sports sociology research papers

Sociology of Sport Research Paper Topics

The sociology of sport began to emerge as a formally recognized subdiscipline of sociology in the second half of the twentieth century. There were a number of earlier examples of sociological attention to the field of sport. In the United States, Veblen (1899) referred to sports as “marks of an arrested spiritual development” (1934:253) and to college sports as “manifestations of the predatory temperament” (p. 255) in his The Theory of the Leisure Class . W. I. Thomas (1901) and G. E. Howard (1912) dealt with “the gaming instinct” and the “social psychology of the spectator,” respectively in articles published in the American Journal of Sociology. Spencer, Simmel, Weber, Piaget, Hall, Sumner, Huizinga, and Mead all made reference to play, games, and/or sport in their work, but it was probably the German, Heinz Risse (1921) who first characterized sport as a sociological field of study in his book Soziologie des Sports .

30 Sociology of Sport Research Paper Topics

• Alternative Sports
• Amateur Sports
• Consumption of Sport
• Deviance in Sport
• Disability Sport
• Ethnicity in Sport
• Exercise and Fitness
• Figurational Sociology
• Gambling on Sports
• Gender and Sports
• Health and Sports
• Ideology and Sports
• Professional Sports
• Race and Sports
• Social Theory and Sport
• Sport and Culture
• Sport and Identity
• Sport and Social Capital
• Sport and the Body
• Sport and the City
• Sport and the Environment
• Sport Culture and Subcultures
• Sports and Nationalism
• Sports and Religion
• Sports and Socialization
• Sports in Sociology
• Sport and the State
• Sports Industry
• Virtual Sports
• Youth Sports

Following World War II, there was growing interest in sport from a sociological perspective. By the 1960s, television was beginning to devote significant amounts of time to sport, professional leagues were developing and expanding, organized youth sports in communities and educational institutions were beginning to proliferate, and the Cold War was being fought at the Olympics and other international competitions. In the United States, social scientists such as Gregory Stone, David Riesman, Erving Goffman, Eric Berne, James Coleman, and Charles Page all produced works referring to sport. Their interests were reflected internationally in the emergence of the first academic association in the field in 1964. The International Committee for the Sociology of Sport (now named the International Sociology of Sport Association) was comprised of both sociologists and physical educators from East and West Germany, France, Switzerland, Finland, England, the Soviet Union, Poland, the United States, and Japan. The Committee/Association, which is affiliated with United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization through the International Council of Sport Sciences and Physical Education and the International Sociological Association, has held annual conferences since 1966 and began to produce a journal (the International Review for the Sociology of Sport, now published by Sage) in that same year.

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The first English language books in the field also began to appear in the 1960s (e.g., McIntosh 1963; Jokl 1964). Kenyon and Loy’s (1965) call for a sociology of sport is considered to be a key programmatic statement, and the same authors produced the first anthology in the field, Sport, Culture, and Society: A Reader on the Sociology of Sport (Loy and Kenyon 1969).

Sports as Cultural Practices

People in all cultures have always engaged in playful physical activities and used human movement as part of their everyday routines and collective rituals (Huizinga 1955). The first examples of organized games in societies worldwide probably emerged in the form of various combinations of physical activities and religious rituals (Guttmann 1978). Those games were connected closely with the social structures, social relations, and belief systems in their societies. Although they often recreated and reaffirmed existing systems of power relations and dominant ideologies, they sometimes served as sites for resistant or oppositional behaviors (Guttmann 1994; Sage 1998). Variations in the forms and dynamics of physical activities and games indicate that they are cultural practices that serve different social purposes and take on different meanings from time to time and place to place. Research on these variations has provided valuable insights into social processes, structures, and ideologies (Gruneau 1999; Sage 1998).

The physical activities that most sociologists identify as ”modern sports” emerged in connection with a combination of rationalization, industrialization, democratization, and urbanization processes in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. As various forms of physical activities and play were constructed as institutionalized, competitive, rule-governed challenges and games, they became associated with a range of processes and structures in societies. To varying degrees in different settings, ”organized sports” were implicated in processes of social development and the structure of family life, socialization and education, identity formation and government policy, commodification and the economy, and globalization and the media. Today, sports constitute a significant part of the social, cultural, political, and economic fabric of most societies.

As cultural practices, organized sports constitute an increasingly important part of people’s lives and collective life in groups, organizations, communities, and societies. In addition to capturing individual and collective attention, they are implicated in power relations and ideological formation associated with social class, gender, race and ethnicity, sexuality, and physical ability. Because sports are social constructions, they may develop around particular ideas about the body and human nature, how people should relate to one another, expression and competence, human abilities and potential, manhood and womanhood, and what is important and unimportant in life. These ideas usually support and reproduce the dominant ideology in a society, but this is not always the case. Ideology is complex; therefore, the relationship between sports and ideological formation and transformation is sometimes inconsistent or even contradictory. Furthermore, sports come in many forms, and those forms can have many different associated social meanings.

Although sports continue to exist for the enjoyment of the participants, commercialized forms are planned, promoted, and presented for the entertainment of vast numbers of spectators. Sport events such as the Olympic Games, soccer’s World Cup (men’s and women’s), the Tour de France, the tennis championships at Wimbledon, American football’s Super Bowl, and championship boxing bouts capture the interest of billions of people when they are televised by satellite in over 200 countries around the world. These and other formally organized sports events are national and global industries. They are implicated in processes of state formation and capitalist expansion and are organized and presented as consumer activities for both participants and spectators. Although sport programs, events, and organizations may be subsidized directly or indirectly by local or national governments, support increasingly comes from corporations eager to associate their products and images with cultural activities and events that are a primary source of pleasure for people all over the world. Corporate executives have come to realize, as did Gramsci (1971) when he discussed hegemony and consensus-generating processes, that sponsoring people’s pleasures can be crucial in creating a consensus to support corporate expansion. At the same time, most sport organizations have sought corporate support.

People of all ages connect with sports through the media. Newspapers in many cities devote entire sections of their daily editions to sports, especially in North America, where the space devoted to sports frequently surpasses that given to the economy, politics, or any other single topic of interest (Lever and Wheeler 1993). Major magazines and dozens of specialty magazines cater to a wide range of interests among participants and fans. Radio coverage of sporting events and sports talk shows capture the attention of millions of listeners every day in some countries. Television coverage of sports, together with commentary about sports, is the most prevalent category of video programming in many countries. First the transistor radio and more recently satellites and Internet technology have enabled millions of people around the world to share their interest in sports. As Internet technology expands, these media-facilitated connections that revolve around sports will take new forms with unpredictable social implications.

Worldwide, many people recognize high-profile teams and athletes, and this recognition fuels everything from product consumption to tourism. Sports images are a pervasive part of life in many cultures, and the attention given to certain athletes today has turned them into celebrities, if not cultural heroes. In cultures in which there have been assumed connections between participation in sports and character formation, there has been a tendency to expect highly visible and popular athletes to become role models of dominant values and lifestyles, especially for impressionable young people. This has created a paradoxical situation in which athletes often are held to a higher degree of moral accountability than are other celebrities while at the same time being permitted or led to assume permission to act in ways that go beyond traditional normative boundaries.

People around the world increasingly talk about sports. Relationships often revolve around sports, especially among men but also among a growing number of women. Some people identify with teams and athletes so closely that what happens in sports influences their moods and overall sense of well-being. In fact, people’s identities as athletes and fans may be more important to them than their identities related to education, religion, work, and family.

Overall, sports and sports images have become a pervasive part of people’s everyday lives, especially among those who live in countries where resources are relatively plentiful and the media are widespread. For this reason, sports are logical topics for the attention of sociologists and others concerned with social life.

Using Sociology to Study Sports

Although play and games received attention from various European and North American behavioral and social scientists between the 1880s and the middle of the 20th century, sports received scarce attention in that period (Loy and Kenyon 1969). Of course, there were notable exceptions. Thorstein Veblen wrote about college sports in the United States in 1899 in Theory of the Leisure Class. Max Weber mentioned English Puritan opposition to sports in the 1904 and 1905 volumes of The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, and William Graham Sumner discussed ”popular sports” in his 1906 Folkways. Willard Waller devoted attention to the ”integrative functions” of sports in U.S. high schools in The Sociology of Teaching in 1932.

The first analyst to refer to a ”sociology of sport” was Theodor Adorno’s student Heinz Risse, who published Sociologie des Sports in 1921. Sports received little or no further analytic attention from social scientists until after World War II. Then, in the mid-1950s, there was a slow but steady accumulation of analyses of sports done by scholars in Europe and North America (Loy and Kenyon 1969; Dunning 1971).

The origins of the sociology of sport can be traced to both sociology and physical education (Ingham and Donnelly 1997; Sage 1997). The field initially was institutionalized in academic terms through the formation of the International Committee for Sport Sociology (ICSS) and the publication of the International Review for Sport Sociology (IRSS) in the mid-1960s. The ICSS was a subcommittee of the International Council of Sport Science and Physical Education and the International Sociological Association, and it sponsored the publication of the IRSS. Other publications in the 1960s and 1970s provided examples of the research and conceptual issues discussed by scholars who claimed an affiliation with the sociology of sport (Kenyon 1969; Krotee 1979; Luschen 1970). In addition to meeting at the annual conferences of the ICSS beginning in the mid-1960s, many scholars in the sociology of sport also met at the annual conferences of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport (NASSS). This organization was founded in 1978. It has sponsored conferences every year since then, and its membership has been as high as 326 in 1998. In 1984, the Sociology of Sport Journal was published under the sponsorship of the NASSS.

