying, soaring, caving, land pants might dispute this) include dance sport,
and ice yachting (ice sailing), mountainboard- one of the newer entries into Olympic sports,
ing, showshoeing, speed biking, speed skiing, which makes its Olympic appearance in
steep skiing, air chair, jetskiing, open water 2000 at the Sydney Games (cf. The Times, 1995;
swimming, powerboat racing, snorkeling, B. Thomas, 1998).
speed sailing and trifoiling (all mentioned, High risk is generally considered a factor in
among others, in Tomlinson, 1996). There are extreme sports, but not necessarily in alterna-
skateboarding (cf. Beal, 1995; Beal and tive sports. Individuality is privileged over a
Weidman, forthcoming), whitewater kayaking team orientation, and perhaps that is one
(see, for example, Mounet and Chifflet, 1996, reason why purists are initially skeptical when
forthcoming; Watters, forthcoming), korfball ESPN has gone to doubles and triples per-
(cf. Crum, 1988), professional beach volleyball forming simultaneously (as in skateboarding
(cf. Silverstein, 1995), surfing (see, for example, or in-line).
Pearson, 1981; Booth, forthcoming), and wind- There are also a variety of international com-
surfing (cf. Wheaton, 1997, forthcoming; petitions involving alternative sports. These
Wheaton and Tomlinson, 1998). There are ulti- include but are not limited to international
mate fighting (amalgam of styles, probably windsurfing competitions like the one held in
deriving from the martial arts), ‘extreme’ ski- Essaouira, Morocco, ‘known as Wind City
ing (the films of Warren Miller may have dri- Afrika ... [where] international windsurf com-
ven the desire for this activity; see, for petitions are held ... each spring’ (Keeble, 1995:
example, Kremer, forthcoming; and Kay and 163). There are the Hi-Tec Adventure Racing
Laberge, forthcoming), deep water diving Series (Thomas, 1998b) and a variety of adven-
(fixed weight, variable weight and absolute ture races around the world (see, for example,
diving), paragliding, sandboarding (du Lac, Bell, forthcoming; Cotter, forthcoming) (for
1995), and the Miner’s Olympics. There are example, the Eco Challenge, the Raid Gauloises
barefoot snow skiing, parachute skiing, mono and the Morocco Adventure Race). There are
skiing, para bungee (bungee from a hot-air triathlons, probably the most famous of which
balloon), bungee from a helicopter, underwater is the Ironman, held in Hawaii annually. There
hockey, canoe polo, bicycle polo, jai alai are street basketball tournaments like the Gus
(which, similar to pelota, is a ‘new world’ form Macker 3-on-3 (Brewington, 1993) and the
with slightly different cultural significance, Hoop-It-Up World Championship (Forest,
rule structure and context), SCUBA (self- 1993). There are the Vans Triple Crown of
contained underwater breathing apparatus) Skateboarding (cf. Howe, 1998), the Highland
508 KEY TOPICS

Games (cf. Jarvie, 1991), the World Masters ‘the word “extreme” is completely overused.
Games, the Youth Games, the Corporate Games, There’s extreme skiing, and everything you see
Goodwill Games, Gay Games, World Transplant nowadays has the word “extreme” on it’ (per-
Games and the Maccabbee Games. All are alter- sonal communication, 4 October 1996).
native to mainstream sports in one way or The Games was a summer made-for-
another. Additionally, because they are some- television sport event which, in 1995, dis-
what marginalized, despite being appropriated played non-mainstream sports (mainly for
by the International Olympic Committee, male participants). These included:
some might include the Paralympics in this list.
Both the Paralympics and the Special Olympics • skateboarding (see, for example, Beal and
are examples of what were once alternatives Weidman, forthcoming);
to mainstream sports but which, due to institu- • in-line skating (a.k.a., Rollerblading) (see,
tionalization, have become increasingly main- for example, Rinehart, forthcoming);
stream themselves. Of course, this liminal • sky surfing (see, for example, Koyn, forth-
area – whether sport is mainstream or emerg- coming; Sydnor, forthcoming);
ing, solidified in the public consciousness or • street luge;
merely arriving – appears to be a realm in which • Eco Challenge;
many ‘successful’ contemporary sports have • BMX dirt bike jumping (see, for example,
dwelled at some point in their histories. Downs, forthcoming; Kusz, forthcoming);
• barefoot (ski) jumping;
• bungee jumping;
THE X GAMES: MEDIATED • sport climbing (see, for example, Donnelly,
ALTERNATIVE SPORT forthcoming; Dornian, forthcoming);
• mountain biking (see, for example, Eassom,
forthcoming; Bridgers, forthcoming).
Among some people, especially many young
people around the world, the X Games, origi- No one knew whether or how well the tele-
nally the Extreme Games, have somehow come vised event would be received. Chris Fowler,
to signify radical alternative sports. What are who co-hosted the eXtreme Games in 1995, has
‘extreme’ sports? In the first incarnation of the since written that:
X Games (the eXtreme Games), in an attempt to The X Games might never amount to a true revo-
link the site of Fort Adams, Rhode Island with lution, maybe just a welcome diversion on the
extreme sport, co-host Suzi Kolber intoned, crowded sports calendar. But if you arrive with an
This is an attitude toward life; passion that comes open mind, you’ll get sucked in. The energy is con-
from the soul. From its beginnings, Rhode Island tagious. Even if we’re still not certain exactly what
has been distinguished by its support for freedom, to expect. (1998: 250, emphasis in original)
its rebellious, authority-defying nature. Fort
It is worth noting that, by undercutting poten-
Adams, built to defend, looms large this week as a
tial criticism, Fowler has anticipated and thus
new generation makes its stand. It’s an opportu-
appropriated objections that a more ‘pure’
nity to redefine the way we look at sports. (ESPN,
sports audience might make. Yet there
broadcast 1 July 1995)
remains an element of truth to the uncertainty
Yet some practitioners – and writers – have dis- he identifies, despite his inevitable and con-
puted the very term ‘extreme’ as merely a bla- certed effort at selling the Games through his
tant and cynical attempt to capitalize on a words.
wave of oppositional sport forms and, by Over the years since 1995 the events of the
doing so, for corporations such as ESPN to ESPN Summer X Games (name changed in
appropriate trendy oppositional forms. January of 1996) have evolved and become
ESPN, the cable network based in the United known to include the following major event
States and owned since 1995 by the Disney categories. There are:
Corporation (along with ABC-TV), in 1995
started The eXtreme Games, which attempted • skateboarding (street and both single and
to capitalize on the word ‘extreme’. The com- doubles vert; and, as exhibitions, down-
pany realized that the word ‘extreme’ was hill, women’s halfpipe and off-road skate-
problematic: ESPN quickly distanced itself boarding);
from the word ‘extreme’, ‘as it became passé • in-line skating (aggressive, street, vert and
and the network decided it carried a negative vert triples, and downhill);
connotation’ (Rother, 1997: B-2). Amy Cacciola, • sky surfing;
then-Assistant Director of Marketing and • street luge (dual and ‘Super Mass Street’
Communications for the X Games, said that events);
 EMERGING ARRIVING SPORT 509

• Extreme Adventure Race; airplane, lifting logs and barrel walking. Third,
• bicycle stunt (flatland, dirt jumping, street, the Boardercross (Boarder-X) competitions, ‘in
and single and doubles vert); which six riders simultaneously race down a
• barefoot waterski jumping; giant slalom course filled with gulches, cork-
• wakeboarding; screws and other obstacles’ (Benc, 1998: C-7).
• sportclimbing (difficulty and speed); The list continues to grow, as amalgams of pre-
• snowboarding big air. viously known sports are given new twists, or
existing sports are combined with other existing
All events are open to both males and females, sports. Meanwhile the marketing departments
though television time follows the pattern of of ESPN, Fox and other media companies
mainstream sport coverage in that it focuses on around the world are constantly thinking up
men and generally ignores the women (see, for new combinations and ways of selling them to
example, Dennis-Vano, 1995). viewers. In such a context, change is inherent.
In late January of 1997, ESPN aired a Winter X Perhaps the rate and ever presence of change
Games, which included such extreme sports as: is one of the key differences between estab-
• snowboarding (which was incorporated lished, mainstream sports and these newer,
into the Olympic venue at the Nagano constantly evolving, alternative sports. Not
Games in 1998 – is it still ‘alternative’?) only do most alternative sports enthusiasts
(see, for example, Burton, forthcoming; welcome change, but they often provide the
Humphreys, forthcoming); impetus to it. Of course, nostalgia is present,
• super-modified shovel racing; but with new and different challenges ever
• ice climbing; being sought, the nostalgia for a seemingly
• snow mountain bike racing; tamer past is short-lived. By creating new sport
• crossover slopestyle snowboarding. forms, many of the athletes in alternative
sports hope to be the next entrepreneur who
In 1999, the Winter X Games, broadcast from works at her/his play, and who incidentally
Crested Butte, Colorado (16–22 January, just makes it big. Some of the models for this pat-
two weeks prior to the Super Bowl), included: tern are snowboarder Jake Burton, in-line
• snocross (snomobiles racing); skaters Anjie Walton and Arlo Eisenberg, and
• free skiing (Skier-X, with six skiers racing skateboarder Tony Hawk. The dynamics asso-
simultaneously); ciated with this quest and the creativity that
• snowboarding (Boarder-X, again with permeates alternative sports tend to produce
multiple snowboarders); change that is often radical, so that sports are
• snow mountain bike racing downhill; mutated rapidly into mildly unrecognizable
• speed, speed and difficulty ice climbing; forms. In mainstream sport, on the other hand,
• slopestyle skiboarding; most of the changes are superficial, often con-
• slopestyle, big air and halfpipe snowboard- strained by the fear of undermining an estab-
ing (ESPN2, 1999). lished product and, of course, the nostalgia
that reaffirms many people’s connections with
the sport.
MEDIA LOGICS: CAPITALISTIC
INNOVATION
TROUBLES IN PARADISE: GROWING
Though the previous references to alternative
sports may seem exhaustive, the alternative
PAINS, GREED, OR GOOD WILL?
sportscape is certainly not limited to just what
I’ve listed. It is difficult and would be very With any new sport form (or, in this case, phe-
tedious to list all the variants that ESPN and nomenon), there will be problems, conflicts,
Fox Sports Network have presented to viewers debates. In each of the sports previously listed,
with the hope of attracting a large audience. But there are adamant practitioners who want to
three of the more notable ones include the make their visions known. The athletes’ views
following. First, ESPN’s H2O Winter Classic, do not always coincide with the views of profit-
which combines professional snowboarders oriented companies, nor do they coincide with
with professional surfers, each doing one day of the nostalgic ideas of a sports-savvy public. But
the activities in Mammoth Mountain and much of the conflict and controversy that is
Huntington Beach, California, for a total score. associated with these sports arises because par-
Second, The World’s Strongest Man competi- ticipants are highly committed and possess dif-
tions, whose events have included towing an ferent ideas about process and goals.
510 KEY TOPICS

Alternative sports emerge in contexts where Outsider/Insider Status of Athletes

dynamics revolve around a range of con-
tentious issues. These include: Surfing culture is illustrative of the overt
problem outsiders have in some of the more
• the incorporation of grass-roots practition- insular alternative sports. For example, surfers
ers into the mainstream; from California to Hawaii to Australia have
• outsider/insider status of athletes; continually resisted efforts by ‘style’ com-
• professional/amateur standings of athletes; panies (that is, clothing or equipment manu-
• purity, authenticity and genuineness of the facturers) who have not demonstrated a
sports; long-term commitment to the sport. Tommy
• multinational corporate sponsorship and Hilfiger’s apparel line fairly recently attempted
globalization/Americanization arguments; to penetrate the admittedly tough surfing
• the philosophies behind the sports: lifestyle, apparel market, when its ‘core men’s casual
aesthetics, competition; clothing line slow[ed]’ (Earnest, 1998: D5). Its
• self-regulation versus governance by others; attempt was made easier by the fact that a
• sexism, racism and homophobia. long-time, well-known surfing family in
southern California was acting as consultants
I can only touch briefly on these issues, and for Hilfiger, thus effectively acting on behalf of
they tend to overlap, but an insightful reader the company. The authenticity of the family
will perhaps look particularly at other chapters helped it to better penetrate the surfing apparel
in this volume and seek out conceptual frame- market. Clearly, Hilfiger, Nike and others
works that might be useful for analyzing alter- have realized the importance of the insider
native as well as mainstream sports. status, as some of their sport apparel lines have
failed.
The insider–outsider lines can become con-
fused, however, by a savvy company. When
The Incorporation of Grass-roots ESPN first broadcast the eXtreme Games in
Practitioners into the Mainstream 1995, there was really no such thing as a short
downhill race for in-liners. ESPN suggested to
Elsewhere, I have pointed out that corporate the 10K skaters that such a downhill race
strategies for producing mass acceptance would make for good television. Many of the
among in-line skaters and skateboarders skaters scoffed, claiming that a short, straight,
involve fan identification with the sport’s per- packed downhill on in-line skates was too dan-
sonalities, modeling behavior of younger gerous. But ESPN persevered, increased the
participants, corporate sponsorship and prize money and what one writer character-
embracing of certain sports and individuals ized as a ‘carnival act for a TV event’ (Seltsam,
over others, and an uneasy, contested dynamic 1996: 15) became something that by 1999
between performers’ (who represent actual younger skaters have come to accept and
practitioners) artistic impulses and the define as exciting. Marvin Percival (affiliated
(inferred) competitive impulses of mainstream with Sk8Deal, an on-line speed skating firm
audiences (Rinehart, 1998a: 402–3). based in Andover, Massachusetts), a father of
Such strategies are deliberate. They are in-line speed skaters, revealed to me that one
meant to create mass acceptance and audience. of his sons is eager to participate in the
If they are successful, they will serve also to ‘extremely dangerous’ but exciting short
undercut the very oppositional nature of these downhill course. He explains that his son’s
particular alternative sports. Of course, Ron background in the more legitimate speed
Semiao, the so-called ‘innovator’ of the X skating gives him a ‘tremendous amount of
Games for ESPN, says that he is ‘always on the credibility’ in the new sport (personal communi-
lookout for “what’s emerging and what’s cation, 18 December 1998).
stale” so the X Games can stay on the cutting Pretenders in the extreme sports are soon
edge’ (cited in Rother, 1997: B-2). revealed. Wheaton (forthcoming) has demon-
So, grass-roots participants are urged to get strated that committed, ‘core’ members of
more involved, while non-participants are windsurfing clubs are more concerned with
urged to get involved (at least as spectators) in what windsurfers do than with how they pose.
the sports. This multi-pronged attack on the And the posing or the authenticity – revealed
viewing/participating public thus creates a in style, self-identification, insider argot and
larger fan base, so that ‘alternative’ gradually knowledge issues – quickly becomes clear to
melds into ‘mainstream’, at least in terms of insiders. Put another way, a skater wrote to the
the sports’ acceptance. editor of Daily Bread: ‘Who fucking cares what
 EMERGING ARRIVING SPORT 511

people wear when they skate? Get a life! Any and the sports.5 Secondly, the legitimacy of the
real skater should know that it’s not the look sports is questioned. The ‘non-competitive’,
it’s the attitude [sic]’ (Cook, 1995: no page). made-for-television nature of the sports can
make them seem illegitimate to mainstream
sports enthusiasts. Thirdly, there are questions
Professional/Amateur Standings about the authenticity of the participants them-
of Athletes selves. Such questions frame the credibility of
the sport in terms related to the insider–outsider
Many extreme or alternative sport enthusiasts statuses of the participants.
participate without any chance of financial When issues of purity and authenticity are
gain. They do the activity for the pure love, the discussed it is helpful to note that the Super
excitement and differentness of the sport. In Bowl is considered by the vast majority of
fact, many of these participants either don’t people in the United States to be an authentic
consider their activity a ‘sport’, or don’t care. It event for American football. Yet it began only
is something they do, on weekends or when- in 1967. And the Vince Lombardi Trophy that is
ever they can find the time. In a traditional steeped in nostalgia and remembrance (and
sense, these people are considered amateurs, historical authenticity) was given for the first
though their aptitude, dedication and commit- time to the winners of Super Bowl V in 1972
ment to the sports may be very high. (see Rinehart, 1998b: 73–5). Even though the
But with the advent of ESPN’s X Games and Super Bowl was only 34 years old (in the year
similar programming, those athletes who bene- 2000) it has achieved a sense of authenticity
fit financially from the sports and in the process and the appearance of credibility. Money and
become role models have challenged people to media attention have been powerful in speed-
think about the meanings of professional and ing up history in this case.
amateur in new ways. For example, Katie Basketball is said to have been invented by
Brown, a difficulty route climber, began climb- Canadian James Naismith as he sought to
ing in 1993 at age 13, won the 1996 X Games in develop a form of indoor recreation that could
Difficulty, and, as a 16-year-old, left ‘her Georgia be done during the cold winter months in the
home to follow the professional climbing Northeastern United States. He borrowed ele-
circuit ...’ (Brooker, 1998: 214). Joining a profes- ments from a variety of sports at the time and
sional circuit – which of course typically as basketball evolved, rules and game-play
includes the X Games – is only one of the many were refined. As basketball enthusiasts
routes that alternative sports enthusiasts may brought the game to others, as it gained more
take. Street luger Michael ‘Biker’ Sherlock owns and more exposure, it took on the patina of
a skateboard company. In-line pioneer Arlo authenticity. It simultaneously achieved main-
Eisenberg has starred in films, made commer- stream status and credibility.
cials, been an editor/writer for skating maga- The Skins Game, an event in which high-
zines, toured the world professionally, and his profile golfers have been known to make putts
family owns a skatepark in Plano, Texas. that earn them $200,000, began in Reagan’s
It seems that the traditional binaries of pro- 1980s America as a made-for-television event.
fessional and amateur are not applicable to Today it is doing quite well in terms of tele-
many extreme sportists. Many of the core vision audience ratings. In 1996, ‘nearly
members of these groups are fairly young and, 6 million homes tuned in ... making [it] the
like surfers who follow the waves or skiers second-highest rated golf telecast of the year,
who work at ski resorts in order to ski daily, behind the Masters’ (Price, 1997: F-5).
they have creatively generated space for them- So it is with extreme sports. Each of them
selves so that they may continue to live the derived from somewhere, from some person or
lifestyle of extremist. persons who the participants usually hold up
as founders of the sport. Each of the sports is
said to have an origination myth and writer
Purity, Authenticity and Legitimacy Kevin Brooker has established a time-line iden-
of – and in – Alternative Sports tifying important events in the sports high-
lighted on ESPN’s ‘Way Inside ESPN’s X
There are several ways in which the credibility Games’. According to ESPN coverage, the
of extreme sports may be interrogated. First, sport of wakeboarding can be traced back to
there is the very authenticity of the sport itself. 1922 when Ralph Samuelson ‘straps two pine
Extreme sports have been routinely criticized by boards ... onto his feet and takes off behind a
mainstream purists who tend to deride the par- motorboat on Lake Pepin, MN’. Then in 1985,
ticularly ‘invented’ character of the participants surfer Tony Flynn developed ‘the Skurfer, a
512 KEY TOPICS

hybrid of a water ski and a surfboard’, while socially determined. Attitude, style, world-view
‘Jimmy Redmon is working on his Redline and the meanings given to the participant’s
brand board’ in Texas. In 1990, ‘Herb O’Brien’s involvement are all used to determine member-
H.O. Sports introduces the first compression- ship in the subculture associated with the sport.
molded board, the Hyperlite’, and on the story
goes. Another example is the Australian game
of sphairee, a miniaturized game of tennis. Multinational Corporate
Said to have been invented in the 1960s by Sponsorship
Sydney resident and former linguistics
professor Frederick Arthur George Beck, the Companies involved in the sports themselves
rationale (there is usually a rationale as well as sponsor individual athletes and events.
an origination story) was that he sought to Manufacturers such as Roces, Benetton,
play a tennis-like sport in a small space (Radio Salomon and others have aligned themselves
National, 1998).6 with a variety of the sports, producing equip-
With new sport forms there are issues of legiti- ment and apparel for these so-called niche
macy along with issues of authenticity. Among markets. In some cases, the athletes themselves
some of those who feel qualified to comment on have attempted to control, through a range of
sports there has developed a high–low sport strategies (including the importance of insider
ideology that is similar to a high–low culture status to consumers), the production end of
ideology. Popular sport (that is, sport made their sports. For example, Jake Burton makes
specifically for television, rather than main- snowboards and Arlo Eisenberg manufactures
stream sport which has been appropriated by and distributes in-line skate products.
television), according to this ideology, is decried But there appear to be at least two other
at the same time that the importance of its pop- aspects to the intersection between corpora-
ularity is acknowledged. The thinking seems to tions, businesses and athletes. One is the
be that if they are ‘made for television’, are they sponsorship of events and individuals by
not in the same category as so-called ‘trash multinational corporations whose primary
sports’ like roller derby, professional wrestling function has little or nothing to do with sport.
and the Billy Jean King–Bobby Riggs tennis One might infer a sliding scale of extreme sport
match? This thinking, of course, assumes the involvement when applied to sponsors so that,
paradoxical view that credibility and authenti- looking at sport sponsorship from the point of
city are defined in terms of elite sport, but every- view of corporate involvement in the sport, a
one should be engaged in it (for a lengthy range of possibilities could be seen. For ex-
discussion of this point, see Rinehart, 1998b). ample, a company founded by an athlete
Often, the legitimacy issue is confused with would be seen as highly legitimate (individual
what Benjamin Lowe termed ‘expressive’ and insider status). Next in the order of legitimacy
‘spectacle’ sports (1977: 29). Thus, those sports would be a company like Roces (a skate manu-
in which judges are used to determine the facturer), with a corporate face (corporate
quality of performance and the outcomes of insider). Next would be a company that
competitive events are, oddly, seen as less than has taken over some original-insider, like
sport. In mainstream sports this would be the Benetton who took over Rollerblade (corporate
case for diving, gymnastics and synchronized insider/outsider). Next would be a company
swimming. In extreme sports it would be the like Nike, whose expertise is in sport, but not
case for nearly all the events. Apparently, some especially in extreme sports. Lastly, there
people see more objective measures of achieve- would be a corporation like Mountain Dew,
ment and success as being more legitimate and which has blatantly appropriated the ‘extreme’
view the inclusion of subjectivity as ‘soft’ sport tag and used it humorously. Different groups
and as being indicative of a lack of legitimacy. would perhaps debate the order of these char-
Finally, those associated with the sports them- acterizations as far as legitimacy (a ‘pretender’
selves raise authenticity questions. Core like Nike, it could be argued, might create
members of the sports appreciate skillfulness, more backlash than Mountain Dew, whose
but it is possible for a person to be an authentic stance was that it never pretended to be
member of an extreme sport group and not be extreme), but these general descriptions of cor-
the most skillful participant. The works of porate legitimacy might be a good starting
scholars such as Belinda Wheaton in windsurf- point for discussion.
ing (forthcoming), Peter Donnelly in climbing Clearly, multinational corporations have
(Donnelly and Young, 1988) and Becky Beal and seen that extreme sports (for both men and
Lisa Weidman in skateboarding (forthcoming), women) are a lucrative avenue for producing,
show clearly that a participant’s authenticity is recruiting and servicing consumers. However,
 EMERGING ARRIVING SPORT 513

the strategies used by corporations do not professional skateboarding, can be used to

always coincide with the self-proclaimed ethos explain the different ethos of some alternative
of alternative sport, such as individuality, sports participants.
actual participation and authenticity. In the first case, footbag (also known as
There is a great deal of conflict between Hacky-Sack) is played as part of Orangewood
alternative sports and mainstream sports. For High School’s (Redlands, CA) physical educa-
example, alternative sports have deeply tion curriculum. One of the students, who had
impacted viewership in the 12–34 age range, in been footbagging for three years (in 1996), Rick
some cases usurping the power that main- Bunting, said ‘It brings the body and the mind
stream sports have held over young males for together. ... I think it’s almost a type of medi-
generations (Greenfeld, 1998). Furthermore, tation in a sense’ (cited in McCuin, 1996: H3).
the debates around issues of globalization, In the second case, a writer describes a
Americanization and so on, intersect with skateboarding event involving two top
alternative sport, especially since it is so deeply boarders:
enmeshed with international media like Fox
At the 1997 X Games, skateboarders Chris Senn
and Disney (see Sage, Chapter 16, and
and Andy Macdonald battled for the gold medal
Maguire, Chapter 23). The story of who con-
and $5,000 on the street course. Macdonald nailed
trols the presentation of these sports is the
his final 60-second run, including something
story of the conflicts and contestations over
called a back flip where he went up one ramp,
who owns, and who will control the econo-
turned, twisted and landed going down another
mics, but also the soul of these sports.
ramp ... Two skateboarders later, Senn stepped to
the top of the ramp. For 53 seconds, he was per-
fect, flying down ramps, sliding along rails and
bringing the packed crowd to its feet. But with
Lifestyle, Aesthetics
seven seconds remaining, Senn bit it on the black
and Competition asphalt. Said Senn: ‘I thought Andy won’.
(Norcross, 1997: D-3)
There has been an interesting non-complaint
associated with alternative and extreme sport, But Senn won, and Macdonald and Senn
and that is that there are rarely reports of ath- were both incredibly gracious, explaining how
letes suffering burnout. Until the advent of the other’s tricks were outstanding, and how
control by others such as agents, site coordina- much fun it was to watch the other perform.
tors, sponsors and ESPN, for example, this was Later, Senn explained a bit of the ethos for
a non-issue. Now, however, when fun has skateboarding, and perhaps for other alterna-
somehow been made into work for these ath- tive sports: ‘It’s like painting or music. You
letes – and with competition added to the mix – can’t judge anybody. It’s an art form, not a
there are more and more complaints. sport’ (1997: D-3). And yet, of course, it is both.
In-line skater Arlo Eisenberg once said, ‘Our Of course, as more and more people begin to
sports – Rollerblading – have never really had participate, and bring in more of a competitive
grass-roots’. He claims that this, more than ethos to the sports, the very nature of the
anything else, has made forms of in-line skat- sports will continue to change. And as corpo-
ing more vulnerable to outside influences: rations like ESPN see that competition sells on
‘ESPN is great in terms of exposure but television, that head-to-head combat between
it’s dangerous in how they present [in-line six skiers, with the naturally occurring spills
skating] – making it something that is wasn’t and tumbles, and crashes in the street luge,
meant to be ... based on competition. . . . New bring in audience, the mainstream values of
kids don’t want another “sport”’ (personal American sport will continue to impact the
communication, 31 October 1996). original, non-competitive ethos of these sports.
The core members of in-line and of other
extreme sports have claimed that they initiated
their participation because it was something Self-regulation versus Governance
they could do by themselves, because it didn’t by Others
require adult (coaches, officials, etc.) super-
vision, and because it was challenging. They To some extent, previous issues like multina-
formed a great support network for one tional corporate involvement, issues of authen-
another. Enthusiasts appreciated the excellent ticity and credibility and lifestyle issues
moves of other participants in ways that were intersect with the issue of self-regulation of the
inconsistent with a ‘competitive ethic’. Two sports. To what degree, for instance, does cor-
anecdotes, one from footbag and one from porate involvement promote the growth of the
514 KEY TOPICS

