Gyozo Molnar - Sport, Exercise and Social Theory

Why are sport and exercise important?

What can the study of sport and exercise tell us about wider society?

Who holds the power in creating contemporary sport and exercise discourses?

It is impossible to properly understand the role that sport and exercise play in contemporary society without knowing a little social theory. It is social theory that provides the vocabulary for our study of society, that helps us ask the right critical questions, and that encourages us to look for the (real) story behind sport and exercise.

Sport, Exercise and Social Theory is a conciseand engaging introduction to the key theories that underpin the study of sport, exercise, and society, including feminism, post-modernism, (Neo-)Marxism, and the sociological imagination. Using vivid examples and descriptions of sport-related events and exercise practices, the book explains why social theories are important and how to use them, giving students the tools to navigate with confidence through any course in the sociology of sport and exercise.

This book shows how theory can be used to debunk many of our traditional assumptions about sport and exercise and how they can be a useful window through which to observe wider society. Designed to be used by students who have never studied sociology before, and including an entire chapter on the practical application of social theory to their own study, it provides training in critical thinking and helps students to develop intellectual skills that will serve them throughout their professional and personal lives.

Gyozo Molnar is Senior Lecturer in Sport Studies in the Institute of Sport and Exercise Science at the University of Worcester, UK. His current publications and research revolve around migration, football, globalization, national identity, the Olympics, and sport-related role exit.

John Kelly is Lecturer in Sport and Recreation Business Management in the Moray House School of Education at Edinburgh University, UK. His research interests revolve around ethnicity, sectarianism, nationalism, militarism, and sport.

AN INTRODUCTION

GYOZO MOLNAR AND JOHN KELLY

First published 2013
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

2013 Gyozo Molnar and John Kelly

The right of Gyozo Molnar and John Kelly to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Molnr, Gyz
Sport, exercise and social theory : an introduction / Gyozo Molnar, John Kelly.

p. cm.

1. Sports Sociological aspects. 2. Exercise Sociological aspects.
I. Kelly, John. II. Title.
GV706.5.M65 2012
306.483dc23 2012018407

ISBN: 978-0-415-67062-3 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-415-67063-0 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-203-13174-9 (ebk)

Typeset in Melior
by HWA Text and Data Management, London

We express our thanks to Routledge, especially to Simon Whitmore, who supported and helped develop the initial idea behind this book. We are also extremely grateful to Joshua Wells at Routledge for his unwavering support and much needed guidance during the production process. We also express our gratitude to our colleagues in our institutes at both Worcester and Edinburgh Universities for their support, encouragement, and helpful comments on early drafts of some of the chapters. And, last but not least, we thank all those students at both universities who took the time and effort to read and comment on various chapters of this book and made invaluable suggestions.

This book is first and foremost about sport and exercise, activities that are generally associated with fun, fair play, and the pursuit of healthy lifestyles, often viewed as separate from the challenges and toils of everyday life. It is no coincidence that the word sport emerges out of disport, meaning to indulge oneself in pleasure. Many of us who work within or study these spheres of activity already know the pleasure of playing, coaching, and watching sport and have been told of the benefits of engaging in regular bouts of exercise. Sport also provides many of us with a sense of belonging most clearly witnessed perhaps during international sporting events that elicit the devotion of millions of strangers within the same country to form the imagined community(Anderson, 1983) of the nation. Exercise, meanwhile, has become a major contributor to our sense of self, with health and fitness increasingly becoming our personal responsibility and marker of the responsible citizen. Yet, sport and exercise affect us in a multitude of ways that are often not obvious or clear and sometimes reveal surprising or even shocking aspects of their use and experience in our societies. We aim to shed light on some of these latent relationships for students, in tandem with helping them learn about social theory and how it can enable us to develop deeper understanding of sport and exercise and the societies in which they exist and, perhaps, flourish. Though our primary aim with this book is to enable students'greater understanding of sport and exercise in the twenty-first century, an implicitly connected aim is to develop their knowledge and ability to apply social theory, which we hope will improve their understanding of the complex and constant interplay between these activities and society.

for a more detailed discussion). For instance, our thoughts and perceptions about healthy lifestyle and the required amount and type of exercise have changed (for an historical account regarding men's exercise, diet, and grooming habits, see Luciano, 2001). Another example would be the gradually vanishing amateur ethos and associated values initially underpinning modern sports that have almost completely been replaced by hard-core professionalism (see Ingham and Loy, 1993). That is, sport and exercise have different meanings to different people in different places and in different time periods. The meaning(s) attached to them can diverge from society to society and from period to period, but so, too, can it differ at any one time in the same society. That is, sport and exercise always have multiple meanings.

Shifting social values and practices are not unique to sports and exercise. Other social structures undergo similar social processes, too. Education is one of the largest social structures affecting most of us during our life, and it also both enjoys and suffers the results of social change. One of these relatively recent changes that we have experienced is linked to widening participation in the higher education (HE) sector and, thereby, to the number and expectations of students entering university life (e.g. see Taylor, 2007). Therefore, it is safe to say that the landscape of British HE has significantly changed in the last decade and that it continues transforming (for a thought-provoking discussion of this, see Sparkes, 2007). In considering these socio-political currents, a primary rationale of this book is to respond to the rising changes in HE and to meet and cater for the emerging needs of current student cohorts.