Sociology Of Sport In Spain

THE SOCIOLOGY
OF SPORT IN SPAIN

HARIDIAN MARRERO
SPORT SOCIOLOGY
ERASMUS 2011/12

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INDEX

ABSTRACT. INTRODUCTION............................................................................................ 3
BRIEF HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE INSTITUTION OF THE SOCIOLOGY OFSPORT................................................................................................................................. 5
ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT IN SPAIN. BIRTH
STAGE................................................................................................................................. 7
CONSOLIDATION STAGE................................................................................................. 13
CRITICAL REFLECTION ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THESOCIOLOGY OF SPORT IN
SPAIN …............................................................................................................................ 14
THE QUALITY AND RIGOR OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ….......................................... 19
CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE CHALLENGES............................................................... 22BIBLIOGRAPHY................................................................................................................ 24

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ABSTRACT
This article analyzes the current state of the matter of sociology of Sport in Spain,
from a sociological-historical perspective, given that the interest that predominates here is
that of the reconstruction of the development lived out by this specialty of sociology.
Nevertheless, there also hasbeen an interest in carrying out a critical revision pertaining to
the virtues and inconveniences and challenges that await this particular specialty in the
upcoming years. This task of reconstruction has been fundamentally attained thanks to an
examination of the works developed by other authors who share this same concern. The
examination of the papers and com- munications presented at theconferences held by the
two principal scientific associations that represent this collective have also been essential:
the Spanish Federation of Sociology (FES), through their collective work “Leisure, Tourism
and Sport”, and the Spanish Association of Social Investigation Applied to Sport (AEISAD).

INTRODUCTION
The word sport has become today a proliferation of meanings of such magnitude
thatwe find it difficult to know clearly which referred to when someone uses it. This warns
us that this is a phenomenon of enormous complexity: an open system, a pervasive
phenomenon. As José María Cagigal will point since the late seventies, "when it comes to
sport, or something like adjective" sporty "refers to a style, a habit, a world defined
behavior, or perhaps a institutional areacharacter (world federation, com-petitive, etc..) or
a dominant fashion at certain times, almost overwhelming in ours. The athletic nickname
applies equally to a champion that generous gesture to accept failure, to a great show, a
feat of solidarity, a way of accepting life, or a garment "(1981). In short, sport nowadays
refers to a global cultural phenomenon.It has long been assumed the importanceof sport
in our societies. Gone are the concerns to know what were the origins, whether sociobiological or cultural, this human activity. In these moments are other issues that worry us
about this cultural phenomenon, for example, the following: Why are there so many cases
of doping in Olympic sports and high performance? What are the reasons why we are
witnessing increasingly violent eventsduring sporting events? What is it that influences
our day to offer so many people trapped by the ephemeral hedonism of the sport of
adventure and risk? How can the exercise regularly to improve the living conditions of the
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population? What role does exercise the mechanisms of socialization, such as physical
education or mass media in the transmission of cultural values through sport?...