Search

The author was delighted that sociologists Alan G. Ingham and Peter Donnelly found his article, worthy of their efforts. The topic is clearly a significant one for sociology of sport and it is time when everyone came to grips with those more pressing issues that have heretofore hindered the development of the field. Ingham and Donnelly's research paper does not contribute substantively to the development of applied sociology of sport. However, it does address a number of significant issues regarding the political and philosophical implications of such an enterprise. While the author is sensitive to their concerns, he says that he must point out that many of the issues they raise were originally addressed by many sociologists in stage I of this process in the 1960s and 1970s define Stage I as the exploratory phase, in which goals are identified, assumptions are examined, and implications are critically evaluated. Unfortunately, Ingham and Donnelly's contribution misses the mark since their concerns deal almost exclusively with Stage Tissues. Had they been familiar with the earlier works to develop applied sociology, perhaps their paper could have made a more pertinent contribution to the development of Stage II. However, the issues that were debated at length in the 1960s and 1970s have now become rather tiresome.

Sociological production is prompted and affected by the major social preoccupations of the society it stems from. This is an inherent feature of the social sciences because those who produce knowledge, in this case sociologists, participate in the society they study. The aim of this article is to highlight the social and historical conditions that are at the root of the production of knowledge in the sociology of sports, and the role the latter has played in the exercise sciences in Quebec. This article is composed of two parts. First, it will try to shed light on the social dynamics that created the sociology of sport. Second, it will try to show that the researchers' problematics and the theoretical traditions they have followed were a part of the power dynamics specific to Quebec society and the field of physical education. Briefly, this paper aims to show that the sociology of sport in Quebec has been shaped by the socio-historical conditions in which it has been created and that, at the same time, it has generated a specific social and academic dynamics.

In this paper we offer a rejoinder to MacAloon's arguments in his article, "The Ethnographic Imperative in Comparative Olympic Research," and briefly situate the other contributions in this theme issue of Sociology of Sport Journal. We argue that while MacAloon's polemic against the so called "cultural studies" approach raises important issues, notably the need for more soundly based empirical work, his characterization is misconceived, and that what he presents as an alternative is neither theoretically clear nor empirically well founded. We suggest that the contributions in this volume provide a better guide to the quality of current work in the sociological analysis of sport in Britain than does MacAloon's characterization of the so called cultural studies approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the June 1995 issue of the "Sociology of Sport Journal." The task associated with this special issue is more complicated than it appears at first sight. It implies more than translating, since in addition to the language barrier a cultural barrier must be overcome. In fact, several factors have to be considered when publishing research papers written in another language, especially when they are inspired by works that have already been translated. Obviously, this special issue is intended not to solve difficulties but rather to raise awareness about them and contribute to the discipline by allowing a confrontation of readings specific to different scholarly spaces within sociology of sport. Some of the ideas conveyed here might appear inadequate or simply wrong to some readers. If that is the case, this issue will have From a thematic point of view, the feature articles are a good illustration of a number of issues central to French-language sociology of sport communities.

Following criticism leveled at sociologists by Chris Rojek and Bryan Turner in “Decorative Sociology: A Critique of the Cultural Turn,” this article identifies a troubling absence of systematic contextualization in sport sociology. In addressing this issue, I begin by describing the role of history and context in sociology and conclude that the discipline should take history more seriously, not least by giving context greater due. I then engage the debate as to whether radical contextual cultural studies or social history offers the best explanation of context. Here I argue for the latter. In justifying my position, I adapt a model employed by the conservative social historian Arthur Marwick in “The sixties: Cultural Revolution in Britain, France, Italy, and the United States, c. 1958-c. 1974,” to contextualize a contemporary cultural phenomenon, the female boarder (i.e., the female surfboard rider, skateboarder, and snowboarder). Ultimately, this paper illustrates that the systematic and transhistorical tools developed by social historians have the potential to facilitate a more all-encompassing contextualization of cultural phenomena, to examine multiple historical conjunctures, and to help sociologists take time and change more seriously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Debates about changing contemporary Western societies have emphasized the increasingly fluid and fragmented nature of identities, suggesting that people draw their sense of identity from increasingly diverse sources, including sport and leisure lifestyles. Drawing on ethnographic work on windsurfing subcultures, this article explores the ways in which participants create and perform (sub)cultural identities through their "'new sport" consumption and its attendant lifestyle. The paper identifies the main features of the windsurfers' status system, illustrating that demonstrating commitment, not the conspicuous display of equipment or subcultural style, is central to the meanings the windsurfers give to their participation and subcultural identity. The paper concludes by examining to what degree purported features of contemporary postmodern culture, such as a loss of self- identity, are reflected in such seemingly "image-based" new sport consumption practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper argues that a psychosociological study of the sports fan has an important place in any comprehensive sport studies curriculum. Not only is there an exciting body of knowledge developing around this ubiquitous of sport actors, but a study of sports fandom forces one to confront several significant and enduring issues that transcend the immediate boundaries of spectatorship. The paper suggests that a study of the sports fan provides an opportunity for exploring relevant and timely contemporary issues and problems. What makes this all the more exciting, from the standpoint of the instructor, is that the spectator role is one with which most if not all students can identify. A discussion of sports fandom will provoke some of the liveliest and most stimulating discussions the instructor has ever been privy to. In most social science courses offered under the rubric Sport Studies, the focus is typically on the sport participant rather than the sport consumer. What is being suggested instead is an alternative way of presenting the same material, that is, from the perspective of the sports fan. Social influence processes abound in any discussion of spectatorship.

