The global and the local in sports technology

Abstract

The present article analyses the effects of globalization and the influence of local cultures on the development and use of sports technologies, such as, for example, sailing boats, bicycles, skis, etc., and on market expansion in the commercialization of sports products. It is pointed out that only when there is a profound differentiation in a specific sports technology can the diversity of global and local effects become visible. Against the thesis of a world standardization of uniform goods and services and, therefore, of an evening up in the practice of sports, is the fact that with technological development the “degrees of liberty” increase enormously, opening up a practically inexhaustible space for individualization and adaptation to local cultures.

Keywords:

• sports technology
• globalization
• local cultures
• societal development

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Klaus Heinemann

Klaus Heinemann is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Hamburg (Germany). His main areas of research are the sociology of organizations and economy. He has also regularly been working in sociology and economy of sport.