Assessing the sociology of sport: On social consciousness and social movements

Abstract

On the 50th anniversary of the ISSA and IRSS, a foundational scholar in the formation and development of sociology of sport, George Sage, reflects on how the discipline has evolved and continues to be anchored in social consciousness and social movements. Sage traces the development of the field to the formation of the International Committee for the Sociology of Sport (which became the ISSA) and the first publication of the IRSS in the 1960s and notes how that era played a role in seating the sociology of sport in social movements and advancing change. Sage focuses on three social movement pathways that have shaped the discipline: (1) the movement challenging dominant social theories, (2) the feminist (women’s) movement, and (3) the African American rights movement. The focus on social movements has continued to influence the character of the sociology of sport as it has evolved into an identifiable field of study.