SPORT AND SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

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SPORT AND SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
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The major inequalities in society are in the main
social products, created and maintained by the
institutions of property and inheritance, of
political and military power, and supported by
particular beliefs and doctrines, even though
they are never entirely resistant to the
ambitions of outstanding individuals. Tom
Bottomore, Elites and Society, 1964, p. 123
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Meritocracy

• A hierarchal system of unequal rewards based on
  performance.
• Examples?

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Stratification
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IssuesRaised by

• the Special Olympics and
• The Paralympics

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Four points about social stratification

• most Canadians accept a stratified system of
  rewards based on performance.
• Ascribed status (based on birth) and achievement
  based stratification
• they do not accept inequality in all aspects of
  their lives..
• Most Canadians do not always recognize that the
  acceptance of inequality in one sphere of social
  life has a direct impact on other areas of social
  life.

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OPPORTUNITY AND SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

• the location of athletic facilities
• the opportunity simply to take part.
• how the public ranks different formal athletic
  competitions
• inequality of opportunity for different Canadians
  to learn sport skills and strategies.

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• Inequality in one instance and equality in another

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Terry Fox

• Marathon of Hope, April 12, 1980

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RickHansen

• Man in Motion, March 21, 1985

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The parallels between education and sport

• success in education rests on students learning
  opportunities
• success in sport depends upon the opportunity to
  learn.

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OPPORTUNITY, CULTURE, GENDER, AND SPORTS
MERITOCRACY
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Culture

• Canada has a culture that encourages sport
  involvement
• The encouragement is not the same for everyone

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Gender

• Fewer Canadian girls and women take part in
  formal, organized sport than boys and men do.
• The most common explanation for the different
  rates of participation is biology

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Human Behaviour

• it is clear that there is not a firm,
  biologically driven predetermination to human
  behaviour
• human lives and actions are shaped by a complex
  mixture of
• biochemical, physiological, biological,
  psychological, social,political, and cultural
  forces

T
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Steps Toward Greater Equality ofOpportunity for
Female Athletes

• In 1955, eight-year-old Ab Hoffman played in the
  Little OHA Junior A League for the St.
  Catharines Tepees.
• In 1981, eleven year old Justine Blainey tried
  out for and made a team in the Metro Toronto
  Hockey League (MTHL).

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Steps Continued

• In 1972, the U.S. federal government passed
  Title IX of the Education Amendments of
• 1972, which declared that No person in the
  United States shall, on the basis of sex, be
• excluded from participation in, be denied the
  benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination
• under any education program or activity receiving
  Federal financial assistance except for certain
• circumstances covered in the legislation (United
  States Congress, 1972).

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CONDITION AND SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
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Class

• Upper, Middle, and Lower
• The key concepts are field, which is the
  structural dimension of social action, and
  habitus, which are cultural structures

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Impact of Boomers on Sport

• age as a key factor in social stratification
• more activeand active at older agesthan
  previous generations.
• are placing demands on athletic and recreational
  facilities.
• the Boomers may significantly alter the
  orientation of organized sport in Canada