SOCIOLOGY OF SPORTS

SOCIOLOGY OF SPORTS Society and Sports from a Sociological Perspective

SPORTS: FROM SPARE TIME ACTIVITY TO ITS MODERN MEANING  Desportare:

(Latin) having fun, hanging

around  Desport: (French) to entertain, to amuse  Sport: (English) using spare time, entertainment, hobby

DEFINITION OF SPORT A

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

DEFINITION OF SPORT A

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

INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF SPORTS  Rules

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

WHY STUDY A SOCIOLOGY OF SPORTS?  Sports

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

GENERAL THEMES  SPORTS

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

GENERAL THEMES  SPORTS

AND GLOBALISATION  SPORTS AND IDENTITY  SPORTS AND VIOLENCE  SPORTS AND IMPERIALISM  SPORTS AND EDUCATION

DEVELOPMENT OF THE DISCIPLINE  CONTRIBUTIONS

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

DEVELOPMENT OF THE DISCIPLINE  HARRY

EDWARDS  JAY COAKLEY  NORBERT ELIAS  ERIC DUNNING  JEAN MARIE BROHM

SOCIOLOGY OF SPORTS IN TURKEY MUSTAFA ERKAL’S “SPORTS FROM A SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE” (1978) AS THE FIRST STUDY IN TURKEY.  İBRAHİM ARMAĞAN’S “SOCIOLOGICAL BASIS OF SPORTS” (1981)  YILMAZ ÇOBANOĞLU’S “SOCIOLOGY OF SPORTS” (1996)  CAN İKİZLER’S “SPORTS IN SOCIAL SCIENCES” (2000) 

HISTORICAL ORIGINS OF SPORT 

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

HISTORICAL ORIGINS OF SPORT 

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

ANCIENT GREEK EXPERIENCE  Gender

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

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

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

MYTHOLOGICAL BASIS OF SPORTS AND BODY IMAGE  Age

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

ANCIENT ROMAN EXPERIENCE  Sports

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

MIDDLE AGES  The

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

RISE OF THE EUROPEAN BOURGEOISIE AND SPORTS  Rise

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

THE BIRTH OF FOOTBALL  British

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

THE BIRTH OF FOOTBALL  Revival

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

Sports and class: the UK case 

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

EXPORT OF FOOTBALL TO CONTINENTAL EUROPE  1878:

Copenhagen  1887: Hamburg  1888: Paris  1885: Vienna  1893: Genova  1886: Budapest

THE MODERN OLYMPIC GAMES  Baron

Pierre de Coubertin  1896 First Olympic Games in Athens

THE USE OF OLYMPIC GAMES AS A POLITICAL TOOL  Internationalisation

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

OLYMPISM and its CRITIQUES 

Olympism as an ideal for sports and society both on the national and global scales

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Critiques of olympism as the tool of European capitalism and imperialism

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The anti-democratic status of the Olympic administrative organs

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Coubertin’s anti-feminism

SPORTS BRANCHES  Individual  Survival  Elite

and team sports

sports and spare-time sports

sports and common sports

BOXING  Civilizing

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

EARLY BOXING & MODERN BOXING 

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

BOXING AND CONTROL OF VIOLENCE  N.Elias:

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

TENNIS  Historical

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

TENNIS BECOMING WORLDWIDE  Mary

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

TENNIS AND CLASS  Pacification

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

BASEBALL  Bat-and-ball

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

BASEBALL  Negro

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

BASKETBALL  James

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