SOCIOLOGY OF SPORTS

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SOCIOLOGY OF SPORTS

• Society and Sports from a Sociological Perspective

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SPORTS FROM SPARE TIME ACTIVITY TO ITS MODERN
MEANING

• Desportare (Latin) having fun, hanging around
• Desport (French) to entertain, to amuse
• Sport (English) using spare time, entertainment,
  hobby

3
DEFINITION OF SPORT

• A physical and spare time activity with a set of
  rules and institutions, resembling both a game
  and a profession, applied in a form of
  competition (Georges Magnane)
• An institutionalized physical activity based on
  competition which lies in a place between game
  and profession (G. Luschen)

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DEFINITION OF SPORT

• A worship of intensive and habitualized muscular
  activity which depends on the will for progress
  and even for risks which might lead to situations
  including danger. (Pierre de Coubertin)
• Physical practices which possess their own
  values, rules and rituals in a form of joyful
  competition. (Carl Diem)

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INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF SPORTS

• Rules of the activity gets standardized.
• Organizing actors supervise the application of
  and obedience to these rules
• Increasing significance of the organizational and
  technical sides of the activity
• Formalisation of acquiring game skills

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WHY STUDY A SOCIOLOGY OF SPORTS?

• Sports as a part of human social life.
• Sports as a cultural determinant
• Many actors within the realm of sports, with
  direct or indirect participations and roles.

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GENERAL THEMES

• SPORTS AND SOCIAL CLASS
• SPORTS AND GENDER
• SPORTS AND POLITICS
• SPORTS, IDEOLOGY AND PROPOGANDA
• SPORTS, ETNICITY AND NATIONALISM
• SPORTS AND ECONOMY

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GENERAL THEMES

• SPORTS AND GLOBALISATION
• SPORTS AND IDENTITY
• SPORTS AND VIOLENCE
• SPORTS AND IMPERIALISM
• SPORTS AND EDUCATION

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DEVELOPMENT OF THE DISCIPLINE

• CONTRIBUTIONS OF ANTHROPOLOGY
• HEINZ RIESSE AS THE FIRST TO USE THE TERM
  SOCIOLOGY OF SPORTS (1921)
• JOHANN HUIZINGA HOMO LUDENS (THE PLAYING HUMAN),
  1938
• INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF SPORT SOCIOLOGY (1966)

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DEVELOPMENT OF THE DISCIPLINE

• HARRY EDWARDS
• JAY COAKLEY
• NORBERT ELIAS
• ERIC DUNNING
• JEAN MARIE BROHM

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SOCIOLOGY OF SPORTS IN TURKEY

• MUSTAFA ERKALS SPORTS FROM A SOCIOLOGICAL
  PERSPECTIVE (1978) AS THE FIRST STUDY IN TURKEY.
• IBRAHIM ARMAGANS SOCIOLOGICAL BASIS OF SPORTS
  (1981)
• YILMAZ ÇOBANOGLUS SOCIOLOGY OF SPORTS (1996)
• CAN IKIZLERS SPORTS IN SOCIAL SCIENCES (2000)

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HISTORICAL ORIGINS OF SPORT

• The Neolithic Age Survival and the need for
  physical strength
• Social division of labor and the warriors class.
• Specialization and professionalisation in warfare
  (archery, horseback riding...)
• Settled communities and the phenomenon of spare
  time.

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HISTORICAL ORIGINS OF SPORT

• Spare time as a consequence of the slave mode of
  production
• Ancient Greek city states birthplace of first
  organized sports activities.
• In addition to spare time, struggle against
  nature and other societies contributed to the
  genesis of sports
• Defensive-offensive sports as the first sporting
  activities (wrestling, boxing, archery...)

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ANCIENT GREEK EXPERIENCE

• Gender dimension Masculine monopoly
• Social class dimension Male citizens only
• Philosophical dimension Ideal state with an
  education system based on sports as well as
  philosophy, arts and sciences.
• The Gymnasium
• The Palaestra

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FIRST ORGANIZED SPORTS THE OLYMPICS (776 B.C.)

• In addition to local competitions held in sacred
  festivals in various Greek city states, the
  Olympic games is considered to be the first
  organized sports activity.
• Olympics as worship dedication to the Olympians
  (Gods and Goddesses)
• Olympics as a tool for sacred truce in the
  Hellenic world (Ekecheiria)
• Only male Greek citizens allowed to watch and
  attend the Games
• Naked status of sportsmen

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MYTHOLOGICAL BASIS OF SPORTS AND BODY IMAGE

• Age of Heroes and the strong hero image
• Hercules (Herakles) as the forthcoming hero of
  mascular strength
• Battle of Marathon (490 B.C.) and the legend of
  Pheidippides
• Atalante the she-warrior
• Odysseus and his bow

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ANCIENT ROMAN EXPERIENCE

• Sports for the entertainment of the free citizens
• Slave warriors gladiators
• Ex-slave trainsmen
• The audience, the arena and social control