Although the sociology of sport involves scholars from many countries and has its foundations in traditional academic disciplines, its early growth was fueled partly by the radical and reform-oriented work of social activists trained in a variety of social sciences. That work attracted the attention of a number of young scholars in both sociology and physical education. For example, in U.S. universities, many courses devoted to the analysis of sport in society in the 1970s highlighted sport as a social institution, but many also used sports as a focal point for critical analyses of U.S. society as a whole. Objections to the war in Vietnam inspired analyses of autocratic and militaristic forms of social organization in sports and other spheres of social life. Critiques of capitalism were tied to research on the role of competition in social life and the rise of highly competitive youth and inter-scholastic sports. Concern with high rates of aggression and violence in society was tied to an analysis of contact sports that emphasize the physical domination of opponents. Analyses of racial and civil rights issues were tied to discussions of racism in sports and to issues that precipitated the boycott of the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games by some black American athletes (Edwards 1969). Analyses of gender relations were inspired by the widespread failure of U.S. high schools and universities to comply with Title IX legislation that, among other things, mandated gender equity in all sport programs sponsored by schools that received federal funds.

Today, those who are dedicated to studying sports as social and cultural phenomena constitute a small but active, diverse, and steadily expanding collection of scholars from sociology, physical education and kinesiology, sport studies, and cultural studies departments. This has made the field unique because many of these scholars have realized that to maintain the field they must engage each other despite differences in the research questions they ask and the theoretical perspectives and methodologies they use.

Mainstream sociology has been slow at the institutional level to acknowledge the growing social and cultural significance of sports and sports participation. The tendency among sociologists to give priority to studies of work over studies of play, sports, or leisure accounts for much of this disciplinary inertia. Furthermore, sports have been seen by many sociologists as nonserious, nonproductive dimensions of society and culture that do not merit scholarly attention. Consequently, the sociology of sport has continued to exist on the fringes of sociology, and studying sports generally does not forward to a scholar’s career in sociology departments. For example, in 1998-1999, only 149 (1.3 percent) of the 11,247 members of the American Sociological Association (ASA) declared ”Leisure/Sport/Recreation” as one of their three major areas of interest, and over half those scholars focused primarily on leisure rather than sports. Only thirty-seven ASA members identified ”Leisure/Sports Recreation” as their primary research and/or teaching topic (0.3 percent of ASA members), and only two Canadian and two U.S. sociology departments offer a graduate program in the sociology of sport, according to the 1998 Guide to Graduate Departments of Sociology. At the 1998 annual ASA meeting, there were approximately 3,800 presenters and copresenters, and only 20 dealt with sport-related topics in their presentations; only 2 of the 525 sessions were devoted to the sociology of sport. Patterns are similar in Canada, Great Britain, and Australia (Rowe et al. 1997).

In physical education and kinesiology, the primary focus of most scholars has been on motor learning, exercise physiology, biomechanics, and physical performance rather than the social dimensions of sports (see Sage 1997). Social and cultural issues have not been given a high priority in the discipline except when research has had practical implications for those who teach physical education, coach athletes, or administer sport programs. As the legitimacy and role of physical education departments have been questioned in many universities, the scholars in those departments have been slow to embrace the frequently critical analyses of sports done by those who use sociological theories and perspectives. Therefore, studying sports as social phenomena has not earned many scholars high status among their peers in physical education and kinesiology departments. However, the majority of sociology of sport scholars with doctorates have earned their degrees and now have options in departments of physical education or kinesiology and departments of sport studies and human movement studies.

There have been noteworthy indications of change. For example, there are a number of journals devoted to social analyses of sports (Sociology of Sport Journal, International Review for the Sociology of Sport, Journal of Sport & Social Issues, Culture, Sport, Society). Many mainstream journals in sociology and physical education now accept and publish research that uses sociological perspectives to study sports. National and regional professional associations in sociology and physical education in many countries sponsor regular sessions in the sociology of sport at their annual conferences. Annual conferences also are held by a number of national and regional sociology of sport associations around the world, including those in Japan, Korea, and Brazil as well as the countries of North America and Europe. The International Sociology of Sport Association (ISSA, formerly the ICSS) holds annual conferences and meets regularly with the International Sociological Association. Attendance at many of these conferences has been consistent, and the quality of the programs has been impressive. The existence of such organizational endorsement and support, along with continued growth in the pervasiveness and visibility of sports in society, suggests that the discipline will continue to grow.

Among other indications of growth, articles in the Sociology of Sport Journal are cited regularly in social science literature. Scholars in the field are recognized as ”public intellectuals” by journalists and reporters associated with the mass media. Quotes and references to sociology of sport research appear increasingly in the popular print and electronic media. Amazon.com, the world’s major Internet bookseller, listed over 260 books in its ”Sociology of Sport” reference category in March 1999.

Complicating the issue of future growth is the fact that scholars in this field regularly disagree about how to ”do” the sociology of sport. Some prefer to see themselves as scientific experts who do research on questions of organization and efficiency, while others prefer to see themselves as facilitators or even agents of cultural transformation whose research gives a voice to and empowers people who lack resources or have been pushed to the margins of society. This and other disagreements raise important questions about the production and use of scientific knowledge, and many scholars in the sociology of sport are debating those questions. As in sociology as a whole, the sociology of sport is now a site for theoretical and paradigmatic debates that some scholars fear will fragment the field and subvert the maintenance of an institutionalized professional community (Ingham and Donnelly 1997). Of course, this is a challenge faced in many disciplines and their associated professional organizations.

Conceptual and Theoretical Issues in the Sociology of Sport

Through the mid-1980s, most research in the sociology of sport was based on two assumptions. First, sport was assumed to be a social institution similar to other major social institutions (Luschen and Sage 1981). Second, sports were assumed to be institutionalized competitive activities that involve physical exertion and the use of physical skills by individuals motivated by a combination of personal enjoyment and external rewards (Coakley 1990). These conceptual assumptions identified the focus of the sociology of sport and placed theory and research on sports within the traditional parameters of sociological theory and research.

Theory and research based on these assumptions were informative. However, many scholars in the field came to realize that when analytic attention is focused on institutionalized and competitive activities, there is a tendency to overlook the lives of people who have neither the resources to formally organize their physical activities nor the desire to make them competitive. Scholars became sensitive to the possibility that this tendency can reinforce the ideologies and forms of social organization that have disadvantaged certain categories and collections of people in contemporary societies (Coakley 1998). This encouraged some scholars to ask critical questions about sports as contested activities in societies. Consequently, their research has come to focus more on the connections between sports and systems of power and privilege and the changes needed to involve more people in the determination of what sports can and should be in society.

These scholars used an alternative approach to defining sports that revolved around two questions: What gets to count as a sport in a group or society? and Whose sports count the most? These questions forced them to focus more directly on the social and cultural contexts in which ideas are formed about physical activities and the social processes that privilege some forms of physical activities. Those who have used this approach also note numerous cultural differences in how people identify sports and include them in their lives. In cultures that emphasize cooperative relationships, the idea that people should compete for rewards may be defined as disruptive, if not immoral, and for people in cultures that emphasize competition, physical activities and games that have no winners may seem pointless. These cultural differences are important because there is no universal agreement about the meaning, purpose, and organization of sports. Similarly, there is no general agreement about who will participate in sports, the circumstances in which participation will occur, or who will sponsor sports or the reasons for sponsorship. It is now assumed widely by scholars who study sports that these factors have varied over time from group to group and society to society and that sociological research should focus on the struggle over whose ideas about sports become dominant at any particular time in particular groups or societies. This in turn has highlighted issues of culture and power relations in theory and research in the sociology of sport.

Before the mid-1980s, most research and conceptual discussions in the sociology of sport were inspired or informed by structural functionalist theories and conflict theories (Luschen and Sage 1981; Coakley 1990), and in parts of western Europe, figurational sociology was used by some scholars who studied sports (see Dunning 1992). Those with structural functionalist perspectives often focused on questions about sports and issues of socialization and character development, social integration, achievement motivation, and structural adaptations to change in society. The connections between sports and other major social institutions and between sports and the satisfaction of social system needs were the major topics of concern.

Those who used conflict theories viewed sports as an expression of class conflict and market forces and a structure linked to societal and state institutions. Their work was inspired by various interpretations of Marxist theory and research focused generally on connections between capitalist forms of production and consumption and social behaviors in sports and on the ways in which sports promote an ideological consciousness that is consistent with the needs and interests of capital. Specifically, they studied the role of sports in processes of alienation, capitalist expansion, nationalism and militarism, and racism and sexism (Brohm 1978; Hoch 1972).

