Post on 22-Mar-2016
description
transcript
A Sporting Habitus Sport, Class and Gender
Introduction to Bourdieu’s concepts
habitus, distinction andcultural, social capital and
physical capital
Wimbledon: consuming history, gender and social class
1
2
3
Traditional debates in the
sociology of sport
Structure Vs Agency
Society Vs Individual
Determinism vs Freewill
Who controls our sport
and leisure choices?
Pierre BourdieuHabitusCultual CapitalSocial CapitalPhysical CapitalDistinction
Is sneezing natural or learnt?
We learn how to act
But actions are remembered as a habitual response
“A feel for the game”
Practical mastery of the logic of the game based on experience and which works outside conscious control
HabitusTaken-for-granted preferencesTastesTaste makes a virtue out of
necessityWhat is your favourite comfort
food?
Habitus is embodied
knowledge or competence
importantly informed by social class
Social world Social World
structures
individual
individual
“When a habitus encounters a social world of which it is a product, it is like a ‘fish in water’”
Liverpool footballers when are they fish in/out of water?
• Being Liverpool FC clip
TasteTastes are learnt not innate
Your tastes make up your habitus
Distinction
Tastes are distastes of others
Choices of sport are interrelated to all other possible sports
Cultural Capital
Symbolic weatlth
In what ways does sport provide capital?
Social capitalBourdieu and social capital
• In what ways does sport relate to social capital?– Can we see it as an expression of social capital?
• Can you spot social capital in sporting groups?– Can it provide social capital?
• How can sport be valuable as social capital?– How do members of (sporting) social groups protect
their social capital? • How do members stop outsiders from joining their
groups?
Physical Capital see “The Body and Social Theory” Chris Shilling
Bodies
have valu
e
The body and social difference
Working class bodyA means to an endExcitementMachine-like
Dominant classesHealthAppearanceSelf-
presentationDeportment is
restrainedmeasured
self-assured
Differences within the dominant classes
Upwardly mobileinsecure
Intellectual middle classesSeek out highly distinct activities
Body is central in determining the distributions of physical
activities
Economic barriers not sufficient in explaining class-
based patterns in sport
The Wimbledon brandThe meanings of Wimbledon have been
reconfigured during its existence19th Century legacy of class and gender relations:
surburban lawns; courtship rituals; ladies and gentlemen
Now deliberately commodified and broadcast to a global audience
Think about the shifting meanings of spaces like Wimbledon as a result of globalisation and commercialisation ... How was the space presented to us?
Englishness and the Wimbledon Brand
Dating back to 1877, "The Championships" has become a global brand that made almost $50 million in aftertax profit last year. Televised coverage of the two-week event now reaches 562 million homes in 178 countries, and 445,000 spectators, paying anywhere from $10 to $180 per ticket (at official prices), will pass through the gates before the tournament culminates with the men's final…
• All this has made the championship a golden goose for the All England Lawn Tennis Club, which hosts the event. Big-name companies, such as Rolex, IBM (IBM), and HSBC (HBC) have signed up to get a piece of the action. Organizers even tapped Polo Ralph Lauren (RL) to design the uniforms for Wimbledon staff.
Shifting meanings of Wimbledon
Compare the beginning of the 2005 Ladies semi-finals as broadcast on the BBC (UK) and NBC (USA)
• How is the social history of tennis made part of the contemporary consumer experience of Wimbledon?
Exclusively for Everyone?Think about the ways that hierarchies of bodies and access are built into the brand of Wimbledon …
Name something about you that gives an insight into your habitus
• Start your sentence with “I feel like a ‘fish in water’ when ….”
12
3
Understand the contribution of Bourdieu for understanding sport
habitus, distinction, cultural, social and
physical capital
Wimbledon and social class