KEY TERMS

classism: social inequalities based on class that favor or privilege wealthier or more affluent individuals or families over those less affluent; also refers to elitist attitudes that disparage or devalue the poor and working class

conflict theory: a theoretical framework within sociology that envisions tensions, divisions, and inequalities as a basic feature of society due to unequal access to education, wealth, and other valuable social resources

ethnocentrism: a biased perspective in which one assumes that the social or cultural understandings that are familiar to them are inherently “natural,” “normal,” “best,” or “right”

feminist theory: a set of various social theories that critically examined how ideas regarding gender are defined and socially constructed within society; during its early years, feminist theories focused primarily on the experiences of females, but contemporary feminist scholarship also examines men as gendered beings

functionalist theory: a sociology theory that envisions society as a living organism, with its institutions serving as the organs, each of which has its niche to perform to ensure the maintenance and survival of society; functionalist theory seeks to explain how unity and cohesion are maintained within society

homophobia: feelings of prejudice or acts of discrimination against gays and lesbians solely based on their sexual orientation

symbolic interaction theory: a theoretical approach within sociology that examines the shared symbolic meanings that members of a society attach to certain objects, behaviors, or cultural phenomena, as well as how these meanings shape individuals’ and collective groups’ behaviors

INTRODUCTION

The sociology of sport is a growing field within sociology that analyzes the social dynamics of sport, and the roles sporting activities serve in the social and cultural lives of athletes, fans, and society. Sports sociology differs from sports journalism and sports management in several important ways. Sociologists who study sports as a social institution must be careful to do so in an unbiased or nonethnocentric manner. Sociologists studying sports utilize various theoretical approaches in their research, such as functionalist, conflict, symbolic interaction, and feminist theories. A growing number of professional academic societies and peer-reviewed journals geared towards the field have emerged.

OVERVIEW

Also referred to as “sports sociology,” the field uses sociological perspectives, theoretical frameworks, analysis, and research methods to examine sports as a social institution critically. In short, the sociology of sport examines the relationship between sports and the larger society. Sports sociology often examines topics that are frequently studied within the larger, broad field of sociology—such as race/ethnicity, gender, sexuality, social class, religion, age, crime, drug use, and domestic violence—and investigates how these social variables manifest themselves, are influenced by, or are reinforced or challenged through sports. The sociology of sports often incorporates research and findings from other academic disciplines, such as physical and cultural anthropology, psychology, history, physical education, and ethnic and women’s studies, into its analyses of the relationship between sports and society. This cross-disciplinary collaboration and influence reflect a broader trend within academia since the late 1970s that has somewhat blurred the boundaries between what was previously viewed as completely distinct and discrete academic subjects.

Sports sociology differs considerably from sports journalism and sports management. Sports journalism centers on media coverage of the results of sporting events (e.g., sports scores, winners and losers, updates on injuries to athletes) and key developments among coaches, athletes, and sports teams that either do or may have a bearing on the outcomes of games or matches. In contrast, sports management focuses on the administrative aspects of sports, such as coaching philosophies, marketing, and other business-related dimensions of sports. Sports sociology is much less concerned with the win-loss outcomes of particular sporting events or the statistics accumulated by athletes; its focus instead is on a critical examination of sports as an aspect of social and cultural life, as a key institution of society, and as the ramifications of sports on society as a whole, as well as in the lives of individual athletes and fans. This involves thinking critically and analytically about sports to understand the social and cultural dynamics at play in all levels of sport (e.g., recreational, scholastic, collegiate, amateur, professional) and in all dimensions of sport (e.g., preparation, performance, coaching, fandom, celebrity). Such an approach requires examining sports from an intellectual, as opposed to an emotional, perspective—not always an easy task for students and researchers, given the intense devotion that die-hard sports fans may have toward their favorite sports, teams, and players. Such partisanship can easily stem from value judgments, ethnocentric and culture-bound assumptions regarding sports (such as an American asserting that football or baseball are “better” than soccer or cricket), discrediting or dismissing as unimportant the sports that one is unfamiliar with, or uncritically assuming that the social dynamics that characterize a certain sport (in terms of the racial/ethnic, gender, or social class demographics of the athletes who comprise a sport) are “natural” or “just the way things are.” As part of their academic training, sociologists are taught to become aware of their own ethnocentric biases to avoid allowing them to study society intellectually and critically.