sport as opposed to serving exclusively the created the model for all the sports after them.
fiduciary interests of the corporation? When Time, experience, they have the most solid,
‘stars’ in the ‘cult of celebrity’ become per- definite identity’, according to Arlo Eisenberg
ceived as sell-outs, there immediately arises a (personal communication, 31 October 1996).
problem of authenticity. And when partici- They are more solidly entrenched, and thus
pants have a world-view that doing the sport less likely to become overtly appropriated and
on a daily basis is fundamental to insider changed by outsiders. But the newer, less-
status, and a once-a-year televised X Games homogeneous sports are more ripe for multi-
(what some might term good exposure for the nationals to co-opt. Many of the athletes in
sports, others might see as exploitation) only these sports have chosen to ride the wave and,
shows the winning contestants, there is a rightly or wrongly, have decided that they
perception that the self-control of the sport is can be better agents for change within the
being wrested from its founders. corporate structure than by fighting it from the
This then becomes an issue of self- outside. Arlo Eisenberg puts it this way: ‘Our
determination versus governance by others. A goal to maintain purity and integrity is not
case in point is the recent co-optation of snow- anathema to ESPN’s goal to make money. Long-
boarding by the International Olympic term, make it something worth watching’
Committee for the 1998 Winter Olympics. (personal communication, 31 October 1996).
Sean O’Brien of Transworld Snowboarding
Business Magazine (cited in Thomas,
1998a) says, ‘If it wasn’t for snowboarding Sexism, Racism, and Homophobia
coming to the resorts, overall skier
visitation numbers would be in the toilet’ It is said that ESPN eXtreme Games founder
(1998a: C14). Clearly, snowboarding – and Ron Semiao ‘ jumped off the couch, went to a
snowboarders – have changed the nature of bookstore and found there was no magazine
recreational use for many recreationalists (esti- that encompassed more than one non-
mated at about 4 million in the United States, mainstream sport such as skateboarding, sport
but with up to ‘10 trips a year’ per person, ver- climbing and snowboarding. Each had its own
sus about two trips a year for skiers, according magazine and its own culture’ (Rother, 1997:
to Greg Ralph, Marketing Director at Bear B-2). Indeed, it is true. Just as each of these
Mountain, CA, cited in P. Thomas, 13 March sports has its ‘own magazine and its own
1998a: C14). Critical mass of participants – culture’, it also has its own opportunity to wel-
thus, educated spectators – was an important come new members who are, in the beginning,
factor in the decision to ‘Olympize’ the sport. different from the existing membership.
Early on, the IOC’s ski arm, the International However, many of these sports are expensive.
Ski Federation (FIS), began a ‘snowboard tour As Thorstein Veblen observed at the end of the
to rival the ISF [International Snowboard nineteenth century, the wealthy classes have
Federation] circuit’ and then worked its way ways of ‘conspicuously consuming’ that
(according to many of the ISF riders) into the covertly lock others out of their leisurely pur-
mainstream (Dufresne, 1998: C10). The ISF at suits (1979 [1899]). In the nineteenth century, it
this point in time, it should be noted, personi- was sailing, polo, fox hunting and other expen-
fies self-governance for snowboarders. sive sports. Exclusivity remains a part of tradi-
Many snowboarders, however, not willing tional or mainstream sports today, and it is also
to be so readily appropriated by what they saw characteristic in a range of alternative sports.
as the strong-arm tactics of the IOC, chose to For example, here is a listing of costs to equip
boycott the 1998 Nagano Games. They were and train for skysurfing:
especially disappointed by the fact that their Skysurfboard: $500–$750. Camera helmet: $500.
events were sponsored by equipment and Jumpsuit: $250. PC7 camera: $2,500. Of course,
clothing manufacturers whose apparel they you first need to be certified to skydive, which can
could not wear. This scenario involved motiva- take several weeks: $1,500. For training at the pro
tions similar to those in the 1992 USA Men’s level, figure 12 jumps a day, six days a week. At
Basketball ‘Dream Team’’s Nike/Reebok con- $16 a jump, that’s $1,152 per week for the sky-
flict. But the Games still went on and, as US surfer, another $1,152 if you want a camera flyer to
Olympic snowboarder Lisa Kosglow record it all for posterity. Call Daddy. (Brooker,
said,‘some of the other [ISF] riders have a lot of 1998: 66)
resentment ... It’s a whole sellout issue’ (cited
in Dufresne, 1998: C10). Expenses in many alternative sports can be
Some alternative sports like skateboarding quite high. For snowboarders, climbers, BASE
‘have been around [a long time and have] jumpers, adventure challenge teams, and for
 EMERGING ARRIVING SPORT 515

anyone aspiring to become professional in As one reads through the skateboarding

their sport there is travel to and from sites. magazine Big Brother, one can find many
Travel costs are added to costs for equipment, attempts to outrageously offend: there is an
support personnel, training, insurance and advertisement for ‘Fuct’ with a nearly naked
entry fees. Overall, these expenses can be quite Penthouse Pet of the Year, covered only by
daunting. three ‘Fuct’ stickers. A part of the copy reads,
Alternative sports can be exclusionary in ‘For all your sexual, perverted, sexist, racist,
additional ways as well. More recent evidence purist, anarchist, separatist, blasphemous,
from some of the magazines found by X Games nihilist needs’. It is an ad for skateboard ‘street
developer Ron Semiao reveals a dearth of wear’ (1997 (October): no page). Or there is the
female athletes and a concomitant lack ad for Shorty’s™ (a distributor): ‘This ad is for
of press coverage for the women who do Quickies™ (‘removable shield speed bearings’)
participate (see, for example, Dennis-Vano, which displays what appears to be a vagina
1995, ‘Look out boys, here we come’). Because and anus stuffed with Quickies products. The
few, if any, alternative sports are found in or disclaimer states: ‘Attention Parents: This is
are sponsored by public schools, laws calling not a real human anus and vagina in this ad.
for gender equity, such as Title IX in the United [Below that:] Attention Readers: I hope you
States, cannot be used to force changes. Parity enjoy this issue. Despite what we just told your
for girls and women is not yet enforced, and parents, it will probably be our last’ (1995: no
the organizational structures of these sports are page).
in their early and formative stages of develop- The obvious attempts to shock, titillate and,
ment. In other words, many alternative sports ultimately, sell products to young skateboard-
are still grass-roots, partly informal activities, ers capitalizes on the ‘outlaw’ image of skate-
and are not legally bound to create parity for boarding. The content in many ads, letters to
girls and women. Rarely are young girls and the editor and articles (such as the ‘The Second
women welcomed into some of the sports, Annual Bong Olympics’) is anti-authority, in
though again the degree of acceptance for every possible theme, so that, as it shocks and
females is uneven, largely dependent upon the offends, it creates a feeling of adolescent kin-
specific sports themselves. ship. The message is: us against the Other, how-
Though studies have not looked at the ever the Other may be defined. As evidenced,
prevalence of sexism, racism, and homophobia homophobia, sexism and racism can be blatant,
in extreme sports, segments from a few letters but they can also be subtle: Kusz (forthcoming)
from some of the magazines indicate that they has provided a compelling case that, in BMX
have not gone unnoticed:7 bike riding, ‘the individuals who practice these
activities and the representational strategies
How come ESPN only showed girls skating on used to construct [“whiteness”]’ have made
ESPN2? That reeked cuz I don’t get it and I’ve this very whiteness ‘a racially neutral category’
been dying to see girls skate since I’ve started skat- (ms., p. 25). ‘Whiteness’, in Kusz’s view, has
ing. ESPN sucks! (McCoy, 1996: no page) become an assumed dominant category such
[‘humorous’ reply from writer Chris Pontius to a that in much research on extreme sports, ‘the
letter to the editor] If you’re such a tough man, issue of the racial identity of BMXers is almost
what the hell are you ironing clothes for? That’s always unnoticed or not of interest to viewers
woman’s work! You also have been using a sta- of the sporting activity’ (ms., p. 17).
pler . . . Craig, are you a male secretary? It makes
me excited to know that there’s some mad,
deranged male secretary running around St Louis EMERGING ARRIVING SPORT:
beating up on the beginning skaters. (Pontius, SOME CONCLUSIONS
1997: no page)

[in response to a letter that had stated ‘I agree that There are many issues and choices facing those
chickz shouldn’t skate’] You are an idiot. Simon’s involved with alternative and extreme sports.
article was stupid, but I still like him because Practitioners, organizers, corporations, media
I figure, like alcohol and Christianity, sexism was and spectators are all concerned with the emer-
just a phase. But people like you take it serious. I gence, and successful arrival, of their favorite
notice by your last name that you’re an Italian, and sports. The people involved in the sports
I think almost every girl I’ve made love to has obviously have a vested interest in issues that
been an Italian. How does it feel to know that half- are both familiar (having seen the mainstream
breeds and niggers are fucking your women? sports models) and singular. But another
(Pontius, 1997: no page) group – scholars, particularly sports and
516 KEY TOPICS

popular culture scholars – needs to voice its NOTES

concerns for the future of these sports.
Whereas many of the world’s mainstream 1 The question itself is a self-reflexive one.
sports are established and solidified in their Though humans have reflected upon the
rules, organizational structures and informal condition and status of life and the human
practices (see Chapter 15 by Guttmann), alter- body/mind/spirit/soul since at least the
native and extreme sports are simultaneously philosophies of the Gnostics, Socrates,
emerging and arriving, some of them as post- Plato, Aristotle, Lao Tze, and so on – the
modern forms. When the various constituen- decidedly self-reflective nature of ‘what is
cies in particular sports are not in agreement, sport’ (what is play, what is game) has
problems are common. Sometimes, the prob- been, in Western societies, one which typi-
lems are not unlike those in mainstream sports. cally is cited as running from at least
Where will they receive funding? How will Huizinga, through Caillois to Loy and then
they gain support while still retaining control branching out in myriad ways. (Its very
over the conditions of participation? How will Westernness is an interesting phenomenon,
they attract the biggest and best audience? as well.) However, as in contemporary
How is it possible to make entry into and society, the need to play and to engage in
power over the sports more egalitarian – open sporting practices is generally more satisfy-
for all? But alternative sports also face issues ing when one is more ‘other-aware’ than
and challenges that are rare in mainstream ‘self-aware’. Thus, to many sportspeople
sports. How might they establish credibility who do rather than talk about, ‘What is
and gain regional, national and worldwide sport’ is a moot question.
acceptance? How might they retain their 2 Most of the mainstream sports are derived
cutting-edge aspects while establishing mass from English-speaking countries for many
appeal? How can they resist the hyper- reasons, but also, according to Guttmann
competitive American model for sport when (1994) and others, because of the coloniza-
their sport is inherently tied to lifestyles at least tion (and thus spread) by British rule.
partially characterized by resistance to domi- Additionally, of course, missionaries, trav-
nant culture? elling teams, tourists and mass movement
Additionally, a few researchers are looking of people have added to the spread of cul-
at some of the issues that surround alternative tural artifacts like sport. This is not unlike
sports, seeing in the sports opportunities to the spread of alternative sports. But, now,
expand our understanding of why and how the magic of television adds to the spread,
humans seek out ever-more sensational prac- quick cultural understanding (and teach-
tices. Issues of authenticity, subcultural forma- ing) of a variety of sports and, of course,
tion, body culture, popular cultural trends and much of the technological power in tele-
practices – all these, and more, a few (usually) vision (and electronic media) is centered in
younger scholars are examining. But, often- the ‘first world’.
times, the tools we use to apprehend new prac- 3 Rupert Murdoch’s attempt at acquiring
tices are more appropriate for older practices. Manchester United (£575 million, US$1.93
Thus, it is important for scholars studying billion), following his purchase of the
these new sport forms to immerse themselves Los Angeles Dodgers, was first character-
in a vast new array of tool kits which may ized this way: ‘The media magnate ... uses
more aptly reflect the practices of the (usually) control of sports in his bid for global satel-
younger practitioners. lite television dominance . . .’ (The
It is not enough for established scholars to New Zealand Herald, 7 September 1998: A1);
look at youthful practices. While the points of five days later, the New Zealand Weekend
view from anyone may be judged for proper fit, Herald blared the following headline:
actual practitioners (or participant observers) ‘Murdoch’s motive is global TV coverage:
are needed to tell about the nuances of the Analysts believe media baron Rupert
sports from insider points of views. Youthful Murdoch wants domination of world
scholars may also be better able to contextual- sports and entertainment’ (12–13 September
ize the new and ever-changing experience of 1998: C-8); previously, in Australia, ABC
youth so that more readers may understand moderator Stan Correy characterized
music, opposition, freedom and thrill aspects of Murdoch as ‘the only-in-it-for-the-pay TV
youth culture more empathically. subscribers’ media mogul’ (3 October
The situation seems highly fitting: a new set 1996). Murdoch is continually character-
of issues for a new set of sport forms as we ized as a businessman who happens to be
enter the new millennium. involved in sport media.
 EMERGING ARRIVING SPORT 517

4 The limitations of one’s standpoint are REFERENCES

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vision of what they might consider ‘alter- in effort to save the earth’, The Times, 18 April,
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is biased is a valid one, and it raises the Beal, Becky (1995) ‘Disqualifying the official: an
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Americanization or globalization of sport subculture of skateboarding’, Sociology of Sport
forms (see Chapter 23 by Maguire), includ- Journal, 12 (3): 252–67.
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rate involvement and impetus for their ‘Authenticity in the skateboarding world’, in
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5 And yet, inevitably, there has been a back- Extreme: Alternative Sports Inside and Out. Albany,
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(debates are good for selling newspapers) ture racing and expedition epics’, in Robert
of the legitimacy of these new sport forms. Rinehart and Synthia Sydnor (eds), To the Extreme:
See some of the debates about ballroom Alternative Sports Inside and Out. Albany, NY: State
dancing in the Olympics (cf. B. Thomas, University of New York Press.
1998; The Times, 1995). Or see the compari- Benc, Doug (1998) ‘Snowboard title to US’, The Press-
son of extreme sport to art by modernist Enterprise (Riverside, CA), 2 February, p. C-7.
‘Critic-At-Large’ Welton Jones (1997), in Booth, Douglas (forthcoming) ‘Expression sessions:
which Jones discusses sport, art, spectacle surfing, style and prestige’, in Robert Rinehart and
and contest/performance. A different take Synthia Sydnor (eds), To the Extreme: Alternative
on these sports might be to see them as car- Sports Inside and Out. Albany, NY: State University
rying elements of the postmodern, that the of New York Press.
very fact of their amalgamated nature, their Brewington, Peter (1993) ‘3-on-3 game grows from
evolving forms, is perhaps a bit of mixing teen dream’, USA Today, 6 July, pp. 1C, 2C.
between some of the competitive natures of Bridgers, Lee (forthcoming) ‘Over the brink and
mainstream sports and some of the 1960s through the endangered dirt with the pious
counter-culture ethos: for instance, Terry bikesurfers of Moab, Utah’, in Robert Rinehart and
Orlick’s (1978) New Games seem to be a Synthia Sydnor (eds), To the Extreme: Alternative
valid predecessor to some of the activities, Sports Inside and Out. Albany, NY: State University
if not world-view, of these alternative sport of New York Press.
forms and enthusiasts. Brockinton, Langdon (1998) ‘ESPN, ABC ready X
6 Apparently, tennis was originally termed Games ad packages’, Street & Smith’s Sportsbusiness
‘Sphairistikon’ by a Frenchman, and Journal, 1 (29): 20.
Sphairee is derivative of that original term Brooker, Kevin (1998) Way Inside ESPN’s X Games.
(I am grateful to Eric Dunning for this New York: Hyperion/ESPN Books.
insight). The games, similar in methodol- Burton, Jake (forthcoming) ‘Snowboarding: the
ogy but not scope, obviously follow the essence is fun’, in Robert Rinehart and Synthia
same pattern. Just as snowboarding has its Sydnor (eds), To the Extreme: Alternative Sports
origination myths, both etymologically and Inside and Out. Albany, NY: State University of
pragmatically deriving from surfing on New York Press.
long ‘boards’ in the sea to waves of snow, so Caillois, Roger (1961) Man, Play, and Games.
too do most of these emergent sports have New York: Free Press.
roots in other forms, or amalgams of other Cook, Jason (1995) ‘Sk8 by shootings’, Daily Bread, 10,
forms. no page.
7 I’m not trying to say that these letters are Cotter, Jim (forthcoming) ‘Eco (ego?) Challenge:
necessarily representative of all of the ath- British Columbia, 1996’, in Robert Rinehart and
letes in the sports, but more that they are Synthia Sydnor (eds), To the Extreme: Alternative
circulated meanings, available in the codi- Sports Inside and Out. Albany, NY: State University
fied discourse which reinstills their mean- of New York Press.
ings. That there is discussion of some of the Crum, Bart (1988) ‘A critical analysis of korfball as a
issues of (overt) sexism and (covert) racism “non-sexist sport”’, International Review for the
in extreme sports is no doubt a good thing; Sociology of Sport, 23 (3): 233–41.
that it degenerates into name-calling and Dennis-Vano, Donna (1995) ‘Look out boys, here we
adolescent gestures is disquieting. come’, InLine: the Skate Magazine, 4 (8): 28–9.
518 KEY TOPICS

Donnelly, Peter (1997) ‘Re: Still more on x-games. Home Box Office, Inc. (HBO) (1991) ‘Play by Play:
Sociological aspects of sports discussion’, A History of Sports Television (Part 2)’.
[email protected] 3 February. Howe, Jeff (1998) ‘The outsiders’, Village Voice,
Donnelly, Peter (forthcoming) ‘The great divide: 25 August, p. 182.
sport climbing vs. adventure climbing’, in Robert Huizinga, Johann (1950 [1938]) Homo Ludens. Boston,
Rinehart and Synthia Sydnor (eds), To the Extreme: MA: Beacon Press.
Alternative Sports Inside and Out. Albany, NY: State Humphreys, Duncan (forthcoming) ‘Selling out
University of New York Press. snowboarding: the alternative response to
Donnelly, Peter and Young, Kevin (1988) ‘The commercial co-optation’, in Robert Rinehart and
construction and confirmation of identity in sport Synthia Sydnor (eds), To the Extreme: Alternative
subcultures’, Sociology of Sport Journal, 5 (3): 223–40. Sports Inside and Out. Albany, NY: State University
Dornian, David (forthcoming) ‘Xtreem’, in Robert of New York Press.
Rinehart and Synthia Sydnor (eds), To the Extreme: Jarvie, Grant (1991) Highland Games and the Making of
Alternative Sports Inside and Out. Albany, NY: State Myth. New York: Columbia University Press.
University of New York Press. Jones, Welton (1997) ‘There’s an art to determining
Downs, Brett (forthcoming) ‘Small bikes, big men’, in what’s sporting’, San Diego Union-Tribune,
Robert Rinehart and Synthia Sydnor (eds), To the 29 June, p. E-3.
Extreme: Alternative Sports Inside and Out. Albany, Keeble, James (1995) Morocco (from Thomas Cook).
NY: State University of New York Press. Lincolnwood, IL: Passport Books.
Dufresne, Chris (1998) ‘Culture crash’, Los Angeles Koerner, Brendan I. (1997) ‘Extreeeme’, US News &
Times, 30 January, pp. C1, C10. World Report, 30 June, 122 (25): 50–60.
du Lac, J.F. (1995) ‘Going to extremes’, The Koyn, Tamara (forthcoming) ‘Free dimensional sky-
Sacramento Bee, 18 June, Travel, pp. 1, 4. diving’, in Robert Rinehart and Synthia Sydnor
Earnest, Leslie (1998) ‘Surf ‘n’ turf: Hilfiger wades (eds), To the Extreme: Alternative Sports Inside and
into niche market with insiders’ help’, Los Angeles Out. Albany, NY: State University of New York
Times, 26 June, pp. D1, D5. Press.
Eassom, Simon (forthcoming) ‘Mountain biking Kremer, Kirsten (forthcoming) ‘May 27, 1998’, in
madness’, in Robert Rinehart and Synthia Sydnor Robert Rinehart and Synthia Sydnor (eds), To the
(eds), To the Extreme: Alternative Sports Inside and Extreme: Alternative Sports Inside and Out. Albany,
Out. Albany, NY: State University of New York NY: State University of New York Press.
Press. Kroker, A., Kroker, M. and Cook, D. (1989) ‘Panic
ESPN (1995) Broadcast of The eXtreme Games, Olympics’ in A. Kroker, M. Kroker and D. Cook
24 June–3 July. Bristol, CT. (eds), Panic Encyclopedia: the Definitive Guide to the
ESPN2 (1998) Broadcast of Winter X Games, 16–20 Postmodern Scene. New York: St Martin’s Press.
January. Bristol, CT. Kubiak, Diane (1997) ‘Stunt team spins through
ESPN2 (1999) Broadcast of Winter X Games, 16–22 town’, Post-Tribune (Valparaiso, IN), pp. B1, B2.
January. Bristol, CT. Kusz, Kyle (forthcoming) ‘BMX, extreme sports, and
ESPN Sportszone (1997) The X Games. http:// the white male backlash’, in Robert Rinehart and
espn.go.com/xgames/summerx97/index.html Synthia Sydnor (eds), To the Extreme: Alternative
Florence, Mal (1998) ‘He’s in no mood for any more Sports Inside and Out. Albany, NY: State University
radical moves’, ‘Morning Briefing’, Los Angeles of New York Press.
Times, 31 December, p. D2. Lowe, Benjamin (1977) The Beauty of Sport: A Cross-
Forest, Stephanie Anderson (1993) ‘Terry Murphy’s Disciplinary Inquiry. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
wonderful wannabe road show’, Business Week, Prentice-Hall.
22 November, p. 88. Loy, John W. (1968) ‘The nature of sport: a defini-
Fowler, Chris (1998) ‘As inside as it gets’, in Way tional effort’, Quest, 10 (May): 1–15.
Inside ESPN’s X Games. New York: Hyperion/ McCoy, Tasha (1996) In ‘Call Box’, Box, 10 (Fall): no
ESPN Books. pp. 249–50. page.
Greenfeld, Karl Taro (1998) ‘A wider world of McCuin, Jill Walker (1996) ‘Hackin with the “Sack” is
sports’, Time, 9 November, pp. 80–1. big-time’, The San Bernardino Country Sun,
Grenfell, Chris (1998) ‘Value constructs of ultra dis- 4 January, p. H3.
tance runners’. Paper presented at the North Moscow Tribune (1996) ‘X Games celebrate alterna-
American Society for the Sociology of Sport tives’, 28 June, p. 21.
annual meeting, Las Vegas, NV, 7 November. Mounet, Jean-Pierre and Chifflet, Pierre (1996)
Guttman, Allen (1994) Games and Empires: Modern ‘Commercial supply for river water sports’,
Sports and Cultural Imperialism. New York: International Review for Sociology of Sport, 31 (3):
Columbia University Press. 233–56.
Henderson, John (1998) ‘Queenstown, the capital of Mounet, Jean-Pierre and Chifflet, Pierre (forth-
action’, Los Angeles Times, 8 November, p. L17. coming) ‘Whitewater sports: from extreme to
 EMERGING ARRIVING SPORT 519

standardization (trans. Genevieve Rail)’, in Robert Out. Albany, NY: State University of New York
Rinehart and Synthia Sydnor (eds), To the Extreme: Press.
Alternative Sports Inside and Out. Albany, NY: State Rother, Caitlin (1997) ‘ESPN innovator’s prime direc-
University of New York Press. tive was to make sports fun to watch’, The San
Neems, Jeff (1998) ‘Extreme sports’, Nexus Diego Union-Tribune, 21 June, p. B-2.
(University of Waikato), 15 September, pp. 12–15. Seltsam, Pat (1996) ‘The games formerly known as
Norcross, Don (1997) ‘Skateboarders raise competi- Extreme’, Speed Skating Times: International Inline &
tion to an art form’, The San Diego Union-Tribune, Ice Speed Skating News, 15.
24 June, p. D-3. Silverstein, Sam (1995) ‘Storming the beaches’, Pro
Orlick, Terry (1978) The Cooperative Sports and Games Athlete Insider, 4 (1): 22–5, 28–30.
Book: Challenge without Competition. New York: Sydnor, Synthia (forthcoming) ‘Soaring’, in Robert
Pantheon Books. Rinehart and Synthia Sydnor (eds), To the Extreme:
Pearson, Kent (1979) Surfing Subcultures of Australia Alternative Sports Inside and Out. Albany, NY: State
and New Zealand. St Lucia, Queensland: University University of New York Press.
of Queensland Press. The Times (1995) ‘Strictly Olympian: ballroom
Pearson, Kent (1981) ‘Subcultures and sport’, in dancers may soon be quickstepping for gold’,
John W. Loy, Gerald S. Kenyon and Barry 5 April, p. 15.
D. McPherson (eds), Sport, Culture and Society: a Thomas, Bob (1998) ‘“DanceSport” may join the
Reader on the Sociology of Sport, 2nd edn. Olympics’, Chicago Tribune, 25 July, Sect. 1, p. 15.
Philadelphia: Lea & Febiger. pp. 131–45. Thomas, Pete (1998a) ‘Boarders take care of busi-
Perkins, Dave (1996) ‘Like it or not, this sport’s legit’, ness’, Los Angeles Times, 13 March, p. C14.
The Toronto Star, 31 July, p. D1. Thomas, Pete (1998b) ‘Gauntlet thrown for Castaic
Pontius, Chris (1997) ‘Letters’, Big Brother, gantlet’, Los Angeles Times, 23 October, p. D10.
29 (October): no page. Tomlinson, Joe (1996) The Ultimate Encyclopedia of
Price, Lew (1997) ‘Skins made-for-TV event?’, The Extreme Sports. Carlton Books Limited.
Press-Enterprise (Riverside, CA), 29 November, Veblen, Thorstein (1979 [1899]) The Theory of the
p. F-5. Leisure Class. New York: Penguin Books.
Radio National (1996) ‘Same game . . . different atti- Watters, Ron (forthcoming) ‘The wrong side of the
tude’, Background Briefing, 10 March, Australian thin edge’, in Robert Rinehart and Synthia Sydnor
Broadcasting Corporation. (eds), To the Extreme: Alternative Sports Inside and
Radio National (1998) ‘Australian Invented Sports’, Out. Albany, NY: State University of New York
The Sports Factor, 25 September, Australian Press.
Broadcasting Corporation. Wheaton, Belinda (1997) ‘Consumption, lifestyle and
Rees, Johanna (1997) ‘Catchin air at the X Games’, gendered identities in post-modern sports: the
The San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 June, ‘Night & case of windsurfing’. Unpublished doctoral disser-
Day’, pp. 32–3, 35. tation, University of Brighton.
Rinehart, Robert (1998a) ‘Inside of the outside: peck- Wheaton, Belinda (forthcoming) ‘Windsurfing: a
ing orders within alternative sport at ESPN’s 1995 subculture of commitment’, in Robert Rinehart
“The eXtreme Games”’, Journal of Sport and Social and Synthia Sydnor (eds), To the Extreme:
Issues, 22 (4): 398–415. Alternative Sports Inside and Out. Albany, NY: State
Rinehart, Robert (1998b) Players All: Performances in University of New York Press.
Contemporary Sport. Bloomington, IN: Indiana Wheaton, Belinda and Tomlinson, Alan (1998) ‘The
University Press. changing gender order in sport? The case of wind-
Rinehart, Robert (forthcoming) ‘Dropping into surfing’, Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 22 (3):
sight: commodification and co-optation of in-line 252–74.
skating’, in Robert Rinehart and Synthia Sydnor Williams, Raymond (1977) Marxism and Literature.
(eds), To the Extreme: Alternative Sports Inside and Oxford: Oxford University Press.
 PART FOUR