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MIDDLE AGES

• The Feudal system and two sides of sports
• Knighthood competitions
• Noble sports for the aristocracy
• Common sports for spending spare time for the
  peasants
• Pre-modern forms of football

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RISE OF THE EUROPEAN BOURGEOISIE AND SPORTS

• Rise of modern sports
• More disciplined, organized and with rules
• Sports as a uniting tool for promoting the ideals
  of Western liberalism freedom, brotherhood,
  equality and coexistence.
• Sports a reflection of the capitalist way of
  life competition.
• Common team sports for the proleteriat
  football

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THE BIRTH OF FOOTBALL

• British imperialism and the UK as the global
  exporter of sports
• British bureaucrats as sports missionaries all
  around the Empire.
• Sports and imperialism sports imperialism

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THE BIRTH OF FOOTBALL

• Revival of a middle-age common spare time
  activity among Cambridge students (1848)
• Popularisation of football in a short period
• More spare time for the proleteriat by means
  of legal regulations on work hours
• Weekend off after Saturday afternoon
• Advancements in public transport

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Sports and class the UK case

• Working class and football
• The Roman Method canalization of the energy of
  the ordinary masses
• Good and loyal citizens via a collective
  belonging
• While elite sports in the UK remained to be
• mostly individual sports common sports like
  football rose as team sports.
• First football clubs founded by trade unions or
  simply workers of single factories
• Church teams (Aston Villa,Birmingham,Bolton,Everto
  n)

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EXPORT OF FOOTBALL TO CONTINENTAL EUROPE

• 1878 Copenhagen
• 1887 Hamburg
• 1888 Paris
• 1885 Vienna
• 1893 Genova
• 1886 Budapest

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THE MODERN OLYMPIC GAMES

• Baron Pierre de Coubertin
• 1896 First Olympic Games in Athens

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THE USE OF OLYMPIC GAMES AS A POLITICAL TOOL

• Internationalisation of sports and use of sports
  as a tool of international politics
• 1920 Anvers Games
• 1936 Berlin Games
• 1948 London Games
• 1972 Munich Games
• 1980 Moscow Games
• 1984 Los Angeles Games

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OLYMPISM and its CRITIQUES

• Olympism as an ideal for sports and society both
  on the national and global scales
• Critiques of olympism as the tool of European
  capitalism and imperialism
• The anti-democratic status of the Olympic
  administrative organs
• Coubertins anti-feminism

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SPORTS BRANCHES

• Individual and team sports
• Survival sports and spare-time sports
• Elite sports and common sports

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BOXING

• Civilizing process and sports Boxing as a good
  example regarding this context (N.Elias)
• Historical origins date back to ancient
  Mesopotamia
• Classical Boxing in ancient Greece and Rome

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EARLY BOXING MODERN BOXING

• Rules (from a no-rule and no-referee violent
  showgame to modern boxing) punchable body parts,
  standart durations for rounds and breaks, points
  earned, medical staff...etc.
• Weight divisions (no divisions in former)
• Use of accessories (from bandages and wooden
  spikes to gloves and headguards)
• Ethics from warrior ethos of honor to fairplay
• From a fully offensive game towards an
  offensive/defensive one

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BOXING AND CONTROL OF VIOLENCE

• N.Elias Civilizing society, civilized ways of
  settling personal disputes among males rather
  than gun duels.
• Use of the fists as a more civilized way
• Modern society, social rules and its
  reflection on sports modern boxing
• Violence limited and controlled by game rules

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TENNIS

• Historical roots in medieval France
• Badminton and croquet
• Field tennis in Britain as an elite sport
• The significance of the lawn in elite activities
• From the field to the lawn Walter Clopton
  Wingfield as the founder of modern tennis (1873)

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TENNIS BECOMING WORLDWIDE

• Mary Outerbridge and the import of tennis to USA
  (1874)
• The First Wimbledon Championships (1877) local
  British tournament
• Tennis goes international The Davis Tournaments
  of 1900
• International Lawn Tennis Federation (1912)

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TENNIS AND CLASS

• Pacification of the British upper classes in the
  18th century.
• Pacification of political conflicts among upper
  classes and pacification in other areas of social
  life
• Combination of rural customs and upper-class
  manners elite sports like cricket and tennis

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BASEBALL

• Bat-and-ball games
• From Britain to USA
• Alexander Cartwright as the founder of modern
  baseball (1845)
• The 19th century popularization of baseball in
  the US and becoming a national sport.
• National League established in 1876

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BASEBALL

• Negro National League in 1933
• Jackie Robinson as the first black player in the
  US National League (1947)
• Races united dating from the 60s
• Babe Ruth League (1947) for the popularization of
  baseball among the American youth

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BASKETBALL

• James Naismith as the founder of basketball
  (1891)
• A team sport available indoors during cold winter
• Colleges and the popularization of basketball as
  a common sport
• Foundation of the NBA (1949)
• Afro-Americans and basketball