A Theory of Sport and Politics

The study of international relations purports to explain how nation-states and individuals interact around the globe. Yet one major area of such interaction – international sport – remains exceedingly understudied. This in spite of the fact that countries have gone to war over sport, fought for sovereign recognition through sport, and that citizens around the world have it as a daily part of their lives. Indeed it is astounding that a phenomenon that matters so much has been so little studied by a field that purports to explain relations between states and humans around the world. These deficiencies became more apparent in 2008 when we witnessed the world's biggest country hosting the world's biggest sporting event. The Beijing Olympics, though entertaining and exciting, showed how little we have thought about the link between sport and international politics. This article introduces a framework for understanding the link between sport and politics. Its point of entry is to argue that many of the questions about how China portrayed itself during the Olympics and whether the Games marked China's rise as a responsible power cannot be answered without first understanding how sport in general is related to a country's political development, and its sense of nationhood. My arguments do not represent new breakthroughs in political science, rather I attempt merely to offer a systematic way of thinking about how sports and the Olympics matter in world politics through three inter-related causal pathways relating to a country's sense of self, its diplomacy, and its capacity for change.     

中国近代体育与身体政治互嵌的文化审视

中国古代对于身体的发展一直是重修养而轻锻炼,讲究以养为主。在近代中国,外国帝国主义入侵,中国社会变为半殖民地半封建社会。当时一些先进思想人开始反思中国社会的发展落后于西方的原因,并希望通过改革使中国重新走向民族复兴之路。因此,中国开始引入外国的身体锻炼方式,希望通过身体的锻炼来增长军事实力,实现民族振兴,所以,在整个近代历史中,各个领导人开始将身体的改造纳入政治的范畴,希望通过实施身体政治来改变国家不断被外国侵略者侵犯的情况。但是,新中国成立之后,带有人文主义的体育事业不断发展,我们发现,近代的将身体作为政治目标进行改造的体育思想已经不再适合中国的国情,因此,了解中国近代国情,以及提出身体政治的近代背景和它的局限性,可以使当今体育的发展更有针对性,更符合时代的要求。     

Sport and Politics in Archaic Greece

Abstract

This paper analyses the relationship between sport and politics in archaic Greece (eighth to sixth centuries BC). Although the issue of this relationship has been widely addressed by the academic literature devoted to the subject of ancient sports, there are no studies describing the relationship between both phenomena in the archaic period per se, as well as the factors which triggered them. This paper primarily draws on the Iliad and the Odyssey of Homer, as well as the works of Xenophanes and Pindar. Firstly, the study discusses the place of both sport (agon) and politics in the archaic polis. The second part shows how sport was used in various ways by individuals for political purposes, while the third part presents the role of sport in the politics of the poleis. At every level of this analysis, one can see a strong connection between both phenomena. Social, military, and political changes, caused, in particular, by the second Greek colonization and the new phalanx formation of hoplites, highlight the role of sport as an indicator of political domination – from the perspective of both the individual and the poleis as a whole. Indeed, this entire study shows that from the very first moment of its being shaped into organized events, sport was connected to politics.     

Sandwiched Between Sport and Politics: Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile,Formula 1, and Non-Democratic Regimes

As the governing body of world motorsports since 1904, Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) has, through the growth of Formula 1, become increasingly embedded in the globalization of commerce and faced with difficult political issues. Specifically, FIA events are used to sanitize the image of undemocratic countries, and FIA is, thus, becoming increasingly entangled in spheres other than sport. This presents a challenge to a sporting body which traditionally follows the principle of not mixing sport and politics. To explore this topic, two Formula 1 races where sport and politics are intertwined are chosen as examples: the 1985 South African Grand Prix and the 2016 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. As the holding of both events evoked controversy, for various reasons, this paper investigates whether something has changed at FIA along the way, and, in that case, what? As findings demonstrate, while the races differ and the context has changed, the FIA has kept its policy despite the fact that it has become increasingly difficult to maintain its neutral stance.     

缺科学、缺理性的学术主张 ———从生产到生活, 从群体到个体, 从工具到玩具

“从生产到生活,从群体到个体,从工具到玩具”的学术主张虽有积极意义,但有消极的一面。它否定了不该否定的体育实践的重要功能。体育为生产服务、为政治服务的功能,中国体育注重群体的特点,都是客观存在,是否定不了的,它还过分夸大了体育的娱乐功能。这个学术主张的消极一面对发展中国体育,对建设小康社会不利。     

‘Race’, politics and local football – continuity and change in the life of a British African-Caribbean local football club