Figurational, or ”process,” sociology was and continues to be inspired by the work of Elias (Elias 1978; Elias and Dunning 1986;Jarvie and Maguire 1994). Figurational sociologists have focused on issues of interdependence and interaction in social life and have identified historical linkages between the structure of interpersonal conduct and the overall structure of society. Unlike other theoretical approaches, figurational sociology traditionally has given a high priority to the study of sport. Figurational analyses have emphasized sports as a sphere of social life in which the dichotomies between seriousness and pleasure, work and leisure, economic and noneconomic phenomena, and mind and body can be shown to be false and misleading. Before the mid-1980s, research done by figurational sociologists focused primarily on the historical development of modern sport and the interrelated historical processes of state formation, functional democratization, and expanding networks of international interdependencies. Their best known early work focused on linkages between the emergence of modern sports and the dynamics of civilizing processes, especially those associated with the control of violence in society (Elias and Dunning 1986).

Since the mid-1980s, the sociology of sport has been characterized by theoretical and methodological diversity. Fewer scholars use general theories of social life such as structural functionalism and conflict theories. The theories more often used are various forms of critical theories, including feminist theories and hegemony theory; also used are interpretive sociology (especially symbolic interactionism), cultural studies perspectives, and various forms of poststructuralism (Rail 1998). Figurational sociology still is widely used, especially by scholars outside North America. A few scholars have done research informed by the reflexive sociology of Pierre Bourdieu (Laberge and Sankoff 1988; Wacquant 1995a, 1995b) and the structuration theory of Anthony Giddens (Gruneau 1999).

Methodological approaches also vary. Quantitative data and statistical analyses remain popular, although various qualitative methods and interpretive analyses have become increasingly popular, if not the dominant research approaches in the field (Donnelly 2000). Ethnography and in-depth interviewing, along with textual and discourse analysis, have emerged as common methodologies among many scholars studying sports and sport participation (Coakley and Donnelly 1999). Quantitative methods have been used most often to study issues and questions related to sport participation patterns, the attitudinal and behavioral correlates of participation, and the distribution of sports-related resources in society. Both quantitative and interpretive methods have been used to study questions and issues related to socialization, identity, sexuality, subcultures, the body, pain and injury, disability, deviance, violence, emotions, the media, gender relations, homophobia, race and ethnic relations, new and alternative sports forms, and ideological formation and transformation (Coakley and Dunning 2000).

References:

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• Coakley, J. 1990 Sport in Society: Issues and Controversies, (4th ed.). St. Louis: Mosby.
• Coakley, J. 1998 Sport in Society: Issues and Controversies, 6th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.
• Coakley, J., and P. Donnelly, eds. 1999 Inside Sports. London: Routledge.
• Coakley, J., and P. Donnelly, eds. 2000 Handbook of Sport and Society. London: Sage.
• Donnelly, P. 2000 ‘‘Interpretive Approaches to the Sociology of Sport.’’ In J. Coakley and E. Dunning. eds., Handbook of Sport and Society. London: Sage.
• Dunning, E. 1992 ‘‘Figurational Sociology and the Sociology of Sport: Some Concluding Remarks.’’ In E. Dunning, and C. Rojek, eds., Sport and Leisure in the Civilizing Process. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
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• Edwards, H. 1969 The Revolt of the Black Athlete. New York: Free Press.
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• Gramsci, A. 1971 Selections from the Prison Notebooks, trans. and ed. Q. Hoare and G. Smith. New York: International Publishers.
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• Laberge, S., and D. Sankoff 1988 ‘‘Physical Activities, Body Habitus and Lifestyles.’’ In J. Harvey and H. Cantelon eds., Not Just a Game: Essays in Canadian Sport Sociology. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press.
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• Loy, J. and Gerald K., eds. 1969. Sport, Culture, and Society. New York: Macmillan.
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• Sage, G. H. 1998. Power and Ideology in American Sport. Champaign, Ill. Human Kinetics.
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Sociology of Sport Journal

Official Journal of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport

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Print ISSN:  0741-1235             Online ISSN:  1543-2785

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Volume 41 (2024): Issue 2 (Jun 2024)

Top 40 at 40.

The Sociology of Sport Journal is celebrating 40 years of publishing by revisiting our top-10 articles for each decade. We've invited emerging scholars to comment on the continuted significance of these articles and what has changed in the time since they were published. All of the articles are permanently free to read. We hope you enjoy seeing SSJ 's history and will look to the future of the sociology of sport with us.

Sports and Male Domination: The Female Athlete as Contested Ideological Terrain

By Michael A. Messner. 1988. Sociology of Sport Journal, 5 (3), 197–211.

The Construction and Confirmation of Identity in Sport Subcultures

By Peter Donnelly and Kevin Young. 1988. Sociology of Sport Journal, 5 (3), 223–240.

Program for a Sociology of Sport

By Pierre Bourdieu. 1988. Sociology of Sport Journal, 5 (2), 153–161.

The Socialization of Elite Tennis Players in Sweden: An Analysis of the Players’ Backgrounds and Development

By Rolf Carlson. 1988. Sociology of Sport Journal, 5 (3), 241–256.

Denial of Power in Televised Women’s Sports

By Margaret Carlisle Duncan and Cynthia A. Hasbrook. 1988. Sociology of Sport Journal, 5 (1), 1–21.

Divergence in Moral Reasoning about Sport and Everyday Life

By Brenda Jo Bredemeier and David L. Shields. 1984. Sociology of Sport Journal, 1 (4), 348–357.

Racial Relations Theories and Sport: Suggestions for a More Critical Analysis

By Susan Birrell. 1989. Sociology of Sport Journal, 6 (3), 212–227.

From Public Issue to Personal Trouble: Well-Being and the Fiscal Crisis of the State

By Alan G. Ingham. 1985. Sociology of Sport Journal, 2 (1), 43–55.

The Relationship between Children’s Legitimacy Judgments and Their Moral Reasoning, Aggression Tendencies, and Sport Involvement

By Brenda Jo Bredemeier, Maureen R. Weiss, David L. Shields, and Bruce A.B. Cooper. 1987. Sociology of Sport Journal, 4 (1), 48–60.

Work Routines in Newspaper Sports Departments and the Coverage of Women’s Sports

By Nancy Theberge and Alan Cronk. 1986. Sociology of Sport Journal, 3 (3), 195–203.

Positive Deviance Among Athletes: The Implications of Overconformity to the Sport Ethic

By  Robert Hughes and Jay Coakley. 1991. Sociology of Sport Journal , 8(4), 307–325.

Firm but Shapely, Fit but Sexy, Strong but Thin: The Postmodern Aerobicizing Female Bodies

By Pirkko Markula. 1995. Sociology of Sport Journal , 12(4), 424–453.

Burnout Among Adolescent Athletes: A Personal Failure or Social-Problem

By Jay Coakley. 1992. Sociology of Sport Journal , 9(3), 271–285.

Body Talk : Male-Athletes Reflect on Sport, Injury, and Pain

By  Kevin Young, Philip White, and William McTeer. 1994. Sociology of Sport Journal , 11(2), 175–194.

Fraternal Bonding in the Locker Room: A Profeminist Analysis of Talk About Competition and Women

By Timothy Jon Curry. 1991. Sociology of Sport Journal , 8(2), 119–135.

Sports Photographs and Sexual Difference: Images of Women and Men in the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games

By Margaret Carlisle Duncan. 1990. Sociology of Sport Journal , 7(1), 22–43.

Accepting the Risks of Pain and Injury in Sport: Mediated Cultural Influences on Playing Hurt

By Howard L. Nixon II. 1993. Sociology of Sport Journal , 10(2), 183–196.

Disqualifying the Official: An Exploration of Social Resistance Through the Subculture of Skateboarding

By Becky Beal. 1995. Sociology of Sport Journal , 12(3), 252–267.

Making Decisions: Gender and Sport Participation Among British Adolescents

By  Jay Coakley and Anita White. 1992. Sociology of Sport Journal , 9(1), 20–35.

Fanship and the Television Sports Viewing Experience

By  Walter Gantz and Lawrence A. Wenner. 1995. Sociology of Sport Journal , 12(1), 56–74.

Autoethnography and Narratives of Self: Reflections on Criteria in Action

By Andrew C. Sparkes. 2000. Sociology of Sport Journal , 17(1), 21–43.

Power, Discourse, and Symbolic Violence in Professional Youth Soccer: The Case of Albion Football Club

By  Christopher Cushion and Robyn L. Jones. 2006. Sociology of Sport Journal , 23(2), 142–161.

New Writing Practices in Qualitative Research

By Laurel Richardson. 2000. Sociology of Sport Journal , 17(1), 5–20.

The Technologies of the Self: Sport, Feminism, and Foucault

By Pirkko Markula. 2003. Sociology of Sport Journal , 20(2), 87–107.

Female Fandom: Identity, Sexism, and Men's Professional Football in England

By Katharine W. Jones. 2008. Sociology of Sport Journal , 25(4), 516–537.

"An Eye for Talent": Talent Identification and the "Practical Sense" of Top-Level Soccer Coaches

By Mette Krogh Christensen. 2009. Sociology of Sport Journal , 26(3), 365–382.

Bourdieu, Feminism and Female Physical Culture: Gender Reflexivity and the Habitus-Field Complex

By Holly Thorpe. 2009. Sociology of Sport Journal , 26(4), 491–516.