SPORT AND SOCIETY RESEARCH

AROUND THE GLOBE

EDITORS’ INTRODUCTION

Just as sport is a global phenomenon, so too is attention given to the sociology of sport. The
the study of sport and society. Although most content of these chapters differs widely
authors of previous chapters were born and/or because the histories of the field and the over-
educated in England, Canada, or the United all cultural contexts in which it has emerged
States, scholarship in the field certainly is vary so much from one country or region to
not confined to those countries. In fact, doing another. As many scholars have met and
research and theorizing about sport and worked with their colleagues from other parts
society has been or has recently become widely of the world, they have discovered that this
recognized as important in many countries diversity contributes to the growth and vitality
around the world. of the field as a whole. These chapters are
The following chapters appear in alphabeti- intended to facilitate and add to that growth
cal order of title; titles refer to continents, and vitality. Hopefully, they will also con-
nation-states, regions or culture areas. The tribute to a degree of methodological, concep-
intent of each chapter is to highlight briefly the tual and theoretical standardization without
status of sport and society theory and research scarificing or doing injury to the diversity.
in a particular geographical area, with special
 33
AFRICA

Denver J. Hendricks

Africa occupies one-fifth of the earth’s surface which had a department of physical education
and, as the third largest continent, could swal- or sociology, or a faculty or institute which was
low the USA, the whole of Eastern and considered to be a possible host to the disci-
Western Europe, India, Japan, New Zealand, pline, was surveyed.
Paraguay and Uruguay with room to spare. It Twenty-seven questionnaires were returned,
includes one-tenth of the world’s population, representing a response rate of 24 per cent,
and two-thirds of the entire Arab world (Nuwe which, given the numerous problems associ-
Afikaanse Kinder Ensiklopedie, 1982). The conti- ated with postal and telecommunications ser-
nent comprises 60 countries and roughly 1,000 vices on the African continent, was considered
languages and dialects are spoken there. At to be satisfactory. Responses were received from
face value, it may appear that to speak of a the following countries: Burkina Faso (1),
‘sociology of sport of, or for Africa’ would rep- Ghana (1), Kenya (3), Mauritius (1), Morocco (1),
resent a gross oversimplification. Namibia (1), Nigeria (4), South Africa (13),
Very little, if any, information is available on Tanzania (1) and Tunisia (1).
the sociology of sport in Africa. Contact and
communication between scholars in the field
has been rare. The African Association for THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT IN
Physical Education, Health Education, ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS IN AFRICA
Recreation and Dance was formed as recently
as 1994. It presented the first opportunity for
scholars within the domains mentioned to The sociology of sport was included as a disci-
exchange ideas about the subject area within pline within the curricula of 51 per cent of the
its broader context (Amusa and Agbonjinmi, responding institutions at the undergraduate
1994). It also created the first opportunity for level, and 37 per cent at the graduate level.
scholars from Africa in the field of sports soci- Respondents at 48 per cent of the institutions
ology to share a platform on the continent. indicated that they were aware of individuals at
their institutions who were engaged in research
activity in the discipline. Sociology of Sport
courses were generally included in the curricula
DATA GATHERING of human movement studies, physical educa-
tion, sports administration, and recreation
In order to ascertain what the status of the departments, or, in isolated cases, in depart-
sociology of sport is in the different countries ments of psychology, sociology, and interna-
of Africa, 113 questionnaires were circulated to tional studies. Students who enrolled for
institutions in 39 countries across the conti- courses in the sociology of sport originated pri-
nent, and also in Mauritius and Madagascar, marily from human movement studies, physi-
since the latter two usually participate in inter- cal education, sports management and
national sport as part of the ‘African zone’. recreation departments, while again in isolated
Every institution of higher learning on the con- cases, they also derived from departments of
tinent listed in the The World of Learning (1996) sociology, education, international studies and
 AFRICA 523

business administration. Respondents reported competitive athletes’, ‘Gender and sport’ and
having graduated approximately 3,029 students other such issues appear to be as popular. This
who took courses in sport sociology at the first is probably a reflection of the fact that many of
degree level, 282 at the honours level (4th year), the scholars involved in the Sociology of Sport
167 at the Masters level and 53 at the Doctoral in Africa have their academic roots in Western
level over the five years ending in 1997.1 countries, and in the USA in particular, where
these topics are, or were once, fashionable.
Scholars in the Sociology
of Sport in Africa Popular Issues
From the data gathered from respondents, it It is peculiar that undergraduate course offer-
would appear as if all the staff who were ings and research activities seem to differ
responsible for teaching sociology of sport somewhat from the issues which respondents
courses held qualifications in physical educa- have identified as being currently the most
tion (or similar disciplines), while approxi- topical in their societies. Respondents confirm
mately 42 per cent also held qualifications in that racism in sport, access to participation in
sociology. Approximately 33 per cent were sport, professionalism in sport, ethics in sport
trained in the sociology of sport specifically. It and sport and development, are as popular in
is significant also that 30 per cent of teachers of debates within sporting circles in their coun-
courses in the sociology of sport had obtained tries as are politics in sport. So is gender equity,
their qualifications in the United States, while which also enjoys prominence in course con-
the others had generally acquired them in their tent and research. Other topical sports issues
home countries. which receive popular attention in sociology of
sport courses in Africa include crowd manage-
ment and violence, drug (ab)use, match fixing,
Course Content sport for street children, facilities, the decline
of amateurism, religious segregation and
The most popular topic covered in undergrad- nation-building, to mention but a few.
uate courses in the subject area in Africa were
politics and sport, followed by gender issues in
sport, social stratification and mobility in/ Publication
through sport, and sport as a social phenom-
enon. Next in line was violence in sport and With the limited number of responses received
sport and culture (equally popular), while it was difficult to determine the extent of pub-
socialization into/through sport, sport and the lication within the discipline but, on average,
media, and sport and the economy enjoyed rates appeared to be particularly low, with
similar status. Given the continent’s colonial most activity (apparently) taking place at insti-
past and the apartheid question at its tutions in Nigeria.
southernmost point, it is significant that race
and sport was lower down on the popularity
scale as a topic taught within the sociology of CONCLUSION
sport in Africa than might have been expected.
Despite the scepticism expressed at the begin-
Research Topics ning of this chapter about the concept of a soci-
ology of sport in Africa, it would appear as if
The research topics with which scholars busy there is sufficient commonality within the foci
themselves in the discipline seem to correlate a in the discipline across countries on the conti-
lot more closely with the generally prevailing nent to substantiate its authenticity. It would
problems of the African continent. Topics such appear as if its character has been shaped by
as ‘Sport and recreation in deprived communi- the fact that many scholars in the field in Africa
ties’, ‘Poverty and violence: sport and recre- obtained their qualifications in Western coun-
ation as possible solutions’, ‘Sport and tries, particularly in the USA, and that they
development’, ‘Aspirations and achievements’ experienced a number of influences in that
and the like, correspond with the African connection which they brought with them
stereotype of poverty, violence (under-)devel- upon returning home. Finally, the evidence of a
opment and instability. However, topics such as focus upon issues that plague the continent
‘Role models in sport’, ‘Sport and the religion generally, such as poverty, violence, (under-)
of football’ ‘Female student perceptions of development, racism, access to sport and the
524 SPORT AND SOCIETY RESEARCH AROUND THE GLOBE

like, seems to be characteristic of the emerging REFERENCES

sociology of sport in Africa, and justifiably so.
The emergence of the African Association for
Amusa, L.O. and Agbonjinmi, A.P. (1994) Who’s Who
Physical Education, Health Education, Recrea-
in Physical Education, Health Education, Recreation
tion and Dance is bound to provide a strong
and Dance Training Institutions in Africa. Ibadan,
impetus for the development of the subject
Nigeria: LAP Publications Ltd.
area on the continent.
Nuwe Afrikaanse Kinder Ensiklopedie (1982). Cape
Town: Nasou.
The World of Learning (1996). London: Europa
NOTE
Publications Limited.
1 The majority of Masters and PhD students
included in these figures graduated from
the Institut Supérieur du Sport et de
l’Education Physique in Tunisia.
 34
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND1

Chris Collins

In spite of the ‘supposed’ predominance and at sport in their edited book Power Play,4 which
least ‘lay’ acceptance of the importance of was the first such publication in the region.
sport in the cultures of both countries, serious Here sport was regarded as a social institution
academic study of sport in Australia and New explicitly and implicitly linked to the social
Zealand has been limited, most particularly up structure, with the focus of enquiry primarily
until the mid-1980s. Despite sport having been on the ‘symbiotic relationship’ between sport
pointed to as a significant site for ‘quests for and capitalism. Issues addressed ranged from
identity’ (albeit male dominated and based on commercialism, nationalism and patriarchy, to
invented or selected traditions, symbols, popular culture and the media.
myths and nostalgia), ‘mainstream’ historians The latter half of the 1980s and the early
and sociologists within the region have shown 1990s witnessed an increasing emergence of
comparatively little interest in sport in society multidisciplinary critical social analyses of
as a subject of serious academic enquiry.2 sport and leisure in society.5 The range of theo-
Theoretically, early studies tended to be domi- rizing now utilized represents a broadening of
nated by forms of structural-functionalism – theoretical approaches, and has come to
not surprisingly given its orthodoxy in main- include analyses from standpoints such as
stream sociology up until at least the 1960s political economy, structuralism, figurational
and early 1970s. This dominance, suggest sociology, postmodernism, post-structuralism,
Lawrence and Rowe (1986a), was accentuated feminism and post-structuralist feminism.
by the fact that studies were often under- Perhaps of most significance is the strong work
taken by physical education graduates, most being undertaken in Australia, which might
of whom had returned from having com- broadly be described as falling within the cul-
pleted postgraduate study in the United tural studies tradition; studies drawing on
States. Given these influences, the foci of feminist theorists have also been significant. A
enquiry were usually directed towards issues wide variety of areas related to the phenomena
such as sport as a social institution and various of sport in society are also now being
types of functional analysis of sport-related addressed, such as power relations, media,
phenomena. gender, the body, identity formation, and to a
A more critical theorizing began to emerge lesser extent, ethnicity.
in the 1980s and was undoubtedly strongest in Nevertheless, while there has been an
Australia. Sandercock and Turner’s (1981) increase in critical social-cultural analyses of
analysis of Australian Rules football and sport in the past five to ten years, it still does
Pearson’s (1982) work on surfing and mas- not figure significantly in ‘mainstream’ ve-
culinity provide such examples, as do the hicles for sociological dialogue in New
works of Tatz, Williams, Rowe, McKay and Zealand and Australia. For example, up until
Lawrence which began to appear in journals 1996, the Australia and New Zealand Journal for
such as Arena3 during the 1980s. Lawrence and Sociology had only published six articles related
Rowe (1986b) present an updated selection of to sport or leisure in the preceding decade.
these essays on the sociology of Australian This does not reflect, however, a lack of work
526 SPORT AND SOCIETY RESEARCH AROUND THE GLOBE

undertaken in the field. Rather it is more likely dramatic, though the evidence would suggest
to point to a preference amongst academics that teachers of such programmes are primarily
pursuing this field of study for more specialist adopting technical and functionalist approaches
and international forums created by various to the study of sport.
sport and leisure journals and publications. It A counter influence to this dramatic growth
also reflects the fact that most academics study- in tertiary level programmes in Australia and
ing sport in society do not emanate from ‘main- New Zealand has been the funding pressure
stream’ sociology departments, but from that has come on the tertiary education envi-
departments which include anything from ronment in both countries during the 1990s.
tourism, parks and recreation, physical educa- This has led to pressures within institutions to
tion and human movement to media studies, rationalize course offerings where possible,
business management and education (or vary- and has slowed the dramatic development of
ing combinations of these). This latter point new programmes and courses that was occur-
demonstrates the continuing limited interest in ring. However, despite this context, sport-
sport or leisure on the part of most ‘traditional’ related courses have fared relatively well,
departments of sociology, which are still more probably due to their success in attracting stu-
likely to view such areas as superficial and dent numbers, which has become an increas-
lacking significance. ingly important criterion for gaining resources.
Nevertheless, the emergence within the While the dramatic growth in tertiary level
region of organizations focused on promoting programmes has increased the number of aca-
the study of sport and leisure in society has demics focusing on the study of sport and
facilitated increased intellectual exchange and leisure in society, there has not been an equiva-
research. Probably of greatest significance has lent rise in research output in the field. As Veal
been the Australian Society for Sports History (1993) notes, in contrast to places such as the
and its publication Sporting Traditions, which UK where a similar growth of undergraduate
has provided a valuable vehicle for historians courses occurred, the development within this
and sociologists studying sport. More recent region has occurred primarily in advance of
has been the formation in 1991 of the the establishment of a strong research infra-
Australian and New Zealand Association for structure and research culture. In Australia, the
Leisure Studies (ANZALS), a body established dramatic growth in courses took place in the
to facilitate scholarly debate, the exchange of Colleges of Advanced Education and Institutes
ideas and research and publications in the of Technology where funding structures did
interdisciplinary field of leisure studies. Its not reflect the notion of academics as
annual ANZALS Leisure Research Series journal6 researchers, and while amalgamation with
shows signs of providing a valuable outlet for universities occurred in 1992, Veal argues that
publication of research undertaken within the the funding situation has not changed. The
region. Such forums provide indications of point of note is that academics in both coun-
increasing collective effort and organization tries have largely been preoccupied with
amongst academics within this field of study, course development, department building,
though with regard to ANZALS, the focus is legitimacy battles and so forth, and the estab-
more commonly on the broader phenomena of lishment of strong research cultures and infra-
leisure than on sport. structures has been slow.
This growth in academic enquiry within the Furthermore, research that has been under-
region has been paralleled and linked to the taken has often been applied in nature, such as
dramatic increase in tertiary level undergradu- focusing on aspects of sport and leisure man-
ate and postgraduate programmes of study in agement and service delivery with available
both countries. In New Zealand, for example, funding frequently linked to the knowledge-
seven out of the eight universities now deliver and task-requirements of public sport and
programmes of study directed towards sport leisure agencies. This has reinforced the ten-
and leisure, compared with only one such uni- dency for departments to orientate themselves,
versity programme – at Otago University – 25 in terms of both staffing and course design,
years ago. Most universities now deliver towards the vocational and perceived func-
courses that include components orientated tional needs of the ‘industry’, meaning that the
towards a critical analysis of sport or leisure in output of more theoretically informed critical
their social context, with three providing oppor- analysis of sport and leisure has been limited.
tunities for a strong social science emphasis. The Nevertheless, as departments have strength-
growth in non-university tertiary programmes ened and begun to broaden, their postgraduate
in New Zealand (polytechnics) has been just as programmes have developed, with increasing
 AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND 527

numbers of students engaging in research, complexity or effective praxis (Easton,

which is in turn strengthening the research 1992), for wearing ‘its heart on its sleeve’
cultures and infrastructures. This, combined (Vamplew, 1987, cited by Rowe and
with the growing need for external examiners Lawrence, 1990a) and for overstretching its
and supervisors, means that intellectual case given the lack of supporting empirical
exchange and organization between academics research (Cashman, 1989: cited by Rowe
within the field is likely to continue to grow and Lawrence, 1990a).
and develop. The dramatic advancement in 5 For example: from Australia, Stoddart
information technologies (such as the Internet (1986 and 1988), Goldlust (1987), Tatz (1987
and e-mail) and their growing use by univer- and 1995), Sissons (1988), Rowe and
sity academics in what is, seen from a North Lawrence (1990a), McKay (1991), Vamplew
American or European standpoint, a remote et al. (1992), Vamplew and Stoddart (1994),
region of the world, is also significant. O’Hara (1994) and Cashman (1995); and
In summary, the period since the mid-1980s from New Zealand, Phillips (1987), de Jong
has witnessed an emergence in Australia and (1991), Perkins and Cushman (1993),
New Zealand of a more multidisciplinary criti- Trenberth and Collins (1994) and Cameron
cal analysis of sport. It was in 1981 that Pearson (1996). Examples of studies related to
and McKay lamented the paucity and theoreti- Australia or New Zealand appearing in
cal limitations of the state of the study of sport various academic journals/publications:
in this region. The past dominance of struc- Cunneen and Lynch (1988), Wearing (1992),
tural-functionalist approaches has given way to McKay (1993), Veal and Weiler (1993), Kirk
an ever-broadening range of critical theoretical and Twigg (1995), de Jong (1986), Shannon
paradigms representing an increasingly multi- (1987), Fougere (1989), Thompson (1988
disciplinary focus. Probably most significant and 1990), Hindson and Gidlow (1994),
were the neo-Marxist approaches, with strong Nauright (1995), and Trevelyan and
work coming out of Australia within the devel- Jackson (1995).
oping cultural studies tradition; also important 6 For example, at the time of writing, four of
was the contribution of various feminist analy- the eight papers in the latest volume were
ses. During the 1990s the theorizing continued focused specifically on sport, with papers
to broaden. The challenge for the new decade addressing the marginalisation of women
remains for those within this field of study to in sport, sport management education,
ensure that the social analysis of and theorizing domestic labour and the gendered condi-
about sport in Australia and New Zealand tions of participation in sport, and motiva-
become more firmly embedded and developed tions in masters sport (1995, ANZALS
from a basis of theoretically informed and rig- Leisure Research Series, Vol. 2).
orously conducted research.

REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING

NOTES

1 This overview was written in 1996. Cameron, J. (1996) Trail blazers. Women who Manage
2 Clearly there are exceptions to this. For New Zealand Sport. Christchurch: Sports Inclined.
example, in New Zealand see Richard Cashman, R. (1995) Paradise of Sport: the Rise of
Thompson’s work on the relationships Organised Sport in Australia. Melbourne: Oxford
between race, sport and politics. University Press.
Thompson, R. (1964) Race and Sport. Cunneen, C. and Lynch, R. (1988) ‘The social-
London: Oxford University Press and historical roots of conflict in riots at the Bathurst
Thompson, R. (1975) Retreat from Apartheid: Bike Races’, Australian and New Zealand Journal of
New Zealand’s Sporting Contacts with South Sociology, 24 (1): 5–31.
Africa. Wellington: Oxford University Press. Cushman, G. (1995) ‘The development of leisure
3 A journal which adopted a Marxist studies in Aotearoa – New Zealand’, ANZALS
orientation. Leisure Research Series, 2: 44–60.
4 While this represented a move beyond the de Jong, P. (1986) ‘Making sense of New Zealand
structural-functionalist type analyses more rugby’, Sites, 12 (Autumn): 29–42.
typical of the 1970s, subsequent reviewers de Jong, P. (1991) Saturday’s Warriors. Palmerston
of Power Play criticised it for demonstrating North: Massey University Sociology Department.
class reductionism in a neo-Marxist para- Easton, H. (1992) ‘Review of “Sport, men and the
digm, for not developing any theoretical gender order; critical feminist perspectives”’,
528 SPORT AND SOCIETY RESEARCH AROUND THE GLOBE

Australia and New Zealand Journal of Sociology, Rowe, G. and Lawrence, D. (1995) ‘Negotiations and
28 (1): 285–9. mediations: journalism, professional status and
Fougere, G. (1989) ‘Sport, culture and identity: the making of the sports text’, Media Information
the case of rugby football’, in D. Novitz and Australia, 75: 67–70.
B. Willmott (eds), Culture and Identity in Sandercock, L. and Turner, I. (1981) Up Where,
New Zealand. Wellington: GP Books. pp. 110–22. Cazaly? London: Granada.
Goldlust, J. (1987) Playing for Keeps: Sport, the Media Shannon, A. (1987) ‘Studying youth sport and
and Society. Melbourne: Longman Cheshire. physical education in New Zealand: a review and
Hindson, A. and Gidlow, B. (1994) ‘The trickle- sociological prescription’, Sites, 14: 17–34.
down effect of top level sport: myth or reality? Sissons, R. (1988) The Players: a Social History of the
A case study of the Olympics’, Leisure Options: Professional Cricketer. Sydney: Pluto.
Australian Journal of Leisure and Recreation, 4 (1): Sparks, R. (1995) ‘Leisure and sport management
16–24. education in New Zealand: a situation analysis
Kirk, D. and Twigg, K. (1995) ‘Civilising Australian and a proposal’, ANZALS Leisure Research Series,
bodies: the game ethic and sport in Victorian 2: 94–124.
Government Schools, 1904–1945’, Sporting Tradi- Stoddart, B. (1986) Saturday Afternoon Fever: Sport in
tions, 11 (2): 3–34. the Australian Culture. Sydney: Angus and
Lawrence, G. and Rowe, D. (1986a) ‘Towards a soci- Robertson.
ology of sport in Australia’, in G. Lawrence and Stoddart, B. (1988) ‘The hidden influence of sport’, in
D. Rowe (eds), Power Play: the Commercialisation of V. Burgmann and J. Lee (eds), Constructing a
Australian Sport. Sydney: Hale & Iremonger. Culture: a People’s History of Australia since 1788.
pp. 13–45. Fitzroy, Victoria: McPhee Gribble. pp. 124–35.
Lawrence, G. and Rowe, D. (eds) (1986b) Power Play: Tatz, C. (1987) Aborigines in Sport. Bedford Park,
the Commercialisation of Australian Sport. Sydney: South Australia: Australian Society for Sports
Hale & Iremonger. History, Flinders University.
McKay, J. (1991) No Pain, No Gain? Sport and Tatz, C. (1995) Obstacle Race: Aborigines in Sport.
Australian Culture. Sydney: Prentice-Hall. Sydney: University of New South Wales Press.
McKay, J. (1993) Why So Few? Women Executives in Thompson, S. (1988) ‘Challenging the hegemony:
Australian Sport. Canberra: Australian Sports New Zealand women’s opposition to rugby and
Commission, National Sports Research Centre. the reproduction of a capitalist patriarchy’,
Nauright, J. (ed.) (1995) Sport, Power and Society in International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 23 (2):
New Zealand: Historical and Contemporary Per- 205–12.
spectives. Australian Society for Sports History, Thompson, S. (1990) ‘“Thank the ladies for the
Studies in Sports History, 11. plates”: the incorporation of women into sport’,
O’Hara, J. (ed.) (1994) Ethnicity and Soccer in Leisure Studies, 9: 135–43.
Australia. Sydney: Australian Society for Sports Thompson, S. (1989) ‘Sport sociology in
History. New Zealand’, International Review for the Sociology
Pearson, K. (1982) ‘Conflict, stereotypes and mas- of Sport, 24 (1): 37–41.
culinity in Australian and New Zealand surfing’, Thompson, S. (1995) ‘Playing around the family:
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Sociology, domestic labour and the gendered conditions of
18 (2): 117–35. participation in sport’, ANZALS Leisure Research
Pearson, K. and McKay, J. (1981) ‘Sociology of Series, 2: 125–36.
Australian and New Zealand sport: state of the Trenberth, L. and Collins, C. (eds) (1994) Sport
field overview’, Australian and New Zealand Journal Management in New Zealand. Palmerston North:
of Sociology, 17 (2): 70–1. Dunmore Press.
Perkins, H. and Cushman, G. (eds) (1993) Leisure Trevelyan, M. and Jackson, S. (1995) ‘Clash of the
Recreation and Tourism. Auckland: Longman Paul. codes: a comparative analysis of media represen-
Perkins, H. and Gidlow, B. (1991) ‘Leisure research in tation of violence in rugby union and rugby
New Zealand: patterns, problems and prospects’, league’, Sporting Traditions, 11: 113–38.
Leisure Studies, 10: 93–104. Vamplew, W., Moore, K., O’Hara, J., Cashman R. and
Phillips, J. (1987) A Man’s Country? The Image of the Jobling, I.F. (eds) (1992) The Oxford Companion to
Pakeha Male – a History. Auckland: Penguin. Australian Sport (2nd edn). Melbourne: Oxford
Rowe, G. and Lawrence, D. (eds) (1990a) Sport and University Press.
Leisure, Trends in Australian Popular Culture. Vamplew, W. and Stoddart, B. (eds) (1994) Sport in
Sydney: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. Australia: A Social History. Melbourne: Cambridge
Rowe, G. and Lawrence, D. (1990b) ‘Introduction’, in University Press.
G. Rowe and D. Lawrence (eds), Sport and Leisure, Veal, A.J. (1993) ‘Getting the act together: leisure
Trends in Australian Popular Culture. Sydney: research in Australia’, in A. Boag, C. Lamond and
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. pp. 1–23. E. Sun, Proceedings, ANZALS Inaugural Conference.
 AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND 529

Queensland: ANZALS and Centre for Leisure Wearing, B. (1992) ‘Leisure and women’s identity in
Research, Griffith University. pp. 29–32. late adolescence: constraints and opportunities’,
Veal, A.J. and Weiler, B. (eds) (1993) First Steps . . . Loisir-et-société/Society and Leisure, 15 (1): 323–42.
Leisure and Tourism Research in Australia and
New Zealand. Sydney: Australia and New Zealand
Association for Leisure Studies.
 35
EASTERN EUROPE