This paper focuses on the role of a local sports club in shaping the lives of British African-Caribbean males in one British city over a 40-year period. The paper describes how the ‘Meadebrook Cavaliers’ has transitioned from its origins as an East Midlands parks-based football team in 1970 to a successful senior-level local football club by the early 1980s, before finally achieving a further social and financial organizational complexity in its charitable status, attained in 2009. Attention is paid specifically to the social formation of this largely masculine ‘black’ sport space over time and on how, and in what ways, these developments in local sport in one club in one British city are also intimately connected to wider social, economic and political developments in the UK. In doing so, the paper demonstrates, both theoretically and empirically, how the emergence of ‘black’ local football resonates with social change around ‘race’ politics in Britain during the period 1970–2010. By the same token, this mainly black male sporting space continues to reflect and influence change in the wider political, social and sporting terrains within which the club has been located – and within the dynamic black African-Caribbean communities which constitute it.     

National structures for building and managing sport facilities: a comparative analysis of the Nordic countries

Abstract

Sport facilities are instrumental in keeping the population fit and healthy. Governments worldwide are thus engaged in devising policies, programs and projects for building such facilities, with the aim of providing citizens with opportunities for a healthy lifestyle. This feature is prominent in the Nordic countries, which have incorporated sport, leisure and physical activity into their universal welfare models. Understanding policies and politics for building sports facilities has therefore become a cornerstone in the understanding of conditions for sport and physical activity for all. In this paper, we investigate and compare the national structures for building and managing sports facilities in the Nordic countries, in order to add to the understanding of how policies and politics for building sport facilities can add to or hamper the sport-for-all ambitions salient in most of today’s western societies.     

Tokyo - Bidding for the Olympics and the Discrepancies of Nationalism

Since the first Modern Olympics in 1896 only a few cities have hosted or will host the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games more than once: London, Paris, Los Angeles, Athens and Tokyo. There is no doubt that the improvements in infrastructures and structural changes that were carried out for Tokyo in preparation for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics demonstrated that ‘Japan was experiencing remarkable economic growth’. The ‘development’ of Tokyo, 97% of the Olympic budget being earmarked for improvements to infrastructures, resulted in excessively centralised politics and economics. Looking at the bidding process to host the 2016 and 2020 Olympics, it can be seen that various expectations of sports are political in nature: from the political problem of remembering legacies as mere representations to the current situation of a nation basing its presence on involvement in the Olympics. The Sports Promotion Act enacted in 1961 was revised 50 years later, and policies on sport came to be regarded as national strategies. The new act became the basis for establishing the Sports Agency and specified governmental support for hosting the international sporting events it promotes. The time has come to seriously consider the necessity of critically arguing about nationalism, as well as how to determine the relationship between a nation and sport in terms of sport governance.     

论体育舞蹈教学训练中的音乐配合

针对高校体育舞蹈教学中学生因音乐素质较差影响了教学效果的现状,采用文献资料、观察、实验和实证分析等研究方法,对体育舞蹈教学中提高学生音乐素质及舞蹈动作和音乐配合等方面进行了研究。分析认为:学生的音乐节奏感对乐曲旋律的理解和领悟、对音乐的欣赏能力、对学习掌握舞蹈动作提高体育舞蹈教学质量、对表现体育舞蹈的风格特点有着非常重要的作用。认为体育舞蹈教学要特别注意提高学生音乐素质和文化艺术修养,有针对性地提高学生对音乐的理解和鉴赏能力,从而提高教学质量。     

自我决定理论视域下运动心理学课程思政改革创新研究

新时代高等院校的课程思政改革致力于深入挖掘专业课中的思想政治资源,有效发挥课堂育人的主渠道功能。在此目标指引下,体育类院校专业课程的课程思政改革势在必行,运动心理学是体育类高校体育运动类专业的本科骨干课程。动机的自我决定理论认为,人天生就有追求身心成长和能力发展的倾向,但需要环境提供持续的营养和支持。基于此,运动心理学课程思政从自我决定理论出发,立足于对学生个体特征和不同学习需求的分析,紧紧围绕如何满足其自主性、能力感和归属感来设计并实践激发和内化学生协同吸收专业知识和思政资源的动机环境,在具体教改中实现了5个方面的经验:以生为本,精心引入与专业深度融合的思政资源来激发动机的教学内容上的“精”;“师”是基础,着力构建专业教师团队确保课程思政教师队伍上的“专”;问号课堂,“问”出融会贯通专业知识和思政资源的教学过程上的“问”;活学活用,构建问题情境促进思政资源内化的教学设计上的“活”;知行合一,做中学,磨砺意志深度夯实思政教育的教学手段上的“实”。另外,要全面推进课程思政,还需注意完善教师全员育人的教学理念、着重分析学生的个性特征、打造多部门协同合作的“育人共同体”,以构建高校专业课课程思政改革的全员全程全方位育人体系。     

Fan politics: dissent and control at the stadium

This essay delves into the theoretical and practical dimensions of political expression at the stadium. While previous chapters are organized around the form of media, this essay considers the breadth of media put to use to convey political sentiments. While the notion of sport as apolitical has surface appeal, the stadium has always been political, and provided that sport continues to aggregate tens of thousands of fans in an enclosed space, there is little hope of eliminating politics. The stadium offers the chance for average citizens to gain a voice and, I argue, the stadium is an important part of the public sphere. The chapter considers how the stadium is used for dissent in several contexts. In Italy, the stadium has long been a site of political expression while more recently, in Cairo and Istanbul, football fandom has provided the tools to directly confront the state.     

