Showing papers in "International Review for the Sociology of Sport in 2016"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors conceptualize the propensity of sports clubs to act as policy implementers as contingent on an alignable alignability metric, which is defined as the probability that a team will act as a policy implementer.
Abstract: The aim of this study is to contribute to the ongoing discussion of sports clubs’ propensity to act as policy implementers. Theoretically, we conceptualize this propensity as contingent on an align ...
54 citations
TL;DR: The body, especially the running body, is seen by participants in this study as a source of health and well-being and affirmation of their identity as mentioned in this paper, highlighting the various contradictions and tensions that emerged whilst exploring the behaviour of distance runners in their desire to achieve a healthy body and mind.
Abstract: This article aims to develop one of the major themes from an ethnographic study of the culture of distance running – the desire for health and fitness. Research was undertaken over a 2-year period using a variety of flexible qualitative data sources, most notably observation and in-depth interviews. The body, especially the ‘running body’, is seen by participants in this study as a source of health and well-being and affirmation of their identity. The results highlight the various contradictions and tensions that emerged whilst exploring the behaviour of distance runners in their desire to achieve a healthy body and mind.
50 citations
TL;DR: This paper analysed 2500 responses from association football (soccer) fans to an anonymous online survey conducted from November 2011 to February 2012 that examined the extent of racism in British football and found that 80% of the participants stated that racism remains culturally embedded and when exploring the reasons behind its continuation from the 1970s and 1980s, Bourdieu's concepts of field and habitus proved useful for understanding why some white fans continue to express racist thoughts and behaviours at football.
Abstract: This article analyses 2500 responses from association football (soccer) fans to an anonymous online survey conducted from November 2011 to February 2012 that examined the extent of racism in British football. Eighty-three per cent of the participants stated that racism remains culturally embedded and when exploring the reasons behind its continuation from the 1970s and 1980s, Bourdieu’s concepts of field and habitus proved useful for understanding why some white fans continue to express racist thoughts and behaviours at football. Central to this were explanations concerning class and education and how historical notions of whiteness remain culturally embedded for some supporters.
48 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the omnivore-univore framework was used as a basis for understanding the relationship between sport and social capital, and the results indicated that social networks both facilitate and constrain sports participation.
Abstract: There has been for some time a significant and growing body of research around the relationship between sport and social capital. Similarly, within sociology there has been a corpus of work that has acknowledged the emergence of the omnivore–univore relationship. Surprisingly, relatively few studies examining sport and social capital have taken the omnivore–univore framework as a basis for understanding the relationship between sport and social capital. This gap in the sociology of sport literature and knowledge is rectified by this study that takes not Putnam, Coleman or Bourdieu, but Lin’s social network approach to social capital. The implications of this article are that researchers investigating sport and social capital need to understand more about how social networks and places for sport work to create social capital and, in particular, influence participating in sporting activities. The results indicate that social networks both facilitate and constrain sports participation; whilst family and friendship networks are central in active lifestyles, those who are less active have limited networks.
46 citations
TL;DR: In a survey carried out in Germany in 2012, this article found that medals are indeed perceived as important, especially in lower educational levels, but by far not as important as sticking to sporting values and the rules of fair play.
Abstract: States intervene increasingly in financing and organization of Olympic elite sport in order to maximize national success in the medal table. In Germany and many other countries too that includes practices that have been criticized as unacceptable in democratic societies: funding of medal-promising sports only, early selection and specialization of young athletes, authoritarian tendencies in sport policy, etc. Are those efforts reflected by a strong desire for medals within the population? Is national success regarded as so important that even critical measures are accepted? And would that indicate more general tendencies to nationalistic or authoritarian attitudes? These and other questions were addressed in a survey carried out in Germany in 2012 (N = 899). Results show that medals are indeed perceived as important, especially in lower educational levels, but by far not as important as sticking to sporting values and the rules of fair play. Multivariate analyses reveal that the desire for medal success i...
40 citations
TL;DR: The authors examine how Olympians experience the transition to a second career, identify the strategies they may or may not implement in order to prepare for it, and to dete..., and find that Olympic athletes experience transition to second career differently from other athletes.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine how Olympians experience the transition to a second career, to identify the strategies they may or may not implement in order to prepare for it, and to dete...
