Welcome back! This week we bring you a new installment in our Wonderful/Wretched series on racial dynamics in the Twin Cities along with an analysis of the role social trust may play in combating the pandemic. We also feature an interview with Editor Doug Hartmann about athlete activism and the Black Lives Matter movement.
In “Power of Social Trust and the Pandemic,” Ron Anderson explores how the social forces of trust and solidarity may influence peoples’ beliefs, attitudes and social relationships in the time of COVID-19.
Estelle Brun - Research Assistant at the French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs (IRIS) on July 9, 2020
This interview originally appeared in the in July 2020 Sport and Geopolitics Program of the Geopolitical Sports Observatory.
US President Calvin Coolidge and Washington Senators pitcher Walter Johnson shake hands, presenting the “American League diploma” for the Senators winning the AL in 1924. Photo via Wikipedia.
THE SEPARATION BETWEEN SPORTS AND POLITICS?
American presidents have often been labeled as “Sport Presidents” (Green and Hartmann 2012), utilising sport to benefit their image and popularity.
IRIS: How can the myth of “sports and politics don’t mix” be explained?
DR HARTMANN: I think it starts from our idealised conception of both sports and politics, idealised in the sense of their stereotypical definitions and commonsense cultural conceptions. On the athletic front, we think of sport generally as a very pure, safe and even positive, unifying kind of space or social force. For some people, it’s not idealised but more just a matter of entertainment or distraction from other things. The biggest idea is that sport is supposed to be somehow special, separate and distinct from everything else in our regular social lives, and that we have to protect that. On the politics side, I think a lot of people, in the United States at least, think of politics as dirty, complicated and inherently contested and conflicted. You can see almost right away that these two don’t go together very well. And, in fact, much of this modern thing we now call sport was built around this distinction, the idea or ideology, the mythology of sport being sacred, progressive and safe from other things, explicitly in contrast to their idea of the dirty complicated politics of the real world; from its inception, the sporting establishment has wanted it to be sanitized or safe from that.
The reason we sometimes call it a myth is that, in reality, sport and politics are deeply, almost inherently and always intertwined. Often, we don’t recognize this because some of what we scholars would say is political isn’t constructed or understood as political by those who are doing the actual talk about sports and politics in society. Some of the best examples would be around nationalism and the use of flags and anthems in ceremonies that celebrate the nation-state in athletic arenas. While many participants just think of this as normal or typical and not particularly controversial (and thus not “political”), from an analytic point of view, this can be seen as a kind of politics, a politics of culture and symbolism used to celebrate and reinforce certain notions of nation and identity. Because so many people agree with the messages, or just take them for granted or even ignore them, it seems harmless or apolitical even though its political content and function are pretty overt when you think about it. And so there, I think, is kind of the root of the challenge—that, on the one hand, sports and politics are always intermingled in many ways that we often can’t see or aren’t aware of, but that we think they shouldn’t be both because of our conception of sport as a special place and politics as a problematic one.The root of the challenge is that, on the one hand, sports and politics are always intermingled in many ways that we often can’t see, but that we think they shouldn’t be because of our conception of sport as a special place and politics as a problematic one.
Hello, hello! This week we bring you a new installment in our Wonderful/Wretched series on racial dynamics in the Twin Cities along with sociological research exploring how social and genetic factors combine to influence educational attainment. We also share two #TSPClassics: the first rounds up research on abortion providers in the pre-Roe v. Wade era, while the second explores heterosexual attitudes towards same-sex relationships.
If you are a social scientist who also has ties to the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul but now lives elsewhere, we’d love to include your stories as a component of this collective action. Stories from White social scientists as well as from social scientists of color are welcome, as we aspire to document the full range of experiences of the racial dynamics of the Twin Cities. Please send your reflections to Walt Jacobs at walt.jacobs@sjsu.edu by July 10.
With the Supreme Court’s decision this week to strike down a Louisiana law restricting abortion, we bring back “Abortion Providers before Roe v. Wade,” a TROT by Allison Nobles that rounds up historical research on abortion providers before abortion was legal in the United States.
