Sociology of sport
Encyclopedia
Sociology of sport, alternately referred to as sports sociology, is a sub-discipline of sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...

 which focuses on sport
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...

s as social phenomena. It is an area of study concerned with various socio-cultural structures, patterns, and organization
Organization
An organization is a social group which distributes tasks for a collective goal. The word itself is derived from the Greek word organon, itself derived from the better-known word ergon - as we know `organ` - and it means a compartment for a particular job.There are a variety of legal types of...

s or groups involved with sport.

There are many perspectives through which sport
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...

 can be viewed. Therefore, very often some binary divisions are stressed, such as: professional — amateur, mass — top-level, active — passive/spectator, men — women, sports - play (as an antithesis to organized and institutionalized
Institutionalized
Institutionalized may refer to:* The act of being placed in a psychiatric hospital* "Institutionalized" , a song on Suicidal Tendencies 1983 titular album* Institutionalized , a 2005 rap album by American rapper Ras Kass...

 activity). Following feminist or other reflexive and tradition-breaking paradigms sports are sometimes studied as contested activities, i.e. as activities in the centre of various people/groups interests (connection of sports and gender
Gender
Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...

, mass media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...

, or state-politics).

The emergence of the sociology of sport (though not the name itself) dates from the end of the 19th century, when first social psychological
Social psychology
Social psychology is the scientific study of how people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. By this definition, scientific refers to the empirical method of investigation. The terms thoughts, feelings, and behaviors include all...

 experiments dealing with group effects of competition and pace-making took place. Besides cultural anthropology
Cultural anthropology
Cultural anthropology is a branch of anthropology focused on the study of cultural variation among humans, collecting data about the impact of global economic and political processes on local cultural realities. Anthropologists use a variety of methods, including participant observation,...

 and its interest in games in the human culture, one of the first efforts to think about sports in more general way was Johan Huizinga
Johan Huizinga
Johan Huizinga , was a Dutch historian and one of the founders of modern cultural history.-Life:Born in Groningen as the son of Dirk Huizinga, a professor of physiology, and Jacoba Tonkens, who died two years after his birth, he started out as a student of Indo-Germanic languages, earning his...

's "Homo Ludens" or Thorstein Veblen
Thorstein Veblen
Thorstein Bunde Veblen, born Torsten Bunde Veblen was an American economist and sociologist, and a leader of the so-called institutional economics movement...

's "Theory of the Leisure Class".

Further reading

  • Bourdieu, Pierre
    Pierre Bourdieu
    Pierre Bourdieu was a French sociologist, anthropologist, and philosopher.Starting from the role of economic capital for social positioning, Bourdieu pioneered investigative frameworks and terminologies such as cultural, social, and symbolic capital, and the concepts of habitus, field or location,...

    . 1993. How can one be a sports fan? In The Cultural Studies Reader, During, S. (ed.). London: Routledge. 339-355, ISBN 0415077087
  • Brohm, Jean-Marie
    Jean-Marie Brohm
    Jean-Marie Brohm is a french sociologist, anthropologist and philosopher. Professor of sociology at the University of Montpellier III, he was also the founder of the journal Quel Corps ?, member of the editoral staff of the monthly Répertoire and is actually director of the journal Prétentaine...

    : Sport: A Prison of Measured Time, Pluto Press, 1987

  • Coakley, Jay J. 1998. Sport in Society. Issues and Controversies, 6th ed. Boston: McGraw Hill, ISBN 0815120273
  • Dunleavy, Aidan O., Andrew W. Miracle, and C. Roger Rees. Studies in the Sociology of Sport. Fort Worth: Texas Christian University Press, 1982 ISBN 0912646780
  • Guttmann, Allen. 1994. Games and Empires. Modern Sports and Cultural Imperialism. New York: Columbia University Press, ISBN 0231100426
  • Jarvie, Grant and Maguire, Joseph. 1994. Sport and Leisure in Social Thought. London: Routledge, ISBN 0415077036
  • Jarvie, Grant. 2006 Sport, Culture and Society. An Introduction, London: Routledge, ISBN 0415306477

  • Lenskyj, Helen Jefferson, Out on the Field: Gender, Sport and Sexualities. Toronto: Women's Press, 2003

  • Wann, Daniel L., et al. Sport Fans: The Psychology and Social Impact of Spectators. New York: Routledge, 2001 ISBN 0415924634
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