"Just Do It?": Consumption, Commitment, and Identity in the Windsurfing Subculture

By Belinda Wheaton. 2000. Sociology of Sport Journal , 17(3), 254–274.

No Pain Is Sane After All: A Foucauldian Analysis Of Masculinities and Men's Experiences in Rugby

By  Richard Pringle and Pirkko Markula. 2005. Sociology of Sport Journal , 22(4), 472–497.

Rethinking the Relationships Between Sport and Race in American Culture: Golden Ghettos and Contested Terrain

By Douglas Hartmann. 2000. Sociology of Sport Journal , 17(3), 229–253.

Power, Politics and "Sport for Development and Peace": Investigating the Utility of Sport for International Development

By Simon C. Darnell. 2010. Sociology of Sport Journal, 27 (1), 54–75

Feeling Second Best: Elite Women Coaches' Experiences

By Leanne Norman. 2010. Sociology of Sport Journal, 27 (1), 89–104

It's Not About the Game: Don Imus, Race, Class, Gender and Sexuality in Contemporary Media

By Cheryl Cooky, Faye L. Wachs, Michael Messner, and Shari L. Dworkin. 2010. Sociology of Sport Journal, 27 (2), 139–159

Foucault in Leotards: Corporeal Discipline in Women's Artistic Gymnastics

By Natalie Barker-Ruchti and Richard Tinning. 2010. Sociology of Sport Journal, 27 (3), 229–250

Toward a Physical Cultural Studies

By Michael L. Silk and David L. Andrews. 2011. Sociology of Sport Journal, 28 (1), 4–35

What is this "Physical" in Physical Cultural Studies

By Michael D. Giardina and Joshua I. Newman. 2011. Sociology of Sport Journal, 28 (1), 36–63

Gender Ideologies, Youth Sports, and the Production of Soft Essentialism

By Michael Messner. 2011. Sociology of Sport Journal, 28 (2), 151–170

That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore: Racial Microaggressions, Color-Blind Ideology and the Mitigation of Racism in English Men's First-Class Cricket

By Daniel Burdsey. 2011. Sociology of Sport Journal, 28 (3), 261–283

The Birth of the Obesity Clinic: Confessions of the Flesh, Biopedagogies and Physical Culture

By Geneviève Rail. 2012. Sociology of Sport Journal, 29 (2), 227–253

Sporting Spinal Cord Injuries, Social Relations, and Rehabilitation Narratives: An Ethnographic Creative Non-Fiction of Becoming Disabled Through Sport

By Brett Smith. 2013. Sociology of Sport Journal, 30 (2), 132–152

The purpose of the Sociology of Sport Journal is to stimulate and communicate research, critical thought, and theory development on issues pertaining to the sociology of sport. The journal publishes peer-reviewed empirical and theoretical papers; book reviews; and critical essays. Analyses of sport and physical culture from diverse theoretical and methodological perspectives are encouraged. Submissions concerned with sport and physical culture as related to race, class, gender, sexuality, popular media, political economy, globalization, technology, and youth culture are especially welcome.

Cheryl Cooky, PhD Purdue University, USA [email protected]

Editors Emeriti

Jay Coakley (Founding Editor: 1984–1989) Peter Donnelly (1990–1994) Cynthia Hasbrook (1995–1998) Christopher Stevenson (1999–2001) Nancy Theberge (2002–2004) Annelies Knoppers (2005–2008) Pirkko Markula (2009–2011) Michael Atkinson (2012–2014) Michael D. Giardina (2015–2020)

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Joseph Cooper University of Massachusetts-Boston, USA

Audrey Giles University of Ottawa, Canada

Shannon Jette University of Maryland, USA

Kyle W. Kusz University of Rhode Island, USA

Brad Millington Brock University, Canada

Interim Book Review Editor

Cheryl Cooky Purdue University, USA

Editorial Board

Sine Agergaard, Aalborg University, Denmark

Kristi Allain, St. Thomas University, Canada

Shaonta’ Allen, Dartmouth, USA

Daniel Anorve, Universidad de Guanajuato, Mexico

Dunja Antunovic, University of Minnesota, USA

Constancio Arnaldo, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA

Ali Bowes, Nottingham Trent University, UK

Scott Brooks, Arizona State University, USA

Tarlan Chahardovali, University of South Carolina, USA

Jim Cherrington, Sheffield Hallam University, UK

Chen Chen, University of Connecticut, USA

Yeomi Choi, University of Lethbridge, Canada

Roxane Coche, University of Florida, USA

Katelyn Esmonde, Johns Hopkins, USA

Kirsten Hextrum, Oregon State University, USA

Michelle H. S. Ho, National University of Singapore, Singapore

Jonathan Howe, Temple University, USA

Janelle Joseph, University of Toronto, Canada

Ajhanai Keaton, University of Louisville, USA

Yannick Kluch, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA

Chris Knoester, Ohio State University, USA

Lucen Liu, Zhejiang University, China

Chris McLeod, University of Florida, USA

Mitch McSweeney, University of Minnesota, USA

Rob Millington, Brock University, Canada

Moss Norman, University of British Columbia, Canada

Thomas Oates , University of Iowa, USA

Joyce Olushola Ogunrinde, University of Houston, USA

Stacey Pope, Durham University, UK

Tatiana Ryba, University of Jyväskylä, Finland

Bárbara Schausteck de Almeida, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Brazil

Courtney Szto, Queens University, Canada

Minhyeok Tak, Loughborough University, UK

Sarah Teetzel, University of Manitoba, Canada

Nicola de Martini Ugolotti, Bournemouth University, UK

Meredith Whitley, Adelphi University, USA

Grace Yan, University of South Carolina, USA

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The Sociology of Sport Journal ( SSJ ) publishes theoretical and empirical work, framed by social theory, on exercise, sport, and the (physically active) body. Papers submitted to this journal should not be published elsewhere. If an author uses the same data in previously submitted work, then the author should describe in a cover letter how the current paper is significantly different from other submissions or articles. Submissions should not be under consideration for any other publication at the same time.

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All manuscripts must be preceded by an abstract of 75–125 words typed on a separate page. Manuscripts should be double-spaced including the abstract, block quotations, endnotes, references, and tables. The length of submitted Articles should be between 6,000 and 8,000 words, references and endnotes included. Articles that are longer might be returned to the authors for shortening. Research Notes should be succinct presentations of contemporary and important sociological issues in sport and physical culture. Research Notes may present preliminary analyses and/or exploratory findings, methodological considerations for data collection and analysis, and/or development of a theoretical point or model. The empirical findings and/or theoretical developments must be explained and documented concisely between 3,000 and 4,000 words, references and endnotes included.

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Body Panic: Gender, Health and the Selling of Fitness By Shari Dworkin and Faye Wachs. New York University Press, 2009, New York, NY. Reviewed by: Cheryl Cooky, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN.

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SSJ Article of Year Award

This award is presented by the north american society for the sociology of sport to the author(s) of the best article published in ssj from the previous calendar year., 2023: awakening to elsewheres: collectively restorying embodied experiences of (be)longing.

By Tricia McGuire-Adams, Janelle Joseph, Danielle Peers, Lindsay Eales, William Bridel, Chen Chen, Evelyn Hamdon, and Bethan Kingsley

2022: The Nature of the Body in Sport and Physical Culture: From Bodies and Environments to Ecological Embodiment

By Samantha King and Gavin Weedon

2021: “Where I’m From”: Jay-Z’s “Hip Hop Cosmopolitanism,” Basketball, and the Neoliberal Politics of Urban Space

By Thomas P. Oates

2020: Indigenous Gender Reformations: Physical Culture, Settler Colonialism and the Politics of Containment

By Moss Norman, Michael Hart, and LeAnne Petherick

2019: Educating Parents of Children in Sport About Abuse Using Narrative Pedagogy

By Jenny McMahon, Camilla J. Knight, and Kerry R. McGannon

2018: "We Cannot Stand Idly By”: A Necessary Call for a Public Sociology of Sport

By Cheryl Cooky

2017: Athletic Women’s Experiences of Amenorrhea: Biomedical Technologies, Somatic Ethics and Embodied Subjectivities

By Holly Thorpe

2016: “It’s Recovery United for Me”: Promises and Pitfalls of Football as Part of Mental Health Recovery

By Jonathon Magee, Ramón Spaaij, and Ruth Jeanes

2015: “When Is a Drug Not a Drug? Troubling Silences and Unsettling Painkillers in the National Football League

By Samantha King, R. Scott Carey, Naila Jinnah, Rob Millington, Andrea Phillipson, Carolyn Prouse, and Matt Ventresca

2014: Translation With Abusive Fidelity : Methodological Issues in Translating Media Texts About Korean LPGA Players

By Kyoung-Yim Kim

2013: Corporate Nationalism and Globalization of Nike Advertising in “Asia”: Production and Representation Practice of Cultural Intermediaries

By Koji Kobayashi

2012: Gender Ideologies, Youth Sports and the Production of Soft Essentialism

By Michael A. Messner

2011: Danny Almonte: Discursive Construction(s) of (Im)migrant Citizenship in Neoliberal America

