The objective of this article is to understand how the specific interactions between actors involved in the production of performance influence the socialization process by which cyclists learn their job. In particular, we try to understand how these interactions determine the reported attitudes towards doping products and methods. We focused on the interactions within the work group to understand how young cyclists learn their job. While analysing this organization of work, our goal is to understand how it influences the perception of the use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs). We compared socialization of young elite and U23 cyclists in Belgium, France and Switzerland. We analysed the economic, legal and organizational conditions in each country, and we conducted 70 semi-structured interviews with cyclists and their staff.

Politics of Apolitism. On the autonomization of sport's field Jacques Defrance Apolitical attitudes are characteristic features of sport's culture. «Apolitism», «neutralism», «pacifism», «third stream», «anti-parlementarism», constitute the different ways to withdraw from critical situations, controversies and political struggles. The meaning of these kinds of withdrawal, their extent, their strength, vary during the XXth century. They grow as the field of physical activities and sports gets more autonomy. They assert themselves in front of the strengthening of civic norms which require to involve oneself in public matters. Socio-historic analysis shows how this forms of distanciation can be coupled with forms of commitment into politics and sport, or can be contradicted by an historical situation which requires to take a stand.

No abstract

Découvrir la revueCiter cet article DEFRANCE, J. (1995). L'autonomisation du champ sportif.

The works of Pierre Bourdieu contribute to the establishment of a true sociology of culture and open prospects for the sociology of sport. A review of the genesis of this sociology shows that it has been constructed through breaks with French sociology’s way of approaching culture in the 1960s. The presentation of some of Bourdieu’s concepts is intended to show how they illuminate the social coherence of cultural behaviors and how the latter fit together. Finally, the paper emphasizes the relevance of such cultural analyses for those who study the social uses of the body, sport culture, or physical education.

A schism in sport. Can a field of activity like sport, where many practitioners take part "just for the fun of it" and associate voluntarily, experience bitter conflicts and scissions ? Study of a discipline - athletics - and its relationship with other sports over a twenty-year period (roughly 1960-1980) shows the frequency of tensions and cleavages in the questions debated and the production of the structures of the sport. The various crises of the sporting institutions offer original opportunities for particular groups to manifest themselves in an ethical mode. As they clash, they try to define what the good life should be, what is and is not part of the sport, and what makes the value of the members associated in the sporting group. In contrast to the internationalizing of sport, which entails a relative alignment of social definitions of the practice on a common model, the gradual enlargement or translation of the social recruitmentof a discipline is accompanied by a weakening of the integrative tendencies and a marked tendency towards secession. Sporting activities can then serve as a fulcrum for groups seeking to construct their identity ; ipso facto involvement in the sport takes on much more serious character than is normally the case .

This paper sketches out a framework for the comparative analysis of physical exercise policy within the context of the development of the welfare state. The term "physical exercise policy" is used here to refer to specific policies pertaining to the body which were geared towards the fostering of "physical fitness" and specific sport practices. The first section presents general considerations for comparative analysis. Section two discusses a "Society-State" framework. The concluding section presents directions for further studies. Historical examples are used to illustrate major points in the proposed framework.Recent studies (see for example Harvey 1988; Wilson 1988; Macintosh and Whitson 1990) have demonstrated the influence that the development of the welfare state has had on the transformation of physical exercise policy.2 These studies mostly focussed on single countries. Until now, there has not been a well theorized, comparative study of physical exercise policy within the context of the welfare state. The purpose of this paper is to sketch out a framework for such an analysis.In the first section, general considerations for the comparative analysis of physical exercise policy under the auspicious of the welfare state are presented. Section two discusses a proposed framework for such an analysis. The concluding section presents directions for further study. The paper presents a number of historical examples of physical exercise policy, drawn from ongoing research comparing Canada, England, France and Germany, to illustrate the major points of the proposed framework.Int Rev for Soc of Sport 28/1 (1993) ©

No abstract