Physical Practices and Sportification: Between Institutionalisation and Standardisation. The Example of Three Activities in France

Abstract

Many physical activities, from traditional games to emerging practices, have been and still are confronted with the ‘sportification’ process. Sports historians and sociologists have produced numerous isolated monographs to try and comprehend this development. Through the compared analysis of three activities – break-dancing, spelaeology and mixed martial arts – this study prolongs the modelling effort initiated by Renson to understand the fundamental elements which simultaneously encourage and slow down this process. It shows that this conflict crystallises around the degree of standardisation of a practice and its institutional recognition. To protect the original identity of these activities, their sportification process cannot be completed.