Ryan King-White

2010: New Media and the Repackaging of NFL Fandom

By Thomas Patrick Oates

2009: What's Queer about (Queer) Sport Sociology Now? A Review Essay

By Samantha King

2008: A Governmental Analysis of Children "At Risk" in a World of Physical Inactivity and Obesity Epidemics

By Lisa McDermott

2007: (Un)Disciplined Bodies: A Foucauldian Analysis of Women's Rugby

By Laura Frances Chase

2006: Athletes as Agents of Change: An Examination of Shifting Race Relations Within Women's Netball in Post-Apartheid South Africa

by Cynthia Fabrizio Pelak

2005: From Corporate Welfare to National Interest: Newspaper Analysis of the Public Subsidization of NHL Hockey Debate in Canada

By Jay Scherer and Steven J. Jackson

2004: Posthuman Podiums: Cyborg Narratives of Elite Track and Field Athletes

By Ted Butryn

2003: Mapping the Field of "AR": Adventure Racing and Bourdieu's Concept of Field

By Joanne Kay and Suzanne Laberge

2002: Together We're One? The “Place” of the Nation in Media Representations of the 1998 Kuala Lompur Commonwealth Games

By Michael Silk

2001: The Expendable Prolympic Self. Going Beyond the Boundaries of the Sociology of Sport

By Alan G. Ingham, Bryan J. Blissmer, and Kristen Wells Davidson

1999: Turning the Closets Inside/Out: Towards a Queer-Feminist Theory in Women's Physical Education

By Heather Sykes

1997: Networks: Producing Olympic Ice Hockey for a National Television Audience

By Margaret MacNeill

1995: Participation in High School Competitive Sports: A Subversion of School Mission or Contribution to Academic Goals?

By Naomi Fejgin

1993: Fraternal Bonding in the Locker Room: A Profeminist Analysis of Talk about Competition and Women

By Tim Curry

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Sociology of Sport: A Global Subdiscipline in Review: Volume 9

Table of contents, sociology of sport: south africa.

This chapter offers a comparative description of the separatist development of mainstream sociology focusing on sport-related phenomena versus the sociology of sport located within Human Movement or Sport Science departments at public universities in South Africa. Key findings relate to the production of fragmented bodies of knowledge, individual research agendas, and national funding in alignment with national development priorities that guide current neo-colonial knowledge production practices. There is a domination of political themes (pre- and post-apartheid) with more recent foci on nation building and Sport for Development and Peace which only partly respond to the call for indigenous knowledge production and critical scholarly work. The increased publications and mainstream sociological inquiry of the 2010 FIFA World Cup were not maintained as scholars continue to work in isolation. Other main sociological themes for both sectors include gender, with only a few established scholars producing critical work in response to a national call for an ‘Africanization’, anti-colonial stance in knowledge production. There seems to be an increasing trend to bridge the theory–practice divide and serve the public sphere which further pushes critical sociological work to the margins of both fields. The chapter provides a comparative analysis and critical overview of the development and current sociology of sport practices at public South African universities. It articulates the most significant discourses with global and local manifestations, and as such communicates key critical findings to guide strategic synergies and future sociological research.

Sociology of Sport: China

Sociology of sport in China has evolved from being an “exotic” subject to a localized subject over the past 35 years. It is closely associated with social changes, sports policy and athletic achievement of China. As a discipline of humanitarian and social sciences of sport, it is taught in virtually all universities with sports majors. There are about 500 scholars specializing in sport sociology in the country. Textbooks written by Chinese and foreign scholars are published. Academic papers on sport sociology are often published in the 15 accredited core sports journals. The most productive authors are from universities and the developed provinces and municipalities. The established research areas of sport sociology are extensive. These include national identity, athlete mobility, Olympic legacy, sport for all, sports industry issues, feminist studies, community sport, sport for the aged and disabled, etc. However, there are few studies with critical analysis and only a few in the areas of sport and religion, sport and race, and deviance in sport in China. Various kinds of financial support at different levels are available in the country. Empirical research is common with literature review, questionnaire, case study, and interview being the most frequently used methods. However, sport sociology is not considered as a major topic but as a research direction and it is not accepted widely by mainstream sociology. The future of sport sociology is promising, but not without challenges.

Sociology of Sport: India

This chapter is a collation and review of literature that can be considered to form the terrain of sports studies in India. It attempts two broad tasks: firstly, to aggregate these studies, and secondly, to predict the very possibility of a sociology of sport in India. To this end, this chapter is classified into three separate yet intertwined themes: modernity and nationalism; sub-nationalisms or regional nationalisms; and gender, masculinities, and culture. The first section looks at questions of modernity and nationalism within the Indian context through a close reading of studies on sports like field hockey and cricket. The second section is a critical look at the role of sub-nationalisms in complicating the notion of a singular nationalism, as played out in the domain of football in India. Lastly, the chapter examines questions of gender, especially masculinities, as a consistent yet plural presence in all of these literatures. These themes are neither exclusive nor all encompassing, and the chapter produces them in continuity as well as in rupture with one another. It concludes by speculating upon the possibilities and challenges for a sociology of sport in India, with suggestions for possible methodological interventions.

Sociology of Sport: Japan

This chapter introduces the development of sport sociology in Japan especially focusing on the activities of the Japanese Society of Sport Sociology (JSSS) and research by members of the society. Following a brief history, we discuss some notable and influential research in Japanese sport sociology. Then we pick up the two areas of Olympic Studies and Sport for Development and Peace to show the current situation of sport sociology in Japan. In Japan, the development of sport sociology and sport itself are tightly linked with the development of the society as a whole, especially influenced by economic factors. In regards to the future of sport sociology as well as sport, we believe that this will depend on the economic situation, although sport-related persons (except for sociologists) tend to expect much of the governmental body. Because the volume of Olympic Studies and Sport for Development and Peace research is increasing, sport sociology will achieve a certain amount of success by the 2020 Tokyo Olympics/Paralympics. However, we need to seek a way to maintain the momentum of sport sociology in Japan after the year 2020.

Sociology of Sport: South Korea

Although Korean sociology of sport is relatively unknown to the international community of scholars, it is a mature field in Korea. Sociology of sport was first introduced in Korea in the mid-1960s when the field first evolved in North America and Europe. However, the development of the field shows different aspects from its Western counterpart due to unique cultural and environmental factors both in academia and in society. There are three major research trends that form Korean sociology of sport. First, there is the research focus on the benefit of sport and physical activity by examining empirical data using quantitative methodologies. The second group of researchers pays attention to individual experience in diverse sport fields and utilize qualitative methodologies to investigate empirical or secondary data. The third and most recent trend is a critical approach that theoretically analyzes ideologies, power relations, and identity politics in sport and society. When looking at the future, there are problems and limitations within the field in Korea. These include lack of continuity in terms of conference sub-themes, over-production of doctoral degree graduates, conservatism rooted in the field, and a danger of regarding sport policy research as an exit for sport sociologists. However, there are also possibilities and reasons for optimism. The biggest possibility for Korean sociology of sport is globalization of the field. Another significant possibility is the need for sport sociologists in planning, developing, and evaluating sport policy. Finally, diversification of the field gives ample opportunities for future research.

Australasia

Sociology of sport: aotearoa/new zealand and australia.

This chapter adopts a reflective approach exploring and setting out the contrasting factors that led to the establishment of the subdiscipline in both countries. The factors included the role of key individuals and their respective academic backgrounds and specialisations within each country’s higher education system. Furthermore, attention is given to the particular circumstances in a case analysis comparison of the oldest programs in Aotearoa/New Zealand and Australia. This sheds light upon the factors linked to the disproportionate success profile for the sociology of sport in Aotearoa/New Zealand. An analysis of scholars and programs within each country reveals important differences aligned with the politics of funding and the variety and extent of systematic structures. Additionally, scholars’ specialisations and preferences reveal a broad offering but are primarily linked to globalisation, gender relations, indigeneity and race relations, social policy, and media studies. This work has been undertaken variously via the critical tradition including Birmingham School cultural studies, ethnographic and qualitative approaches and, more recently by some, a postmodern poststructuralist trend. Lastly, along with a brief discussion of current issues, future challenges are set out.

Sociology of Sport: Czech Republic

The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of the development of Czech sociology of sport with respect to socio-political changes over the last 50 years. A comparative sociological approach was used to analyze books, articles, and other types of research productivity. The analysis shows that Czech sociology of sport has developed in three different periods: first, linked to the development of mainstream sociology; second, as a body of socially oriented sport research; and third, as an educational sub-discipline increasingly located in university sport faculties. However, the interest of the State in sociology has significantly decreased since 1990, which has created its own Czech-specific issues. The chapter is based on the method of literature review and, because of the author’s professional activities in sport organizations as well university research, also on a type of “auto-ethnography.”

