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The Strange Place of the Work of Norbert Elias in the Sociology of French Sport

Received: 5 November 2022     Accepted: 22 November 2022     Published: 8 December 2022
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Abstract

This article examines the place of Norbert Elias' work in the French sociology of sport. It is a question of a place qualified as strange because of an insufficiently democratized use whereas the contribution of Norbert Elias accumulates the assets (taking into account of the long time of the social facts, inscription in a broad process of civilization of the conducts, integrations of identified variations and clearly expressed conditions, theorization of the concept of controlled releases of the emotions facilitating the comprehension of the violences in the sport). After having specified in what way Norbert Elias is undoubtedly under-exploited in the scientific literature, a synthesis of his contribution is proposed. We then objectively determine the scientific influence of Norbert Elias' research by analyzing its relegation over the last 20 years. For this purpose, several national conference programs were observed, several selected publications and important university textbooks were discussed. A scientometric research was also used in order to compare the place of Norbert Elias' research in the French sociology of sport. If the results of this approach show that Norbert Elias is used by researchers, they confirm a limited use and especially very inferior to the use of Pierre Bourdieu's concepts (although not specialized to sports facts). Finally, the article presents explanations for a problematic under-use, which is possibly being improved.

Published in International Journal of Sports Science and Physical Education (Volume 7, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijsspe.20220704.15
Page(s) 116-121
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Elias, Sociology, Sport, France, Explanation

References
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[2] BONNY, Y., DE QUEIROZ, JE., NEVEU, E. (eds.). (2003). Norbert Elias and the theory of civilization, PUR, Rennes.
[3] BODIN, D., ROBENE, L. (2018). Sport and Violence: Rethinking Elias, Hermann, Montreal.
[4] HARVEY, J. & OHL, F. (2006). sociology of sport. International perspectives and globalisations, Paris, Presses Universitaires de France, coll. Physical practices and societies.
[5] VOLKEN, H. (2007)., “The foundations: measure for measure”, European Journal of Social Sciences, Volume, XLV, n°138, 2007, 41-53.
[6] DUPRAT, H. (1990)., “Sciences of measurements and measurement of sciences”, Journal of the statistical society of Paris, volume 131, n°2, 79-97.
[7] NUYTENS, W. (2004). The popularity of soccer. Sociology of supporters in Lens and Lille, Arras, Artois Presses Université, coll. sports culture.
[8] NUYTENS, W. (2011)., The field test. Violence in the stadiums, violence in the stands, Rennes, Presses Universitaires de Rennes, coll. Companies.
[9] HEINICH, N. (1997). The sociology of Norbert Elias, Paris, La Découverte, coll. Landmarks.
[10] ELIAS, N. (1987). The Society of Individuals, Paris, Fayard.
[11] OUAHLACI, A. (2016). Enforce. Ethnography of virile sports in working-class neighborhoods in France and the United States, Rennes, Presses Universitaires de Rennes, coll. Social sense.
[12] BEAUCHEZ, J. (2014). The imprint of the fist. Boxing, the gymnasium and their men, Paris, Éditions EHESS, “Cas de figure” collection.
[13] WACQUANT, L. (2000). Body and soul. Ethnographic notebooks of an apprentice boxer, Marseilles, Agone/Comeau & Nadeau.
[14] ELIAS, N. (1969). The Court Society, Paris, Flammarion.
[15] ELIAS, N. (1997). "The relations between established and marginalized, theoretical essay" in ELIAS, N. & SCOTSON, J. (1997). Logics of exclusion. Sociological survey at the heart of the problems of a community, Paris, Fayard, 1997, 29-70.
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[20] BOURDIEU, P. (1984). Questions of sociology, Paris, Editions de Minuit.
[21] POCIELLO, C. (1995). Sports cultures, Paris, Presses Universitaires de France, coll. body practices.
[22] DECHAUX, JH. (1993). “N. Elias and P. Bourdieu: comparative conceptual analysis”, European Journal of Sociology/Archives Européennes de Sociologie, Volume 34, Issue 2, 364-385.
[23] DELZESCAUX, S. (2016). Norbert Elias. Distinction, conscience and violence, Paris, A. Colin, p 125.
[24] DUFOIS, S. (2018). “Is Norbert Elias a historical sociologist ?”, in PAGES, C. (dir.), Norbert Elias and the disciplines, Tours, Presses Universitaires François Rabelais, 43-58.
[25] DELMOTTE, F. (2010). "Key terms in the sociology of Norbert Elias", Vingtième siècle. History Review, 2010, 106, p 31.
[26] DUNNING, E. (1996). “Culture, civilization and sociology of sport”, Les Cahiers de la sécurité interne, 26, p 32.
[27] LOUDCHER, JF. (2008). "The process of sportivization of English boxing: the case of the temporal study of bare-knuckle fights (1743-1867), Movement & Sport Sciences, vol. 3, n°65, 93-106.
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  • APA Style