消费社会视域下体育消费文化生产模型的构建与分析

处于消费社会之中,受到消费社会逻辑的影响,众多体育消费文化产品都统一筹划地创造着一种新的生产模式,从而不断地生产出各式各样的时尚与品味。通过运用文献资料研究、归纳与演绎、结构方程模型等方法对这一生产模式进行了系统的逻辑分析。研究发现:1)整个体育消费文化生产过程是由运动的身体、运动的空间、运动的时间以及运动的符号共4个要素构成;2)在这些要素的作用下,体育消费文化生产得以继续,推动着整个社会结构的变革,从而使得体育消费文化正逐步成为区分和建构社会阶层地位的符号与象征;3)建构的模型显示,这一生产过程可以建构与解释社会阶层地位的20%,第1建构因素运动符号对阶层地位总效应达到了0.41;第2建构因素是基于年龄的运动身体对阶层地位的总效应为0.26;第3建构因素是运动空间对阶层地位的总效应为0.08;第4建构因素是基于性别的运动身体对于阶层地位的总效应为0.06;第5建构因素运动时间则是通过运动空间这一中介变量对于阶层地位的间接效应为-0.07。     

中国体育文化史研究及其存在的新问题

主要对我国体育文化史研究及其存在的问题进行剖析。一方面,全球化时代带来了政治、经济、文化等多方面的变化,体育史学在这样的语境中也面临着严峻的考验,并逐渐向文化史研究转向;另一方面,也由此带来体育史理论研究的泛化,还存在着不少问题。解决的办法:一要注意克服浮于表面的研究,提高对体育文化史研究的整体认识;二是注意对研究问题的细处和大处的结合;三要处理好远近、纵横和优劣互补的关系。     

Power and discourse in the politics of evidence in sport for development

The field of sport for development (SFD) has been criticised for the way that evidence has been produced and used to account for and demonstrate the perceived success of SFD programmes. Much of this critique has highlighted shortcomings in approaches to monitoring and evaluation (M&E), which underpins a perceived weak evidence base concerning what works, why and within which contexts (Coalter, 2007, Coalter and Taylor, 2010, Pawson and Tilley, 1997). Conceptually a lack of evidence discourse (Nicholls et al., 2010) has emerged. This paper explores and analyses the power dynamics that shape this discourse and argues that an understanding of the dominant neoliberal context within which SFD is located is critical. While offering a Foucauldian framework, the power, knowledge and discourse related to political actors in SFD processes are examined. This paper addresses two key questions: what is power and who is it for? Whose interests are served in the interpretation, generation and reporting of evidence? The paper concludes that the role of the sport development practitioner (SDP) is underprivileged and to enable the field of sport for development (SFD) to move forward, the very people who implement the programmes need to be better understood. Furthermore it is argued that a deeper understanding and interpretation of the terrain of the sport development practitioner (SDP) within UK and international shores are a necessity if a more open and transparent knowledge transfer process, surrounding evidence, is to be entered into.     

Why Olympia matters for modern sport

From the modern scientific perspective, Olympia is a ruin at the far end of a fading sense of history that represents little more than the origins from which sport has continuously evolved. Quantitative measurements show continued increases in human performance, equipment efficiency and funding. But some question this athletic evolution. We worry about qualitative issues, such as virtue, meaning and beauty. The source of this contrast is a difference in values: Olympic vs. Efficiency values. Such values establish an ethos in sporting communities that influences how we behave, explain and even conceptualize our activities. I argue from the perspectives of metaphysics, epistemology, aesthetics, ethics and politics, that Olympic Ethos is needed to balance out the modern Efficiency Ethos, which threatens to dehumanize sport.     