Sociology of Sport: Finland

Compared with the history of many other countries, sport has had an exceptional role in the Finnish transformation from a young to a mature nation. Finland has a relatively long tradition in the sociology of sport. The interest has been focused on a wide range of physical activities. At the same time, the parent discipline of sociology has been a “mother” science in the field; as such the more representative term in Finland for this area is the “social science of sport and physical activity.” Finnish sociology of sport is strongly concentrated in Jyväskylä and most of the scholars in the field have been educated at the University of Jyväskylä. Recently the research in the field has spread to other universities and new perspectives have enriched the research. The critical mass of Finnish sociology of sport is not very big. Approximately 400 students have graduated in the field during its history and approximately 60 have worked in the field as professional researchers. Most of the publications in the field are for a domestic audience. The group of internationally active scholars is relative small. The variety of research themes is nevertheless wide. However, interest has continued in a few of them, and has focused on several researchers. In this respect, the most central themes have included changes in sports culture, socialization into sport and physical activities, gender and physical activities, the social significance of sport and physical activity, and organized sport movements.

Sociology of Sport: Flanders

In 2008, Paul De Knop (Vrije Universiteit Brussels) stated that “in spite of the social value of sport and its role as a policy tool, human sport sciences still lack a fulfilling position in the academic world.” In Belgium and in Flanders (the northern and Dutch-speaking part of the country), the sociology of sport is still a small field of research among the sport sciences. The discipline is institutionalized within the institutes of physical education of the three universities (University of Ghent; Katholieke Universiteit Leuven; Vrije Universiteit Brussels). The scarcity of academic funding streams resulted in a focus on more applied, policy-based research in Flanders. Additionally, all institutes emphasize increasingly an interdisciplinary cooperation to connect with stronger research fields (e.g., health sciences, social studies, or international studies on sport participation). Even though each university has its own research tradition, the universities and the government cooperate in a longitudinal study on sport participation in Flanders. De Knop, who became rector of the Vrije Universiteit Brussels (VUB) in 2008, was the first lecturer of the course sociology of sport at his university. He graduated in 1975 as licentiate in physical education and his career at the university converged with the development of the discipline. Together with Roland Renson and Bart Vanreusel (KU Leuven), he was one of the academic pioneers for the sociology of sport in Flanders.

Sociology of Sport: France

Nowadays, several processes help organize scholarly work about sport and physical activities in France. These include professional development activities of sport and leisure organizations; cultural innovations within sports and physical activities, which involve new spaces with new technologies; questions of public health; and questions of inclusion for marginal groups such as handicapped persons. Questions of power are important to understand each sport situation and each sport sociocultural, economic, and ecologic system. Behind the political and institutional instrumentalization of sport, the reality of social and cultural changes is rarely clear. Strong social, cultural, and economic forces continue to govern sports and seem to be more and more prominent. When sport scandals emerge, the media reveal the case, notably but not exclusively in the context of commercial interests. The possibility for a caring and respectful physical education experience and to improve inclusion for all (Gardou, C. (2012). La société inclusive, parlons-en! Toulouse: Erès) seems like an uphill battle.

Sociology of Sport: Germany and Switzerland

This chapter examines the origins and institutionalization of sport sociology in Germany and Switzerland and provides an overview of the current state of research. It shows how academic chairs and research committees were established and how the first textbooks, anthologies, and journals appeared from the 1970s onwards. The institutionalization process of German-speaking sport sociology proceeded parallel to the establishment of sport science. With regard to its theoretical and empirical basis, German-speaking sport sociology is rooted in theories and concepts of general sociology. Studies using a system theory perspective, conceptualizing sport as a societal sub-system and examining its linkage with and dependence on economy, media, or politics are particularly common in the German-speaking region. In addition, actor theoretic perspectives are very popular, and French sociologists such as Bourdieu and Foucault have had a marked influence on German-speaking sport sociology. A large number of sport sociology studies are concerned with the changes in leisure and elite sports. In this context, the emergence of new trends in risk sports as well as the fitness boom and its implications on body perception are of special interest. Further areas of research refer to sport participation and the impact of social inequality, particularly with respect to gender differences and social integration. Finally, organization research focusing on change at the level of sport associations and clubs has a long tradition. Major challenges for the future of German-speaking sport sociology include its internationalization and an enhanced international linkage in order to improve the visibility of research results.

Sociology of Sport: Hungary

The history of Hungarian sociology of sport can be divided to two periods, which are different in terms of conditions but show similarities in many other ways. In the period between the mid-1960s and 1989, the intensive development of the discipline was hindered by the repression of sociology and the lack of interest in sport on the part of social scientists. However, the unique social functions of (elite) sport still created a demand for scientific inquiry. In the second period, from 1989 to the present day, the conditions of research freedom were established; yet, sport as an area for research failed to attract the attention of social scientists. In this respect, today’s scholars of sociology of sport face similar problems as the founders of the discipline, although the changing economic conditions in terms of research funding and institutionalization provide a more favorable environment for the scientific investigation of sport-related social issues. As a result, the number of sport sociological publications has steadily increased in the past decade and Hungarian scholars have the opportunity to participate in international conferences and research projects. This chapter reviews sociology of sport in Hungary, with a focus on historical heritage, institutionalization, the current situation, and barriers to development.

Sociology of Sport: Italy

This chapter offers insight into Italian sociology of sport. It first describes the fragmented history from the 1990s to the present of a discipline that has never developed as a truly mature field in the academic environment, and then outlines some main areas of research strengths and outcomes. Four strands can be highlighted: fandom and organized soccer supporters (Ultras); changes in sport through the forces of television, new media, sponsorship, and globalization; hybridization of sport, mass media, and politics with Berlusconi’s entrance into the Italian political scene and the advent of the era of “football politics”; and lastly, the body, bodywork, formal/informal sport activities, and gym culture with a microsociological perspective. However, despite their sociological relevance, these topics have had no regular, substantial development. They constitute separate fields of knowledge appearing in the sociological landscape in conjunction with social alarms, mainly related to soccer violence, or the emergence of new mass sport events or trends. It is difficult to predict what the future will hold. There is currently emerging attention to new urban sports and some sporadic in-depth ethnographic investigations of sport in micro arenas, such as soccer pitches, fitness gyms, and dance schools. Otherwise, Italian sociology of sport is folded into physical education science and is only considered as a field of inquiry for physical health and wellbeing.

Sociology of Sport: The Netherlands

Sociology of sport does not exist as a (sub)discipline or course of study in the Netherlands. Scholars who call themselves sport sociologists engage in a variety of research and related publication activities. Many of these might not strictly fit under some understandings of the title “sociology” since they focus on sport management, policy implementation, and change. In this chapter, I describe how sociology of sport research tends to be defined and how that research is used to defend government spending on sport participation. This instrumental approach means the results of Dutch research using critical perspectives are often heard only internationally. I explain how the structure of Dutch academia, which limits the number of associate professors and professors, relies primarily on external funding for research and makes such funding difficult to obtain if it does not fit within a specified perspective, and limits who is able to engage in research and the type of research that is produced. I show how this structure in combination with the emphasis on an instrumental function of sport has largely shaped much of the research and has limited the use of a variety of theoretical frameworks and the development of a robust and coherent body of knowledge about the sociology of sport in the Netherlands.

Sociology of Sport: Norway, Sweden and Denmark

This chapter reviews the sociology of sport as a subdiscipline in the Scandinavian countries of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. The review is based on analyses of central documents, scholarly contributions, as well as interviews with some key scholars in the field. The review describes both similarities and differences across the three countries. The sociology of sport as a subdiscipline and research field is a relatively new area. Among the decisive factors that prompted the field to grow were the expansion of higher education and the institutionalization of sport studies as an academic field during the 1970s. Each country today has approximately 15–20 scholars who identify themselves as sport sociologists. None of the Scandinavian countries have special research programs for research funding in the social sciences of sport, and the main funding derives mostly from the research resources linked to the scholars’ professorships/scholarships and external funding. The research trajectories of the field are mostly concentrated around areas like youth sport, participation studies, sport politics, and team sports. Besides scholars involved in gender studies and body culture, most of the key contributors also belong to these areas. Scholars make use of multifaceted theoretical and methodological approaches. One of the main future challenges of the research field is to maintain and strengthen its critical traditions against the strong influence from neoliberal sport management discourses.

Sociology of Sport: Spain

The chapter begins by examining the origins of sociology of sport in Spain, which dates back to the transition to democracy, during which period sport became transformed progressively from an object of social concern into an object of sociological study. It then goes on to analyse the main factors of activation in particular processes of university teaching staff accreditation which acted as catalysts for the set of processes that fostered the emergence of sociology of sport in Spain. Lastly, the principal study fields are analysed by grouping them into three areas: sport and society, social attitudes to sport and sport facilities and organisations. In the conclusion, an assessment is made of contributions made to the speciality as well as of sociology of sport’s progressive internationalisation, a rare phenomenon prior to 2005 which is now regarded as a major indicator of the maturity of the discipline.

Sociology of Sport: United Kingdom

Sociology of sport in the United Kingdom is as old as the subdiscipline itself but was uniquely shaped by the prominence of football hooliganism as a major social issue in the 1970s and 1980s. While it remains a somewhat niche activity, the field has been stimulated by the growing cultural centrality of sport in UK society. This quantitative and qualitative development has been recognized in recent governmental evaluations of research expertise. Current research reflects this expanded range of social stratification and social issues in sport both domestically and on a global level, while the legacy of hooligan research is evident in the continuing concentration on studies of association football. Historically, this empirical research has largely been underpinned by figurational, Marxist/neo-Marxist, or feminist sociological theories, but there is now a greater emphasis on theoretical synthesis and exploration. As a consequence of the expansion of the field, allied to its empirical and theoretical diversity, there is a burgeoning literature produced by UK sociologists of sport that spans entry-level textbooks, research monographs, and the editorship of a significant number of specialist journals. The chapter concludes by noting the future prospects of the sociology of sport in the United Kingdom in relation to teaching, research, and relations with other sport-related subdisciplines and the sociological mainstream.