    Williams Nuytens. (2022). The Strange Place of the Work of Norbert Elias in the Sociology of French Sport. International Journal of Sports Science and Physical Education, 7(4), 116-121. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsspe.20220704.15

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    ACS Style

    Williams Nuytens. The Strange Place of the Work of Norbert Elias in the Sociology of French Sport. Int. J. Sports Sci. Phys. Educ. 2022, 7(4), 116-121. doi: 10.11648/j.ijsspe.20220704.15

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    AMA Style

    Williams Nuytens. The Strange Place of the Work of Norbert Elias in the Sociology of French Sport. Int J Sports Sci Phys Educ. 2022;7(4):116-121. doi: 10.11648/j.ijsspe.20220704.15

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijsspe.20220704.15,
      author = {Williams Nuytens},
      title = {The Strange Place of the Work of Norbert Elias in the Sociology of French Sport},
      journal = {International Journal of Sports Science and Physical Education},
      volume = {7},
      number = {4},
      pages = {116-121},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijsspe.20220704.15},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsspe.20220704.15},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijsspe.20220704.15},
      abstract = {This article examines the place of Norbert Elias' work in the French sociology of sport. It is a question of a place qualified as strange because of an insufficiently democratized use whereas the contribution of Norbert Elias accumulates the assets (taking into account of the long time of the social facts, inscription in a broad process of civilization of the conducts, integrations of identified variations and clearly expressed conditions, theorization of the concept of controlled releases of the emotions facilitating the comprehension of the violences in the sport). After having specified in what way Norbert Elias is undoubtedly under-exploited in the scientific literature, a synthesis of his contribution is proposed. We then objectively determine the scientific influence of Norbert Elias' research by analyzing its relegation over the last 20 years. For this purpose, several national conference programs were observed, several selected publications and important university textbooks were discussed. A scientometric research was also used in order to compare the place of Norbert Elias' research in the French sociology of sport. If the results of this approach show that Norbert Elias is used by researchers, they confirm a limited use and especially very inferior to the use of Pierre Bourdieu's concepts (although not specialized to sports facts). Finally, the article presents explanations for a problematic under-use, which is possibly being improved.},
     year = {2022}
    }
    

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    T2  - International Journal of Sports Science and Physical Education
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    AB  - This article examines the place of Norbert Elias' work in the French sociology of sport. It is a question of a place qualified as strange because of an insufficiently democratized use whereas the contribution of Norbert Elias accumulates the assets (taking into account of the long time of the social facts, inscription in a broad process of civilization of the conducts, integrations of identified variations and clearly expressed conditions, theorization of the concept of controlled releases of the emotions facilitating the comprehension of the violences in the sport). After having specified in what way Norbert Elias is undoubtedly under-exploited in the scientific literature, a synthesis of his contribution is proposed. We then objectively determine the scientific influence of Norbert Elias' research by analyzing its relegation over the last 20 years. For this purpose, several national conference programs were observed, several selected publications and important university textbooks were discussed. A scientometric research was also used in order to compare the place of Norbert Elias' research in the French sociology of sport. If the results of this approach show that Norbert Elias is used by researchers, they confirm a limited use and especially very inferior to the use of Pierre Bourdieu's concepts (although not specialized to sports facts). Finally, the article presents explanations for a problematic under-use, which is possibly being improved.
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Author Information
  • Faculty of Sport and Physical Education, URePSSS/Sherpas, Artois University, Liévin, France

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