Page 195 - The ISA Handbook in Contemporary Sociology

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166 THE ISA HANDBOOK IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGY

from the major institutions, in which people has the same opportunities in social competi-
meet, create bonds and cooperate without any tion, and each must construct his or her own
consideration of rivalry or competition. success. This is an anti-deterministic view of
Consider the gatherings of roller skating the social order.
enthusiasts, which are common in major cities, What is at stake in sport and in its media-
where thousands of people meet without seek- tized competitions is not, therefore, only of
8
ing confrontation or ranking. In fact these concern to sociologists of sport. The socio-
devotees report that the social bonding is more cultural context that has shaped the processes
important than performance or winning. of identity construction has favoured these
Clearly acknowledging the diversity of uses of sport, thereby contributing to an
sport and of the forms of sporting participa- inflation of practices, images and commen-
tion, as well as giving attention to the acts of taries about competition. The decline of the
cooperation which they entail, should not ‘great narratives’ (Lyotard, 1979) and of class
lead to an idealized vision of sport. Work on conflict as points of reference for identity
globalization (Harvey and Saint-Germain, has upset the symbolic organization of soci-
1995; Maguire, 1999) and on the loss of eties and exacerbated problems associated
autonomy within the field of sport – with with the construction of the self in modernity
respect to the media, to marketing and to (Kaufmann, 2004). Narratives built around
the economy (Rowe, 1999; Sugden and competitive sport are part of a much more
Tomlinson, 1998) – has shown that sporting general evolution of social identities, and
spectacles and the way sport is practised contribute to the construction of new modes
remain very much at the mercy of political of selfhood. The idealization of individuals
and economic forces. and communities who succeed through their
talent is a dramatization of the role of indi-
vidual will and merit, and reinforces the idea
that success does not depend on one’s social
CONCLUDING REMARKS background (Erhenberg, 1991). Thus compe-
tition is not simply a codified contest, but
In conclusion, making an a priori opposition also a backdrop for social interaction. If we
of the concepts of competition, conflict and are not careful, the ‘de-socialization’and nat-
cooperation appears to be problematic. We uralization of performance through the lens
have observed the wide variety of social uses of competitive sport may bolster the idea that
made of sport, including competition, which competition, whether against others or one-
can be an occasion for rivalry or a pretext for self, is the sole legitimate ideology by which
cooperation. A gulf exists, however, between human behaviour may be understood.
the diversity of sport’s uses and the most
visible forms of sports culture, particularly
the way it is presented in the media. Despite
the many nuances that can be applied, repre- NOTES
sentations of sport contribute to the essential-
ization of social difference and give the 1 I make a point of thanking Ann Denis and
Devorah Kalekin-Fishman for their help as editors
impression that competition is the normal,
and as ‘rewriters’ of the English version of the text. It
even the sole form of social relations. goes without saying that the text itself is completely
Competitive sport is presented as a demo- my responsibility.
cratic ideal that cancels out social difference 2 We will deal mainly with Western sociology,
in favour of equality of opportunity mostly European and North-American, and thus with
Western sport. There has been research in Japan,
(Erhenberg, 1991). It frequently promotes
China, South Korea, and also in South America and
the idea of a society where, through work, other countries, but apart from the language diffi-
activity and determination, every individual culty, that work was not available to me.