And, as Pride month draws to a close, we share “Acceptance vs. Advocacy of LGBTQ Rights” by Isabel Arriagada. This piece recalls a Los Angeles Times op-ed in which sociologist Amin Ghaziani explains that heterosexuals are often willing to extend ‘formal rights’ to gay couples, but they are less willing to demonstrate political engagement or material support.
Welcome Back! This week we bring you three new installments in our Wonderful/Wretched series on racial dynamics in the Twin Cities. We also share two #TSPClassics highlighting LGBTQ issues: one focuses on partnering in rural communities, while the other explores the rise in acceptance of same-sex sexuality worldwide.
If you are a social scientist who also has ties to the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul but now lives elsewhere, we’d love to include your stories as a component of this collective action. Stories from White social scientists as well as from social scientists of color are welcome, as we aspire to document the full range of experiences of the racial dynamics of the Twin Cities. Please send your reflections to Walt Jacobs at walt.jacobs@sjsu.edu.
We bring back “Queer in the Country,” a TROT by Sarah Catherine Billups which rounds up research on the identity formation, visibility, and health outcomes of LGBTQ individuals in rural areas.
Happy Friday! This week we add three more special features to our Wonderful/Wretched series on racial dynamics in the Twin Cities. We also bring you a special feature investigating changes in public opinion about the Black Lives Matter movement, an interview with a prominent Harvard sociologist, and an examination of trends in happiness.
If you are a social scientist who also has ties to the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul but now lives elsewhere, we’d love to include your stories as a component of this collective action. Stories from White social scientists as well as from social scientists of color are welcome, as we aspire to document the full range of experiences of the racial dynamics of the Twin Cities. Please send your reflections to Walt Jacobs at walt.jacobs@sjsu.edu.
“The Fire This Time,” a reprint from the Harvard Gazette by staff writer Christina Pazzanese, features a deep and wide-ranging interview with sociologist Lawrence D. Bobo about police killings of black men, racial bigotry, and violence.
Welcome back! This week we bring you a series of special features showcasing reflections on racial dynamics in the Twin Cities and a special feature unpacking the potential benefits and challenges of requiring police officers to carry their own misconduct insurance.
If you are a social scientist who also has ties to the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul but now lives elsewhere, we’d love to include your stories as a component of this collective action. Stories from White social scientists as well as from social scientists of color are welcome, as we aspire to document the full range of experiences of the racial dynamics of the Twin Cities. Please send your reflections to Walt Jacobs at walt.jacobs@sjsu.edu.
Welcome back! During the past two cataclysmic weeks, sociologists have been working to process the horrific murder of George Floyd. Some have channeled their thoughts and emotions into the pieces featured here on TSP. These include research examining the experiences with and attitudes towards police among Black residents of North Minneapolis, an analysis of how social movements like the recent protests for justice generate social consensus, and advice for educators working to make the world a more just and democratic place.
Welcome back! This week, we feature new research on media verification, a reflection on the advantages of e-service learning, and a synthesis of TSP titles commemorating this strange semester’s end.
In “Ode to TSP: COVID-19 Edition,” Amy August “celebrates” one of the strangest and most challenging semesters we’ve faced, using the titles of recent and classic TSP posts.
TSP Classics:
“Screen Time in Summer Time” by Amy August. Last year, The Atlantic talked with Jessica Calarco about how screen time guidelines make assumptions that may not be true for all families. In the time of the Covid-19 school closures, her message seems especially apt.
In “celebration” of the most challenging academic semester of our lives, our summer grad editor Amy August challenged herself to write a column based only on recent and classic TSP titles. Here’s what she produced. Feel free to link to actual stories along the way!
As the Coronavirus pandemic spread, Krogers experienced a toilet paper shortage. Photo by Danielteolijr via Wikipedia.
Happy Friday! This week, we feature a guest post on the UFC; a reflection on TSP, community, and belonging; and new research on hip hop. We also share sociological accounts of Covid caretaking and the illusion-destroying power of the pandemic.
In “Refusing to Throw in the Towel,” Kyle Green and Nancy Kidder examine the story of the UFC’s decision to resume fighting and what it reveals about the social pressures sporting organizations face in returning to action.