Copyright of Sociology of Sport Journal is the property of Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Sociology of Sport Journal is the property of Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Sociology of Sport Journal is the property of Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Sociology of Sport Journal is the property of Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Nostalgia is an important emotion in society that also has significance for the analysis of sport. Two types of nostalgia are discussed: collective and private nostalgia. The data for this paper were qualitative and collected at sport halls of fame, museums, and archives. Data collection procedures included people's responses and reactions to the displays, notes of people's conversations, analysis of sound tracks associated with the displays, photographs, and printed material from the halls of fame and museums. Nostalgia is defined in terms of the remembrance of the past that is imbued with positive feelings such as pleasure, joy, satisfaction, and goodness. These feelings may also be mixed with feelings of sadness. Some implications of nostalgia for the meanings associated with sport are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We each came to this special issue from quite different backgrounds, yet we are equally convinced of the need to open up new conversations about the potential and politics of working at the intersection between sport sociology and sport psychology. Before outlining the rationale for, and structure of, this special issue, we—Holly, Tatiana, and Jim, respectively—would each like to provide a vignette to give the reader a sense of our own thinking about interdisciplinary research that ultimately led us to this collaborative project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although deviance on and off the field have become popular topics of sociological investigation, sociologists have not studied the criminal or otherwise "deviant" roles ticket scalpers play in the cultural spectacle that is professional sport, In many ways, ticket scalpers have become a mainstay part of the backdrop upon which fans experience sporting events. As a first step in developing a sociological portrait of the social processes involved in ticket scalping, it is essential to examine how scalping is accomplished and experienced by its practitioners. This paper is intended to introduce sociologists of sport to the subculture of ticket scalpers by attending to the in-group perspectives and understandings ticket scalpers share toward their practices. Specifically, using ethnographic data collected on 54 ticket scalpers in a central Canadian city, I address how scalpers develop recipes of knowledge for their trade and how ticket scalping is accomplished as a social practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper suggests that the process of marginalization of women bodybuilders can be analyzed according to two theoretical frameworks. The first is essentially a pessimistic interpretation based on critical sociology and the concept of alienation, which discusses the limits of applying this concept to an empirical reality (in this case, female bodybuilders). The second considers the future of female bodybuilders as being constructed through the muscle cult. Our interpretation is comprehensive. The study stresses self-realization and self-fulfillment in female bodybuilders and discusses their attachment to the bodybuilding subculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an annotated bibliography which is a standard feature in each issue of the Sociology of Sport Journal. The bibliography is generated through SIRLS (a computerized information retrieval system for the social sciences of sport and leisure) and supplied to the SSJ as a special service. The topic for each issue is selected by the editor with advice from editorial board members. SIRLS is an online, annotated, bibliographical database of over 13,000 citations which provides access to journal articles, books, theses, conference proceedings, and unpublished papers in the social sciences of sport and leisure. Included are the political, economical, historical, and philosophical aspects of sport, physical activity, play, games, and dance. SIRLS user services are diversified and can be applied to a variety of individual or university needs. The names of the guest reviewers have been mentioned.