North America

Sociology of sport: canada.

This chapter explores the emergence, growth, and current status of the sociology of sport in Canada. Such an endeavour includes acknowledging the work and efforts of Canadian scholars – whether Canadian by birth or naturalization or just as a result of their geographic location – who have contributed to the vibrant and robust academic discipline that is the sociology of sport in Canadian institutions coast-to-coast, and who have advanced the socio-cultural study of sport globally in substantial ways. This chapter does not provide an exhaustive description and analysis of the past and present states of the sociology of sport in Canada; in fact, it is important to note that an in-depth, critical and comprehensive analysis of our field in Canada is sorely lacking. Rather, this chapter aims to highlight the major historical drivers (both in terms of people and trends) of the field in Canada; provide a snapshot of the sociology of sport in Canada currently; and put forth some ideas as to future opportunities and challenges for the field in Canada.

Sociology of Sport: English-Speaking Caribbean

Although the first known sociological writings on sport in the English-speaking Caribbean (ESC) date from 1953, the sociology of sport is very much a nascent subdiscipline that occupies a very marginal and almost nonexistent position in the region’s educational, research, and development agenda. This is evident in the number of sport sociologists, courses of study, professional organizations, conferences/seminars, and publications on the subject. While this chapter examines the historical, social, cultural, institutional, and economic factors that have contributed to this situation, it also profiles the limited publications in the field, the theoretical and methodological characteristics, its authors, and their location, as well as some of the recent positive developments that make for change. However, while noting the positive signs of change, it is suggested that the future for the sociology of sport in the ESC is rather mixed for its growth will continue to be constrained if traditional thinking towards the study of sport and its funding persist or remain dominant.

Sociology of Sport: United States of America

This chapter provides readers with a summary of sport sociology in the United States. It begins with a brief overview of sport in the United States before describing the development of the sociology of sport in the United States and some of the major contemporary patterns in sport research. They key movement in US sport sociology was the critical-cultural turn that took place during the 1980s and 1990s when critical theory and feminism became dominant approaches to research. Scholarship in the 21st century has largely developed upon that turn and is generally qualitative and cultural. Contemporary US sport sociology is a critical endeavor heavily influenced by cultural studies, post-structuralism, feminism, queer theory, critical race theory, post-colonial theory, and theories of globalization. Despite a fairly consistent approach to sport research in the United States, sport sociology remains contentious and in disunity. This chapter argues that the contention and disunity results from broader structural patterns that guide sport sociologists’ social actions.

South America

Sociology of sport: argentina.

Latin America has produced little scholarly analysis of sport and society, though information and insights are found in other types of writings, journalistic accounts such as club histories and popular biographies. What has been focused on soccer normally treats only the author’s own country, and is rarely available in English. Nowhere does a single author or academic group dominate. (Arbena, 2000, p. 548)

We also make reference to how the anthropologist Eduardo Archetti breaks that mold described by Arbena and how he becomes the undisputed referent in the study of the social sciences and sport in Argentina, and how his immense contribution is recognized in the region. We analyze the present status of this topic, its major changes, the development that the area has undergone so far, and the issues that are being studied today. Moreover, we mention the importance of sociology of sport in the academic field and its formalization. Finally, this chapter also considers possible future trends in the sociology of sport in Argentina.

Sociology of Sport: Brazil

In this chapter, I aim to present a review on the constitution of the sociology of sport as a subfield in Brazil. To do so, I start with the debate over its history, the current status of this academic area and the factors that led to its development. Additionally, I present the main organizations, funding institutions, and the events that support this field. I briefly identify the main postgraduate programs in the country that enable sociological research in sport, mapping their distribution geographically. Next, I present some introductory works of reference on the sociology of sport in Brazil, as well as discussing some authors that were and are key to the field. I highlight the main topics of interest in Brazilian sociology of sport as well as their methodological models and the main theoretical bases of analysis used by late and early career researchers. In conclusion, I evaluate the comprehension and the representation of sport in society and in the academy, pointing to some future perspectives of development and consolidation of the sociology of sport in Brazil.

Sociology of Sport: Chile

This chapter analyzes the evolution and impact of the sociology of sport in Chile. From a socio-historical perspective and considering the different sociological perspectives used to study national sport phenomena, the sociology of sport remains a relatively new field of study within general sociology. Chile’s recent hosting of international conferences, such as the Latin American Association of Sociology (ALAS) and the Latin American Association of Sociocultural Studies in Sports (ALESDE), has catalyzed the field by bringing together researchers and promoting academic collaboration. To date, most research in Chile has focused on soccer. However, changes in Chilean society demand that other social aspects of sport as a socio-cultural phenomenon be studied. In future years, it is expected that the sociology of sport will assume a level of importance equal to that of other fields of social research.

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Editorial: Women in the history, culture and sociology of sports: 2022–2023

Lucie schoch.

1 Université de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

Sheryl Clark

2 Goldsmiths, University of London, London, United Kingdom

Editorial on the Research Topic Women in the history, culture and sociology of sports: 2022–2023

Sport has often been characterized as a male-dominated domain, a trend that is reflected in various facets of scientific research focused on this subject. First, this is evident in a striking lack of women in sports science research across various disciplines. For instance, women have historically received limited attention in sports and exercise medicine research, as highlighted by Costello et al. ( 1 ), who noted a “sexual dimorphism and gender disparity in the current literature” (p. 850). This trend is similarly observed in the field of social sciences, such as in the history of sport where recent research has uncovered a longstanding tendency to ignore women, while, in reality, they have played pivotal roles, not just as athletes and spectators, but also as administrators, workers, decision-makers, and leaders in sports organizations globally ( 2 ).

Secondly, the male-dominated nature of sports is also reflected in the historical bias within sports science, where female researchers are underrepresented across all disciplines, especially at higher professorial levels and in leadership positions ( 3 ). Despite a slight increase in female first authorship in the last two decades, women remain significantly underrepresented in prominent authorship and editorial board positions in sport sciences ( 4 ). The issue of implicit gender bias in sport and exercise medicine is also evident in the composition of conference committees, keynote speaker lists, panels, and other events, where there is an overrepresentation of men ( 5 ).

In light of this dual underrepresentation of women both as researchers and within the research itself, this Research Topic stands as a compilation of papers designed to provide a platform for female researchers across all fields of sports and physical activity -constituting a prerequisite for publication- and to showcase works on women in sports. Ultimately, this collection contributes to advancements in both theory and methodology, with a commitment to praxis and catalyzing change across a multidisciplinary range of perspectives including literary, historical, sociological and sports leadership disciplinary lenses.

Rethinking sports history to include sportswomen in 1900s France offers both a critical indictment of the exclusion of French sportswomen from institutional sporting structures at the time as well as their ongoing exclusion from historical analyses of sport. Drawing on media reports of press organised events for women, Castan-Vicente's interrogation demonstrates how female participants were presented for commodified spectacle even as reports ridiculed, sexualised and essentialised participants' gender identities. Participants' bids for seriousness and legitimacy were thus undermined by their wider exclusion as they were forced to compete in orchestrated events where classed and racialised exotification further worked to deny their athletic credibility. Crucially, as Castan-Vicente points out, we continue to see these impossible gendered contradictions in contemporary media analyses of sportswomen as well as historical accounts that deligitimise activities such as dance or exhibition wrestling. The analysis is thus a much needed call for a more inclusive sport history.

Canadian women's experiences in mixed-sex sport: Wheelchair rugby offers an intersectional analysis of a minoritized group within disability sport who are combatting both sexism and ableism through their participation. Women's complex negotiations within these male dominated settings reveal a process of both adaptation and survival. They recounted norms of verbal aggression within team interactions and a demeaning classification system where being a “no pointer” ensured participation even as it diminished ability. It was not surprising then that women prided themselves on survival in the sport and some even feared the creation of a women's league with the view that it might bring down the level of play. They nevertheless highly valued the heightened independence and team bonding they had experienced in same-sex settings. Their passion and dedication comes across strongly in the narratives, and yet these adaptations also worked to reinforce the masculine norms of the sport, which exclude other potential female participants.

The Underrepresentation of Women in Sport Leadership in South Africa explores the intersections of gender and sports ideology and its impact on gender (in) equity in the South African context. Drawing from interviews with administrators, gender activists, and sport-for-development professionals, as well as thematic document analysis, the study highlights persistent patriarchal beliefs limiting progress. Men often act as gatekeepers, and traditional masculine attributes continue to be associated with leadership roles in most sports. The study also shows a disconnect between policies and their implementation, revealing a lack of concerted efforts by African sports leaders to address gender equity effectively. The paper underscores that achieving systemic change is both a gradual process and a formidable challenge unless there is a mainstreaming of a gender agenda to effectively address transformative shifts in sports systems and practices.