Gyöngyi S. Földesi

In the years when sport sociology was evolving Even the publication of Polish and Hungarian
in Western societies, sociology was a forbidden research data on ‘sensitive issues’ such as drug
science in all of Eastern Europe except Poland. use, the health of top athletes and the status
Under communist regimes, sociology was con- and role of top sports, was prohibited or
sidered a ‘bourgeois pseudo-science’. Research impeded.
centres and sociology departments were closed In the early 1970s the sociology of sport in
down, and lecturing and publishing in sociol- Poland entered a new stage of development in
ogy was prohibited. During the 1960s when both quantitative and qualitative research. The
sociological studies were allowed again in the need for new paradigms, improved research
region, sport sociology was among the first methods and an interdisciplinary approach
branches of sociology to emerge. Its rise was was recognized and partly satisfied in the two
promoted by the particular importance of decades following the identification of these
sport at that point in time in the Eastern bloc, problems (Krawczyk and Krawczyk, 1989).
but its development was also constrained for The Hungarian case illustrates perfectly the
the same reason. Moreover, because of the per- contradictory character of the growth of sport
sistent hegemony of Marxism, advances in sociology in Eastern Europe. Sport in Hungary
sport sociology were delayed by limited theo- had been the subject of social commentary
retical and methodological approaches in soci- since the turn of the century (Takács, 1969).
ology and in the sport sciences. Historical Sport sociology became an autonomous disci-
materialistic perspectives were confused with pline in the 1960s. At first, researchers did only
sociological perspectives in the first studies of empirical research and focused their attention
social issues in sport. This was even true in the on micro-level issues and formulated only ad
work done by the pioneers who contributed hoc theories. This trend changed in the 1970s
much to the promotion of sport sociology as new attempts were made to analyse sport-
in their country and/or the international arena related social phenomena and processes at the
(Ciupak, 1965; Erbach and Buggel, 1972; macro level and to formulate middle-range
Novikov and Makimenko, 1972; Schiller, 1965; theories. The research produced only modest
Wohl, 1961, 1965, 1968; Zöld, 1965). results, but there was significant progress in
Not until the 1970s did a new generation of other areas. Research centres were established,
scholars use a range of other sociological the quantity and quality of empirical surveys
approaches. This did not occur in each ‘social- improved, the number of publications and
ist’ state, but it occurred at least in Poland and doctoral theses increased and international
Hungary (Baly and Takács, 1974; B. Krawczyk, cooperation widened. Initially, the policy of
1966, 1974; Z. Krawczyk, 1977; Takács, 1972, the International Committee for the Sociology
1974). Efforts to study serious social problems of Sport (ICSS, now ISSA) helped greatly to
in sport failed in the other countries of the for- establish professional relationships and facili-
mer Eastern bloc. Efforts to reveal the true tate participation in international projects.
social, economic and political components Later, Polish–Hungarian connections, and
of the socialist sport model were sanctioned. even the officially promoted cooperation in
 EASTERN EUROPE 531

sport sciences among some socialist countries, Generally speaking, sociology of sport research
contributed to the advance of cross-cultural was tolerated, but it was not funded at a level
studies. that enabled scholars to do serious research.
There were two sets of attitudes that influ- The political changes that occurred in
enced the work of sport sociologists during the 1989–90 created a new situation in Eastern
socialist regime. On the one hand, sociologists Europe. The shift to a new political system has
were critical and revealed serious social prob- had an impact on sport sociologists. There are
lems in Hungarian sport and about Hungarian no longer political restrictions on a scholar’s
society – all of which were denied by those freedom to choose research topics, and there
holding power in the communist regime. are new opportunities and ways to obtain
These problems included the following: research funds. Nevertheless, little research
has been undertaken, and only two sociologi-
• When comparing the 1950s with the 1970s,
cal works have been published (Földesi, 1994a,
it was clear that the openness of Hungarian
1994b). Sport sociology in Eastern Europe has
sport had diminished significantly (Földesi,
had to face a new set of difficult problems.
1984a, 1985).
These include the following:
• Sports at elite levels had become a form of
work, and the top Hungarian amateur ath-
• Sport sociology in Eastern Europe, as is
letes were in fact professional (Bakonyi and
the case in other regions, is not a field of
Nádori, 1971; Földesi, 1984b, 1985; Laki and
enquiry characterized by a high degree of
Nyerges, 1980).
‘intellectual action in the Goffmanian dra-
• The lifestyle and time commitments of the
maturgical sense’ (MacAloon, 1987: 116). A
Hungarian population made it impossible
number of theoretically informed experts
for all but a few people to participate regu-
work in the field, but since the early 1990s
larly in sport (Magyar, 1983; Laki and
the number of sport sociologists has dimin-
Makszin, 1984; Takács, 1985; Földesi et al.,
ished because the brightest intellectuals are
1991).
emigrating and moving to the welfare
• There were huge inequalities in sport par-
states in Western Europe, and especially to
ticipation opportunities between social
the USA.
strata and groups, and the inequalities were
• Sport sociology is included in university
greater in Hungary than in other ‘socialist’
curricula to a greater extent than it has
countries or in France (Földesi et al., 1991).
been in the past, but it is impossible to edu-
• The physical education and sportclass1
cate new generations of sport sociologists
system was dysfunctional in that it con-
because of limited material resources and
tributed to inequalities in sport instead of
the shameful financial situation in both
promoting equal chances (Laki and
research and education.
Makszin, 1985; Makszin and Laki, 1984;
• No matter how little state money was
Takács, 1991).
granted for sociological research in sport
On the other hand, although Hungarian prior to 1989, sociologists could count on it
sport sociologists had more freedom to do with certainty. Since the transition they have
research than was the case for their colleagues had to apply to different foundations for
in other Communist countries (except again research funds, and they have encountered
Poland), they could not examine more-or-less the biases built into the funding policies
taboo topics. For example, they could not raise of the foundations. For example, regardless
questions about the nature of the so-called of the quality of their research, proposed
socialist sport model, or the relationship projects on sport have not been defined as
between sport and politics, sport and religion, competitive with those in other fields of
sport and mass media, or the social functions of culture. This is because sport sciences have
football. In fact, even though the personal been underrated in academic circles and
courage of sociologists influenced the choice of because sport sociology has not been defined
research topics, most research reflected the as credible within sociology as a whole.
principle of the so-called ‘Three T’ policy (pro- Sociology has served a special political role
hibition = tiltás, tolerance = türès, support = in Eastern Europe in that it has emphasized
tàmogatàs) which played a powerful self- critical analysis that promoted political
regulating role. The ‘Three T’ policy was a struggle and social progress, and sociolo-
peculiarity of the soft dictatorship in Hungary. gists have not seen sport sociology as being
It served informally to direct and control all cul- committed to the same goals. The resulting
tural and scientific life so that it conformed to reduction of state subsidies has led to a
temporary political interests and possibilities. decrease in the quantity of investigations
532 SPORT AND SOCIETY RESEARCH AROUND THE GLOBE

and an associated decline of social-scientific knowledge to respond effectively to this new

publications on sport. challenge.
• The regularly organized cooperation in
sport sociology among the former socialist
countries ceased to exist. Although state NOTE
subsidies from the socialist regime made it
possible, at least for a few experts, to partic- 1. ‘Sportclass system’ is part of the educa-
ipate in international congresses and con- tional system. In certain public schools (ele-
ferences, most sport sociologists today mentary, junior high and high schools)
must cover all the costs if they want to join there are classes with a special curriculum
the international community of their pro- containing more sport classes than usual,
fession. Very few can afford to do this. The with the aim of promoting the sports
danger of their relative isolation continues, careers of children with a talent for sport.
now caused by an economic rather than a
political ‘iron curtain’. As sport sociologists
have attempted to avoid isolation, Warsaw REFERENCES
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their research to discover better ways of mak- Education and Sport at Hungarian Universities).
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Krawczyk, B. and Krawczyk, Z. (1989) ‘Sociology of szociológia” bírálatához’ (Contribution to the crit-
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 36
FRANCE

Jacques DeFrance

There have been strong sociological traditions structuralism and post-structuralism led,
in France ever since the work of Durkheim and through the work of Michael Foucault and
Le Play at the end of the nineteenth century, Pierre Bourdieu, to two other sets of research.
the very period when sports and gymnastic Following Foucault, Vigarello elaborated an
activities were starting in the country. It was in ‘archaeology of knowledge’ directed towards
that period that the sociological study of edu- the body, and he provided the history of a
cation began, but physical education, sports norm of body-use which has held since the
and games were not yet legitimate enough as sixteenth century – the norm of rectitude:
school subjects to become matters of socio- stand up straight! (Vigarello, 1978). Arguing
logical reflection. A different kind of research along the lines of Discipline and Punish, he
was conducted by the French anthropological shows how a minutely detailed organization of
school and, in the 1930s, Marcel Mauss out- schooling, military training, medical practice,
lined a programme for a sociology of bodily etc. produced a usage of space and time in
techniques but little work was carried out which the body becomes precisely settled. He
according to his plan. shows how this norm emerged, took different
As in some other European countries, the forms in different areas, especially in physical
sociology of sport took off in France in the education and orthopaedics, and how it has
1960s when sports became mass activities become more and more internalized since the
and when the state began to develop firm 1930s and 1950s. This work opened up a field
policies in the sports domain. The first wave of research around the history of science and
of sociological work included empirical and sports techniques, following a French tradition
psycho-social enquiries into sports practice in the history of ideas (Bachelard, Canguilhem).
(for example, Bouet, 1968) and the role of In connection with Bourdieu, sociological
sport in mass leisure, which was increasing and historical analyses were conducted which
at that time (Dumazedier, 1962). Also invol- took sports and physical activities, not as sepa-
ved was a critical sociology of sport. It was rate realities, but as a differentiated whole
mostly inspired by neo-Marxism and political which is sociologically divided and symboli-
sociology, and described the institution of cally structured and which raises two sets of
sport as an ‘ideological state apparatus’ and sociological questions.
denounced the sports policy of the de Gaulle First, how do the techniques and games
government, especially in the years around which are called ‘sports’ and ‘gymnastics’
1968 (Brohm, 1978). come to constitute a ‘sportsworld’ with its own
During the 1970s, this early work was sup- rules and values, limits and hierarchies,
plemented by three trends connected with rhythms and history? Socio-historical research
developments in the French social sciences. shows that the institutionalization of sports
An historical tradition gave rise to work on the does not progress to its complex connection
history – including the social history – of with social life from the impetus of individuals
sports and physical education (Arnaud and but, on the contrary, evolves from its undiffer-
Camy, 1986). And the development of French entiated status within education, military
 FRANCE 535

training or as folk games, to a specialized Bouet, M. (ed.) (1968) La Signification du sport. Paris:
activity with a separate social organization. This Presses Universitaires de France.
process of ‘autonomization’ receives its impe- Bourdieu, P. (1988) ‘Program for a sociology of sport
tus through group struggles, and is specific to (1980)’, Sociology of Sport Journal, 5 (2): 153–61.
different countries according to the particular- Brohm, J.M. (1978) Sport: a Prison of Measured Time.
ities of their social and political structures (the London: Ink Links.
case of France between 1775 and 1914 is Bromberger, C. (with Hayot, A. and Mariottini, J.M.)
analysed by DeFrance, 1987). (1995) Le Match de Football: Ethnologie d’une passion
Second, following in the frame of Bourdieu’s partisane à Marseille, Naples et Turin. Paris: Maison
Distinction, it has been shown that the involve- des Sciences de l’Homme.
ment of the sportsperson with his or her sport Bruant, G. (1992) Anthropologie du geste sportif. La con-
cannot be understood apart from two kinds of struction sociale de la course à pied. Paris: Presses
relationships: the relationship that links this Universitaires de France.
sport with the system of all other sports; and Davisse, A. and Louveau, C. (1991) Sports, école,
the relationship of those who choose this sport société: la part des femmes. Joinville le Pont: Actio.
with those who choose other kinds of sports. DeFrance, J. (1987) L’Excellence corporelle. La formation
Simultaneous enquiries into several sports, des activités physiques et sportives modernes,
coordinated by Christian Pociello, have shed 1770–1914. Rennes/Paris: Presses Universitaires
light on the logic of sports choices in France at Rennes/STAPS.
the end of the 1970s, a conflictful conjuncture Dumazedier, J. (1962) Vers une civilisation des loisirs.
at which sports practice acquired a new sym- Paris: Seuil.
bolic relevance in the lifestyles of different Duret, P. (1993) L’héroïsme sportif. Paris: Presses
social classes (Pociello et al., 1981). Universitaires de France.
Other kinds of work on sport have recently Ehrenberg, A. (1991) Le culte de la performance. Paris:
appeared, for example, on football, national Calmann-Lévy.
identity and international relations (Actes de la Pociello, C. (dir.) et al. (1981) Sports et société.
Recherche en Sciences Sociales, 1994; Wahl, 1986), Approche socio-culturelle des pratiques. Paris: Vigot.
the political science of sport (Ehrenberg, 1991), Pociello, C. (1983) Le Rugby ou la guerre des styles.
women and sport (Davisse and Louveau, Paris: A.M. Métailié.
1991), the anthropology of sport (Bromberger, Vigarello, G. (ed.) (1978) Le Corps redressé. Histoire
1995; Bruant, 1992) and new sociological d’un pouvoir pédagogique. Paris: Presses Universi-
models of sport (Duret, 1993, inspired by taires de France.
Batanski and Thévenot). Wahl, A. (1986) ‘Le footballeur Français: de l’ama-
teurisme au salariat (1890–1926)’, Le Mouvement
social, 135 (April–June): 7–31.
REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING

Arnaud, P. and Camy, J. (eds) (1986) La naissance du

Mouvement Sportif Associatif en France. Sociabilités et
formes de pratiques sportives. Lyons: Presses
Universitaires de Lyon.
 37
GERMANY1

Klaus Heinemann

Though noteworthy sociological work on sport in sociology as well as in sport sciences. Only a
had already been carried out before the late brief summary of the scientific profile and
1970s (Habermas, 1958; Linde and Heinemann, peculiarities of the field can be given here. For
1968; Plessner, 1954; Rigauer, 1969; Risse, 1922), example, there is not enough space to evaluate
it was not until then that sport sociology estab- and describe in detail the following outstand-
lished itself in the Federal Republic of Germany ing investigations: Baur on movement social-
(FRG) as a separate teaching and research area. ization in relatives of the family, socialization in
Sport sociology prior to the late 1970s was sport, on the socialization of body movements;
primarily studied by sociologists interested in Bette on the sociology of the body and sport
problems of sport as well as other areas of soci- and doping; Heinemann, Horch, and Schubert
ological research (for example, Eichberg, on sport organization and on the economy of
Grieswelle, Hammerich, Heinemann, Neid- sport; Winkler, and Heinemann and Schubert
hardt, von Krockow, Linde and Lüschen). on voluntary work, Rittner on new develop-
Sport sociology during this phase did not exist ments in the landscape of sport; and Pilz on
as an independent, established and accepted hooliganism and aggression in sport – just to
research field; but rather sport was considered mention a few of the important sport sociolo-
within the context of cultural sociology, leisure- gists in Germany. For a more detailed overview
time sociology or the theory of social conflict or on the sociology of sport in Germany, see
social change. Heinemann (1992a, 1992b).
During the late 1970s, though, an inde- One important discussion in Germany
pendent sociology of sport developed. during the 1980s centred on the constitutional
Omnibus volumes of sport sociology were basis of sport sociology. Two alternatives were
published (Hammerich and Heinemann, 1975; identified for defining sport sociology and out-
Lüschen and Weis, 1976) and followed by lining areas of research. One alternative
introductions to sport sociology (Grieswelle, emphasized the interpretation of sport as a
1978; Heinemann, 1998; Rigauer, 1982). social system, and the other emphasized a the-
University chairs for sport sociology became oretical approach derived from a sociology of
established, especially because sport sociology the body. The development and constitution of
was increasingly becoming an element of sport as a system cannot be described in detail
physical education teacher training in keeping here. However, it is necessary to mention
with the growing significance and institution- Eichberg’s (1973) works in which the emer-
alization of sport science. Two different scien- gence of sport, in particular the idea of
tific societies of sport sociology were founded achievement, is reconstructed in the context of
in Germany: the section of sport sociology social history. Also important is Cachay’s
affiliated with the German Association of (1988) study in which he applied Luhmann’s
Sociology of Sport, and the section of sport functional-structural system theory as a basis
sociology affiliated with the German Society of for outlining the historic process by which
Sport Sciences. sport developed into a system that was inde-
Since that time, sport sociology has become a pendent of other subsystems of society. In
well-established scientific discipline recognized addition to works concerning the problem of
 GERMANY 537

what the sport system constitutes, it is necessary a comprehensive picture of equipment, sports
to recognize here studies examining the inner offered, the extent of volunteer work, the type
workings of the sport system. Of special of financing and the membership of sports
importance is the observation that the tradi- clubs, so that extensive general information on
tional concept of sport is losing significance and the club environment is available (Heinemann
that a variety of ‘models of sport’ have been and Schubert, 1994).
created. This work, done by different authors Winkler and Karhausen (1985) have exam-
who have selected and used many different ined the DSB and selected member federations.
models, identifies distinctions expressing Their study consists of documentary analyses
various forms of sport. Their research presents a of approximately 1,500 written questionnaires
unique understanding of sport, unique sport from volunteer and full-time paid manage-
ideologies, and particular forms of performing ment employees, and of interviews with
and organizing sport. Heinemann (1998), for experts from the different federations. Con-
example, presents a model in which he differen- clusions have been drawn regarding the struc-
tiates sports into expressive, competition- ture of the DSB and its member organizations,
oriented, commercial and instrumental forms. their financial situation, their goals and tasks,
Sport sociology has also been defined by their personnel structure, problems of volun-
considering it part of a sociology of the body. teer and full-time paid employees, and politi-
Research based on this approach has focused cal decision-making processes within sport
on the development of sport in modern society organizations.
as it is influenced by the evolution of a concep- In recent years there has been a rapid emer-
tion of the body that assumes that the social gence of many commercial sport enterprises
control and predictability of the body can be (such as fitness centres). These provide new
perfected through our awareness. Analyses types of sport organization and participation
have focused on how the body becomes an opportunities, and they offer competition for
instrument that we can control and dominate sports clubs. Physical education teachers who
and for which our mind is therefore respon- cannot find employment in the school system
sible. Therefore, an approach based on a socio- have avoided unemployment and created new
logy of the body has for some time been the opportunities and income by founding such
basis of sport sociology in Germany (compare, commercial sport enterprises. These enterprises
for example, the works in the book by Klein, have been the subject of an empirical investiga-
1985, and Bette, 1989). tion by Dietrich, Heinemann and Schubert
Studies of the organization of sport in clubs (1990). Their research uses various forms of
are especially important in sport sociology data analysis to identify the determinants of
because this type of organization is so per- demand for sport offered in the private market
vasive in Germany, probably more so than in sector of the economy, the number of commer-
any other country in the world. Such studies cial enterprises and the professionalization of
also make important contributions to the socio- opportunities for employees in this field.
logy of voluntary organization. A larger number of sport sociological studies
The study of sports clubs as voluntary asso- can be summarized under the heading ‘social
ciations occurs on two levels. First, there are figures in sport’. These represent a significant
studies done on a microsociological level. proportion of sport sociology studies in
These focus on the social structure of club Germany. A complete overview of these stud-
members, their relationships with each other, ies cannot be given, but the most important
and specific integration and motivation prob- have focused on the structural characteristics
lems. They involve an analysis of goals, struc- and motivation of the individual involved in
tures and culture but also of decision-making sport, the characteristics of high-performance
processes and bureaucratization. Secondly, athletes, and the peculiarities of volunteer
there are studies done on a macrosociological workers, fans, coaches and exercise super-
level. These focus primarily on the relation of visors, and physical education teachers.
the club with its social environment. In addition to research on social structures
Following smaller scale studies on sports done through investigations of organizational
clubs, the first large empirical study on sports structures of sport, there have also been impor-
clubs in Germany was conducted between 1973 tant sociological studies on social processes,
and 1977 (Schlagenhauf, 1977; Timm, 1979). In such as events and changes within given social
addition to case studies, the Deutscher structures. The processes of socialization
Sportbund (German Sport Federation, DSB) (Becker, 1986) and aggressive or violent behav-
conducts regular financial and structural ior (Pilz, 1982; Pilz and Wewer, 1988) have
analyses of 80,000 sports clubs. These provide received much attention in particular.
538 SPORT AND SOCIETY RESEARCH AROUND THE GLOBE

In recent years three new themes in the Hammerich, K. and Heinemann, K. (eds) (1975) Texte
sociology of sport in Germany have been zur Soziologie des Sports. Schorndorf: Hoffmann.
observed. First, there have been investigations Heinemann, K. (1992a) ‘Sport sociology: fundamental
on the embededdness of sport in modern aspects’, in H. Haag, O. Grupe and A. Kirsch (eds),
societies, and the extent to which the develop- Sport Science in Germany. Berlin and Heidelberg.
ment of sport can be explained by moderniza- Heinemann, K. (1992b) ‘Sport sociology: socio-
tion theories (Bette, 1993; Hinsching and economic aspects’, in H. Haag, O. Grape and
Borkenhagen, 1995). Secondly, there have been A. Kirsch (eds), Sport Science in Germany. Berlin
studies of the adoption, after the unification of and Heidelberg.
the sport in the former GDR to the sport of the Heinemann, K. (1995) Einführug in die Ökonomie des
FRG (Baur et al., 1995). And thirdly, there has Sports. Schorndorf: Hoffmann.
been an emerging interest in socioeconomic Heinemann, K. (1998) Einführung in die Soziologie des
problems associated with sport (Heinemann, Sports, 4th edn. Schorndorf: Hoffmann.
1995; Weber, 1995). Heinemann, K. and Schubert, M. (1994) Der
Sportverein – Ergebnisse einer repräsentativen
Untersuchung. Schorndorf: Hoffmann.
NOTE Hinsching, J. and Borkenhagen, F. (ed.) (1995)
Modernisierung und Sport. St Augustin: Academia.
1 This overview was written in 1996. Klein, M. (ed.) (1985) Sport und Körper. Reinbek:
Rowohlt.
Linde, H. and Heinemann, K. (1968) Leistungs-
REFERENCES engagement und Sportinteresse. Eine empirische Studie
zur Stellung des Sports im betrieblichen und schulis-
chen Leistungsfeld. Schorndorf: Hoffmann.
Baur, J., Koch, U. and Telschow, S. (1995) Sportvereine Lüschen, G. and Weis, K. (eds) (1976) Die Soziologie
im Übergang: die Vereinslandschaft in Ostdeutschland. des Sports. Darmstadt: Luchterhand.
Aachen. Pilz, G.A. (1982) Sport und Gewalt. Schorndorf:
Becker, P. (ed.) (1986) Sozialisation und Sport. Reinbek: Hoffmann.
Rowohlt. Pilz, G.A. and Wewer, W. (1988) Erfolg oder Fair Play?
Bette, K.-H. (1989) Körperspuren. Zur Semantik und Munich: Compress.
Paradoxie moderner Körperlichkeit. Berlin: de Plessner, H. (1954) ‘Soziologie des Sports’, in
Gruyter. Jahrbuch der Studiengesellschaft für praktische
Bette, K.-H. (1993) ‘Sport und Individualisierung’, Psychologie. Göttingen: Dt Universitätszeitung.
Spectrum der Sportwissenschaft, 5. Rigauer, B. (1969) Sport und Arbeit. Frankfurt:
Cachay, K. (1988) Sport und Gesellschaft. Schorndorf: Suhrkamp.
Hoffman. Rigauer, B. (1982) Sportsoziologie. Reinbek: Rowohlt.
Dietrich, K., Heinemann, K. and Schubert, M. (1990) Risse, H. (1922) Soziologie des Sports. Münster: Atalas.
Kommerzielle Sportanbieter. Schorndorf: Hoffmann. Schlagenhauf, K. (1977) Spsortvereine in der
Eichberg, H. (1973) Der Weg des Sports in die indus- Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Schondorf: Hoffmann.
trielle Zivilisation. Baden-Baden: Nomos. Timm, W. (1979) ‘Sportvereine in der Bundes-
Grieswelle, D. (1978) Sportsoziologie. Stuttgart: republik Deutschland’, Teil 2. Schorndorf:
Kohlhammer. Hoffmann.
Habermas, J. (1958) ‘Soziologische Notizen zum Weber, P. (1995) Die wirtschaftliche Bedeutung des
Verhältnis von Arbeit und Freizeit’, in G. Funke Sports. Schorndorf: Hoffmann.
(ed.), Konkrete Vernunft. Festschrift für E. Rothacker. Winkler, J. and Karhausen, R.R. (1985) Verbände im
Bonn: Bovier. Sport. Schorndorf: Hoffmann.
 38
INDIA