The new material turn in social sciences and humanities has drawn attention to how the material interacts with the social in the world where both human and non-human actors produce power relations. To include the material objects and their environments within the social analysis, new materialists argue for a new onto-epistemology that departs from the humanist social constructionism. To explore what this might mean for sport sociologists, I discuss three themes characterizing the new materialism: the focus on processes of materiality, post-humanist tools needed to engage with the material processes, and post-qualitative research methodologies and ways of representation that include the material world. I advocate studying the body in motion as a unique focus for socio-cultural scholars of physical activity who can connect the material with the social into research that matters in the contemporary world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author offers opinions on "physical cultural studies," an academic discipline combining elements of physical education research, the sociology of sports, and cultural studies. It is argued that physical cultural studies represent a natural extension of and transition from the discipline of the sociology of sports, as mainstream sociology research and study and teaching has offered very little interest in sports as an element of society. Physical cultural studies are said to offer an interdisciplinary means of studying the important role of the human body and human movement in human life, not merely human society.

Without engaging in historical work, this article recalls what today appears as a triple rupture in French sociology of sport at the end of the 1970's, a triple rupture resembling a founding process, which must be defined in order to understand the present dynamics in the field. First, there was an institutional rupture, that is, the grouping of many researchers starting in 1975 at the Institut National du Sport et de I'Education Physique (INSEP) in a sociology of sport laboratory. This signaled the concerted convergence of the researchers' works and the elaboration of a national network, fragile for a long time, but allowing the diffusion of information and broadening of consultations between sport sociologists. The article underlines this relatively independent initiative of INSEP. It was original, and, for sure, the demands of this institution with respect to its new researchers accentuated the importance of field work and catalyzed a number of surveys, interviews, and investigations of sport practices and participants.

Copyright of Sociology of Sport Journal is the property of Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Sociology of Sport Journal is the property of Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Sociology of Sport Journal is the property of Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The development of "a sport sociology that matters" requires sport sociologists to confront and make fundamental decisions about major imperatives and challenges that implicitly or explicitly can be found in recent work in the field. Five major imperatives are discussed: the relevance imperative, the cultural interpretive imperative, the critical imperative, the engagement imperative, and the application imperative. While the list is not assumed to be exhaustive or definitive, these imperatives are believed to be sufficiently provocative to pose significant challenges to conventional approaches to sport sociology and perhaps general sociology as well. The imperatives are discussed in relation to two major recent controversies in and about sport sociology, concerning the need for a cultural studies approach and the need for a more applied sociology of sport. The implications and risks of accepting the challenges implied or stated in the imperatives are assessed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An exploratory and inductive study was conducted of the relationships between sport and personal memory. A diverse sample of 132 people were asked to recount their single clearest memory of sport. Analysis of the responses indicates that such memories are common and often very detailed and salient for the respondents. The characteristics of the memories are presented, six themes are identified and summarized, and the memories are related to four hypotheses derived from studies of the sociology of memory. Our memories of sport link us not only to the institution but also to significant group relationships and important episodes in our lives. These memories are also connected with our sense of self and reflect current orientations toward sports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The topic of risk is most often discussed in the literature on environmental, health, and technical hazards. More recently, however, it has become a topic of concern to social scientists who apply risk analysis to social relations and social structure. The concept of risk can be used in analyses of sport as a factor in analytical models and as a component of applied sport sociology. This essay considers definitions of risk, the sociological tradition in risk analysis, and the application of risk to sport studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a bibliography which covers subject area of sport and social mobility. The article titled "Social Mobility, Ethnicity and Sport," published in the 1986 issue of the "British Journal of Sociology of Education," considers the extent and cultural significance of the involvement of male Afro-Caribbeans in Great Britain's sport. Examines available evidence of ethnic differences in participation. Finds that a high value is placed on achievement in sport and that sport is perceived as a means of upward social mobility. Suggests that the apparent orientation of Afro-Caribbeans toward sport is conditioned by both class and ethnic factors. Discusses job opportunities in professional and recreational sport. It concludes that sport can be regarded as a seductive force which improves the marginal position of Afro-Caribbeans in society. The article titled "A Preliminary Investigation into Sport as a Means of Social Mobility," published in the 1985 issue of the "British Journal of Physical Education," argues that little is known about the actual extent to which sports participation facilitates upward social mobility.

