Sport and Social Capital

Abstract

Even though voluntary sport organizations make up the largest part of the voluntary sector in many western countries, few studies have been carried out focusing on sport as part of civil society. Against this background, the aim of the article is to study how voluntary sport organizations operate and what social and political effects they might have through the concept of social capital. The theoretical part of the article identifies the most useful dimensions of the social-capital concept for this topic, lists hypotheses and suggests three relevant social mechanisms. Empirical studies show how social capital related to participation in voluntary sport organizations is distributed and the consequences this has for various forms of social capital: generalized trust and political commitments. Analyses are based on Norwegian data. The results show that being a member of a voluntary sport organization involves social capital which is conducive to generalized trust and political commitment. Yet, the effect of sport organizations is weaker than for voluntary organizations in general, stronger when membership in sport organizations goes together with other memberships (more weak ties) and stronger the less politicized the social effect in question.

If sport's the solution then what's the problem? The social significance of sport in the moral governing of ‘good’ and ‘healthy’ citizens in Sweden, 1922–1998

“…Coalter (2007) in the UK, and Walseth (2008) and Seippel (2006) in Norway, for example, point to the increasing use of the concept of social capital in sport policy and programmes where social capital is related to sport's perceived ability to contribute to social inclusion and regeneration, voluntarism, active citizenship, democracy, community well-being, social trust and political interest, inter-cultural knowledge and social networks. At the same time it is argued by these authors that the correlation between sport and various social benefits is complex and not to be taken for granted.…”

Beyond the Employment Agency: The Effect of Social Capital on the Duration of Unemployment

“…Finally, the social activity doing sports implies in many cases that an individual socially interacts with others and can lead, therefore, to the creation of external social capital at the group level. The formation of social capital via sport activities has been shown empirically (e.g., Seippel, 2006;Tonts, 2005). We suggest these six dimensions of an individual's social activities to be potential determinants for internal and external social capital at the group level.…”

Análise comparativa de clubes de futebol com escalões de formação de diferentes contextos

“…A facilidade de contato entre os diferentes colaboradores e pessoas envolvidas nos clubes pode potenciar o capital social e econômico (e.g., coesão comunitária, emprego e desempenho) 20 , as relações interpessoais e o sentimento de apoio por parte dos jovens 21 . Os atletas ao terem maior facilidade em contatar e se relacionar espaços existentes na localidade (piscina, pavilhão gimnodesportivo, quadra de tênis).…”