Ian McDonald

‘In India’, wrote S.K. Gupta in 1987, the were also apparent at the 1996 World Cup.
‘sociology of sport has remained an unex- Both India and Pakistan failed to reach the
plored area of research’ (1987: 306). At the time final in 1987, yet unlike 1996, defeats were not
of writing, ten years on, Indian society and its then widely interpreted within the media as
sports have undergone dramatic develop- national humiliations. Nor were they catalysts
ments. Images of a land of unchanging tradi- for outbreaks of ethnic and communal intoler-
tion, and of a country wracked by poverty and ance. With cricket in the vanguard, sport in
disease, now owe more to tired clichés that India provides fertile terrain for its sociological
persist in the popular Western imagination study in the era of globalization.
than to a serious analysis of the complex and However, despite the developments of the
dynamic nature of contemporary India. A past decade there is still a paucity of sociologi-
revealing index of the scale and nature of the cal studies of sport. Here, at least, it seems, is
social changes which have been and are taking an ‘unchanging tradition’. Echoing Gupta’s
place is provided by cricket – the premier sport comments made seven years before, D.P. Vora
in the sub-continent. India has played host to noted that the ‘sociology of leisure ... has been
the cricket World Cup twice: in 1987 (with practically unexplored in our country’ (1994:
Pakistan), and in 1996 (with co-hosts Pakistan 111). An extensive search through bibliogra-
and Sri Lanka). On the first occasion, the tour- phies prepared by the Indian Council of Social
nament was sponsored by Reliance, an Indian- Sciences Research, the Indian Social Sciences
based industrial firm, for £800,000. In 1996, Research Abstracts Quarterly, and many other
sponsorship was provided by ITC, the multi- Indian and non-Indian sources, merely con-
national Indian tobacco giant, for £8 million. firms that the sociological study of sport in
Unlike 1987, the 1996 World Cup was a global India remains essentially virgin territory. The
television spectacle of unprecedented glamour few studies that have been undertaken by
and hype. Satellite television enabled the 1996 Indian scholars are empirically narrow and
tournament to serve variously as: a marketing theoretically functionalist (for example see
strategy to reach the hearts and pockets of an Gupta, 1987; Manna, 1989; Reddy, 1988; Sohi,
affluent, materialistic and cricket-mad South 1981; Vora, 1994). Even Sport in Asia and Africa:
Asian middle class; a political strategy to facil- a Comparative Handbook, edited by Eric A.
itate sub-continental supremacy over England Wagner, admits that, of all the geographical
as the new epicentre of cricket as a global areas covered, a ‘notable exception is the
game; and as part of an economic strategy to Indian sub-continent’ (1989: xii). Although
entice multi-national interest and investment. now dated, the most authoritative and detailed
In tune with the Indian government’s policy of sociological study of sport in India remains
economic liberalization, it was a carnival of Patrons, Players and the Crowd: the Phenomenon
globalization and it generated a financial profit of Indian Cricket, published in 1980 by the
of £21 million (Asian Age, July 1996, p. 1). Australian social historian Richard Cashman.
Evidence of increased tensions since 1987, in The relationship between traditional/
particular arising out of cricket nationalism, modern sports and urban/rural society in India,
540 SPORT AND SOCIETY RESEARCH AROUND THE GLOBE

is complex and contradictory. In an insightful has yet demonstrated a systematic orientation

account of the 1996 cricket World Cup, to the study of sport. Perhaps the most likely
Marqusee (1996) makes graphically clear source from which a sociology of sport may
the unrivalled status of international level emerge is out of the broadening of the cultural
cricket for all classes throughout the sub- studies paradigm which is currently occur-
continent. In India, other modern sports such as ring in India. Crucially for the study of sport,
field hockey and soccer, and traditional activi- popular culture, alongside feminism, ecology
ties like wrestling, are more unevenly geo- and a radical critique of modernity, are key
graphically and socio-economically distributed. constitutive elements of cultural studies in
A thriving, widely read sports press is testi- South Asia. It is perhaps here more than
mony to the important space occupied by sport elsewhere that the beginnings of a sociologi-
in Indian society. However, by way of contrast, cal analysis of sport may be seeded. After
India’s barren quest for medals at the 1988 and over 50 years of political independence in
1992 Summer Olympic Games, and the single India, the development of a sociology
bronze medal from tennis player Leander Paes of Indian sport presents a timely and
at the Atlanta Games, seem to confirm the exciting challenge.
observation of an Indian sports administrator,
quoted in Bose (1986: 18) that, ‘Sport is against
our Indian ethos ... we are just not organized for
sports’. Whilst this is the view of an administra-
REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING
tor lamenting the narrow social base of orga-
nized participant sport which, he feels, has Bose, M. (1986) A Maiden View: the Magic of Indian
frustrated attempts to create a media-winning Cricket. London: George Allen & Unwin.
Olympic squad in a country with the second Cashman, R. (1980) Patrons, Players and the Crowd: the
largest population in the world (about 866 Phenomenon of Indian Cricket. New Delhi: Orient
million and rising), it does reflect governmental Longman.
indifference towards the country’s sporting Guha, R. (1989) ‘Sociology in India: some elective
infrastructure. However, attempts to character- affinities’, Contributions to Indian Sociology (New
ize the sport–society relationship will always be Delhi), 23 (2): 339–46.
more impressionistic than scientific in the Gupta, S.K. (1987) ‘Parents’ and teachers’ attitudes
absence of systematic sociological research. and reactions towards participation in sports by
Understanding the marginality of the sociol- young athletes of a university in an Indian state’,
ogy of sport can be approached by locating International Review for Sport Sociology, 22 (4):
sociology as a discipline within the academic 305–16.
structures of independent India. The late Kurien, C.T. (1994) Global Capitalism and the Indian
eminent sociologist M.N. Srivinas noted how Economy. New Delhi: Orient Longman.
the independent Indian states’ commitment to Lal, V. (1996) South Asian Cultural Studies: a
Nehruvian ideas of economic development, Bibliography. New Delhi: Manohar Publishers.
social welfare and higher education provided a Manna, S. (1989) ‘Patterns of recreation in an urban
setting in which the social sciences were able to setting’, Man in India, 68 (2): 179–94.
advance (1987: 135–8). However, he argues, Marqusee, M. (1996) War Minus the Shooting: a
sociology achieved recognition rather slowly Journey through South Asia during Cricket’s World
compared to economics, political science, inter- Cup. London: Heinemann.
national relations and history – as these disci- Nandy, A. (1989) The Tao of Cricket: On Games of
plines appeared more relevant to the exigencies Destiny and the Destiny of Games. New Delhi:
of building the new nation-state. When sociol- Viking and Penguin.
ogy did emerge, it also was preoccupied with Patnaik, P. (1996) ‘Of cricket, communalism and
the social development problematic. commerce’, Frontline, 5 April, pp. 14–15.
R. Guha asserts that the later and subordi- Reddy, P.C. (1988) ‘Social inequality, discrimination
nate emergence of sociology explains its dom- and sport in India’, Sport and Humanism:
ination by a Eurocentric, economistic view of Proceedings of the International Workshop of Sport
development (1989: 339). This structural- Sociology in Japan. pp. 280–9.
functionalist sociology has been challenged in Sohi, A.S. (1981) ‘Social status of Indian elite sports-
recent years by a more critical approach, and men in perspective of social stratification and
by the emergence of subaltern studies – a mobility’, International Review of Sport Sociology,
South Asian form of cultural studies – which 165: 61–77.
is committed, amongst other things, to Srivinas, M.N. (1987) ‘Development of sociology in
‘deconstructing colonial historiography (Lal, India: an overview’, Economic and Political Weekly
1996). None of these approaches, however, (Bombay), 27 (4): 135–8.
 INDIA 541

Vora, D.P. (1994) ‘Leisure as understood by Wagner, E.A. (ed.) (1989) Sport in Asia and Africa: a
school-going children in an urban setting’, Indian Comparative Handbook. London: Greenwood Press.
Council of Social Science Research Abstracts Quarterly,
xxiii (1&2): 111–15.
 39
JAPAN

Koichi Kiku

SOCIAL CHANGES IN POST-WAR each of these themes increased in scope as

JAPAN AND TRENDS IN researchers used more complex methodologies
and computer-aided statistical analyses, and
SOCIOLOGICAL STUDIES OF SPORT larger studies were undertaken that involved
multiple cooperation among scholars.
The term ‘sport sociology’ was used in Japan A review of sociological research on physical
as early as 1932, but genuine systematic study education/sports in Japan shows that the field
did not begin until the establishment of the emerged initially as a ‘sociology of physical
Japanese Society of Physical Education (JSPE) education’ (the study of physical education
in 1950. phenomena in the education sector), and not as
Since 1950 there have been changes in the ‘sport sociology’ (the study of a much wider
focus and content of research and writing range of sports phenomena). This initial
related to the sociology of sport. In the 1950s, emphasis has caused the pattern of research to
just after the Second World War, the main be dictated excessively by social changes and it
research focus was on group learning in small has promoted themes that follow these
groups that participated in school-based phys- changes as explained below. It has also delayed
ical education. Additional research focused on the introduction of a genuine theoretical socio-
the recreational participation of workers, espe- logical regimen and policy studies based on
cially in the context of industrial physical edu- theoretical models.
cation and workplace physical education.
During the 1960s, researchers turned their
attention to studies of community sports in INTERNAL/EXTERNAL FACTORS
cities and other areas of dense population, and
to studies of agricultural and fishery regions
AFFECTING STUDY TRENDS
and other areas of sparse population. In associ-
ation with the Tokyo Olympics in 1964 there Physical education was a compulsory subject
were studies of national physical strength under the post-war Japanese ‘New University
training exercises and the examination of System’. This resulted in the mass production
specific Olympic-related affairs. During the of university graduates and scholars who were
1970s attention was given to a wider range of physical education majors. These graduates
systematic studies of sports participation. were employed to teach exercise and physical
Research investigated the relationship between activities in the ‘General Education Course’.
individuals and sports by levels of conscious- Generally speaking, they had little or no inter-
ness, attitude and personality from the social est in theoretical perspectives or theoretically
psychological viewpoint. Other efforts were informed research. Therefore they concen-
made in the realm of physical education to pro- trated their studies on the educational aspects
mote fitness throughout the life course, sports of sports.
development, and sports and leisure among Consequently, most research in the 1950s
the elderly. In the 1980s and 1990s research on focused on small group learning of physical
 JAPAN 543

education, and then in the 1960s the focus methodology and approach to build on past
expanded to problems related to the learning research and take research forward in new
of physical education as it occurred in urban directions.
and rural areas. With the increased rate of eco-
nomic growth in the 1970s attention turned to
a focus on sports throughout the life course.
Therefore, sport sociology in Japan can be said
THE SPORTS ENVIRONMENT
to have experienced shifts in direction through AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
strong influences from political, economic and IN JAPAN
social change; additionally, research has been
influenced by important educational goals, as Japan is an island state, with about 80 per cent
identified by the education system. of the land mass consisting of mountains and
hills. During the post-war era this geographi-
cal situation led to a social consensus that
Japan should develop the use of mountainous
CURRENT TRENDS land and the sea to achieve economic growth.
In other words, economic growth in Japan has
Since the mid-1970s there has been an emer- involved industrial construction and has
gence of studies based on established sociolog- encouraged heavy chemical industry; moun-
ical theories. Initially these studies were based tainous terrain has been levelled and further
mainly on structural-functionalism (Talcott land reclaimed mainly in the city areas, to
Parsons) and Marxism. Recent studies have improve sites for housing and industrial use. It
expanded to include a variety of subjective or is no overstatement that Japan has achieved its
interpretive research approaches based on post-war high economic growth at the expense
symbolic interactionism, phenomenological of its natural beauty.
sociology, ethnomethodology and frame analy- However, after the first ‘oil shock’ in 1973,
sis (Erving Goffman). Japan’s economy shifted from one based on
These recent changes have occurred primar- high industrial growth to one characterized by
ily because of the establishment of the Japan post-industrial low growth, in the same man-
Society of Sport Sociology (JSSS) in 1991 and its ner as other advanced economic nations.
influence on its members and on the research Lifestyle in Japan has gradually been changing
approaches used in sport sociology. There are from one accentuating labour to one accentuat-
two reasons for this. First, scholars who gradu- ing leisure, and so the national demand for
ated in physical education since 1991 have leisure and sports has increased. Japan experi-
emphasized higher quality, theory-based enced economic growth in the GDP of more
research. This was an outgrowth of the estab- than 5 per cent annually between the late 1980s
lishment of doctoral courses in physical educa- and early 1990s – a period known as the ‘bub-
tion study and Japanese university reform that ble’ economy. These good business conditions
made physical education an elective subject and the high demand for sports and leisure
instead of a compulsory ‘General Education pushed the Ministry of International Trade and
Course’. Secondly, these new physical educa- Industry (MITI) to promote an ‘Act for the
tion graduates were joined by graduates in Development of Resort Complex Construction’
mainstream sociology who shared research (The Resort Act) in 1987. The purpose of this
interests related to sports and physical activity. law was for the government to aggressively
These recent developments have led to more encourage private business to develop and
sophisticated analyses of the historical and construct golf courses, ski areas, camping areas
social phenomenon of sports. Current research, and facilities related to marine sports (marinas,
for example, is likely to be informed by cul- for example).
tural studies, figurational sociology and Due to this activity, Japan was exposed to the
Bourdieu’s sociology. environmental menace of a construction rush to
Research on the ‘sociology of the body’ has build sports and leisure facilities. For example,
also begun to emerge. Additionally, an in 1988, there were 1,619 golf courses in the
International Symposium on ‘The Formation entire country, but in the period after 1988
of the Modern Nation-State and Sport’ was development plans were produced for a further
staged in 1997. The development of sport soci- 970, an increase of about 60 per cent in one step.
ology in the future requires that scholars in The same trends can be seen in ski resorts,
both physical education and sociology come camping areas and marinas. In particular,
together and use their subtle differences in golf course development caused serious
544 SPORT AND SOCIETY RESEARCH AROUND THE GLOBE

environmental damage through destruction of The relationship between the sports environ-
the landscape. There was also damage to the ment and sustainable economic development,
health of residents in nearby areas because of with particular reference to residents living
the indiscriminate use of agricultural chemicals around these facilities, is one of the most
to maintain the greens and fairways of the golf important subjects for the attention of sport
courses. As a result, there were many studies sociology in Japan.
and reports on environmental damage in the
early 1990s. This overdevelopment of sports
facilities created conditions similar to those that
existed during earlier times when high eco- FURTHER READING
nomic growth forced ‘pollution’ on the general
public living around factories. Inoue, S. (1989) ‘Sports and social theory in Japan’,
However, after the collapse of the bubble Sociological Journal of Physical Education and Sport,
economy in 1992, resort development through- 8: 211–23 (in Japanese).
out the country changed or was cancelled due Kiku, K. (1996) ‘An understanding of the historical
to a decrease in private investment. The trends in sport sociology in Japan from the
emphasis among those interested in sports and viewpoint of the sociology of knowledge’, in The
leisure is now on more familiar, cheap and ’96 Seoul International Sport Science Congress
environmentally friendly pursuits instead of Proceedings, Volume 1, pp. 219–35.
expensive, environmentally damaging activi- Matsumura, K. (1993a) ‘Sport and social change in
ties. There is increasing interest in Japan in the the Japanese rural community’, International
co-existence of sport and the environment. Review for the Sociology of Sport, 28 (2/3): 135–44.
Even an Alpine course prepared for the Matsumura, K. (1993b) Sociology of Sport and the
Nagano Winter Olympics of 1998 was modi- Japanese Rural Community. Tokyo: Dowa-Shoin (in
fied due to environmental concerns. Japanese).
In 1990, in the midst of the bubble economy, Sugawara, R. (1984) A Basic Theory of Sport Sociology.
the Japan Society of Sports Industry (JSSI) was Tokyo: Fumaido-Syuppan (in Japanese).
established with support from MITI and Tatano, H. (1979) ‘Methodological subjects on the
industrial circles. The purpose of the JSSI is to sociology of physical education and sports in
develop the sports industry; however, they Japan’, Research Journal of Sport Sociology, 9: 139–63
must consider sustainable development for (in Japanese).
both sports and the environment from many Yoka Kaihatsu Centre (1996) Leisure’s White Paper ’96
viewpoints. For example, as far as ski facilities (in Japanese).
are concerned, the interest is on building
courses that combine with nature, rather than
constructing competition courses as before.
 40
KOREA (AND SOUTH EAST ASIA)

Burn-Jang Lim

Sport sociology in Korea has achieved note- was ‘che-yuk-sa-whoi-hak’ (sport sociology)
worthy progress over the past several years, published in 1973 by the Ministry of Education
and yet, it is only fair to say that the current as an independent volume in ‘che-yuk-kyo-yuk-
state of the discipline lags behind the interna- ja-ryo-chong-seo 11’ (Collection of Materials on
tional standard. The quantity of research in the Physical Education, Volume 11).
field as well as the outcome is comparatively The Seoul National University graduate
meagre. These shortcomings are primarily due school was, in 1963, the first to offer a Masters
to the short history of the discipline in Korea. degree programme in sport sociology. A
Efforts to investigate sport phenomena from Doctoral programme was established in 1983.
sociological perspectives have only begun to Since then, courses in sport sociology have
expand in recent years. been added to graduate programmes in other
Sport sociology was first introduced to Korea universities, and by the 1980s, almost all uni-
in the early 1960s in the form of the introduc- versities in Korea offered courses in sport soci-
tory course at Seoul National University. Since ology as part of their graduate programmes.
then, the field has been rapidly developing as It was not until the 1980s that scholars in the
one of the major subdisciplines in sport science. field of sport sociology in Korea gave serious
In the mid-1970s, sport sociology was accepted attention to the need for a more formalized and
as a subdiscipline of KAHPERD (Korean unified academic community. As the interests
Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recre- in the sociological aspects of sport grew and
ation and Dance), and formed its own associa- the number of scholars specializing in the area
tion under the name of the Korean Sport increased, there arose an awareness of the need
Sociology Society (KSSS) in 1990. The sociolog- to share and distribute information among
ical investigation of sport phenomena was those interested in sport sociology. Seoul
motivated at first by the social importance and National University had become, by then, the
utility of the research findings, rather than by centre of sport sociology academics, holding
deep disciplinary interest. regular seminars and meetings from 1984
under the name of the Sport Sociology Study
Group (SSSG).
THE BIRTH AND DEVELOPMENT Looking back, formation of the SSSG marked
the declaration of independence as an academic
OF SPORT SOCIOLOGY discipline for sport sociologists and the begin-
ning of an era of search for a strong identity for
It is only since the 1960s that the sociological the discipline. The search bore fruit in the early
aspects of sport have drawn the attention of 1990s when, on 18 August 1990, the Korea Sport
sport scientists in Korea. The term ‘sport sociol- Sociology Association (the former name of
ogy’ first appeared in 1963 in a book titled KSSS) was formally established. The formation
Introduction to Physical Education written by Jang of KSSS opened networks of communication
Young-Whan. The book introduced the term among sport sociologists in Korea and abroad.
and the scope of the field as one of the sub-areas It also stimulated research, providing a
of sport study. The first sport sociology book medium, the KSSS Journal, through which such
546 SPORT AND SOCIETY RESEARCH AROUND THE GLOBE

research could be published. Taken together, researchers used the following techniques:
these developments accelerated the growth of 40 per cent used regression, 26 per cent used
sport sociology in Korea. ANCOVA, 23 per cent used ANOVA, and
The KSSS, which is still in the process of others used t-tests, path analyses and chi-
growing and developing, is working vigor- square analyses.
ously to contribute to sport sociology in the Recently, more researchers have used quali-
international context. In 1991 a member of tative methods in their investigations of sport
the KSSS was elected Vice President of the phenomena in a cultural context. Although the
International Sociology of Sport Association major topics of papers published in the KSSS
(ISSA), and the ISSA Bulletin has been edited Journal were socialization and organization
and published in Korea since that time. (19 per cent and 17 per cent of the papers,
Under the auspices of KSSS, many sport soci- respectively), gender, ageing, and sports and
ologists with international reputations have leisure involvement have become newly
visited Korea for seminars and workshops. For emerging issues. In fact, 43 per cent of the
example, Morigawa visited in 1991; Barry papers published in the KSSS Journal between
McPherson and Kari Fasting in 1992; John Loy 1995 and 1998 were devoted to these latter
and Günther Lüschen in 1993; R. Morford, three topics. This trend reflects responses
Fujiwara, Peter Donnelly and Matsumura in among sport sociologists to sport phenomena
1994; Saeki and Lee Vander Valden in 1995; as they relate to social welfare amidst Korean
Gyöngi Földesi, Joseph Maguire and Kurt Weis society’s rapid economic development.
in 1996; and Donald Sabo and George Sage in There is every reason to believe that the
1997. Several of these scholars revisited Korea future of sport sociology in Korea looks bright.
twice or even three times. All participants – First, Korea has already witnessed rapid
Korean scholars and students, and the visitors – growth in the prevalence and visibility of sport
were able to feel a special sense of satisfaction as a social phenomenon; more people are inter-
and pride at having contributed to the develop- ested in a better quality of life, and consider
ment of sport sociology in Korea. These efforts, sport as one of the leisure activities vital to
fostering the growth of the discipline and inter- achieve a higher quality lifestyle. Secondly, the
national cooperation, will continue in the quality of life that people pursue requires sci-
twenty-first century. entific investigation so as to interpret which
Having described its birth and development, aspects of prevailing lifestyles can be improved
we can say that according to the developmen- and how to do so. This kind of scientific verifi-
tal stages described by Mullins (1973), sport cation can be more persuasive if it describes
sociology in Korea is in its network stage. The and also explains and interprets the phenom-
formation of KSSS marked the beginning of ena at hand, as has been done in sport sociol-
this stage, preceded by a rather long and slow ogy. Thirdly, the pursuit of quality of life is
normal stage. We foresee that sport sociology being institutionalized in the form of various
in Korea will enter the cluster stage in the fairly sport organizations within society; sport has
near future. truly become a social mechanism for its
members to interact with and maintain their
membership in society, and Koreans are begin-
THE STATE OF SPORT SOCIOLOGY ning to be keenly aware of sport’s social signif-
RESEARCH AND THE PROSPECTS icance. Fourthly, there are many young Korean
FOR THE FUTURE scholars who are well trained and dedicated to
producing knowledge in the field and even
more young graduate students who are willing
During the period from 1960 to 1993, there to join in the search for sociological significance
were 1,294 research papers, Masters theses and in the realm of sport. Finally, there is strong
Doctoral dissertations published in Korea. Five leadership among academics in the field, and
hundred and thirty-one papers were published this enables the emerging discipline to develop
in the KSSS Journal and KAPHERD Journal, and further and provides a healthy environment for
763 Masters theses and Doctoral dissertations such development to continue.
were published (Son, 1993).
An analysis of issues of the KSSS Journal from
1992 through 1998 shows various research top-
ics and methodologies associated with socio- REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING
logical studies of sport. Seventy-two per cent of
the studies were quantitative, while 28 per cent Ahn, W.H. and Lim, S.W. (1992) Sociology of Sport.
were qualitative. In the quantitative studies, Seoul: Hyoung Seol Publications.
 KOREA (AND SOUTH EAST ASIA) 547

Cho, M.R. (1976) Sociology of Sport. Seoul: Hyoung Lee, J.Y. (1994) ‘The perspective and tasks in
Seol Publications. sociology of sport in Korea’, Proceedings of ’93
Cho, M.R. and Han, S.I. (1981) ‘Sport sociology’, KSSS Annual Conference, pp. 1–12.
in Collection of Materials on Physical Education, Lim, B.J. (1994) Sociology of Sport. Seoul: Dong Wha
Volume 11. Ministry of Education. Seoul: Seoul Publishers.
Daily Newspaper Publishing Company. Lim, S.W. (1991) ‘A study on the academic system
Han, S.I. (1981) Sociology of Sport. Seoul: Dong Hwa and perspective in sociology of Sport’. Doctoral
Publishers. dissertation, Dong Ah University.
Korean Society for the Sociology of Sport (1993–1999). Mullins, N.C. (1973) Theories and Theory Groups in
Journal of KSSS, vols 1–12. Contemporary American Sociology. New York:
Lee, J.G. (1975) Sociolgy of Physical Education and Harper & Row.
Sport. Seoul: Kyoung Lim Publications. Son, S.J. (1993) ‘Current studies in sociology of sport
Lee, J.Y. (1991) ‘The tasks and perspective in socio- in Korea’, The Korean Journal of Physical Education,
logy of sport in Korea’, KSSS Newsletter, 1, 2–7. 33 (3): 97–105.
 41
LATIN AMERICA

Joseph L. Arbena

Defined as everything in the Western the field, seeing him as a ‘rebel with a cause’
hemisphere south of the United States, Latin who fights to correct injustice, and who has
America has produced little scholarly analysis been abused and misrepresented for threaten-
of sport and society, though information and ing the world’s soccer power structure.
insights are found in other types of writings, Levinsky is also founder of the Argentine
such as journalistic accounts, club histories and Institute of Sport Sociology and director of a
popular biographies. What has been done university sport sociology program, both too
focuses on soccer, normally treats only the new to allow evaluation of their labors. Also,
author’s own country, and is rarely available in Alabarces, on the faculty of the University of
English. Nowhere does a single author or acad- Buenos Aires, and some colleagues have
emic group dominate (Arbena, 1989 and 1999). organized a working group on ‘Sport and
Argentina has contributed several important Society’ within the Latin American Council on
works to this limited field. Mafud (1967) con- the Social Sciences (CLACSO) and are teaching
siders soccer an expression of a people’s social courses and doing research in the sports stud-
character and fears that in modern Argentina ies field. In addition, Tulio Guterman has con-
the pressure to win is causing soccer to lose its structed a website for publication of a digital
ludic content and popular appeal. Sebreli journal, Lecturas: Educación Física y Deportes
(1981) finds soccer the product of industrializa- (www.sirc.ca/revista/efdxtes.htm), dedicated
tion and urbanization which create alienated to physical education and sports, mainly but
workers who seek identity through sports and not exclusively in Argentina. Most articles are
are easily manipulated by political leaders. in Spanish, but most are abstracted in English
Winning gives way to making money; the as well.
game becomes a productive activity, the player In brief, concerning soccer, in Argentina, as
a mere factor of production. in Mexico (Fernández, 1994), Colombia
Romero (1985) holds that soccer’s crisis (Araújo Vélez, 1995), and throughout Latin
parallels patterns in the political and economic America, there is concern about violence in the
spheres and regrets the increase in violent fan stadiums, commercialization, the export of star
clubs. Archetti (1985) labels soccer a masculine players, inept or corrupt management, the
discourse, carried out in explicitly sexual impact of illicit drugs and falling attendance.
terms, which moves from verbal to actual vio- Renowned Uruguayan historian Galeano
lence as insecure groups seek to define and (1995) laments the attempts of rational forces
maintain that male identity, and links that to rob soccer of its spontaneity and joy, while
image of masculinity to the construction of a expressing his faith that the unexpected will
national identity (Archetti, 1994). Levinsky prevail.
(1995) examines the business side of soccer to Other sports earning some attention are box-
explain its alleged current crisis, and defends ing – to praise its heroes or condemn its brutal-
(Levinsky, 1996) the controversial behavior of ity – baseball and auto racing, though most
soccer star Diego Maradona, both on and off writings focus on the sports’ internal practices,
 LATIN AMERICA 549

not their social contexts. Extensive writings on for regional integration (Beckles and Stoddart,
bullfighting rarely leave the ring (Arbena, 1989). 1995; Manley, 1995).
Studies from other countries raise important
questions. DaMatta is representative of
Brazilians who link their country’s soccer REFERENCES
culture to the popular festival practices of car-
nival and samba (DaMatta et al., 1982). Cuba Alabarces, P. and Rodríguez, M.G. (1996) Cuestión de
since 1959 offers numerous comments on pelotas: fútbol, deporte, sociedad, cultura. Buenos
sports, usually praising athletic heroes to Aires: Atuel.
prove that the socialist revolution serves the Araújo Vélez, F. (1995) Pena máxima: juicio al fútbol
nation when compared to the exploitative colombiano. Bogotá: Planeta.
sports system under pre-1959 capitalism Arbena, J.L. (1989) An Annotated Bibliography of Latin
(Pettavino and Pye, 1994). Sánchez León (1994) American Sport: Preconquest to the Present. Westport,
joins numerous Peruvians in asking why their CT: Greenwood Press.
country does not fare better in international Arbena, J.L. (1993) ‘Sport and social change in Latin
competition. America’, in A.G. Ingham and J.W. Loy (eds), Sport
Writers in English, except those treating in Social Development: Traditions, Transitions and
cricket, have produced relatively little. Lever Transformations. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
(1983) argues that soccer contributes to pp. 97–117.
Brazil’s national integration. Beezley (1988) Arbena, J.L. (1995) ‘Nationalism and sport in Latin
links the rise of modern Mexican sports to the America, 1850–1990: the paradox of promoting and
larger modernization process. Arbena (1993, performing “European” sports’, The International
1995) suggests that sports reflect political and Journal of the History of Sport, 12 (2): 220–38.
social struggles throughout Latin America’s Arbena, J.L. (1999) Latin American Sport: An Annotated
history and illustrates ways that governments Bibliography, 1988–1998. Westport, CT: Greenwood
use sports to promote national identity. Ruck Press.
(1991) and Klein (1991) demonstrate the rela- Archetti, E.P. (1985) ‘Fútbol, violencia y afirmación
tionship between baseball and society in the masculina’, Debates en la Sociedad y la Cultura, 2 (3):
Dominican Republic and the impact of the 38–44.
United States on local identities and eco- Archetti, E.P. (1994) ‘Masculinity and football: the
nomics. Moss (1991) not an academic, offers a formation of national identity in Argentina’, in
sympathetic and well-illustrated introduction R. Giulianotti and J. Williams (eds), Game without
to the late Argentine driver Juan Manuel Frontiers: Football, Identity and Modernity.
Fangio, a respected national hero, and to a Aldershot: Arena. pp. 225–43.
sport (Formula One racing) that has a huge Beckles, H.M. and Stoddart, B. (eds) (1995) Liberation
following in Argentina and Brazil. Sands Cricket. West Indies Cricket Culture. Manchester:
(1993) places part of Mexico’s rich equestrian Manchester University Press.
tradition in its long-term historical context Beezley, W.H. (1988) Judas at the Jockey Club and Other
and shows how it helps to reproduce contem- Episodes of Porfirian Mexico. Lincoln: University of
porary values and gender relations. Mason Nebraska.
(1995) finds soccer an English import adapted Burns, J. (1996) Hand of God. London: Bloomsbury.
to the local cultures of southern South DaMatta, R., Guedes, S.L., Neves Flores, L.F.B. and
America. Burns (1996), less sympathetic than Vogel, A. (1982) Universo do futebol: esporte e sociedade
Levinsky, notes the political and social signifi- brasileria. Rio de Janeiro: Ediçoes Pinakotheke.
cance in Argentina of the drug-plagued Fernández, J.R. (1994) El fútbol mexicano: ¿un juego
Maradona, but holds him partially responsible sucio? México, DF: Editorial Grijalbo.
for his own problems. Klein (1997) identifies Galeano, E. (1995) El fútbol a sol y sombra. Madrid:
the multiple meanings of baseball across the Siglo Veintiuno Editores.
United States–Mexican border. James, C.L.R. (1983) Beyond a Boundary. New York:
Because of its centrality in the Anglophone Pantheon Books.
Caribbean, cricket has received substantial Klein, A.M. (1991) Sugarball: the American Game, the
attention. Building on James’s (1983) monu- Dominican Dream. New Haven, CT: Yale University
mental essay, numerous authors have sought Press.
to understand cricket as a tool of British colo- Klein, A.M. (1997) Baseball on the Border: a Tale of Two
nialism, a source of West Indies nationalism, an Laredos. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
arena for racial identity and conflict, an expres- Lever, J. (1983) Soccer Madness. Chicago: University
sion of popular culture, and a possible vehicle of Chicago.
550 SPORT AND SOCIETY RESEARCH AROUND THE GLOBE