34 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the extent to which a democratisation of club-organised youth sports has occurred and found that age, sex and socio-economic status (SES) continue to determine the likelihood of club involvement by Flemish youth.
Abstract: Over the last 40 years, Sport for All policies – aiming at encouraging the sports participation of all citizens, regardless of age, sex, social class, ethnic origin, etc. – were implemented in a number of European countries. This study examines the extent to which a democratisation of club-organised youth sports has occurred. The data are drawn from a large repeated cross-sectional survey among high school boys and girls (aged 13–18) in Flanders, Belgium. Data collected in 1989 (N = 2088), 1999 (N = 1820) and 2009 (N = 1420) are analysed, using multilevel logistic regression. Results indicate that social stratification of club-organised sports participation still persists. Age, sex and socio-economic status (SES) continue to determine the likelihood of club involvement by Flemish youth. For boys, the impact of SES has increased. Also parental sporting capital affects club participation. However, in terms of sex, differences in participation have diminished over time.
33 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors conducted interviews with 21 participants of the high-risk equestrian sport of eventing to explore the mutual benefits of using 'risk' as a point d'entree for analysing human-horse relations.
Abstract: Equestrian sports are unavoidably interspecies and undeniably dangerous. Whilst there has been qualitative research into the human-horse relationship, and quantitative research into horse riding, injury and risk, there remains a need to understand how risk perception and experience is subjectively implicated in, through and by the human-horse relationship, and vice versa. Doing so requires reconciling animal studies with risk theory. As a high-risk interspecies sport, eventing provides an exemplar case study for critiquing, extending and reconciling posthumanism and risk theorisation. This paper draws from interviews with 21 participants of the high-risk equestrian sport of eventing to explore the mutual benefits of using 'risk' as a point d'entree for analysing human-horse relations. FINDINGS were largely consistent with three popular theories of voluntary risk-taking: edgework, flow and sensation-seeking. However, the involvement of an animal - the horse - stimulates a critical reconsideration of internal/external 'control'; identifies a role for flow as risk mitigation/safety; and suggests that edge workers in high-risk interspecies sports do not just confront edges - they cross them. This paper thus distinguishes interspecies sports as a distinct and productive field of interdisciplinary research. It proposes further mixed-methods research that is required to more fully evaluate the usefulness of existing risk theory for understanding participant experiences of high-risk interspecies sports. Language: en
29 citations
TL;DR: This paper conducted an ethnographic study of three roller derby leagues and found that rollergirls view their hyper-feminine, sexualized uniforms as a playful and pleasurable expression of their sexual agency, not as a means to prove their femininity or heterosexuality.
Abstract: Previous research on gender and sports has focused on the ways women athletes emphasize their femininity to counter critics who conflate female athleticism with mannishness and lesbianism. My findings from an ethnographic study of three roller derby leagues suggest that many “rollergirls” view their hyper-feminine, sexualized uniforms as a playful and pleasurable expression of their sexual agency, not as a means to prove their femininity or heterosexuality. By combining these uniforms with a full-contact sport, rollergirls attempt to “undo gender” by actively resisting the gender binary that equates athleticism and toughness with masculinity. Yet my findings also illustrate the importance of considering the social context in which these performances take place. While rollergirls assert that wearing sexualized, feminine uniforms is a “choice,” others feel pressured to dress “sexy” in order to attract fans. In addition, their uniforms sometimes lead to unwanted attention from some men in the crowd who misin...
28 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the range of interdependent processes that influence the decisions of Irish footballers to migrate from teams based in the League of Ireland to English Premier League and Football League clubs, and show how these processes are reflected in a series of migrations where the players are not simply passive social agents but, rather, dynamic interlocutors whose decisions must be framed within the local contexts between which their movements are situated.
Abstract: The intention of this paper is to examine the range of interdependent processes that influence the decisions of Irish footballers to migrate from teams based in the League of Ireland to English Premier League and Football League clubs. Using data derived from a series of qualitative interviews conducted with a group of Irish players that had relocated to English clubs at different points over a 20-year period, the analysis reveals that the players’ decisions to migrate are predicated upon the interdependency of a number of processes that push the migrants from Ireland and pull them to England. The paper shows how these processes are reflected in a series of migrations where the players are not simply passive social agents but, rather, dynamic interlocutors whose decisions must be framed within the local contexts between which their movements are situated.
