Sociology of sport

Sociology of sport

The teaching of sports sociology aims to sensitise students to the social significance and dynamics of sport. It enables them to understand sport as a social space in which social, cultural, economic and political factors interact and which itself has an impact on these factors.

A central goal of sports sociology is to provide students with analytical tools and theories to critically discuss the social phenomenon of ‘sport’ and to critically question the meaning of concepts such as equal opportunities, inclusion, identity formation or discrimination, which are often used unreflectively in practice. This enables them to recognise how sport as a social phenomenon influences social norms and is influenced by them, and what effects this has on individuals and groups.

The significance of this course lies in the fact that it enables our graduates to discuss and shape sport not only in terms of performance and results, but also in a critically reflective manner.

Lecture on Sociology of Sport

In this lecture, students gain an initial insight into the particularities of a sociological approach to the phenomenon of ‘sport’. The social and cultural embeddedness of sporting activity becomes particularly clear when contrasted with students' own ideas, everyday behaviours and assessments. Only then does it become clear that it is by no means a matter of course that in a 400-metre athletics race, people start running at a starting signal in order to return to exactly the same place where they started as quickly as possible.

The fact that ‘sport’ is a social phenomenon makes its development understandable not only from a historical perspective. Only on the basis of this understanding is it possible to have an in-depth and detached discussion of this development and this phenomenon in its current form.