Individuals unfamiliar with sociology may assume that sports, as a form of exercise and recreation, are a trivial or unimportant topic of social analysis. However, there are several compelling reasons for critically examining sports. Sports are a central part of many people’s lives, both in the United States and worldwide, either as athletes or as fans and spectators. Sports are also connected to other key social intuitions in various ways. Schools, colleges, and universities typically offer several sports programs for student participation. Interscholastic and intercollegiate sporting contests are a major aspect of social life at both the scholastic and collegiate levels. Many churches often sponsor baseball, basketball, and football programs, and even several police departments in large urban metropolitan regions sponsor midnight basketball leagues or youth amateur boxing programs as part of their crime prevention and gang deterrent efforts. Sports also heavily influence the larger culture of a society. For example, professional athletes worldwide are often major celebrities whose popularity rivals that of musicians and movie stars, and athletes often serve as role models for children and teenagers. Furthermore, sports serve as an important source of national, local, ethnic, or collegiate pride in many people’s lives, making sports a key part of the collective identity in the lives of millions of individuals.

The matter of just who participates in which sport(s) is not solely a question of individual talent and skill, as strong racial/ethnic, social class, gender, and national underpinnings influence that social group(s) get drawn into which particular sporting venues. Even the most casual of sports fans probably are aware that certain sports tend to feature athletes predominantly of one social background or another. Furthermore, sports are not as egalitarian or equally accessible as many people initially assume because some sports are much more expensive to participate in than others. Consequently, strong social class dimensions affect who is capable of partaking in several sports. Golf, tennis, swimming, skiing, skating, gymnastics, rowing, and equestrian events are some sports that tend to be confined to members of the middle and upper classes because of the high costs of equipment and private training they entail.

Since the 1960s, a growing number of professional academic societies and peer-reviewed journals have emerged to promote the continuing growth of sports as a major focus of research among sociologists. Some of these academic societies include the International Sociology of Sport Association, the North America Society for the Sociology of Sport, the Sports Studies Caucus of the American Studies Association, the Japan Society of Sport Sociology, and the European Association for Sociology of Sport. At present, however, the American Sociological Association (the largest national professional network of sociologists in the United States) does not have a specific members’ section or chapter devoted exclusively to sports sociology. Major peer-reviewed journals devoted to studying sports sociology include Sporting Cultures and Identities, Sport and Society: Annual Review, Journal of Sport & Social Issues, Sport in Society, Sociology of Sport Journal, and International Review for the Sociology of Sport.

VIEWPOINTS

Sociologists who study sports differ in the theoretical frameworks from which they approach their research and analysis. Major sociological theories include functionalist theory, conflict theory, symbolic interaction theory, and a variety of feminist theoretical frameworks. Functionalist theory is a classic sociological theory that dates to the discipline’s early years in the nineteenth century and is sometimes known as the “organic analogy” because it envisions society as a metaphorical organism. Just as an organism consists of many different organs, each of which most properly performs its function to ensure the body’s health, well-being, and overall survival, functionalist theory likewise envisions society as consisting of a variety of social institutions. Each of these institutions contributes to the overall structure and survival of a society. Under a functionalist theoretical approach, sports and athletics are analyzed to determine how they serve to maintain social cohesion and unity among citizens within the larger society.

Conflict theory is also one of the earliest theories in sociology. It stems from Karl Marx’s nineteenth-century ideas of how capitalism fosters economic inequalities, resulting in competition for limited employment opportunities, financial resources, and social mobility. Conflict theory is almost directly opposed to functionalist theory, which examines how society promotes or reinforces social divisions, from basic inequalities to discriminatory attitudes, to social protest movements, to violent conflicts between various factions within society. On the other hand, symbolic interaction theory, one of the most influential theories in contemporary sociology, examines the role that shared symbolic meanings and understandings regarding social behaviors and phenomena play in shaping people’s behaviors, both as individuals and as collective members of groups. In other words, the power of shared subjective understandings or attitudes about certain social phenomena shapes individuals’ behaviors within a group context.

