Introduction: Sport and Social Theorists — A Plurality of Perspectives

Abstract

In 1997 Alan Ingham and Peter Donnelly published a long and challenging article detailing the history of the sociology of sport in North America. In conclusion, they posed the twin questions: ‘Is any position hegemonic in our current stage of development?’ and ‘Should any position be hegemonic in the future?’ While answering firmly in the negative on both counts, Ingham and Donnelly lamented the lack of constructive dialogue within sport sociology across the spectrum of theoretical standpoints, rather than within those standpoints. Despite their North American focus, Ingham and Donnelly’s observations have a striking resonance within other English-speaking settings where no single theoretical perspective prevails in sport studies while the climate is often fractious between rival schools. From Australia and New Zealand, we may cite the conflicts between traditionally powerful ‘narrative history’ analysts of sports and those more inclined towards sociological or cultural studies perspectives (Rowe et al. 1997). In the UK, rancorous exchanges have decorated relations between scholars from different disciplinary backgrounds.