KIN160 - Module 1

Give some examples of social institutions

Individuals are not BORN into who they are, rather they BECOME who they are through participation in social institutions as they SHAPE our predispositions

Family, sports, education, religious institutes

Power Relations

Refers to relations of enablement and constraints

Society

Refers to the 'structured social relations and institutions among a large group of people. which cannot be reduced to a simple collection or aggregation of individuals'

Ex. What is expected of me at the dinner table vs in the classroom

-There are different expectations expected of me in DIFFERENT SETTINGS

Culture

Is the term sociologists use to describe 'the way of life' including the practices and beliefs, of a particular group of people

The activities, norms, cultures, values, symbols and shared meanings and materials that are part of the day to day lives of those in groups and societies

Ex. Religious practices, traditions (Chinese New Years), culinary practices, sport and physical activity

Sociology

The disciplined study of human social life, including all forms of interactions and relationships

-Our practices and beliefs are influenced by social (family, friends, teachers) and social institutions (religious organizations, school system, sport system)

Sociology of Sport

A subdiscipline of sociology that examines the relationships between sport and society, and studies sport as a central part of social and cultural life

Ideology

Common sense "ideas and widespread beliefs in a society that serve the interests of dominant groups and legitimize/sustain their positions of power and influence

More powerful groups are likely to ENDORSE an ideology that supports their own interests

(Ex. Owning a significant share of the Maple Leafs and TSN, you will undoubtedly show lots of Maple Leafs on your network)

Consider what else is happening here:

-You might be celebrating the NHL as the best league in the world

-You may be marketing only male NHL players

Perpetuating ideologies of gender and sport:

-Men are natural hockey players, men are the best athletes The best hockey is played by men

-What does this say about women's hockey?

More powerful groups in society shape the way we see society, and they do so in ways that ADVANCE THEIR OWN INTERESTS; you are DOING THIS REGARDLESS of your intention!!!

Social Construction

Drawing attention to the social "historical processes through which people collectively invent and reinvent their shared understanding of the social world

Socially constructed ideas are ALWAYS embedded within power relations;

SPORT is an example of a SOCIAL CONSTRUCT:

-It can be changed and given different forms and meanings over time, from place to place

What are the three sensitivities coined by CW Mills?

Historical Sensitivity
Comparative Sensitivity
Critical Sensitivity

Sociological Imagination

A term coined by CW Mills to describe the ability to imagine how one's individual story (or biography) is connected to broader characteristics in society

-The ability to go beyond personal issues and to make connections to social structures, history, and broader power relations

Understanding the relationship between self and society

Physical Culture

How the physical body (moves, is represented, is treated, and understood) is embedded in and shaped by the activities, norms, customs, values, symbols, materials, shared meaning, and power relations that are part of day to day life in groups and societies

In order to understand the moving body, we must understand the PHYSICAL DIMENSION (physiological) and socio cultural dimensions

What is Historical Sensitivity

Understanding how personal experience in sport connects to broader history

What is Comparative Sensitivity

Learning how sporting beliefs and practices shift across diverse cultural contexts

What is Critical Sensitivity

The ability to apply our critical abilities to make sport better (ex. more safer, inclusive, and equitable), using the 2 previous sensitivities

-Once we understand the history of the sport, can we make sport better? Can we use the critical sensitivity we have developed to make it more equitable and better

Authority Figures

Refers to asymmetrical power relations between an individual or group

Where one group or person has AUTHORITY over another

Ex. Police has AUTHORITY over the generation to enforce and regulate rules

Ideology and Power Relations

Refers to e relations embedded within social structures in society (Ex. class, gender, race)

What are the 3 measures of power in sport stated by Gruneau?

1. Ability to structure sport
2. Ability to establish sport traditions
3. Ability to define legitimate meanings and practices associated with dominant sport practices

Sport

Any formally organized, competitive activity that involves vigorous physical exertion or the execution of complex physical skills with rules enforced by a regulatory body.

Democratization

Refers to the process of social change towards greater social levels of social equality

-with a fully democratized sport environment including both the right to participate, regardless of one's particular set of social characteristics, and the right to be involved in determination of the forms, circumstances and meanings of participation

According to the textbook, what are some of the activities that sociologists of sport actually do?

1. Serve as experts to government agencies, public enquires
2. Act as advocates for athletes rights and responsibilities
3. Promote Human Development
4. Encourage Better Use of Human and Environmental Resources

During the 1968 Summer Olympics 200m medal presentation, what happened?

John Carlos and Tommie Smith made a gloved black power salute

-They used the GLOBAL VISIBILITY of the Olympic Games as a vehicle to broadcast their anger with the plight of African Americans and unequal race relations in the USA

Institutionalization

Refers to the process by which one dominant set of patterns, rules, and ways of playing has emerged to define and regulate our contemporary sense of what sport is and how it should be played

-A way of playing has come to be seen as the way of playing

Social Structure

The patterned relationships that connect different parts of society to one another and that simultaneously enable and constrain social action

Agency

Refers to the ability of individuals and groups to act independently in a goal directed manner and to pursue their own free choices to both act and shape society

Power

Refers to the capacity of a person or group of persons to employ resources of different types in order to secure outcomes even when opposed by others

Practical Consciousness

Tacitly accepted and taken-for-granted beliefs that are shaped by experiences of and interactions with various social structures, institutions, and ideologies, and are subject to ongoing refinement.

Resources

Capacites that enable and constrain an individual to engage in activities

1. Financial (money)
2. Material (equipment)
3. Human (status, other agents)