28 citations
TL;DR: In the London 2012 Olympic Games, women's participation in sports reached its highest level ever as mentioned in this paper, but equality between men and women has not yet been achieved. But women are participating in sports at the highest levels ever.
Abstract: As reflected by the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games, global women’s participation in sports seems to currently be at its highest levels ever. However, equality between men and women has not yet be...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the development of the legacies of the five World Conferences on Women and sport that have been convened by the International Working Group on women and sport from 1994 to 2002.
Abstract: This study investigated the development of the legacies of the five World Conferences on Women and Sport that have been convened by the International Working Group on Women and Sport from 1994 to 2...
TL;DR: This article conducted semi-structured interviews with 12 players from the French national rugby union women's team and found that players have varied sport and rugby socializations, and sport socialization happened at an early age for most of the players, but two different subgroups seem to emerge vis-a-vis rugby socialization: members of the second underwent socialization through their family for many years, while others were not as exposed to rugby.
Abstract: The goal of this article is to present the output of a study on women who play rugby union at international level. This article aims to uncover the steps in their sport socialization – in rugby among others – and to understand how these women construct their identities. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 12 players from the French national rugby union women’s team. First, the results show that the players have varied sport and rugby socializations. Sport socialization happened at an early age for most of the players, but two different subgroups seem to emerge vis-a-vis rugby socialization: members of the second underwent socialization through their family for many years, while members of the other were not as exposed to rugby. As far as the identity question is concerned, the players present different constructions vis-a-vis social norms. The results show that a majority of women say they do not feel the need to meet social norms said to be feminine, while others want to in order to free themsel...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the politics and policy implications of alcohol sponsorship of sport in New Zealand and draw on the recommendations of the 2010 New Zealand Law Commission report on alcohol regulation.
Abstract: This study examines the politics and policy implications of alcohol sponsorship of sport in New Zealand. Specifically, it draws on the recommendations of the 2010 New Zealand Law Commission report ...
TL;DR: In this paper, the drawing of such associations may explored in terms of a nesting intra-orientalism, whereby non-European "others" are constructed at different levels typically within a state, rather than projected outside to other geographical regions or states.
Abstract: Football fans, specifically fan associations (navijacke udruge), are sometimes depicted as stereotypical of Balkan ‘mentality’, drawing on associations with violence, organised crime and examples of ‘primitive’ behaviour and attitudes at football matches. In this paper, I argue that the drawing of such associations may explored in terms of a nesting intra-orientalism, whereby non-European ‘others’ are constructed at different levels typically within a state, rather than projected outside to other geographical regions or states. On the basis of my experience as a member of an ultra-left fan association in Zagreb, I explore several characteristics of ultras’ group participation – focusing on what they referred to as the ‘supporters’ world’ (navijacki svijet) and ultras’ culture (ultras kultura). I label three characteristics that also define the wider contemporary ‘everyday geopolitics’ in the Balkans at present. On the basis of these three characteristics, I evaluate the hypothesis of a nesting ‘intra-orie...
TL;DR: A study of a soccer and life skills programme for youth in South Africa: Buffalo City Soccer School (BCSS) is described in this article, where the study aimed to provide insight into the programme's mechanisms.
Abstract: This article describes a study of a soccer and life skills programme for youth in South Africa: Buffalo City Soccer School (BCSS). The study aimed to provide insight into the programme’s mechanisms...
TL;DR: This study investigated the promotion and consumption of alcohol at the 2012 New Zealand Rugby Sevens Tournament to gain insight into how attendees experienced the event in relation to alcohol promotions and alcohol consumption.
Abstract: This study investigated the promotion and consumption of alcohol at the 2012 New Zealand Rugby Sevens Tournament. The paper uses a quantitative survey to gain insight into how attendees experienced...
TL;DR: The first empirical study to explain the contested uses and meanings of the Y-word in English football fan culture is presented in this paper, focusing upon Kick It Out's The Y-Word campaign film, which attempted to raise awareness of antisemitism in football by advocating a zero tolerance policy approach to "Yid".
