Jean Harvey

Not Just a Game is a collection of essays on sport sociology organized around four topics: The Historical Determinants of Contemporary Sport, The Organizational Structure of Sport, the Ideology of Sport and The Social Determinants of Sports Participation.

Published in 1988, some aspects of this collection are clearly out of date. They are also somewhat uneven in quality and depth. However, as a point of departure and an overview of some of the topics to consider in the field, I found it useful.

The over-arching theme is that of state and upper middle-class control over sport in Canada. It mainly covers issues of class and gender in sport; racial issues are barely touched upon.

Among the topics covered are: the effects of modernization and rationalization on traditional sport; amateurism and related controversies; sports in the workplace (including its place in the era of labor activism); the business of professional sport; the commoditization of sport; the manipulative characteristics of televised sport; inequality in women’s athletic opportunities; the objectification and marginalization of female athletes; the rationalization and standardization of a positive heroic model for male athletes; and the changes to elite Olympic sport (and particularly its athletes) as it moved from the dictates of amateurism to control by the state.… (mehr)