Informalisation and sport: The case of jogging/running in the usa (1960–2000)

Abstract

This chapter deals with the application of informalisation theory to sports. More specifically, it explores the informalising and reformalising phases occurring in the development of jogging/running in the USA (1960–2000). A spiralling fashion of informalising and reformalising trends was observed in the changes of jogging/running during three different periods: First period (informalisation), during the 1960s and 1970s, constituting the first jogging explosion; Second period (early reformalisation), during the 1980s; and Third period (consolidated reformalisation), during the 1990s, constituting the second explosion of running.