Abstract: This is the first empirical study to explain the contested uses and meanings of ‘Yid’ in English football fan culture. A pertinent socio-political issue with important policy and legal implications, we explain the different uses of ‘Yid’, making central the cultural context in which it is used, together with the intent underpinning its usage. Focusing upon Kick It Out’s The Y-Word campaign film (which attempted to raise awareness of antisemitism in football by advocating a ‘zero tolerance’ policy approach to ‘Yid’), the complex relationship of Tottenham Hotspur with Judaism is unpacked. The origins of this complexity stem from Tottenham traditionally attracting Jewish fans due to nearby Jewish communities. As a consequence, Tottenham is perceived as a ‘Jewish’ club and their fans have suffered antisemitic abuse from opposing supporters who have disparagingly referred to them as ‘Yids’. In response, Tottenham fans have, since the 1970s, appropriated and embraced the term by identifying as the ‘Yid Army’. C...
TL;DR: I Brage finner du siste tekst-versjon av artikkelen, og den kan inneholde sma forskjeller fra forlagets pdf-version fra Forlagets et al. as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: I Brage finner du siste tekst-versjon av artikkelen, og den kan inneholde sma forskjeller fra forlagets pdf-versjon Forlagets pdf-versjon finner du pa wwwsagecom: http://dxdoiorg/101177/1012690214526402 / In Brage you'll find the final text version of the article, and it may contain minor differences from the journal's pdf version The original publication is available at wwwsagecom: http://dxdoiorg/101177/1012690214526402
TL;DR: The authors explored the interface between football discourse and politics during elections in Zimbabwe in July 2013, based on the premise of a neo-Gramscian perspective which views popular culture (including football) as a terrain of ideological struggle.
Abstract: Football is the most popular sport in Zimbabwe and across the globe. It has been asserted elsewhere that the game is not limited to scoring goals on the pitch but that this also occurs in politics and power struggles. This study explores the interface between football discourse and politics during elections in Zimbabwe in July 2013. The study is based on the premise of a neo-Gramscian perspective which views popular culture (including football) as a terrain of ideological struggle. It utilises an ethnographic approach to make a ‘thick description’ of the relationship between football discourse and contemporary Zimbabwean politics. The study employs critical discourse analysis on purposively selected political campaign speeches, political advertisements, songs by politicians, and comments posted and circulated in social media such as Facebook and Whatsapp during and after the election period by ‘ordinary’ Zimbabweans. The findings suggest that political parties, specifically the Zimbabwe African National U...
TL;DR: In this paper, a phenomenologically-inspired approach is used to examine the different ways in which sportspeople experience asthma, a condition that affects 5.4 million people in the UK.
Abstract: Through a phenomenologically-inspired approach, the purpose of this article is to examine the different ways in which sportspeople experience asthma, a condition that affects 5.4 million people in the UK. To date, sociological phenomenology has been under-utilised both in relation to health and illness experiences and vis-a-vis sporting embodiment. Drawing on in-depth interview data from non-elite sportspeople (n = 14), all of whom had been diagnosed with asthma, ranging in degree of severity, here we explore asthma sporting embodiment via a threefold asthma identity typology. The findings are communicated through vignettes, assembled from participants’ accounts, in order to highlight the multifaceted and multilayered ‘voices’ of sportspeople with asthma. Transforming data in this way can, we argue, resonate with others – both those with asthma and those without – to give a ‘feel’ for asthma experiences and sporting embodiment. This form of typology may be useful as a heuristic framework to assist healthcare and sports professionals in understanding asthma experiences as lived in everyday life, and potentially in developing more appropriate and effective care regimes for sportspeople in order to improve the quality of that everyday life.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyze the class-related determinants of sport socialization and sport practices in Poland from the perspective of Bourdieu's class theory and investigate how parents equip their child to play sports.
Abstract: This study analyses the class-related determinants of sport socialization and sport practices in Poland from the perspective of Bourdieu’s class theory. We investigate how parents equip their child...
TL;DR: In this article, a critical examination of recent legislation banning cosmetic pesticide applications in the province of Ontario, Canada is presented, focusing in particular on the exemption of golf course courses from pesticide regulations.
Abstract: This paper features a critical examination of recent legislation banning cosmetic pesticide applications in the province of Ontario, Canada. It focuses in particular on the exemption of golf course...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined to what extent the public attention directed at individual male and female players of various national soccer teams is influenced by their athletic performance and their physical attractiveness.
Abstract: This study examines to what extent the public attention directed at individual male and female players of various national soccer teams is influenced by (a) their athletic performance and (b) their physical attractiveness. The results prove that public interest in athletes depends significantly on performance and attractiveness. However, those athletes who both perform strongly and are attractive by far draw the greatest public attention. Against expectations, gender differences do not figure in this: the attractiveness of male soccer players is equally as important for popularity as it is of female soccer players.