Der Sport als Institution der Produktion ästhetischer Erfahrung

Starting from the current legitimation crises in sport in the civil society of Germany and in particular high-level sport, this article questions the sense from which the value of sport activities originates and which defines their authenticity as sport activities. Analogous to the pedagogical justification discussion of school sports lessons and coupled to the philosophical core question how the“peculiar subject sport can be defined as a special activity” (Schürmann) and differentiated from other activities, attempts will be made to trace the specific aesthetic potential of contest-oriented competitive sport with the aid of an institutional theoretic abstraction basis. Along the line of the key points of the title (institution, production and aesthetic experience) the term institution according to Gehlen will be presented and critically investigated for possibilities of connections to a theory on aesthetic experience . The results of this analysis will then be transferred to the genuine characteristics of the institution sport. This reveals that sport per se does not contain a truly specific sense, but as an institution can be interpreted as a medium for the production of an extraordinary sense by those experiencing it. In this context a sensibly adequate interpretation of the term production is of decisive significance. The competitor needs the institution of sport in order to produce a sense. A sense per se cannot, however, be attributed to the institution of sport, except that activities within their own sphere only make sense when they are experienced aesthetically. Exactly this is referred to in the title of this article, that sport is an institution for the production of aesthetic experience. Finally the possible yield of the considerations for an educational aesthetic self-reflection of the institution of sport in a civil society will be discussed.     

Sport,Prison, Violence: On Imprisonment and Confinement Conditions – ‘French Prison Sport’ and the Instruments of the World's Good Conscience

In France today, sport is considered to be a fundamental element of the educational offer in the prison environment, especially because it represents in the eyes of the majority an activity that is capable of channelling violence and violent behaviours, although this exemplary effect of education cannot be taken for granted. It is based, in fact, on a commonly accepted opinion and on evidence that is rarely questioned and is even contradicted in recent studies. But can sport, as a more or less formalised pedagogical, institutional and/or sociopolitical project, continue to be ‘educational’ in particular social spaces, like prison, which in essence distorts the conditions of unconstrained free practice and cultural dissemination? Starting from a case study, focused on France, the aim of this paper is to question the relation of sport with the calming qualities and/or, on the contrary, those that produce force fields, not by isolating it and constructing an improvised model but rather by re-inserting it into the issue of pacifying social fields, that is by re-integrating sports practice in the very place which gives it a sense and literally one which incarnates a motor praxeology with constraints – not to say control.     

Pre-service physical education teachers' beliefs about competition in physical education

The discourse of competitive sport is, and has been, a defining feature of physical education for many years. Given the privileged and dominant position competition holds in physical education curricula, it is concerning that competitive physical education remains steeped in traditional pedagogies and that these pedagogies are constrained by teachers' everyday philosophies rather than any explicit understanding of pedagogy or the needs of pupils. This in turn affects pupils' experiences of physical education and specifically the type and form of activities that are offered to pupils. Physical education teachers' biographies generally show a profound attachment to sport, and in particular competitive sport, and the value of competitive sport is significant in the lives and identities of physical education recruits. However, there is a paucity of research specifically in relation to in-service and pre-service physical education teacher's beliefs about competition and its place in physical education. It is well documented that the implicit theories that pre-service, beginning and experienced teachers hold influence their reactions to teacher education and their teaching practice, with their beliefs acting as a filter through which a host of instructional judgements and decisions are made. Thus, it is important to understand pre-service physical education teachers' (PSTs') beliefs about competition. Thirty five (16 men, 15 women, 4 unknown) PSTs completed a reflective journal alongside their participation in a University-based module focused on models-based practice. The data generated were analysed using the procedures and techniques of grounded theory which revealed five major themes grouped in the discussion under the sub-categories of: (1) defining competition; (2) learning through competition; (3) competitive physical education and the sporting pathway; (4) competition needs to be got out of children; and (5) a little competition. The discussion challenges how we transform traditional views of competition and the competitive practices that alienate some young people from physical education.     

民国时期中国武术的身体政治逻辑及其现代意义

运用文献资料法和逻辑分析法,从身体政治角度探究民国时期中国武术运变的逻辑机理。研究认为:中国武术在尚武强国的身体觉醒中得以重新出场,期望通过中华新武术的身体正名、体育化武术的身体博弈和学校武术的身体训育达到改造国民身体的目的,实现了从末技到国术的话语蜕变、从拳师到教师的身份重构、从工具到符号的价值跃迁,由此完成了身体的“国族化”实践,彰显了中国武术的责任担当与历史使命。因此,深刻理解民国时期中国武术身体政治的底层逻辑,对准确把握中国武术发展的认知理据、实践进路和价值旨归具有重要现实意义。     

人文体育观渐入--现代体育"异化"的反思

采用献资料和逻辑分析方法,通过对人理念的讨论和理解,认为在“生物体育观”指导下体育实践有其局限性。主要观点：体育是人产物,应“以人为本”。“人体育观”体现了时代发展对“人”的呼唤和人不断认识自我的强烈意识。在进一步认识体育和对现代体育“异化”的批判中,都需要有一种人理念来统领其发展方向,这就是人体育观的渐入。