How can the social theory of Pierre Bourdieu assist sport management research?

Highlights

► Practice theory will assist the development of sport management research. ► Reviews the previous uses of Bourdieu in the organized sport literature. ► Proposes Bourdieu's conjoined conceptual and methodological framework for further research in sport management.

Abstract

Currently there are some key issues that highlight the negative underbelly of sport and of those who manage it. Entrenched gender and racial inequality, corruption, and the marginalization of individuals and groups from organized sport suggest that the study of sport management requires a wider social and ethical dimension to its analyses. In attempting to develop critical research into sport management we ask how can the social theory of Pierre Bourdieu assist sport management research? This paper explicates the benefits of Bourdieu to sport management by suggesting a dynamic, relational approach to the implementation of his practice theory. We introduce the foundations of his opus and review their previous application in the study of organized sport. Drawing on these concepts we recommend adopting a longitudinal, critical, and ethnographic approach for a more nuanced understanding of how complex phenomena impact on the management of sport. This paper presents conceptual and methodological implications in conjunction with a call for further research to increase our critical understanding of sport management.

Keywords:

• Bourdieu
• Practice-theory
• Social capital
• Organizational field
• Organizational habitus
• Ethnography

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their sincere gratitude for the detailed insights provided by the Reviews Editor and the anonymous reviewers.

Notes

1 Tel.: [phone].

2 An additional form of capital, human capital has also been examined by sport management researchers (Barros & Barros, 2005) however, Bourdieu viewed human capital as subsumed within cultural capital (Lin, 2001).