Levinsky, S. (1995) El negocio del fútbol. Buenos Aires: Romero, A.G. (1985) Deporte, violencia y política
Ediciones Corregidor. (crónica negra, 1958–1983). Buenos Aires: Centro
Levinsky, S. (1996) Maradona: rebelde con causa. Editor de América Latina.
Buenos Aires: Ediciones Corregidor. Ruck, R. (1991) The Tropic of Baseball. Baseball in the
Mafud, J. (1967) Sociología del fútbol. Buenos Aires: Dominican Republic. Westport, CT: Meckler.
Editorial Américalee. Sánchez León, A. (1994) ‘The history of Peruvian
Manley, M. (1995) A History of West Indies Cricket, rev. women’s volleyball’, Studies in Latin American
edn. London: André Deutsch. Popular Culture, 13: 143–52.
Mason, T. (1995) Passion of the People? Football in South Sands, K.M. (1993) Charrería Mexicana: an Equestrian
America. London: Verso. Folk Tradition. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
Moss, S. (1991) Fangio: a Pirelli Album. London: Sebreli, J.J. (1981) Fútbol y masas. Buenos Aires:
Pavilion Books. Editorial Galerna.
Pettavino, P.J. and Pye, G. (1994) Sport in Cuba: the
Diamond in the Rough. Pittsburgh: University of
Pittsburgh Press.
 42
NORDIC COUNTRIES

Kari Fasting and Mari-Kristin Sisjord

This chapter provides a brief overview of the professionalization, leadership and gender
sociology of sport in the Nordic countries of issues in organizations.
Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Sport • The relationship between top-level sport
sociology in these countries has been devel- and recreational sport. In connection with
oped primarily by scholars affiliated with col- research on organizations, there has been
leges and university departments of sport and frequent attention given to top-level sport
physical education. The most prominent con- in relation to its structure within society,
tributions in the field stem from people with and also to dimensions of top-level sport at
backgrounds in education, history, philosophy the individual level, including such aspects
and/or sociology. as value orientation, lifestyle, patterns and
Since the late 1970s, there has been a grow- development of sport careers, and social
ing interest in many different topics related to mobility. Research on gender issues is sig-
sport in society. This interest is manifested in nificant in the four countries. There have
scientific research as well as curricula in sport been studies comparing women’s and
studies. The number of sport scholars is men’s sport participation, and studies of
rapidly increasing, which to a great extent is a barriers to participation, the meaning of
result of the development of PhD programmes. sport in girl’s and women’s culture and
A number of scholars have been and continue their daily lives, gender and sport organiza-
to be vital catalysts in the development of sport tions, gendered media coverage and sport
sociology in terms of scientific production and presentations in magazines, sexual harass-
the recruitment of new scholars. These include ment in sport, homophobia in sport, and
Lars Magnus Engstrøm (Sweden), Kari Fasting gender, body and physicality.
(Norway), Kalevi Heinilä (Finland) and • Values and sport. This topic has been stud-
Henning Eichberg (Denmark). ied from various perspectives in each of the
The scientific work in the Nordic countries four countries. Research has been done on
covers many topics; the most predominant are: values and top-level sport, values in youth
sport, values and doping, and values,
• Socialization and sport. This has been a lifestyle, rules and morality.
major topic of interest in all four countries.
Scholars have studied socialization ques- Research on sport in society in the Nordic
tions in their own countries, and they have countries has been influenced by international
done comparative work. As in other coun- trends in the field. For example, much of the
tries, this research was most extensive research on socialization and sport was
during the 1970s and the 1980s. inspired by the social role–social system
• Sports organizations. Scholars have stud- model, which was the dominant paradigm in
ied various aspects of sports organiza- the 1970s. Parallel to this, other research areas
tions. In Finland, concerns have focused have clearly been influenced by North
on questions connected to structure, policy American sport sociology. However, the influ-
and economy. In the other countries, ence of European heritage is also obvious.
research has been done on voluntary work, Danish scholars have been closer to the
552 SPORT AND SOCIETY RESEARCH AROUND THE GLOBE

German and French traditions, while the developed by Bourdieu, Giddens, Luhmann
Anglo-American traditions have been more and Foucault. Research on gender and sport
dominant in Finland, Norway and Sweden. In has been influenced by feminist theory, and
recent years, however, scholars across the Nordic feminist scholars have made major
Nordic countries have incorporated and used contributions to the understanding of gender
dominant theories in the field, such as those and sport.
 43
PORTUGAL

Salomé Marivoet and Claudia Pinheiro

In order to discuss the sociology of sport in been recognized, especially after 1975 when it
Portugal, as well as to provide a better under- became a subject taught on university courses.
standing of the realities on which we have Some authors in physical education and
focused our research, it is important to contex- sports have been making an effort to analyse
tualize the development of this subject within sports with a critical eye, even though much of
the wider field of the sociology of knowledge. what they have written can be considered as
In that way, it will be easier to understand the ideological. Among such authors, one who
difficulties we have faced in our investigations deserves some mention is José Esteves, a pio-
and which have helped to shape them. neer whose book O Desporto e as Estruturas
In the Portuguese context, sociology-related Socias (Sport and Social Structures) was first
areas made a late appearance. The existence of published in 1967, with its third and last edi-
a dictatorial regime for nearly 40 years made tion in 1975.
the publication of any sociological knowledge With the introduction of the sociology of
impossible. Similarly, research that intended to sport into the curriculum of the Lisbon and
analyse any area of Portuguese society from a Oporto Institutes of Physical Education and
sociological perspective was unwelcome. Sport in 1975, the first academic work began to
The BA(Hons) Degree in Political and Social appear. Yet it did not receive much attention
Science was the only route to the study of from the sociological community. This is
social reality. However, its content and pur- understandable, especially if we take into
pose did not aim at critical and free social account the fact that, even today, there is no
thought. On the contrary, it tended to repro- specific degree requirement to teach the sociol-
duce and maintain the political status quo. ogy of sport in any of Portugal’s university fac-
Even an attempt by the Jesuits at the beginning ulties of physical education and sport.
of the 1960s, to start a BA(Hons) Degree in the Nevertheless, among the studies done in this
Sociology of Work, was unsuccessful. area, we have to draw attention to the research
As a result of this conjuncture, students with of Teixeira de Sousa on the activities of physi-
an interest in this field of study had to pursue cal education professionals in 1984, and on
their studies in foreign universities. This fact associationism in sport in Portugal in 1986.
meant that after the establishment of the demo- In the second half of the 1980s and due to the
cratic regime in 1974 such people were the only interest and intervention of some state institu-
ones qualified to lecture in sociology and cap- tions, the sociology of sport was given a new
able of undertaking sociological research on stimulus. Owing to Portugal’s entry into the
Portuguese society. European Community, and with the heighten-
All these drawbacks have intensified the dif- ing of relationships at the Committee for the
ficulty of developing the sociology of sport in Development of Sport (CDDS) level of the
Portugal, a country where, as in many others, European Council, a need to carry out several
general sociologists do not show much interest studies of sports was felt in order to further the
in the sociology of sport. It has been in the phys- understanding of its social contexts as a means
ical education context where the need for it has for improving sports policies. To fulfil such
554 SPORT AND SOCIETY RESEARCH AROUND THE GLOBE

purposes, a group of sociologists – the Despite the difficulties that the sociology of
Directorate General for Sports – was appointed sport has encountered in Portuguese society, it
at the Portuguese Ministry of Education. has been possible to constitute a group of
Among the studies done by this group we colleagues who are not only interested in
should mention the work of Salomé Marivoet moving the sociology of sport forward and
on Habitos Desportivos da População Portuguesa making it better known among the sociology
(Sporting Habits of the Portuguese Population) community more generally, but also in pub-
and Violência no Desporto (Violence and Sport), lishing the investigations they have made so
published in 1989 and 1991 respectively. far. The first sociology of sport meeting in
The publication of these studies by a state Portugal took place in 1995. Another was
institution has sensitized people in general and held in 1996. In the same year, the aforesaid
in sport in particular to the need to analyse the group established itself as a constituent of
sports phenomenon sociologically. These stud- the Portuguese Sociological Association
ies were also communicated to the sociological (Associação Portuguesa de Sociologia, SESD),
community through conferences and scientific which has responsibility for organizing these
journals. types of initiatives.
Another point that deserves mention is that
the media regularly express an interest in a
sociological perspective and this frequently REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING
promotes the discussion of sports issues.
As a result of these favourable trends, sev-
eral academic articles written by sociology stu- Costa, A. (1997) Á Volta do Estádio: O Desporto,
dents have begun to appear, even though o Homem e a Sociedade. Oporto: Campo das Letras.
sociology of sport as a subject or sports-related Esteves, J. (1999) O Desporto e as Estruturas Sociais,
modules have not yet been introduced into the Um Ensaio de Interpretação do Fenómeno Desportivo.
undergraduate sociology curriculum. Lisbon: Edições Universitarias Lusófaras (4th
The 1990s have been characterized by a new edition).
stimulus to the sociology of sport. As a result Marivoet, S. (1987) Metodologia da Carta da Procura
of the establishment of new BA(Hons) Degrees Desportiva e Recreativa. Lisbon: Desporto
in Physical Education and Sport, the number of e Sociedade-Sociologia Desportiva No. 2.
sociology of sport lecturers in Portugal has Marivoet, S. (1988) Aspectos Sociológicos do Desporto.
increased. At present there is a total of 14 lec- Lisbon: Livros Horizonte.
turers, among whom two are Professors, two Marivoet, S. (1989) The Evolution of Violence Associated
have PhDs and two have MAs. The latter were with Sports in Portugal (1978–1987). Lisbon: DGD.
obtained in foreign universities. We have, Marivoet, S. (1993) ‘Envolvimentos Sociais no
however, to record our regret that some of Desporto, Abordagem Sociológica das Práticas
the academic work that has been done by Desportivas em Quadros Competitivos – um
lecturers in the sociology of sport in Portugal estudo de caso’. Lisbon: ISCTE.
does not use a sociological approach to the Pinheiro, C. (1993) The Development of Women’s Sports
phenomenon of sport. Incursions into anthro- in England: 1860–1920. Leicester: University of
pology and psychology have been the most Leicester.
frequent, with the exception of the work done Sousa, J. Teixeira de (1984) Estudo do Campo As
by Professor Teixeira de Sousa, by Salomé Actividades dos Profissionais da Educação Física.
Marivoet for her Masters Degree in 1994 Lisbon: UTL/ISEF.
(Lisbon) on ‘Envolvimentos Sociais em Sousa, J. Teixeira de (1988) Contributos para o Estudo
Carreiras Desportivas’ (Social Involvement in do Associativismo Desportivo em Portugal. Lisbon:
Sporting Careers) and by Claudia Pinheiro for UTL/ISEF.
her Masters in 1993 (Leicester, England) on Sousa, J. Teixeira de (1996) Para Sociologia do Futebol
‘The Development of Women’s Sport in Profissional Portugués. Lisbon: FMH/UTL.
England: 1860–1920’.
 44
SPAIN

Núria Puig

The study themes which predominate in the theme which Lagardera has been researching
sociology of sport in Spain today can be for some years now can be summarized in the
grouped in three main areas: the evolution and following question:
significance of sport; the organization of sport;
What do we need to know today about the history
and social attitudes to sport. The first is of a
of sport that might offer us keys to interpet from
more global character and sets out to interpret
the necessary historical perspective the evolution
the significance of sport in contemporary
and genuine social significance of the phenom-
society. Work in this area has only recently
enon?’ (Lagardera, 1994)
begun. The other two belong more to the tradi-
tion of earlier days, are more developed from García Ferrando has contributed to reflection
an empirical point of view and involve a on the significance of sport in contemporary
greater number of people. society by laying special emphasis on its cul-
tural significance. To this end, he has had
recourse to Bell’s theories on postindustrial
THE EVOLUTION AND SIGNIFICANCE society and the autonomy of its ‘backbone’ ele-
OF SPORT ments (García Ferrando, 1995).

This theme encompasses research that situates

sport in a general context (historical, economic, THE ORGANIZATION OF SPORT
social, political and so on) and develops
theories destined to explain the significance of The first studies in this field almost invariably
sport in contemporary society. took the form of analyses of sporting facilities.
It was in this way that Martínez del Castillo Initial efforts culminated in the preparation
and his collaborators (1991a, 1992) studied the between 1986 and 1991 of the Censo Nacional
sports labour market and projected its develop- de Instalaciones Deportivas (National Census
ment to the year 2000. In Spain today some of Sporting Facilities) (Martínez del Castillo
49,000 people are employed in the sectors of et al., 1991b).
sports education, movement studies, manage- Another theme which began as a political
ment and training. Work situations are very het- debate and which has given rise to limited
erogeneous (ranging from well-paid full-time studies, is that of the role of public institutions;
employment to voluntary work with symbolic more precisely the relationships between sport,
remuneration), as are the variety of professional society and the Welfare State. Nevertheless,
profiles. Moreover, traditional differences per- although attempts have been made to offer an
sist according to sex, educational levels and age. overall perspective on the issue (Puig, 1993), a
Very different is the work by Lagardera broad empirical study is still needed to encom-
(1992, 1994), which the author himself defines pass what for the moment are partial verifica-
as historical sociology – very much along the tions or simple hypotheses.
lines of the research by Elias and Dunning – For his part, Moreno (1993) has concerned
which is not the same as social history. The himself with the weakness of the associative
556 SPORT AND SOCIETY RESEARCH AROUND THE GLOBE

movement in sport and the difficulties Studies on how sport contributes to the
encountered by clubs when it comes to surviv- configuration of an individual or group iden-
ing amidst public initiatives and the profound tity include those by Medina (1992) on the role
changes taking place in sport. However, the of pelota in the consolidation of Basque com-
study of sports organizations in Spain is prac- munities outside the Basque Country, Durán
tically non-existent, apart from a few notable (1992, 1994a, 1994b) on hooliganism in Spanish
exceptions. Very little is known, for instance, football, and Puig (1996) on youth and sport.
about their financial structure, about the Finally, the role of the Olympic Games in the
percentage of volunteers or professionals configuration of collective identities and the
working in them, or about the types of organi- diffusion of cultural values has been exhaus-
zations that might be established. tively treated by Moragas, Rivenburgh and
Larson (1995). The analysis they have carried
out on the way in which different television
SOCIAL ATTITUDES TO SPORT networks around the world retransmitted the
opening ceremony of the Barcelona Olympics
The first survey on participation in sport for reveals on the one hand the importance of this
the whole of Spain was carried out in 1968 event in the consolidation at home and the dif-
(Instituto Nacional de Estadística, 1968). The fusion abroad of the cultural identity of the
second was made in 1974 (Instituto Nacional host city and country and, on the other (and
de Estadística, 1975) and the three most recent this is the more suggestive contribution) the
ones, directed by García Ferrando, were con- interaction between the global and the local
ducted in 1982, 1985 and 1990 (García and the clear dialectic existing between these
Ferrando, 1982, 1986, 1991). This means that it two levels in all the countries where the cere-
is possible to observe the evolution at least mony was broadcast. Each television network
over the past 15 years of Spanish people’s atti- reconstructed the ceremony in its own way or, to
tudes to sport using comparable data. be more precise, filtered it through the cultural
Since 1968, the 12 per cent of the adult pop- codes of their respective viewers. In this way
ulation then actively (two hours a week on they tempered the idea of globalization as a
average) involved in sport increased to 36 per hegemonic and unidirectional process.
cent in 1991. Such an increase, which, as men-
tioned earlier, might be due in part to the
efforts made by government bodies since 1979,
also reflects the diversification of the tradi- FINAL REMARKS
tional model of sport observable in advanced
societies (Heinemann, 1986; Heinemann and At present, the sociology of sport in Spain has
Dietrich, 1989; Puig and Heinemann, 1991). its own profile, firmly anchored in the sport
Thus, sport has developed in such a way as to sciences more generally. Theoretical debate is
incorporate diverse value systems thanks to now well under way, discussing the value of
which it is practised en masse on the one hand different methods, the choice (or lack of it)
and by a wide spectrum of society’s members between quantitative and qualitative methods
on the other. The most relevant phenomena in and so on. A corpus of genuinely scientific
this process are the continuing practice of sport knowledge has been built up whose connec-
among elderly people and the spectacular tion with the practice and management of
increase in the participation of women. sport is made through the complex mecha-
The participation of women in sport has nisms that link the world of science to that of
been the object of several studies and seminars. political decisions. The Spanish sociology of
These are becoming more complex and involve sport, the genesis of which was closer to the
an attempt to build up a theoretical framework political concerns of the time of the transition
for shedding light on the specific characteris- from dictatorship than to the academic world,
tics of the socialization of Spanish women has finally embraced the scientific and univer-
(Buñuel, 1991; Vázquez, 1992). sity tradition of contemporary sociology. As a
The study of social attitudes to sport has discipline, it has entered a new phase, hope-
gradually evolved from descriptive and quan- fully one of maturity.
titative aspects to more complex ones which, in Even so, a lot remains to be done, from
consequence, have required more suitable themes that have been only very partially stud-
methods, essentially qualitative, and theoreti- ied, like that of sports organizations, to others
cal references, in this case more in keeping that have been practically ignored, such as
with phenomenology, symbolic interactionism the body. Regarding this subject, there are
and figurational sociology. major translations available, but as yet no
 SPAIN 557

studies carried out in Spain. Now that the Heinemann, K. and Dietrich, K. (1989) Der
process is under way, there is no doubt that, nicht-sportliche Sport. Beiträge zum Wandel im Sport.
little by little, the number of subjects covered Schorndorf: Verlag Hofmann.
and the degree of sophistication in their analy- Instituto Nacional de Estadística (1968) Encuesta
sis will increase. sobre actividades deportivas. Madrid.
Instituto Nacional de Estadística (1975) Encuesta
sobre actividades deportivas. Madrid.
NOTE Lagardera, F. (1992) ‘De la aristócrata gimnástica al
deporte de masas: un siglo de deporte en España’,
This overview was written in 1996. Sistema, 110/111: 9–36.
A broader version of this article can be found Lagardera, F. (1994) ‘El sistema deportivo: dinámica
in Puig, Núria (1995) ‘The sociology of sport in y tendencias’. Paper presented at II Congrés Català
Spain’, International Review for the Sociology of de Sociologia, Girona (Spain), May.
Sport, 30 (2): 123–40. Martínez del Castillo, J., Puig, N., Fraile, A. and
Boixeda, A. (1991a) La estructura ocupacional del
deporte en España. Encuesta realizada sobre los sectores
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Deporte, 21–22 October. en España’, Apunts. Educació Fisica i Esports, 33:
García Ferrando, M. (1982) Deporte y sociedad. 58–63.
Madrid: Ministerio de Cultura. Puig, N. (1993) ‘Revisión histórica de la política
García Ferrando, M. (1986) Hábitos deportivos de los deportiva en España. Lecciones que se pueden
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García Ferrando, M. (1991) Los españoles y el deporte Puig, N. (1996) Joves i esport. Barcelona: Generalitat
(1980–1990). Un análisis sociológico. Madrid: de Catalunya, Secretaria General de l’Esport.
Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia, Instituto de Puig, N. and Heinemann, K. (1991) ‘El deporte en la
Ciencias de la Educación Física y el Deporte. perspectiva del año 2000’, Papers, 38: 123–41.
García Ferrando, M. (1995) ‘The development of con- Vázquez, B. (1992) ‘La presencia de la mujer en el
temporary sport and the theory of post-industrial deporte español’, in El ejercicio físico la práctica
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lenge for the science of sport’, International Review
for the Sociology of Sport, 21 (4): 278–85.
 INDEX

Abrahamson, M., 1, 9, 18 amateurism, 43, 265, 318, 365, 376, assimilation, racial, 17, 284, 337
Abrams, P., 100 441, 442, 511 Association for the Advancement
achievement-orientation, 96, 181, American College of Sports of Applied Sport Psychology
364–5 Medicine (ACSM), 235, 409 (AAASP), 235, 236, 238
action paradigms, xxx American football, 174–5, 176, Association for the Study of Play
adaptation, 10, 16 265, 279, 313, 328, 504, 511 (TASP), 140, 148
Adelman, Melvin, 190 geographical origins of players, attendance, 162–3, 294
Adorno, Theodor, xxii 173, 174 audiences, 293–5
advertising, 220, 255, 266, 267, injuries and disability, 419, Australia, 65, 189, 193, 194, 525–7
296, 299, 450, 452 432–3 American influences on, 361
see also sponsorship and the media, 294, 299, 301 cricket, 175, 397
advocacy, and interests of ‘powder puff’ games, 284, nationalism and national
women in sport, 70–1 328, 331n identity, 352
aerobics, 125, 298, 299, 301, racism in, 284 sexuality and sport in, 374
326–7, 481 salaries, 158, 159 sponsorship, 411
aesthetics, 141, 206, 209 specialization in, 252 sports violence, 390, 397
Afghanistan, Soviet invasion violence in, 417–18 Australian and New Zealand
of, 218 American Indians, 145, 146 Association for Leisure
Africa, 197, 352, 522–4 American Sociological Studies (ANZALS), 526
see also Algeria; Cameroon; Association (ASA), xxv Australian Society for Sports
Ghana; Nigeria; South Americanization, xxxi, 244, 279, History, 526
Africa; Zaire 296, 301, 358, 359, 360, 361, Austria, 389
African Americans, 120–1, 194, 362, 366 authenticity, of
453–4 Ammon, Otto, 335 extreme/alternative sports,
see also black athleticism and anatomy, 140, 150 511–12
excellence ancient societies, 95–6, 150, 188, axiology, 141, 206, 208–9
ageism, xxxiii 191, 195, 196, 310, 367
agency/structure debate, 20, 21, Andrews, David, 5–6, 57, 106–31, Badenhorst, C.M., 177
45, 51, 52, 86n 329–30, 361, 362, 453–4 Bailey, Peter, 190
aggression see violence and androgyny, 69 Bale, John, 124, 130, 140–1,
aggression animals, use of, 141, 208, 209 171–82, 359–60
AGIL model of functional anomie, theory of, 11–12, 16, 466 Ball, Donald, 4, 79
imperatives, 10–11, 17 anthropological functionalism, 9, Balsamo, A., 448
AIDS/HIV, 119, 120, 439, 449 22–3 Bangladesh, 390
Albonico, Rolf, xxiii anthropology, 139–40, 442 Banks, Tony, 353
alcohol, and sports violence, anti-positivism, 19 Barnes, B., 8, 9
392–5 apartheid, 214, 218, 219, 221, 222, Barthes, Roland, 113, 117
alcohol industry, 410 337, 348 baseball, 176, 221, 251, 252, 253,
Alexander, J., 21 Arbena, Joseph L., 548–9 254, 279, 345
Algeria, 339 archeology, 140, 144, 151 cartels, 267, 268–9
alienation, of labour, 31, 32, 269 Ardagh, John, 110 and Dominican Republic, 221,
Allison, Lincoln, 243–4, 344–54 Arens, William, 149 360, 549
alternative/extreme sports, 247, Argentina, 352, 389, 548, 549 franchises, 166
504–17 Arnold, Matthew, 49 free agency in, 176
Althusser, Louis, 6, 33, 189, Aronowitz, S., 314 Pueblo, 147
314, 315 Asian Games, 218 salaries, 158, 159–60, 161
560 INDEX