TL;DR: While scholars working in the sociology of the gender, body, health, sport and media have begun to address the paucity of research into media representations of men and masculinities, the literatur...
Abstract: While scholars working in the sociology of the gender, body, health, sport and media have begun to address the paucity of research into media representations of men and masculinities, the literatur...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors use Featherstone's concept of calculated hedonism to analyse consumption of alcohol amongst Ultimate Frisbee players, drawing on a multi-year ethnographic project.
Abstract: In this article, I use Featherstone’s concept of calculated hedonism to analyse consumption of alcohol amongst Ultimate Frisbee players. Drawing on a multi-year ethnographic project, I examine Ulti...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on UK professional coaches' experiences of equity training and the impact of the conceptualisation of equity as a matter of equal opportunities on this education and subsequent coaching practice.
Abstract: This study focuses upon UK professional coaches’ experiences of equity training and the impact of the conceptualisation of equity as a matter of equal opportunities on this education and subsequent coaching practice. The research employs a critical feminist approach to connect the ideological framing of gender equity by sporting organisations to coaches’ ability to understand, identify and manage issues of gender equity, equality and diversity. The discussions are based on interviews with four coaches, Jack, Peter, Charlotte and Tony, who had all recently undertaken equity training, and all of whom represented sports and different stages of the coaching pathway. The data highlights that seeing gender equity through an “equal opportunities” lens results in a narrow conceptualisation of such issues by coaches, fails to challenge dominant and discriminative ideologies, and does not enable coaches to address equity within their practices. Consequently, coaches struggle to understand the importance of and mana...
TL;DR: The majority of sport in development (SiD) research imparts a heteronormative framework that serves to prevent nuanced understandings of how sexuality and gender matter in programming that aspires to achieve development through/with sport as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The majority of ‘Sport in Development’ (SiD) research imparts a heteronormative framework that serves to prevent nuanced understandings of how sexuality and gender matter in programming that aspires to achieve development through/with sport. The authors review existing SiD academic literature and draw on personal work and research experiences within the SiD field to evidence this claim. Three reasons for this heteronormative frame are identified: (1) limited engagement with themes of sexuality within research on international development; (2) few examinations of queer desire and sport in areas of the Global South; and (3) the emphasis on quantitative monitoring and evaluation tools within SiD programming. The authors conclude by offering suggestions on how to challenge the existing heteronormative framework within SiD research.
TL;DR: The role played by numbers (objective time, chronological age and physiological biomarkers) to construct but also regulate elite sport careers is discussed in this article, with the focus on the media reporting of the rise and fall of two elite sport stars, Roger Federer and Lance Armstrong.
Abstract: This article will address the making and unmaking of elite sporting careers, by focusing on the media reporting of the rise and fall of two elite sport stars, Roger Federer and Lance Armstrong. Sport stars are not simply the raw, unmediated products of innate or mysterious physical ability. Their physical capital is constituted through techniques – physical and discursive – that reflect wider social and cultural values. In this paper I report on the role played by numbers (objective time, chronological age and physiological biomarkers) to construct but also regulate athletic careers. Numbers will be shown to have normative power that reinforces understandings of age and ageing within a narrative of decline. The athletes’ ability to challenge their subjection as old will also be explored.
TL;DR: The experiences of female sports fans have largely been neglected in academic research to date with socio-historical accounts focusing almost exclusively on male fans as mentioned in this paper, and through an excavation of the sporting histories of female football fans, this article aims to make one contribution towards changing this.
Abstract: The experiences of female sports fans have largely been neglected in academic research to date with socio-historical accounts focusing almost exclusively on male fans. Through an excavation of the sporting histories of female football fans this article aims to make one contribution towards changing this. Drawing on Glaser and Strauss’s ‘grounded theory’ approach, 21 semi-structured interviews were conducted with female football fans in England, aged between 50 and 80 years old. My findings begin by examining female fans’ memories of the 1958 Munich air disaster. I move on to examine female experiences and interpretations of the 1966 World Cup finals, before finally discussing the rise of football players in England as sexualised national celebrities. To conclude, I call for further socio-historical research to explore female experiences of football in earlier decades.