Search results for "Sociology of sport"
showing 10 items of 16 documents
Reflexive Modernization and the Disembedding of Jūdō from 1946 to the 2000 Sydney Olympics
2004
This article considers some of the sociologically significant changes to jūdō in its process of transformation from a Budō based martial art into a modern competitive spectator sport. Taking the period of time from 1946 until the Sydney Olympics, an examination is undertaken using Giddens’s notion of reflexive modernization in which key aspects of the original jūdō are disembedded or ‘lifted out’ of the practice. They are then re-embedded with western structures, practices and meanings. Central themes to emerge from this analysis are the social forces of internationalization, institutionalization and commodification of jūdō over this period, each of which contributes to a reflexive moderni…
Racism, xenophobia and intolerance in Spanish football: evolution and responses from the government and the civil society
2013
Contrary to what is sometimes supposed, racism is not a phenomenon of the past. In fact, it is one of the major challenges of the present and future in Europe and Spain. Besides providing an incomparable sense of belonging, football stadiums are also an excellent platform to express racist and xenophobic attitudes and behaviours. In Spain, for years, many players have suffered abuse and insults although black and ethnic minority players are those who receive the most harassment. Thus, the problem of racism has increased recently in Spanish football, as shown by the emission of monkey noises toward black players and the use of racist slogans and symbols in the stadiums. This study analyses t…
Identity, nation‐state and football in Spain. the evolution of nationalist feelings in Spanish Football
2007
This essay shows the importance of the identity component in the development of Spanish football from its birth at the beginning of the twentieth century, when football was organized at a regional level, until the present time when football reflects the democratic and post‐national Spain created after the arrival of democracy in the last quarter of the twentieth century. The essay expounds the existence of four periods in the development of the nationalistic feelings with which Spanish football has been embodied: the pre‐national or regional period, the period of Spanish nationalization, the period of strengthening of peripheral nationalisms and the post‐national period. In order to explain…
‘White men can’t jump in a black basketball game?’ An exploratory investigation of implicit strategies of outgroup discrimination
2017
AbstractExamining the ‘natural’ athlete myth and utilizing the recent literature on cultural/social factors in athleticism and basketball, this study through survey research examines the influence of stereotypes on the impression formation of basketball players. The primary research question is to determine from a group of students the attitudes of basketball players in terms of how they evaluate white and black players in basketball. The purpose is to identify participants’ perceptions and their appreciation as to whether or not black are superior to white basketball players. The theoretical framework employed is articulated around the theory of social categorization and racial stereotypes…
‘Don’t ever mix God with sports’: Christian religion in athletes’ stories of life transitions
2019
Sport psychology researchers have increasingly recognized the need to adopt a holistic perspective when seeking to understand athletes’ adaptation to life transitions. The present study sought to understand how religion influences athletes’ journeys in sport and experiences of life transitions. Two Christian elite athletes participated in life story interviews which we analyzed via narrative analysis. Although the participants narratively separated religious belief from sport, religion, as a source of basic world assumptions and values, provided a broader framework of meaning and continuity in their sport lives. Yet, both stories involved a growing distance to institutional religious practi…
Racism and Xenophobia in Spanish Football: Facts, Reactions and Policies
2009
Racism and Xenophobia in Spanish Football: Facts, Reactions and PoliciesContrary to what is sometimes supposed, racism is not a phenomenon of the past. In fact, it is one of the major challenges of the present and future in Europe and Spain. Besides providing an incomparable sense of belonging, football stadiums are also an excellent platform to express racist and xenophobic attitudes and behaviours. In Spain, for years many players have suffered abuse and insults, although it is black and ethnic minority players who receive the most harassment. Thus, the problem of racism has increased recently in Spanish football, as shown by the emission of monkey noises toward black players and the use …
The glocalizing duality of contemporary sport
2010
AbstractThis paper assesses the current debate, in the sphere of the sociology of sport, on globalization and sport, arguing that the advance of world sport now, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, is better understood in terms of the phenomenon of glocalization, that is, as a process by which global demands and forces conform or adapt to local conditions (Robertson), contributing in this way to the production of ‘township’ and ‘community’ and to the emergence of national identities. The 1992 Barcelona Olympics, the 1993 European Football Championship and the 2002 Korea-Japan World Football Cup are presented as examples of the dual and paradoxical character of contemporary sport i…
Frictions, cracks and micro-resistances: physical activity and sport as strategies to dignify imprisoned women
2018
Discipline and control are key concepts within industrial and capitalist societies. In this context, prisons are a warning tool about the consequences of non-conformity [Foucault, M., 1995. Discipline and Punish: The birth of Prison. NY: Vintage Books]. As a result, punitive power is used as a corrective technique to transform prisoners into docile and useful citizen. However, power in prison is no static and inmates can create various strategies of resistance. The aim of this research is to understand how physical activity and sport are used by incarcerated women to confront social control and negotiate power relations. Underpinned within a critical feminist epistemology, we interviewed 16…
Sports practice, intercultural exchanges and citizenship: Integration through Judo
2012
El presente artículo presenta las dimensiones teóricas y metodológicas del 'Programa experimental de integración socioeducativa a través del judo' para jóvenes del barrio de Ruzafa en la ciudad de Valencia. El objetivo principal de dicho programa, que comenzó en octubre de 2008 y finalizó en junio de 2011, consistió en elaborar una guía didáctica para utilizar la práctica del judo como herramienta de socialización en el deporte y a través del deporte, prestando particular atención a la relación entre la práctica regular del judo, la inserción social y la construcción de ciudadanía a través de la convivencia intercultural. La investigación sociológica ha acompañado el proceso de diseño, real…
Sports participation and cultural trends. Running as a reflection of individualisation and post-materialism processes in Spanish society
2014
AbstractThis article examines the relationship between cultural change processes and the practice of running. The empirical basis is the national survey on Spanish sport habits carried out in 2005. Specifically, the subsamples of runners (n = 343) and other sport modalities (n = 2,687) were used. The study reveals that runners are characterised by more post-materialist and individualist tendencies than the rest of the participants. The results suggest the existence of a close relationship between the predominant cultural orientations and certain types of sport activity.