Feminist theoretical approaches seek to highlight the social construction of gender and the social experiences of females as a focus of academic study. Traditionally, various academic disciplines, ranging from the social sciences to the arts and humanities, overlooked the life experiences, social realities, and contributions of females by heavily limiting their focus to analyses of men, masculinity, and male experiences. There is not one singular form of feminist theory; rather, feminism encompasses a variety of theoretical approaches that seek to examine gender from different angles. During the 1960s and 1970s (the era of “second-wave feminism”), feminist scholars focused primarily on sexist discrimination against women and societal inequalities between males and females. Since the 1980s, however, feminist scholars (known as “third-wave feminists”) have begun to emphasize that neither women nor men are homogenous or monolithic. Feminist scholars examine how other social factors, such as race/ethnicity, class, age, and sexual orientation, play important roles in shaping a person’s societal experiences. Furthermore, contrary to popular opinion, feminist scholars study men and socially defined ideals of masculinity as part of their analysis of gender.

Each of these theoretical approaches has a contribution to make toward the sociology of sports. For example, functionalist analyses study the role that sports and athletic participation play in building a sense of national unity and identity. For example, in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, the New York Yankees baseball team experienced a temporary surge of nationwide popularity, given that they represent the city most devastated by the terrorist attacks. Another vivid example is the historic 1980 Winter Olympics ice hockey game between the underdog United States and the hockey powerhouse Soviet Union in Lake Placid, New York. The American team upset the Soviets in a game now popularly referred to as the “Miracle on Ice,” and the game’s outcome produced a surge of patriotic sentiments— along with the now-common “U-S-A!, U-S-A!” that American sports fans still chant during international competitions. However, many sociologists criticize a purely functionalist analysis of society because it overlooks divisions and inequalities by focusing excessively on social cohesion. Conflict theorists would examine how various social inequalities, such as racism or sexism, affect sports or how the world of sports contributes to the perpetuation of inequalities, such as the stereotype that blacks are naturally athletically gifted or the homophobic prejudices that athletes or sports fans exhibit. Meanwhile, a symbolic interactionist approach would examine, for example, how high school students may feel compelled to join the football, wrestling, or cheerleading teams to be seen as “cool” by their peers. Finally, feminist approaches to sports may examine the lower prestige and spectator support that women’s athletics generally hold compared with their male counterparts or how female athletes are often discussed more regarding their physical appearance than their athletic talents.

Journalist Dave Zirin, the sports editor for The Nation, who is known for his publications analyzing the social and political dynamics of sports in both American society and the global context, has praised and criticized the sociology of sport. Zirin’s praise for the sociology of sport stems from his belief that a critical, systematic examination of sport sheds light on the social inequalities, such as sexism, racism, homophobia, and social class oppression, often reflected in the world of sports. However, he criticizes the sociology of sport because the field is dominated by scholars who produce books and articles that are written in dense, academic jargon that the average layperson or sports fan would find very difficult or impossible to understand; as such, the publications produced by sports sociologists largely remain confined to academic journals with no mass, public circulation or appeal. Because of this, sports sociologists tend to reach only an academic, scholarly audience with their works. The general public (including passionate sports fans), whom Zirin feels would benefit tremendously from sociological analysis of sports, do not learn to approach sports from a more critical and theoretically informed standpoint. Zirin has called for several reforms to make sports sociology more practical and relevant, including the establishment of a “sports and society” column authored by sociologists in each college newspaper and major sports publication, the appearance of sports sociologists on sports talk radio and television to share their knowledge with sports fans, and the publication of books by sports sociologists that target the general public and sports spectators, as opposed to the scholarly community.

Further Reading