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

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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?

BBC opening sequence Wimbledon Ladies Final 2005

NBC opening sequence Ladies finals 2005

Exclusively for Everyone?Think about the ways that hierarchies of bodies and access are built into the brand of Wimbledon …

The Grunting Controversy

Name something about you that gives an insight into your habitus

• Start your sentence with “I feel like a ‘fish in water’ when ….”

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Understand the contribution of Bourdieu for understanding sport

habitus, distinction, cultural, social and

physical capital

Wimbledon and social class