basketball, 120–1, 166, 252, 265, bonding, social, cont. Canada, cont.
329–30, 511 male, 328, 374, 478, 482 organizational theory, 493
drug use in, 473 segmental and functional, 97 sport-related violence, 383, 384,
and globalization, 255, 361 boosterism, 142, 217 395, 396–7, 398, 399
salaries, 158, 159, 161 Booth, Douglas, 1, 8–24 Canadian Association for the
women in, 323, 479 Boscagli, M., 450 Advancement of Women
Basques, 556 Bottomore, T., 28, 29, 30, 32, 33, 80 and Sport and Physical
Bateson, Gregory, 149 Bouet, Michel, xxiii Activity, 71
Baudrillard, Jean, 6, 107, 108, 116, Boulmerka, Hassiba, 339 capital
126–31 Bourdieu, Pierre, 4, 20, 80, 84, 107, body, 281, 285
Bauman, Z., 99, 100 189, 318–19, 440, 446 economic and cultural, 242, 319
Beal, B., 480 Boutilier, Mary, 64 capitalism, 220, 241, 297, 317,
Beamish, R., 269 Bowden, M., 181 439–40
Becker, Gary, 157 boxing, 328–9, 446, 548 and development of modern
Beezley, William, 190 boycotts, 218–19 sports, 255–6
Belgium, 389 Brailsford, Dennis, 191 global, 269–73, 360
Bend, Emil, 17 Brasile, F.M., 427, 428 laisser-faire, 260, 261, 263
Benetton, 505, 506 Brazil, 221, 352, 372, 388–9, 549 and Marxist theory, 30, 31, 32,
Bentham, Jeremy, 122, 123 Bredemeier, B.J., 283 41–2, 44, 261–2, 313–15
Berger, Peter, 19, 79, 371 Bridgeman, Percy, 19 careers, sports, 83, 85
Best, Elsdon, 146 Britain, 96, 189, 190, 219 Caribbean (West Indies), 194, 279,
Bette, Karl-Heinrich, 465, 474 colonialism, 98, 196, 254 338–9, 549
Bias, Leonard, 433, 448 nationalism and national see also Cuba; Dominican
Biddle, S.J.H., 237–8 identity, 344, 345, 347, Republic
biography, 85 352–3 Carroll, John, 3, 63
biology, 455 organizational structures and cartelization, 267–9
and race and ethnicity, management, 494–500 Cashman, Richard, 189–90, 193
336, 442 rugby, 95, 96, 189, 251, 279, Cashmore, E., 336, 341
Birrell, Susan, 3–4, 61–72, 443–4 311, 353 Catalans, 216, 347
black athleticism and soccer, 178–9, 189, 252, 293, 294, catharsis theory, 445
excellence, 53, 299–300, 299, 301, 353, 397, 516n Cavallo, D., 279
328–30, 336, 341, 453–4 hooliganism, 96, 97, 385–8, 389, celebrities, sports, 125, 299, 448–9,
see also African Americans 393–4, 395, 397–8 451–4
black feminism, 243, 339–40 sponsorship, 411 Centre for Contemporary
‘Black Power’ demonstrations, sports policy, 491 Cultural Studies (CCCS), 2, 4,
338 television, 291, 292, 296, 297 50–1, 79–80, 386–7
Blanchard, Kendall, 139–40, working-class movement, 34, 36 chance, games of, 146, 147
144–51 see also England; Scotland; Chapman, Gwen E., 125
Blundell, V., 51 Wales character building, 278, 279,
Boas, Franz, xxxiii British Medical Association 283, 317
bodybuilding, 82, 446–8, 450, 466, (BMA), 412 cheating, 208
472, 478 Brohm, Jean-Marie, 18, 121, 314–15 Chicago School, 4, 79
the body, 189, 245, 296, 299, 301, Brown-Sequard, 442 Chile, 219, 390
439–56, 537, 543 Brownell, Susan, 124–5 China, 29, 124–5, 193, 216, 217,
visualization of bodily Bryson, L., 64, 374 219, 220, 390, 409
movement, 443 bureaucracy, 492, 493 Christianity, muscular, 278, 442
body capital, 281, 285 Burrell, G., 18–19 cinema, 299, 300, 451
deviant/natural/un-natural, Butler, Judith, 69 civil society, 316
119–20, 245, 443, 445–9 Civilian Conservation Corps
and the gaze, 299, 301 Cachay, K., 536 (CCC), 263
and notion of interdependency, Cahn, Susan, 193 civilizing processes, theory of,
442 Caillois, Roger, 11, 15, 464 5, 93–4, 96–7, 99, 100, 101,
muscular, 301 calcio, 249, 250 125, 340, 362, 363
politicization of, 441 Calhoun, C., 106, 114–15 Clarke, Alan, 53
social construction of, 193 Cameroon, 221 Clarke, John, 52, 53, 55, 387
use value of, 450 Campbell, R., 109 class, 43, 53, 242–3, 309–20
Bolin, A., 447 Canada, 65, 190, 194, 216, 217 and deviance theory, 466–7
bonding, social, 93 nationalism and national and feminist theory, 4, 54, 64,
female, 324–5, 479 identity, 352, 360, 372 65–6
 INDEX 561

class, cont. conservative ideology, 261 Demerath, N.J., 10

in figurational sociology, 56 containment, inner and outer, 466 Democratic Socialism, 37
and gender construction, 54, contextualism, 207 Denmark, 551–2
243, 331 contracts, players, 268–9 Denzin, N., 484
and Marxist theory, 313–16 reserve clause, 176, 268–9 dependency theory, 244, 357,
as race, 337 corporate interests, 220, 222, 359–60
see also working-classes 255, 270 Derrida, Jacques, 4, 6, 107, 108,
class struggle, 31, 32, 37, 313–16 and alternative/extreme sports, 112–14, 116–21, 122, 126, 443
Coakley, Jay, 54, 445–6, 481 505–6, 512–13, 514 Descartes, R., 109, 110
cock fighting, 147, 188 transnational/multinational, Descombes, V., 109
Cohen, Albert K., 466 269–73, 353, 361, 362 detachment, 94
Cold War, xxii, 214, 217, 222, see also advertising; sponsorship determinism, 19
366, 444 correspondence theory, 6n economic, 32, 38, 44, 316
Cole, Cheryl, 69, 70, 107, 119–20, Coser, Louis, 16 deviance theory, 246, 466–7
124, 126, 245, 439–56 Coward, R., 112 see also anomie, theory of;
Coleman, J.S., 279, 280 Craib, I., 10 Merton, Robert K.
Collins, Chris, 525–7 Cressey, Donald, 466 deviant behavior, 16, 83, 119–20,
Colombia, 548 cricket, 175, 251, 253, 255, 297, 353 245, 283–4, 443, 445–9
Colomy, P., 21 England, 251, 345 doping in sport as, 16, 246,
colonialism, 58, 192, 334, 359–60 and figurational analysis, 95 461–74
British, 98, 196, 254 in India, 349, 539 positive, 283, 430
see also cultural imperialism injuries, 418 dialectical materialism, 31–2,
Colquhoun, D., 409, 410 and national identity and 33, 38
commercialization, xxiii, 102, 142, nationalism, 345, 346, 348, différance, 114
189, 190, 220–1, 222–3, 242, 349, 539 difference, 69–70
266, 296–8, 301, 326, 327, West Indian (Caribbean), 58, gender, 243, 298, 301, 323,
500, 537 194, 279, 338–9, 549 327, 331
see also advertising; corporate World Cups, 345, 346, 348, 539 differential association, theory of,
interests; sponsorship criminalization of sports violence, 466, 469
commodification, 242, 296, 297, 395, 396–7 diplomacy see international
360, 449–54 Critcher, Charles, 52, 53, 55, 387 relations
Commonwealth Games, 217 critical theory, xxii, 2, 32–3, 41–2, disability, 55, 245, 422–36
Commonwealth Games 54, 278 see also pain and injury
Federation, 220 cross-country running, 434 disciplinary power, 69, 121–6
communism, 29, 30, 34, 37, 314, Cuba, 29, 372, 549 discipline, 485
371–2 Culin, Stewart, 145–6 discourse analysis, 69, 78
Communist Party cultural capital, 242, 319 discrimination, 142, 214, 255
(Germany), 36 cultural imperialism, 357, 359–60, and disability, 423
(USSR), 37 361–2 entry and exit, 160
competition, 43 see also colonialism gender, 221, 222, 255, 373–4,
in extreme/alternative sports, cultural interchange, 362–3 375, 376, 482
513 cultural studies, 2–3, 4, 48–58, 80, racial see racism/racial
international, 357, 365 131, 313, 315, 316, 525, discrimination
and monopoly, 267 540, 543 salary, 140, 159–60
competitive anxiety, 234, 238 Cunningham, Hugh, 190 distraction, sport as, 372–3, 389
competitiveness, 208, 255–6 Curry, Tim, 68, 328, 374–5 dogmatism, 38–9
health costs of, 414–17 Curtis, J.E., 15, 99, 101 Dominican Republic, 221, 360, 549
computer games, 253 Cuzzort, R.P., 370 Donnelly, Peter, 4–5, 77–86, 416,
Comte, Auguste, xxix, xxxiii, 6n, cycling, 251 478–9
8, 19 Donohue, T., 414, 415
conflict Dahrendorf, Ralf, xxix, 319 Douglas, J., 78
in sport situations, 16 Davis, Angela, 340 drag, 447
see also violence and aggression Davis, Kingsley, 13, 22 dramaturgical sociology, 4, 7n, 77,
conflict theory, xxx, 17–18, 54, 150 Dear, M., 172 79, 83
conformity, 11, 42, 466 deconstruction, 117–18 drug use, 119–20, 142, 245–6, 254,
Connolly, William, 448 de Coubertin, Pierre, 254, 284, 433, 443, 448, 461–74
conscience, 93 346, 364 control of, 215, 246, 467–71
consensus, 262 Deem, Rosemary, 54 anti-doping policy, 142, 215,
bias of, in functionalism, 17–18 DeFrance, Jacques, 534–5 222, 468
562 INDEX

drug use, cont. Elias, Norbert, cont. feminism, xxviii, xxx–xxxi, xxxiii,
and autonomy of sport, 469, on ‘sportization’ of pastimes, 3–4, 61–72, 189, 278, 322, 324,
471 5, 95–6, 363, 364 440, 552
drug-diaries, 471 elite academies, 216, 250, 254 black, 243, 339–40
legal control, 465, 470–1 elitism, 262 cultural, xxxiii
morality of, 208, 209, 468, Ellis, J., 112 in cultural studies, 50, 51, 52,
470, 474 emotions, 246, 477–85 54–5, 67–8, 69
negative doping, 462 empiricism, xxviii, xxix, 109 liberal, 4, 64, 65
rationalization of, 467, 469 encoding–decoding Marxist, xxix, 4, 64, 65–6
substances used, 461–2 model, 295 post-structuralist, 125
Dumm, Thomas, 445 Engels, Friedrich, 31–2, 313 radical (cultural), xxxiii, 4,
Duncan, M., 68, 81, 125, 481 England, 95, 250–1, 345, 364, 64, 65
Dunning, Eric, xxiii, xxviii, xxix, 365–6, 397, 418–19 socialist, 4, 64, 66
5, 55–6, 95, 96–7, 99, 102–3, cricket, 251, 345 Feminist Majority Foundation, 71
335, 363, 417, 441, 446 hunting, 102 feminization, 322
on soccer and soccer public schools, 96, 264, 278–9, fencing, 249
hooliganism, 5, 16, 95, 97, 318, 322, 441 fetishism, 483
101, 387–8, 413–14 environmental issues, 141, 177, FIFA, 218, 220, 254, 353, 416
Duquin, Mary E., 246, 477–85 178–9 figurational sociology, xxx, 5, 14,
Durkheim, Emile, xxix, xxxiii, epistemology, 141, 206, 207–8 92–104, 139, 243, 244, 248,
9–10, 12–13, 15, 18, 78, 319, see also knowledge 340, 351, 357, 387, 543
466, 470, 474 equality issues, 142, 208, 214, and critical theory, 2
Dyson, M., 341, 453, 454 221–2, 255, 278, 334 and cultural studies, 55–6
see also discrimination; and study of emotion, 478
Eagleton, T., 114 inequality functionalism, 100–1
Eastern Europe, 29, 33, 530–2 equestrian sports, 95, 188, 250, and globalization, 362–6
see also Germany, Democratic 251, 549 Fine, Gary Alan, 327–8
Republic; Soviet Union erotic desire, 483 Finland, 219, 365, 551, 552
economic development, 217 ESPN, 247, 505, 506, 507, 511 firm, economics of the, 140, 161–6
economic restructuring, 491–2 established–outsider relations, Firth, Raymond, 146
see also globalization, economic theory of, 340–1, 362 fitness culture, 324, 451–2, 481
economics, 139, 140, 157–68, 177–8 ethics/morals, 141, 206, 208–9, Fitz, George W., 231
political, 241–2, 260–73 210, 215, 441–2, 468, 470, Fletcher, Sheila, 193
Edelman, Robert, 190 474, 485 Földesi, G.S., 530–2
education, 242, 264, 277–87 ethnicity, 195, 336 Foley, D.E., 284, 328
higher, 264–5, 277, 281–2 and nationality, 350 folk games, 95, 96, 102–3, 144, 147,
physical, 43, 285–6, 408, 409–10, ethnography, 4, 22–3, 78, 79, 82–3, 148, 151
542–3, 553 85, 144, 151 football see American
Edwards, Harry, xxiii, 15, 21, 338 ethnomethodology, 50, 56, 77, 79, football; rugby; soccer
Eichberg, H., 179, 180, 195–6, 256, 80, 81, 543 Football Association, 251, 252, 254
359, 536 Euchner, C., 176, 177 cup final, 293
Eitzen, D. Stanley, xxiii, 244, 370–8 European sports identity, 367 Fordism, 439–40
El Salvador, 351, 389 European Federation of Sport formalism, 207
electronic media, 506–7 Psychology (FEPSAC), Forster, Clive, 175
Elias, Norbert, xxii, xxiii, xxix, 230, 233 Foucault, Michel, 4, 6, 68, 69,
xxx, xxxiv, 2, 16, 21, 28, 365, exclusivity, 514 107, 108, 113, 116, 117, 121–6,
413–14 exercise, 441 180, 440
theory of civilizing processes, and health, 245, 408–9, Fowler, Chris, 508
5, 93–4, 99, 100, 101, 125, 411–14, 419 Fox, Robin, 147
340, 363, 387 exercise addicts, 119, 443 France, 95, 217, 219, 249, 534–5
on emotion, 478 existentialism, 6, 77, 109–11 and drug use, 468, 470,
theory of established-outsider extreme/alternative sports, 471, 473
relations, 340, 362 247, 504–17 gymnastics, 441
and figurational sociology, hunting, 102
5, 92–103 passim, 248, 340, fair play, 43, 181, 277, 365 nationalism/national identity,
363, 387, 478 fairness, 470 364
on functionalism, 100–1 fan enthusiasm, 15, 483 Paris, May (1968), 6, 112–13
on gender relations, 103 Featherstone, M., 363, 366, 451 soccer, 173, 389
on Marx, 28 femininity, 298, 299, 301, 330 the state and sport in, 215, 491
 INDEX 563

franchises, 140, 163–4, 165–6, 266, Germany, cont. Hackfort, Dieter, 238
267–9 National Socialism (Nazism), Hägerstrand, Torsten, 175
geographical location of, 174–5, 36, 101, 196, 219, 335, 371 Haiti, 372
176–7 nationalism/national identity, Hall, Ann, 55, 64, 193, 444
Frankenburg, Ronald, 23 364, 371 Hall, Stuart, 2, 49–50, 51, 106, 131
Frankfurt School, xxii, 2, 32–3, soccer hooliganism, 389 Hammerich, Kurt, xxiii
41–2 working-class movement, 36 Handbook of the Social Science of
Franklin, S., 443 Germany, Democratic Republic Sport, xxv–xxvii
freak shows, 443 (GDR), 39–40, 214, 216, 220, handicap, 422–3
free agency, 159, 163, 176 254, 468 Harding, Tonya, 392
Freud, Sigmund, 41 Ghana, 390 Hardy, Stephen, 196
functionalism, xxviii, xxix, xxx, Giddens, Anthony, xxiii, xxx, Hargreaves, Jennifer, 2–3, 48–58,
1–2, 8–24, 54, 80, 150, 312–13, 4, 20, 81, 189 69, 103, 193, 323, 444, 478, 482
525, 543 Gill, Diane L., 142–3, 228–39 Hargreaves, John, 43, 44, 53, 54,
in figurational sociology, 100–1 Glaser, Barney, xxxiv 57, 316, 441, 450
forms of, 9–10 globalization, xxxi, 5, 43, 95, 97–9, Harvey, David, 440
167, 244, 254–5, 285, 356–67 Harvey, J., 123–4, 362, 441
Gaelic Athletic Association, 216, economic, 269–73, 356 Hausmann, Bernice, 444
347, 349 and the media, 97, 98, 241, health, 244–5, 408–19
Galton, Francis, 335, 442 270, 300–1 health crises, 439
Galtung, J., 360, 365 and nationalism and national Hegel, G.W.F., 31, 32
gambling, 266 identity, 97, 98–9, 243–4, hegemony, 52–3, 54, 242
game forms, typology of, 11, 464 353–4, 364, 367 Gramscian theory, 2, 3, 43–4,
game patterns, 414 goal attainment, 10, 16 49–50, 51, 56, 57, 67–8, 189,
games, 207 Goffman, Erving, 7n, 77, 79, 83 316, 320
Gane, Mike, 130 Goldaber, Irving, 383 masculine, 55, 61, 243, 323–4,
Garber, Marjorie, 120 golf, 160, 252 328, 331, 373, 374
García Ferrando, M., 555 nationalist sentiment in, 344 see also patriarchy
Geertz, Clifford, 4, 5, 80, 83, 147 Skins Game, 511 Heikkala, J., 485
gender, 322–31, 551, 552 women’s participation in, Heinemann, Klaus, xxiii, 536–8
and effects on pain and injury- 325–6, 327, 375 Heinila, Kalevi, xxiii, 11, 15, 17
related attitudes, 245, 416, Gorn, Elliott, 192 Hekman, Susan, 20
430–1 Gottdiener, M., 127 Hendricks, Denver J., 522–4
and globalization, 357 Gould, Peter, 177 Henricks, Thomas, 191
media representations of, 68, governance of sport see Henry, Ian, 246–7, 490–501
82, 298–9 organization and management hermeneutics, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81,
as a term, 69 Gramsci, Antonio, 2, 3, 4, 33, 42–3, 82, 85
gender difference, 243, 298, 301, 48, 49–50, 51, 56, 67, 189, 242, Herrnstein, R., 445
323, 327, 331 316, 323 heterosexuality, 120, 243, 325, 327,
gender discrimination, 221, 222, grand theories, xxxiv 330, 331, 374, 375, 448
255, 373–4, 375, 376, 482 Greece, 219, 389, 390, 491 Hill, Jeff, 196
gender relations, 3–4, 43, 82, Ancient, 95–6, 150, 188, 191, historical materialism, 31, 32, 33,
85, 193–4, 208, 213, 243, 285, 196, 310 38, 189, 338, 530
319, 478 Griffith, Coleman R., 232, 236 historicism, xxix
in cultural studies, 50, 54–5 Grossberg, Lawrence, 51, 131 history, 17, 139
equality in, 142, 208, 214, group sports see team (group) social, 95–6, 141, 187–98, 315
221, 278 sports see also ancient societies;
in figurational sociology, 103 Grousset, Pascal, 364 medieval society
in post-structuralism, 125, 189 Gruneau, R., 43–4, 52–3, 313, 314, Hoberman, John, 442–3, 474
promotion of traditional, 316, 320, 441–2, 446, 450 Hobsbawm, Eric, 187, 277
373–4 Guatemala, 390 Hoch, Paul, 314, 315
see also feminism; patriarchy Gubar, S., 449 hockey
genetics, 140, 150, 336 Guttmann, Allan, 241, 248–57, ice, 162, 178, 324–5, 327, 395–6,
geography, 139 359, 361, 417, 418 397, 479
human, 140–1, 171–82 gymnastics, 250, 441 women players, 324–5, 327
Gerlach, Larry, 187 injuries, 418
Germany, 95, 250, 536–8 Haber, H., 447 salaries, 158, 160, 161
drug use, 468 Habermas, J., 33, 106 violence, 162, 163
Munich Olympics (1972), 219 habitus, 242–3, 319 Hoggart, Richard, 2, 48, 49
564 INDEX

Holmlund, C., 447 injury see disability; pain and Jarvie, Grant, 5, 8, 57, 97, 98–9,
Holt, R., 53, 190 injury 177, 196, 243, 315, 334–42
homogenization, 357, 359, 360, innovation, 11, 466 Jary, David, 56, 77, 79, 80,
361, 362–3 institutionalization, of sociology 99–100
homophobia, 67, 243, 325, 326, of sport, xxi–xxv Jary, J., 77, 79, 80
330, 331, 374, 375, 482, 515 instrumental rationality, 241, 248 Jewish Americans, 194
homosexuality, 120, 330, 331, integration Jockey Club, 251
374–5, 448, 483 of the disabled in mainstream Johnson, A., 77, 78
Honduras, 351, 389 sports, 245, 425, 426–9, 436 Johnson, Ben, 352, 433, 463
Hood-Williams, J., 125, 444 of extreme/alternative sports Johnson, Magic, 120, 449
Horkheimer, Max, xxii, 32 into the mainstream, 510 Johnson, N., 414, 415
Horne, John, 56, 99–100 as functional imperative, 10, 16 Jones, Stephen, 53
Horowitz, Irving Louis, 19 social, 15, 142, 215–16, 244, 279, Jordan, Michael, 120, 121, 126,
horse racing, 95, 188, 251 334, 371–3, 427, 428 329–30, 453–4
Houle, F., 362 intercollegiate/scholastic sports, Journal of Sport and Exercise
Houlihan, Barrie, 142, 213–23, 366 242, 264–5, 277, 281–2, 434 Psychology (JSEP), 234
Howell, J., 452 interdependence, 356, 358, 363, journals, xxiii–xxiv
Hribar, A.S., 452 366, 367 see also individual titles
Huaco, G.A., 13 and the body, 442
humanism, new, 19–20 see also figurational sociology Kahn, L.M., 159, 160
Hungary, 530–1 International Committee for Sport Kane, Martin, 336
hunting, 95, 102, 310 Sociology (ICSS), xxi, Karnilowicz, W., 12–13, 15
Hygienists, 36 xxiii, 530 Kaskisaari, M., 482
hyperreality, 128–31 International Olympic Committee Keat, R., 20
(IOC), 213, 218, 220, 222, 254, Kellner, Douglas, 126, 128, 129
ice skating, 120, 392 297, 353, 373, 426 Kenyon, Gerald S., xxiii, xxix
identity, 285, 556 and alternative/extreme sports, Kerouac, Jack, 110
emotion and formation of, 507, 514 Kerrigan, Nancy, 392
477–83 and drug use, 214, 222, 463, Kidd, Bruce, 68, 190, 360
European, 367 466, 468, 469 Kiku, Koichi, 542–4
local, 98, 362, 364, 365, 367 international relations, 140, 142, Kimmel, M., 442
national see national identity 151, 217–20, 222 Kincaid, H., 20–1, 22
self-, 246, 480–1 International Review of Sport King, Rodney, 445
subcultural, 478–80 Sociology (IRSS), xxi, xxii, King, Samantha, 449
identity card schemes, 394 xxiii, 14 Kleiber, D.A., 283
ideography, 19 International Society of Sport Klein, Alan, 360, 362
ideology, 2, 18, 37, 41–2, 196 Psychology (ISSP), 233, 238 Knapp, Barbara, xxiii
and the body, 441 International Sociology of Sport Knodo, D., 131
and emotions in sport, 478 Association (ISSA), xxi, Knoop, J., 13
and media content, 53, 68, 530, 546 knowledge, 141, 206, 207–8
293, 296 internationalization of sociology objective and subjective, 94
and nation, 349 of sport, xxv, xxvii Korbut, Olga, 415
and political economy, 261–2 see also globalization Korea, 238, 545–7
and social control, 244, 371, interpretive sociology, 4–5, Korsch, Karl, 32
373–5 77–86 Krizek, B., 485
Illich, Ivan, 467 involvement, 94 Kuhn, Manford, 4, 81
immigrants, 215, 279 Ireland, 216, 217, 219, 300, 347–8
impairment, 422, 423 see also Northern Ireland labelling theory, 77
in-line skating, 510 Islamic traditionalism, 339 labour
India, 279, 349, 539–40 Israel, 218 alienation of, 31, 32, 269
individual-society relationship, Italy, 95, 249, 397 exploitation, 272–3
92–3, 100 reproductive, 66
industrialization, 262–3, Jakobson, Roman, 111 women and, 66, 322
312, 440 James, C.L.R., 58, 243, 338–9, 549 labour economics, 140, 158–61
export-orientated, 270–3 Japan, 148, 217, 238, 542–4 labour power, reproduction of,
inequality, principle of, 312 Japan Society of Sport Sociology 40–1
informalization, xxii, xxx (JSSS), 543 Lagardera, F., 555
information technology, 128 Japan Society of Sports Industry landscape, 141, 179–81
Ingham, A., 54 (JSSI), 544 Lang, G.E., 244
 INDEX 565