It is clear that sports are cultural performances, and as such they should be studied simultaneously at two levels. On the one hand we must examine the dramatic, expressive meanings that sports have for people who encounter them-the suited up level. At the same time, we need analyses that go below this to examine social structures within and beyond sports-the stripped down level. Our energies should be directed toward work that interrelates the two. Scholarship of this nature will force us to be more eclectic in our theoretical orientations, drawing on a broad array of social science and humanities frame- works. The broader and deeper our understanding of these frameworks, the more sophisticated and insightful will be our work, making it more likely to contribute in important ways to mainline social science theory. The term "sport sociology" seems too narrow in light of the need for simultaneous suited up and stripped down analyses of sports that embrace numerous disciplinary perspectives. A more apt term for this enterprise, combining reference to culture and to social structure in one stroke, is "sociocultural sport studies." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on an annotated bibliography which covers the subject area, professional athletes, from a social science perspective. The citations included are a selection of works since 1981. "Career Problems and Retirement Among Elite Athletes: The Female Tennis Professional," by Maria T. Allison examines the retirement from women's professional tennis. The major source of data is from surveys completed by 20 retired professional tennis players. "Race and Leadership in Professional Sports: A Study of Institutional Discrimination in the National Football League," by Jomills H. Braddock analzes the process of institutional discrimination within the National Football League. "Dealing with Tempered Dreams: Reflections of Aging Ballplayers on Careers that "Used to Be," by Gerard A. Brandmeyer and Luella K. Alexander which deals with the proceedings of the international committee for the Sociology of Sport. "Salary Discrimination in Major League Baseball: The Effect of Race," by Kevin J. Christiano which challenges the belief that professional baseball is free from racial discimination.

The article focuses on the "Program for a Sociology of Sport," by Pierre Bourdieu, Chair of Sociology at the Collège de France. In order to be able to constitute a sociology of sport, one must first realize that a particular sport cannot be analyzed independently of the totality of sporting practices; one must conceptualize the space of sporting practices as a system within which each element receives its distinctive value. In other words, to understand a sport, whatever it may be, one must locate its position in the space of sports. The latter can be constructed by using sets of indicators such as, on the one hand, the distribution of practitioners according to their position in social space, the distribution of the different federations according to their number of members, their assets, the social characteristics of their directors and the type of relation to the body that each sport favors or demands, on the other. In short, the priority of priorities is the construction of the structure of the space of sporting practices, the effects of which will be documented by monographs devoted to particular sports.

The article presents a bibliography of various articles published in the previous issues of the periodical "Sociology of Sport Journal." Some of the articles are: "Moral Reasoning and the Perceived Legitimacy of Intentionally Injurious Sport Acts"; "Crime and Punishment in Sports and Society"; "For or Against Doping and its Control: True and False Arguments"; "Sport and Juvenile Delinquency: An Examination and Assessment of Four Major Theories" etc.

The citations included in this article are a selection of those referencing works published since 1979, in the fields of sports, sexism and sex roles. The article "Role Conflict and the Elite Female Athlete: Empirical Findings and Conceptual Dilemmas," by International Review for the Sociology of Sport. The article "Role Conflict and the High School Female Athletes," is published in the periodical "Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport." This article relates role conflict to socioeconomic background, and instances of encouragement or discouragement from significant others. The article "Social Acceptability of College Athletes: Effects of Sport Sex-Typing, Athlete Sex, and Rater Sex," is published in the "International Journal of Sport Psychology." In this article, male and female college students were evaluated via a questionnaire concerning the social acceptability of either a male or female college athlete who was an active participant in either football, tennis or figure skating. Results showed no differential evaluation of athletes as a function of athlete's sex and sport sex-typing.

While the projection of ideal images is very important in American culture, it is in the subculture and sport of bodybuilding that it gets carried to the extreme. A 4-year study of bodybuilding's mecca-Southern California--revealed a fundamental set of discrepancies between what the subculture projects as ideal and what actually goes on. These discrepancies are examined to determine which ones result from changes that have taken place in bodybuilding and which are structural to it. It is shown that as the sport/subculture altered its image to achieve cultural respectability, it inadvertently created new problems. The shifts are examined within the context of studies of deviance and point to the need for long-term ethnography in sport sociology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Specialized, theoretical knowledge is important to professions such as physical education as they attempt to gain and later maintain their status and control over the labor market. This knowledge must be monopolized and used in work by the profession's members if they are to be granted this status and control by society's members. Upon examination physical educationists do not enjoy a knowledge monopoly, nor do they appear to use their specialized, theoretical knowledge in work. Chief among the explanations offered are the limitations in the positivist conception of knowledge for the professions and the different frames of reference for researchers and practitioners. Analyses of the monopoly and use of knowledge in professions such as physical education yield insights about the ways in which knowledge is articulated and contested, the internal and external relationships of the profession, and the relationship among the structure of knowledge, the professions, and social theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on a cross-disciplinary analysis of the modern Olympic Games based on research in the social sciences and humanities. It includes original theoretical and empirical research on various aspects of the Olympic Games and the Olympic Movement. Issues and problems surrounding the Olympic Games have been investigated and a modernized social philosophical interpretation of the Games has been provided.