Who Watches Cricket?

Vidya Subramaniam explores the spectacle of sports in all its dimensions. She interrogates the role of media, technology and market in recent times, through the continuing transformation of cricket into its current form as a hugely marketable, visible entertainment entity, or in other words, a spectacle. While the popular opinion is that this new version of cricket on television and the use of technology in so many aspects of the sport is in fact making for a larger knowledgeable spectators, the author argues the opposite. It may well be that the emphasis on the ‘entertainment quotient’ of the sport is attracting audiences that had started moving away from the sport and may not be knowledgeable about the game. More importantly, in keeping with the dominant thread in sports sociology that a sport can whip up a frenzy much like war, new formats of cricket such as the Indian Premier League are structured to showcase nationalism. The main motivation of large sections of those who follow IPL, the author argues, is country above all else and not a passion for the sport.

Blended Learning with Jigsaw in Increasing Interest, Motivation, and Learning Outcomes in Sports Sociology Learning

The purpose of this study was to increase the interest, motivation, and learning outcomes of students in learning sports sociology by applying blended learning with the jigsaw method. The research method used was an action classroom with two cycles. The research subjects were students of the fifth semester with a total of 39 students. The results showed that in the pre-cycle students' interest in learning was in the low category, learning motivation was in the sufficient category. The results of cycle 1 showed that interest in learning student increases in the high category with a percentage of 70%, learning motivation was in the high category with a percentage of 75%, learning outcomes were in the high category with a percentage of 70%. The results of cycle 2 showed that student interest in learning increases in the high category with a percentage of 80%, learning motivation was in the high category with a percentage of 85%, learning outcomes were in the category high with a percentage of 85%. So it can be concluded that the application of blended learning with the jigsaw method can increase the interest, motivation, and learning outcomes in learning sports sociology.

Ansätze einer Kultursoziologie des Sports

This volume collates different approaches to a cultural sociology of sport. Referring to recent theories of culture, its different chapters deal with diverse sporting phenomena and analyse them as cultural practices in which social orders and ‘their’ subjects are formed in constellations of bodies, movements, artefacts, technologies, the media and discourses. The volume pays particular attention to the emotions, experiences and power relations which take shape and are established in these processes. Apart from analysing sport from new cultural studies and historical perspectives and supplementing the currently hegemonic discourse in sports sociology, the volume aims to contribute to the refinement of the analytical instruments in this respect through their usefulness for exemplary empirical studies, thus adding new input to the respective theoretical debates.

Pierre Bourdieu Sosyolojisi ve Spor Alanının İnşası

Sports or the practice of sporting have progressed in parallel with the history of humanity, just as they have developed in parallel with humanity. The sports field, which has a growing interest in social life, has started to occupy the field of social science in time. Since the mid-1900s, sports have become a sub-field of sociology and been discussed in various methodological and theoretical aspects by many people. Especially since the 1980s, Pierre Bourdieu has been one of the important figures whose sociological perspective is utilized in the field of sports sociology. Especially, the “metaphor of playing” that he put forward by gathering his theoretical perspective in one frame shows a serious parallelism with the sociality of sports. Bourdieu's concepts of field, habitus and capital, which constitute the trivet of the theory of action and draws attention to the emphasis on the construction processes, historicity and autonomy of the field are frequently used in studies by researchers working in the field of sports in order to reveal how the sports field is built in social space and with which network of relationships it exists. For this reason, the development processes, the possibilities of Bourdieu's theoretical framework for, and Bourdieu's explanations on the sociology of sports, and how to build a sports field in a social space are discussed.

Sociology of sports and the space of sports practices: Social genesis and sociological theories

In recent years, the importance of sports in Russia has increased dramatically, which is determined primarily by the country’s hosting international sport events, in particular, the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup 2018. The influence of sports on social processes has increased, sports began to strengthen its position in public opinion as a prestigious sphere of employment and an important social category [24. P. 60]. Thus, there is an obvious need to identify the relationship of physical culture with society as a whole and with all elements of the social structure and specific social institutions. The article examines the origins and prerequisites for the formation of sociology of sport as a relatively independent scientific discipline; presents the issues of sports sociology in the historical perspective - in the context of both their social genesis and contemporary sociological theories; considers the social role and social functions of sport education and sports. The authors believe that the differentiated social distribution of sports practices is determined by the interconnections of the space of possible practices (supply) and the space of demand for certain practices. In the article, the well-known foreign scientists are presented in the new perspective - as sociologists who provided for both Russian and foreign authors the incentive and direction for theoretical studies of sports issues. The article also presents to Russian readers the original studies on sociology of sports conducted by famous scientists - Norbert Elias, Eric Dunning, Anna Ingram, Georges Hébert, etc.

We are the games: The COVID-19 pandemic and athletes' voices

This article is part of the discussion section "Sport and COVID-19" of Volume 1, Number 1, of Sports Sociology (SD).

Covid-19, Exercise and bodily self-control

This article is part of the discussion section "Sport and COVID-19" of Volume 1, Number 1, of Sports Sociology (SD).

Decolonizing Sports Sociology is a “Verb not a Noun”: Indigenizing Our Way to Reconciliation and Inclusion in the 21st Century? Alan Ingham Memorial Lecture

In this paper, which is a revised and modified version of the 2019 North American Society for the Sociology of Sport Alan Ingham Memorial lecture, the author shares four views, contributions, and opportunities that sports sociologists might consider useful in how to decolonize as well as indigenize our discipline together. The need to actively engage in the theory and practice of how to decolonize while understanding what it also means to work toward becoming an accomplice, activist, ally, or co-resistor are important threads underpinning the nature and scope of this paper. The author concludes with a plea to sports sociologists that decolonizing our minds is as much a collective effort as it is an act of reconciliation while maintaining the promise of inclusion, equity, and human rights. As sports sociologists, understanding what it means to be in “good relations” with Indigenous Peoples is fundamental to how we continue to build on and improve our discipline together.

Spaces and laces: insights from LGBT initiatives in sporting institutions

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine LGBT exclusion from sporting institutions, examining this as a phenomenon which takes place in specific spaces within these institutions. Design/methodology/approach A conceptual framework is developed which highlights the differences between initiatives to change heteronormative cultures at institutional levels and the levels of individual sporting spaces. This is applied to examples of heteronormative behaviour in sporting spaces and to diversity initiatives to promote LGBT participation in sport. Findings The paper argues that change initiatives are only effective if they engage with individual spaces within sports institutions rather than at a blanket institutional level. Originality/value The paper outlines links between similar findings in management and organisation literature and findings about sports organisations in the sports sociology literature. It outlines the role of institutions in both promoting LGBT inclusion in sport, but also in drawing LGBT participation towards mainstream heteronormative behaviours.