language, 68, 111, 112, 118–19, 144 MacAloon, John, 56–7, 207 masculinity, cont.
and meaning, 113–14, 242, McConnell, H., 176 Victorian, 322
295–6 McCrone, Kathleen, 193 and violence in sport, 245, 392,
and nation, 349 McDonald, Ian, 2–3, 48–58, 539–40 395, 417–18
and salary discrimination, 160 McGinn, B., 447 Mason, C., 179
Latin America, 189–90, 197, McKay, J., 361 Mason, Tony, 189
548–9 McNeal, R.B., 281 materialism
soccer, 221, 351, 352, 372, 388–9, MacNeill, M., 125 cultural, 150
390, 548, 549 macro- and micro-sociology, 78 historical and dialectical, 31–2,
see also Chile; Cuba; Magnane, George, xxiii 33, 38, 189, 338, 530
Dominican Republic; Maguire, J., 5, 8, 57, 97–9, 176, Mauss, Marcel, 534
Mexico; Peru 177, 244, 315, 356–67, 387, 478 Mead, George Herbert, 4
Lavoie, Marc, 140, 157–68 Malcolmson, Robert, 190, 191 meaning, 113–14, 196, 242, 295–6
Lawrence, G., 525 Malinowski, Bronislaw, 9 measurement
leadership, 12, 16 management and organization of performance, 158, 250
see also hegemony see organization see also quantification
leagues, creation of, 253 Manchester United football club, Mechikoff, R., 483, 484
Lears, T.J.K., 450 353, 516n media, 53, 97, 98, 193, 242, 266,
legal control, of drug use, 465, Mannheim, Karl, 2 291–301, 358, 504
470–1 Mansfield, A., 447 Baudrillard on influence of,
legitimacy, of extreme/alternative Mantle, Mickey, 433 128–30
sports, 511–12 Maoris, 146 and economics of sport, 157
Leib, J., 176 Maradona, Diego, 548, 549 electronic, 506–7
leisure, 141, 190, 317 Marey, Etienne-Jules, 442, 443 and emotional experience,
Lenk, Hans, 256 Marivoet, Salom‚ 553–4 483–4
lesbian separatism, 65, 67 Markula, Pirkko, 125, 326–7, representations of gender in, 68,
lesbianism, 70, 325, 326, 330, 331, 481–2 82, 298–9
375, 482 Marsh, Peter, 385 globalization, 97, 98, 241, 270,
Lessa, Alexander, 146 Martens, Rainer, 229, 234, 235, 300–1
Lever, J., 372, 388–9 237, 238 and hegemonic process, 52
Lévi-Strauss, Claude, 6, 110–11, martial practices, 188, 309, 418 and ideology, 53, 68, 293, 296
113, 440 Martin, Emily, 439–40 and masculinity, 299
Levinsky, S., 548 Martin, Phyllis, 190 and meaning, 196, 242, 295–6
Lewin, Kurt, 230 Martínez del Castillo, J., 555 and national identity, 300
Ley, D., 177 Marx, Karl, xxxii, xxxiii, 28–9, 30, race and the, 299–300
liberal ideology, 261 78, 261, 262, 312, 313–14, 319 and sports violence, 244,
Libert University, 181 Marxism, xxviii, xxix, xxx, xxxi, 397–400
life histories, 85 xxxiv, 2, 28–46, 80, 278, see also press; television
lifestyle, 410, 451 530, 543 medicalization, 467
Lillelien, Bjoerge, 346, 347 base-superstructure distinction, medieval society, 95, 96, 188, 191,
Lim, Burn-Jang, 545–7 30–1, 38, 40, 41, 43, 44 248, 249, 310–11, 317
Lindsay, Cecile, 443 theories of race, 337 memory work, 480–1, 484
Lindstrom, H., 427 and theories of soccer Merton, Robert K., xxxiv, 6n, 9, 10,
Lineker, Gary, 415–16 hooliganism, 385–6 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 466
local culture and identity, 98, 361, see also neo-Marxism Messner, Michael, 55, 66–7, 68,
364, 365, 367 Marxism-Leninism, 29, 30, 33–4, 417, 483
logocentrism, 118 37, 38–40 metaphysics, 206–7
Louis, Joe, 328–9 Marxist feminism, xxix, 4, 64, Metcalfe, Alan, 190, 192
Loy, John W., xxiii, 1, 8–24, 65–6 Mexico, 483, 548, 549
11–12, 13, 15, 16, 54, 57, Maryanski, A., 17, 18, 22 migration, of sports talent, 175–6,
79, 176 Marylebone Cricket Club, 251 221, 358
Lucerne Social Democratic Sports masculinity, 125–6, 193, 243, 284, military prowess, 309–20
International (LSDSI), 37 301, 323, 327–31, 482–3 military rationale for sport, 142,
Luckmann, T., 79 crisis of, 323, 442 215, 441
Luhmann, N., 536 hegemonic, 55, 61, 243, 323–4, Miller, T., 124, 361, 445–6
Lundberg, George, 19 328, 331, 373, 374 Mills, C. Wright, xxxiv
Lüschen, Günther, xxiii, xxv, xxvi, and the media, 299 Milton, B., 16
xxvii, xxix, 11, 14–15, 16, 22, and pain and injury, 431 Mintzberg, H., 494, 496, 499
245–6, 461–74 and race, 126, 328–30 Miracle, Andrew W., 242, 277–87
566 INDEX

mobility neo-positivism, 19–20 organization and management,

of players, 163–4 Netherlands, 389 cont.
social, 15, 17, 313, 319, 373 New Zealand, 65, 349, 419, 525–7 of sports organizations, 246–7,
see also migration Nietzsche, F., 450 490–501
modernism, xxxiii–xxxiv Nigeria, 217–18 see also sports organizations
and organizational theory, 493 Nike, 271–2, 452, 506 organizational theory, 492–4
modernity, 107 Nitsch, J.R., 22 Orlie, M., 124
modernization theory, 189, 244, Nixon II, Howard L., 245, 422–36 Orr, Marco, 21
357, 358–9, 361, 538 Nixon, John, 15 outside/insider status, in extreme
Moen, O., 176 nominalism, 19 sports, 510
Moncrieff, A., 179 nomothetics, 19 ownership of teams, 266
Monie, John, 415 Nordic countries, 551–2 see also franchises
monopoly, 266, 267–9, 353 see also Finland; Norway
monopsony, 268–9 normalization, 123, 125, 440, Packer, Kerry, 255, 297, 346
Mooney, James, 145 441, 451 Page, Charles, 4, 79
Moore, Pamela, 454–5 Norris, Christopher, 126, 129 Paglia, Camille, 131
Moore, Wilbur, 13 North American Society for the pain and injury, 245, 414–17,
Moragas, M., 556 Psychology of Sport and 418–19, 429–33
morals/ethics see ethics Physical Activity (NASPSPA), emotional management of, 479
Moreno, A., 555–6 229, 232–4, 235 Panopticon, 122–3
Morgan, G., 18–19 Northern Ireland, 215, 216, paradigm conflicts, xxix–xxx
Morgan, W.J., 42, 130, 141–2, 348, 388 paradigmatic fragmentation, xxxii
204–11 Norway, 346–7, 365, 551, 552 Paralympics, 245, 425–6, 427, 428,
motor racing, 548, 549 nostalgia, 246, 484 507
Mouzelis, N., 21–2 Novak, Michael, 18 parks, public, 263
Mrozek, D., 451 Parrat, Catriona, 193
Murdoch, Rupert, 353, 516n objectivism, 18–19 Parsons, Talcott, xxxiii–xxxiv, 9,
Murphy, Patrick, 5, 92–104, 387 objectivity, 94 10–11, 16, 17, 18, 21, 312–13
myth, 118 occupational status, 311, 312, 313 Pascal, A.H., 158, 160
officials, 376 patriarchy, xxvii–xxviii, xxx,
narcissism, 483 Oglesby, Carol, 64 xxxiii, 3, 51, 52, 61, 62, 65, 68,
nation/nationality, 349–50 Olmsted, C., 12 278, 298, 301, 373
National Association of Base Ball Olympic Games, 130, 217, 255, patriotism, 350
Players, 251 270, 293, 296, 297, 357, pattern maintenance, 10, 16
National Basketball League 372, 556 Patton, C., 447, 448
(NBA), 361 Olympic Games, (1936) Berlin, performance, 140, 150
National Football League Players 371 and disability, 423–4
Association (NFLPA), 432–3 Olympic Games, (1964) Tokyo, measurement of, 158, 250
national identity, 142, 216–17, 219 and salaries, 158, 159
243–4, 344–9, 352, 360, 372 Olympic Games, (1968) Mexico, Perkin, Harold, 187
and globalization, 97, 98–9, 338 permissiveness, xxii, xxx
243–4, 353–4, 364, 367 Olympic Games, (1972) Munich, personhood, 444
and media representations, 300 219 Peru, 216
National Intercollegiate Athletic Olympic Games, (1980) Moscow, phenomenology, 77, 80, 83, 543
Association (NCAA), 265, 218–19 Phillips, John, 63
281, 282, 298, 373, 410 Olympic Games, (1992) Barcelona, Philo, C., 172, 180
National Socialism (Nazism), 36, 219, 556 philosophy, xxxii, 139, 141–2,
101, 196, 219, 335, 371 Olympic movement, 42, 214, 204–11
national unity, sport as 345–6, 359 sociology of, xxx
instrument to strengthen, see also Paralympics; Special phonocentrism, 118–19
216, 371 Olympics physical (body) capital, 281, 285
National Youth Administration ontology, 141, 206 physical culture, Marxist theory
(NYA), 264 operationalism, 19 of, 34, 36–40
nationalism, 243–4, 336, 344–5, oppositions, philosophical, physical education, 43, 285–6, 408,
349–54, 365, 371, 372, 539 118–19 409–10, 542–3, 553
Nelson, M.B., 374 organization and management, physiologists, sports, 252
neofunctionalism, 1, 21–2 375–7 Pillsbury, Richard, 179–80
neo-Marxism, xxix, 40–6, of extreme/alternative sports, place, identification with, 172, 178
338–9, 534 513–14 play, 140, 144, 148–9, 151
 INDEX 567

playground movement, 263, 279 Prokop, U., 42 Red Sports International (RSI), 37
pluralism, 262 Proletkultists, 36 Redhead, Steve, 130
Pociello, Christian, 535 promotion Reebok, 271–2
Poland, 530, 531 sports, 241, 255 Rees, C. Roger, 16, 242, 277–87
political economy, 241–2, 260–73 see also advertising; sponsorship Rees, J., 505
political science, 139 Pronger, Brian, 124, 483 reform theories, 283–4
politics psychology, 139, 142–3, 228–39 Regnault, Felix-Louis, 443
and sport, 2, 15, 18, 34, 37, 40, public schools, England, 96, 264, regulation theory, 491
142, 196, 213–23 278–9, 318, 322, 441 relativism, 80
in sport, 214, 220–1 Pueblo baseball, 147 religion, 18, 188
Pooley, J., 17 Puig, N£ria, 555–7 and nation, 349
popular culture, 141, 190, 197 Pumping Iron (film), 447–8 Renaissance sports, 248–50
see also cultural studies representation theory, 6n
Portugal, 553–4 qualitative-quantitative debate, 78 reproduction theory, 40–1, 42
positivism, xxix, 1, 19–20, 109, quantification, 248, 249–50, 251, resistance to Western sport
189, 493 252, 253, 256 forms, 364, 365, 366
post-Fordism, 440, 490, 491–2 queer theory, xxxiii, 4, 69–70 responsibility, individual, and
postmodernism, xxxii, Quetelet, Adolphe, xxix health, 410, 451
xxxiii–xxxiv, 51, 108, 370 retreatism, 11, 466
Baudrillard and, 126–31 race, xxxiii, 4, 53, 55, 64, 120–1, revenue-sharing schemes, 164–5
and feminism, 68–9 195, 243, 278, 285, 312, 334–42 Rex, John, 338
and organization and in feminist theory, 64, 65, 66–7 Richards, Renee, 70, 82, 443–4
management, 490, 492, 493 and gendering of sport, Riess, Steven, 190
post-structuralism, 5–6, 51, 68, 69, 243, 331 Rigauer, Bero, xxii, 2, 28–46
106–31, 189, 534 Marxist theories of, 337 Rinehart, Robert, 124, 247, 504–17
post-welfare society, 490, 491 and masculinity, 126, 328–30 Riordan, J., 409
power and media sport, 299–300 Risse, Heinz, xxii
disciplinary, 69, 121–6 new politics of, 341 Ritchie, Ian, 130
normalization of, 440 and violence in sport, 383 ritualism, 11, 466
and organizational politics, 493 see also ethnicity ritual(s), 140, 149, 151, 188
power relations, xxviii, 5, 49–50, racial assimilation, 17, 284, 337 consensual and differentiating,
69, 262, 317, 440 racism/racial discrimination, 242, 279–84
cultural studies perspective, 52, xxxiii, 142, 214, 221, 255, 284, soccer violence as, 385
53, 55, 67–8 334, 335–6, 337, 376, 454 Ritzer, G., 8, 17, 18, 20
and media representations, 242, in alternative/extreme sports, Roberts, G.C., 283
298, 301 515 Robertson, R., 359, 366
and race relations, 243, 340 in salary determination, 140, Robins, R., 179
see also hegemony; patriarchy 159–60 Robson, B., 447–8
Powter, Susan, 452 see also apartheid; National Roces, 505, 506
pragmatism, 142, 210 Socialism (Nazism) Rojek, Chris, 55, 56, 100, 101, 130
praxis, 50, 56 Radcliffe-Brown, A.R., 9 Roman society, 196, 310
Pred, Allen, 180–1 radical ideology, 261–2 Rony, F.T., 443
press, 83, 196, 266, 291–2, 293, see also Marx, Karl; Marxism Rooney, J., 172–3, 175–6, 177
397–8 radicalization, xxx Roosevelt, Franklin D., 263
primitive societies, 140, 144, 145, Rail, Geneviève, 123–4, 130, 479 Rorty, Richard, 210
146, 147, 148 Raitz, Karl, 180 Rottenberg, S., 157, 163
privatization, 246, 491, 501 Rapping, L.A., 158, 160 Rowe, D., 449, 525
process sociology see figurational rationalization, 241, 248, 251–3 rowing, 251–2
sociology of drug use, 467, 469 Royal College of Physicians, 412
Production-Gymnastics, 36 Ravenel, L., 177 rugby, 5, 95, 96, 189, 279, 311, 349,
professionalization, xxiii, 17, 43, Rawlings Sporting Goods Co., 352, 353
95, 96, 102, 265–6 272–3 Britain, 95, 96, 189, 251, 279,
of extreme/alternative sports, Real, M., 483, 484 311, 353, 397
506, 511 realism, 19, 31, 80, 295–6 South Africa, 173, 348, 349, 372
of management of sports reality, 141, 206 violence, 397
organizations, 501 reality/myth binary, 118 Wales, 349, 397
profit maximization, 157, 161–2, rebellion, 11 World Cup, 345, 346, 348, 372
163, 164, 266, 267 Reckless, W.C., 466 Rugby Football Union, 251, 311
progress, xxxiii, 241 records, sports, 248, 250, 251 Rühl, Joachim, 191, 250
568 INDEX

rules, 95, 207, 241, 251, 270 Shotter, J., 80 social practice, sport as,
enforcement of, 376 signifier/signified, 111–12, 114 xxi–xxii, 42
Rütten, A., 42 Silva, John, 235 social stratification
Simmel, Georg, 16 theories of, 13, 312–19
Sabo, Donald, 55, 68 Simpson, O.J., 393, 449 see also class; ethnicity; gender;
Sage, George, xxiii, xxv, xxvi, Simpson-Housley, P., 172 race
xxvii, 54, 176, 241–2, 260–73, simulation, 128–31 socialism, 30, 34, 36, 37, 40, 41
316, 320, 361 skateboarding, 480, 513, 514 Socialist Party (Germany), 36
salaries, 140, 158–61, 163 Sloop, John M., 126 socialization, 2, 4, 5, 10, 15, 17,
capping of, 140, 164, 165, 167 Slowikowski, S., 131, 484 244, 278, 317, 371, 466, 551
and discrimination, 140, 159–60 Smith, Adam, 260 emotional, 477, 485
sanctions, sports, 217–19 Smith, Barry, 117 of immigrants, 215, 279
Sandow, Eugen, 450–1 Smith, Michael, 391 into sport, 84–5
SanGiovanni, Cindy, 64 Smith, Ron, 234 political, 2, 40
Sartre, Jean-Paul, 110 Smoll, Frank, 234 sex role, 3, 64, 373
Saudi Arabia, 390 Snook, A., 177 sociological functionalism,
Saussure, Ferdinand de, 6, snowboarding, 514 9, 22
111, 114 Snyder, E., 484 Sociology of Sport Journal (SSJ), 14
Schafer, Walter, xxiii Snyder, Eldon, xxiii, 479 South Africa, 194, 216, 219, 337,
Schimank, Uwe, 465, 474 soccer, 5, 11, 16, 145, 175, 177, 340, 348
Schimmel, K., 176 178–9, 299, 397, 413–14 apartheid, 214, 218, 219, 221,
scholarships, athletic, 265, Britain see under Britain 222, 337, 348
281, 282 and class, 256, 311, 315 rugby, 173, 348, 349, 372
school dropout rates, 281 commercialization of, 296, 301 South America see Latin American
school sports, 96, 242, 264, geographical origins of players, Soviet Union, 2, 29, 214, 215, 216,
277–87, 373, 408, 409, 410 173–4, 221 409, 444
and injury, 434 historical origins, 95, 96, 188, and international relations,
Schoonmaker, Sara, 129 248, 249, 252 217, 218
Schutz, Albert, 77 hooliganism, 5, 52, 96, 97, 129, and Marxist theory of physical
science, and the body, 442–5 162, 179, 382, 385–90, culture, 36–7, 38
scientific method, 80–1 393–5, 397–8, 556 nationalism in, 347, 351–2
scientism, 38–9 injuries, 415–17, 418, 434 spacial dynamics see geography
Scotland, 192, 196, 300, 345, 348, Latin America, 221, 351, 352, Spain, 216, 347, 389, 491, 555–7
351, 353, 388 372, 388–9, 390, 548, 549 Spander, Art, 344
Scott, J., 172 and the media, 294, 299, Sparks, R., 441
Scully, G.W., 159, 160 353, 516n Spartacism, 37
Sedgwick, E., 443 mobility of players, 163 Special Olympics, 245, 424–5, 429,
Segal, Mary, 16 and nationalism and national 436, 507
Seidman, S., 115 identity, 346, 347–8, specialization, 241, 248, 252, 253
Seles, Monica, 392 349, 351 spectatorship and emotion, 246,
semiology, 242, 295–6 World Cup, 270, 293, 345, 357 477, 483–4
sex, 69, 193 soccer consciousness, 386 speech/writing binary, 118–19
sex role socialization, 3, 64, 373 soccer subculture, 386 Spencer, Herbert, xxxiii, 9
sex testing, 125, 373, 444–5 social action, theory of, xxxiii, spillovers, 177–9
sexism, xxxiii, 221, 284, 325, 10–11, 22, 77 economic, 165–6, 177–8
326, 515 social class see class sponsorship, 142, 220, 222,
see also discrimination, gender social conditions 296, 297
sexual assault and harassment, sport as distraction from, of extreme/alternative sports,
393, 401n, 482 372–3, 389 512–13
sexuality, 55, 65, 67, 69, 120, 123, and violence in sport, 383, and health issues, 245, 410–11
193, 374–5, 482–3 385–6, 387–8 sporting events, 270, 293, 297
see also heterosexuality; social control, 244, 370–8, economic impact of, 166,
homosexuality; lesbianism 393–7, 445 178, 217
Shankly, Bill, 416 of drug use, 246, 467–71 political value of hosting, 219
Sheard, Ken, 5, 92–104, 96–7, social control theory, 466–7 sporting goods industry, 220, 266,
102–3, 417, 441 social integration see integration, 270–3, 358, 361
Sheffield International Venues social ‘sportization’ of pastimes, 5, 95–6,
Ltd, 500 social mobility, 15, 17, 313, 244, 363–6
Shields, D., 283 319, 373 sportsmanship, 208, 277
 INDEX 569

sports clubs, 95, 537 structuration theory, xxx, 139, 189 Thailand, 345
re-location of, 176–7 structure/agency debate, 20, 21, Theberge, N., 13, 64, 67–8, 193,
Sports Council, 297, 408, 417, 45, 51, 52, 86n 243, 322–31, 479
418–19, 494, 498 Struna, Nancy L., 141, 187–98 Theodoraki, Eleni, 246–7,
sports facilities, 263–4, 268, 555 Stuck, Martha, 473 490–501
access and control, 195–6 subaltern studies theoretical paradigms, conflict
commercial sector involvement India, 540 over, xxix–xxx
in, 500, 537 see also cultural studies thick description, 5, 80, 83
geographical location of, 174 subcultures, 4–5, 16–17, 83–4 Thomas, W.I., 79
Japan, 543–4 subjectivism, 18 Thompson, E.P., 2, 48, 49,
ownership of, 268 subjectivity, 68, 94, 108, 109–11, 189, 315
rationalization of, 252, 253 112, 115 Tiihonen, A., 480
sports organizations, 142, 222, Sugden, John, 242–3, 309–20 time-space compression, 98,
353, 354, 537, 556 suicide, theory of, 12–13, 15 356, 367
and doping control, 463, Suinn, Richard, 235 tobacco industry, 245, 410, 411
466, 468–9 Suits, Bernard, 207 Tocqueville, Alexis de, 335
formation of national and Sumner, William Graham, xxii Tomlinson, Alan, 242–3, 309–20
international, 251, 254, surfing culture, 510 tourism, 142, 166, 217
270, 357 surveillance, 69, 122–3 tournaments, medieval and
Nordic countries, 551 Sutherland, E.H., 466 Renaissance, 191, 248–9,
organization and management, Sutton-Smith, Brian, xxiii 255, 310
246–7, 490–501 Sweden, 551, 552 traditional practices, 140, 144–8
and politics in sport, 220 symbolic interactionism, 4, 7n, 14, passim, 151, 192, 194, 196, 197,
and social control, 375, 376 77, 79, 81, 83, 543 300, 315–16
see also individual organizations symbols, sport, 15 transexuality, 70, 82, 443–4
The Sport Psychologist (TSP), 235 transgendered bodies, 70
Spreitzer, Elmer, xxiii Tarde, Emile, xxix Tranter, N.L., 192
Springwood, Charles, 181 Tatano, H., 15 tribal societies, 140, 144, 145, 146,
Srivinas, M.N., 540 tax breaks and subsidies, 268 147, 148
stacking, 160, 221, 313 Taylor, Ian, 385–6 Triplett, Norman, 231
stadiums, sports, 165–6, 178, Taylor, Sir Edward Burnett, 145 Trotskyism, 29
180, 268 team (group) sports, 11, 12, 16, 34, Trujillo, N., 485
Stalin, Joseph, 29 157–68, 441 truth, 68
standardization, 102, 103, 192, ownership and, 266 Turner, J., 17, 18, 22
241, 249, 253 see also franchises Tyson, Mike, 126, 329, 393
stars see celebrities and production of masculinity,
state 327–8 unionization, 269
and political economy, 262, 263 women’s participation in, United States, 217, 251, 263–5,
role of the, 142, 213, 215–20, 324–5, 479, 482 266, 277, 365, 372
222, 263, 491 see also individual sports boycott of Moscow Olympic
statistical data, accumulation of, technological innovation, 251–2, Games, 218–19
253 253–4 drug use, 462, 463, 468, 471,
status, 317–19 television, 129, 196, 220, 241, 255, 472–3
occupational, 311, 312, 313 266, 291, 292, 293, 295–8, 504 hegemonic influence, 254–5
stereotypes and alternative/extreme sports, intercollegiate/scholastic
gender, 298, 373, 374 506, 508–9 sports, 242, 264–5,
racial, 53, 299, 300, 329, 334 audiences, 293–5 281–2, 434
Stevenson, Christopher, 14, 16 broadcasting rights, 267, 297 nationalism and national
stigmatization, and disability, impact on sports participation, identity, 344–5
422, 423 294 Olympic Committee,
Stokvis, R., 101–2 and monopoly, 267–8, 353 235–6, 463
Stone, Gregory P., xxiii, xxviii, and national identity, 346 private schools, 279
4, 79 production practices, 247, 291, television, 291, 296, 297–8
strategy, games of, 146, 147 292–3 violence, sport-related, 383–5
Strauss, Anselm, xxxiv satellite and cable, 98, 292, 296, see also American football;
structural functionalism 297, 505, 508–9 baseball; basketball
see functionalism and sports violence, 398–9 urbanization, 215, 262, 263,
structuralism, 109, 110–12, tennis, 95, 160, 167, 392 279, 312
115, 534 textual analysis, 78 Urry, J., 20
570 INDEX

value enquiry, 206, 208 Walvin, James, 189 women, cont.

values, 373, 551 Warshay, L.H., 19–20 and myth of female frailty, 322,
and school sports, 282–4, 373 Waylen, P., 177 323, 409
Vamplew, Wray, 189 Weber, Max, xxii, xxix, xxxiii, attitudes to pain and injury,
Van Den Berghe, P., 17, 336, 337 78–9, 241, 242, 248, 312, 416, 431
Vanek, Miroslav, 233 316–17, 319, 335 sexual assault against, 393, 482
Van Wynsberghe, R., 130 Weberian sociology, 77, 78–9, 82, see also feminism; gender
Veblen, Thorsten, xxii, 314, 85, 493 relations
317–18, 514 Weis, Kurt, xxiii Women’s Sports and Fitness, 71, 298
Verbrugge, Martha, 193 Weiss, Paul, 205 Women’s Sports Foundation,
Vertinsky, Patricia, 193, 409 welfare state, 491, 555 70, 71
Viejola, S., 480–1 Wenner, Lawrence, 130 Workers’ Gymnastics and Sports
Vigarello, G., 534 West Indies see Caribbean Association, 36
Vinnai, G., 42 Westernization, 98, 362–3, 365 working-classes, 34–7, 44, 49, 50,
violence and aggression, 140, 151, Weule, V.K., 146 192–3, 196, 262, 313–14, 315
191, 244, 294, 299, 382–402, Whannel, Garry, 53, 242, 291–301 conflict within, 97
445–6, 478 wheelchair sports, 426–9 and soccer violence, 386–8
among players, 390–2, 395–7 White, D., 396 workout culture, 452
and celebratory nature of sport, White, Leslie, 147 Works Progress Administration
383–4 White, P., 416 (WPA), 263–4
control of, 93–4, 95, 96, 101, 102, Whitson, D., 446 World Cups
244, 393–7, 445 Williams, John, 387 cricket, 345, 346, 348, 539
crowd, 382–90, 393–5 Williams, Raymond, 2, 48–9, 54, football, 270, 293, 345, 357
deliberate use of, 96–7 189, 506 rugby, 345, 346, 348, 372
and masculinity, 245, 392, 395, Willis, 81 world systems theory, 357, 361
417–18 Wilson, J.Q., 445 Wright, Ben, 325–6
as mechanism of social winning, 277, 279, 293
control, 371 maximization, 140, 161, X Games, 247, 505, 508–9, 510, 511
precipitating factors at sports 162, 164
events, 384–5 Wittgenstein, Ludwig, 209–10 Young, Kevin, 244, 382–401, 416,
as profitable, 162–3 Wohl, Andrzej, xxiii, 14 417, 419, 478–9
see also soccer hooliganism women, 3, 103, 125, 189, 278–9, youth sports, 245, 434–5
voluntarism, 19 373–4, 444, 556 and drug use, 473
voyeurism, 483 advocacy for, 70–1 see also intercollegiate/
in basketball, 323, 479 scholastic sports; school
Wacquant, Loic, 446 of colour, 66, 331 sports
Waddington, Ivan, 5, 92–104, discrimination against, 221, 222, Yugoslavia, former, 216, 347
244–5, 408–19 255, 373–4, 375, 376, 482
Wagner, Eric, 358–9 emotional experience in sport, Zaire, 194
Wagner, Phillip, 180 479, 481–2 Zalcock, B., 447–8
Wales, 345, 349, 397, 418–19 exploitation of, 272–3 Zambia, 390
Walker, Graham, 196 in hockey, 324–5, 327 Zeitlin, I.M., 17
Waller, Willard, xxii in labour force, 66, 322
Wallerstein, Immanuel, 361 and media sport, 68, 82, 298–9