Sociology of Sports
In the recent past, sports have become a primary part of people’s lives. People are intensively increasing their interests in sports. On the other hand, sociology is concerned with how people are linked with each other and to other institutions. In this case, sports is regarded as one of the major social institutions. Sports have an impact on people’s culture. Besides, people acknowledge sports for maintaining the status quo and social orders. While studies present many facts about the sociology of sports, conflict theories tend to agree and disagree with some of the stated facts.
Several theories have been put forward to elaborate on various aspects of sports. Conflict theory is one of the sociological theories that attempt to elaborate on the philosophy of sports. The theory argues that, just like other societal aspects, sports, are shaped by the nature of and the structure of the economic system in the society. According to the theory, sports significantly affect the status quo and social order. The theory primarily focuses on the capitalist system in explaining the relationship between physical activity, society, and sports (Park et al., 2018). For instance, conflict theory regards sports as an activity in which people define their bodies as elements for production hence making people be alienated from their bodies in the process. Moreover, the theory views sports as an activity organized by powerful people to maximize their wealth.
In conclusion, sports form an important social institution. Sociology of sports has been explained by various theories, such as conflict theory. For instance, conflict theory presents its argument from the context of the capitalist society. The theory views sports as an aspect that is controlled by powerful people to increase their wealth.
References
Park, S. H., Cottingham, M., & Seo, W. J. (2018). Mega Sport Event and Social Capital: A Host Community Perspective Comparison in Korea and the US through Social Conflict Theory. International Journal of Industrial Distribution & Business, 9(9), 63-74.