Finally, The 5K run in popular fiction: Reading about parkrun and couch to 5K delves into the fascination with mass-participation running events, focusing on organizations like parkrun and fitness programs such as Couch to 5K. These initiatives play a pivotal role in facilitating involvement for novice runners and traditionally underrepresented groups in regular exercise, notably women. The study revolves around the thematic analysis of four recent novels, organized around the categories of health promotion, individual transformation, and community building. It explores how running communities are imagined and how it reflects, and thus potentially transmits, certain sets of assumptions and values embedded in real-world communities of practice. The analysis reveals that the novels often resemble quasi-instructional manuals, potentially sharing collective tacit knowledge with an implied running community. The study concludes by posit that these works serve as health promotion tools, helping acquaint aspiring runners with the workings of parkrun and Couch to 5K.

Author contributions

LS: Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. SC: Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher's note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Research methods in the sociology of sport: Strategies and problems

• Published: September 1981
• Volume 4 , pages 179–197, ( 1981 )

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• Kurt Jonassohn 1 ,
• Allan Turowetz 2 &
• Richard Gruneau 3  

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The kinds of research questions asked in the sociology of sport are no different from those generated by other substantive areas of sociology. However, while the more established areas of social inquiry have developed methods of research specifically suited to the situation in which their research is done, the sociology of sport has not yet reached this stage of development. The theoretical frameworks borrowed from other areas in sociology generate relevant questions, while the research methods borrowed from other areas in sociology often require adaptation to the particular situations found in the sociology of sport. This paper looks at three specific areas of sports study, and points to those problems that require new adaptations of the available research methods in order to deal with specific situational constraints. These areas may be roughly defined as: (a) the analysis of patterns of ownership in professional sports; (b) the analysis of athletic careers within the occupational culture of sport; and (c) the analysis of sports audiences. The authors conclude that theoretically informed and relevant research can be conducted in these areas provided that researchers are able to find imaginative adaptations of their techniques and procedures.

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Jonassohn, K., Turowetz, A. & Gruneau, R. Research methods in the sociology of sport: Strategies and problems. Qual Sociol 4 , 179–197 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00988376

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Sports sociology an important aspect

Sport is a major component in daily life today. Sport plays a huge role in our everyday life. Whether it’s mentally, physically or spiritually, sport has a big impact on anyone’s life, especially, to the average sport fan. Sport has became more commercialized and globalize over the past years for an example the world cup has lots of sport company sponsors and supporters. By watching the world cup and the olympics this creates excitement to the the human eye. In this essay there will be the components of sport in health , organizations , why people do this during their free time and how people play sport as a job.

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Book of Proceedings: INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE EFFECTS OF APPLYING PHYSICAL ACTIVITY ON ANTHROPOLOGICAL STATUS OF CHILDREN, ADOLESCENTS AND ADULTS December 12th 2018, Belgrade, Republic of Serbia

Sandra S Radenović , Nikola Mijatov

Introduction The founding of sociology as a general social science through the emergence of basic sociological approaches is related to the XIX century and thought of the classical sociologists. In the first decades of the twentieth century, it became clear that the subject of sociology is very broad and complex, so that the process of differentiation of sociology and formation of special sociological disciplines can be perceived, such as: sociology of law, sociology of morality, sociology of family, sociology of politics, sociology of religion, sociology of culture, urban sociology, sociology of work, sociology of leisure time, sociology of medicine, sociology of inter ethnic relationships, sociology of education, and later sociology of sport, sociology of the body, sociology of bioethics, etc. As Koković points out (Koković, 2007), sociology of sports deals with the issues of context and social conditionality of sport. The development of sociology of sport as a theoretical and empirical discipline is not only a simple consequence of the development of contemporary sociology and its spreading to newer and more recent phenomena, but this sociological discipline points to a close interdependence between the development of sports and the development of certain areas of social life, certain phenomena in culture and civilization (Koković, 2007: 567). The first publications about the social problems of sports are related to the beginning of the 20th century and they have had wide echo in public, academic and sports world (Handbook of Sports Studies, 2000). One of the first attempts to consider the essence of sport from a sociological point of view is the work of Günter Riese, under the title "Sociology of Sport" (1921). In this paper the author considers sport as a reaction to the entire system that turns man into a machine. Let's also mention that the book "Sport and Culture" (1910) by Heinrich Steinitzer in which the author discusses the relation between sport and culture and summarizes the criticism of professional sport of that time, is considered as the first publication on the subject of social problems of sport. This publication have had wide echo in the public and sports world at the beginning of the 20th century (Koković, 2007: 567-568). Contemporary research in sociology of sports considers sport as a form of culture, sport in everyday life, commercialization of sports, sport as a spectacle. The field of sociology of sport as a special sociological discipline includes the following issues: sport as a factor and product of society and social development, the role of sport in the whole social life, the social position of participants in sport, the attitude of the wider community towards sports, social relations within sports, etc. (Koković, 2007). An important field of the practical study of sports sociologists today concerns the social microstructure of sports, in fact, the formal and informal structure of sports collectives such as clubs, sports groups-very important in team sports, amateur groups, dominant groups, influence groups-pressure groups. It can be noticed that the proper and efficient functioning of sport as an institution and the realization of the goals set by this institution depends very much on the study of these microstructures. An unavoidable example of this study is the influence of formal or informal structure on the flow and effects of sport training, as well as on the achievement of results (Koković, 2007). As a specific sociological discipline, sociology of sport has its own "sociotechnical" function, so in that sense research topics are life preoccupations, behavior patterns, value system and personalities of dominantly athletes (participants of sports events) as well as intermediaries of sports events (coaches,

RUDN Journal of Sociology

In recent years, the importance of sports in Russia has increased dramatically, which is determined primarily by the country's hosting international sport events, in particular, the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup 2018. The influence of sports on social processes has increased, sports began to strengthen its position in public opinion as a prestigious sphere of employment and an important social category [24. P. 60]. Thus, there is an obvious need to identify the relationship of physical culture with society as a whole and with all elements of the social structure and specific social institutions. The article examines the origins and prerequisites for the formation of sociology of sport as a relatively independent scientific discipline; presents the issues of sports sociology in the historical perspective-in the context of both their social genesis and contemporary sociological theories; considers the social role and social functions of sport education and sports. The authors believe that the differentiated social distribution of sports practices is determined by the interconnections of the space of possible practices (supply) and the space of demand for certain practices. In the article, the well-known foreign scientists are presented in the new perspective as sociologists who provided for both Russian and foreign authors the incentive and direction for theoretical studies of sports issues. The article also presents to Russian readers the original studies on sociology of sports conducted by famous scientists-Norbert Elias, Eric Dunning, Anna Ingram, Georges Hébert, etc.

Juliano de Souza

The present article aims at presenting and structuring a brief historical-sociological panorama about the constitution of the sports sociology field in the international scene, making afterwards some inferences and transpositions to think about the Brazilian and, maybe, Latin-American, scenario. This undertaking starts from a bibliographic exploratory approach, so as to restore some historical elements of the development of sports sociology and, moreover, to write a general panorama which may contemplate some of the main theoretical frameworks and the respective authors who followed closely the study of the social phenomenon called modern sports and, consequently, contributed for the institutionalization of this space for academic discussion.

International Review for the Sociology of Sport

Respectus Philologicus

Michał Mazurkiewicz

Sport in the Context of Social Sciences. W. J. Cynarski, J. Kosiewicz, K. Obodyński, Eds. 2012. Rzeszów: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Rzeszowskiego. 282 pp. ISBN 978-83-7338-813-0. Sport has been a very important component of human existence for ages. It is a complex and colourful phenomenon which arouses the intense interest of fans all over the world and which can be analysed from different points of view. Sport is definitely something more than pure entertainment. Anyone interested in sport should be­come familiar with the latest fruit of the work of the Polish scientists conducting research on different aspects of sports his­tory and sociology. It is worth emphasizing that in Poland there are numerous scholars who have put sport at the centre of their scientific interests.

Clive Palmer (National Teaching Fellow)

Imagine a world without sport; the euphoric triumphs, the heart-breaking losses and the everyday sporting controversies which captivate a global audience would no longer exist. For millions of people around the world the excitement that sport entails ‘are like lightning bolts that interrupt an otherwise continuous skyline’ (Cashmore, 2000:6). Without sport, the world would never have witnessed Andy Murray make history by being the first Briton in 77 years to win the Wimbledon men's title, Victoria Pendleton would never have powered her way to winning gold in the women’s Keirin during the 2012 London Olympics, and Alex Ferguson would not have retired as the ‘greatest’ football manager of all time (?). Needless to say, there is more to sport than the sports themselves. Sport has become so deeply entrenched as a pillar of modern society, that to envisage a world without it seems inconceivable; neither the globalisation of commercial sports (Coakley, 2003) nor the intimate relationship between sport and politics (Houlihan, 2002) would ever have been formed. Additionally, the idea of using mega-sporting events, such as the Olympics, as global platforms for protest (Cottrell and Nelson, 2010), or as backdrops for terrorism (Giulianotti and Klauser, 2012), would be non-existent.

Rudolf Stichweh

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