Fast-track fisticuffs? An ethnographic exploration of time and white-collar boxing

Edward J Wright

doi:10.1177/1012690218815139

Abstract

Whilst white-collar boxing at first appears to be named according to the social class of its practitioners, this paper will argue that this initial appearance is misleading. Based on the analysis of 32 interviews and six months of ethnographic data collection at a boxing club in the English Midlands, it argues that white-collar boxers do not recognise the classed connotations of the term white-collar, to which sociologists tend to be accustomed. Within this lifeworld, white-collar has become a temporal signifier, referring to a version of the sport in which participation is for beginners and limited to eight weeks, culminating in a public boxing match in front of a large crowd. This eight-week participation model is outlined and identified as being drastically different from other forms of boxing, which are emblematic of modernity. White-collar boxing therefore provides entry into a wider discussion on the social construction of time. Acceleration and condensation of time are routinely discussed in this field, and it is suggested that a conceptual split between condensed and accelerated time allows for this white-collar boxing to be understood. Ultimately, white-collar boxing is theorised as the condensed reproduction of the idealised career of the professional boxer.

Highlights

IntroductionAcceleration, and extends discussion of acceleration into the sociology of embodiment and sport
Time is a central category for sociological theorisation, not least in the notion of acceleration (Giddens, 1990; Rosa, 2015)
Whereas research and scholarship to date presents white-collar boxing as necessarily the preserve of an elite class (Trimbur, 2013), this research suggests that this arrangement is not universal

Summary

Introduction

Acceleration, and extends discussion of acceleration into the sociology of embodiment and sport. The second is to theorise the temporality of white-collar boxing in order to better understand the sport and, recursively, to contribute to broader debates on time and acceleration. Trimbur does not devote much attention to temporality in this context, though does note that white-collar boxers may attend three-day ‘fantasy boxing camps’ in remote, rural retreats wherein they receive an indoctrination to the sweet science ‘from ex-world champions’ (Trimbur, 2013: 125) That these short-term camps occur within a postindustrial context, does go some way to suggest that the acceleration has led to developments in boxing time. This article explores white-collar boxing in terms of time, and in doing so makes a contribution to both knowledge on boxing and knowledge on time

Methodology

Conclusion