This interview originally appeared in the in July 2020 Sport and Geopolitics Program of the Geopolitical Sports Observatory.

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.

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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.

Special Features:

“Wonderful/Wretched Memories of Racial Dynamics in the Twin Cities, Minnesota” by Walter R. Jacobs. In this series, social scientists with ties to the Twin Cities share their stories and reflections about experiencing race in the “Land of 10,000 Lakes.”

• “Rethinking Minnesota Nice” by Danielle Lavin-Loucks

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.

Discoveries:

“How Genes and Gender Influence Educational Attainment” by Amy August. New research examines the interplay between genes and the environment to help us understand how gender inequalities in educational outcomes have changed over time.

From Our Partners:

Council on Contemporary Families:

“How Can Colleges Define Consent and Reduce Unwanted Sex? No easy answers here.” by Virginia Rutter.

#TSPClassics Collection:

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.

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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.

Special Features:

“Wonderful/Wretched Memories of Racial Dynamics in the Twin Cities, Minnesota” by Walter R. Jacobs. In this series, social scientists with ties to the Twin Cities share their stories and reflections about experiencing race in the “Land of 10,000 Lakes.”

• “The Sound of the Police” by Jerry Shannon and Sarah Shannon
• “Minnesota’s First Posthumous Pardon” by Garrick Percival
• “Black Life and Death in Minnesota” by Wendy Thompson Taiwo

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.

From Our Partners:

Council on Contemporary Families:

“Nell Frizzell on Her Forthcoming Book “The Panic Years” by Kimberly McErlean.

Sociological Images:

“The Hidden Cost of Your New Wardrobe” by Graham Nielsen.

“Racism & Hate Crimes in a Pandemic” by Kayla Preston.

From Our Community Pages:

• The Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies suggests that we’d be better off to give back some of the gifts passed down by our nation’s Founding Fathers.

#TSPClassics Collection:

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.

We also share a Special Feature by Louisa L. Roberts, called “Attitudes toward Gay and Lesbian People Have Grown More Accepting around the World. Why? And What Obstacles Remain?.” Roberts examines changing global attitudes towards same-sex sexuality.

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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.

Special Features:

“Wonderful/Wretched Memories of Racial Dynamics in the Twin Cities, Minnesota” by Walter R. Jacobs. In this series, social scientists with ties to the Twin Cities share their stories and reflections about experiencing race in the “Land of 10,000 Lakes.”

• “My Beautiful, Broken Minnesota” by Rachel Raimist
• “In This Country” by Catherine Ceniza Choy
• “Reflections on an Exceptional State” by Richard Lee

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.

In “Protests and Pandemic Jolt Public Opinion,” Ron Anderson examines the factors contributing to dizzying shifts in American attitudes toward the Black Lives Matter movement.

“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.

From Our Partners:

Council on Contemporary Families:

“Challenges Facing Cohabiting Couples Differ from those of Married Couples in this Crisis” by Amanda Miller and Sharon Sassler.

Sociological Images:

“What’s Trending? The Happiness Drop” by Evan Stewart.

Contexts:

“Police Officers Need Liability Insurance” by Rarkimm Fields.

“#courageisbeautiful but PPE is Better: White Supremacy, Racial Capitalism, and COVID-19” by Jean Beaman and Catherine J. Taylor.

“Intimacy on the Mats and in the Surf” by Kyle Green and Clifton Evers.

From Our Community Pages:

• The Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies reflects on visiting The War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam as an American.
• Feminist Reflections examines queerness in horror films.

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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.

Special Features:

“Wonderful/Wretched Memories of Racial Dynamics in the Twin Cities, Minnesota” by Walter R. Jacobs. In this series, social scientists with ties to the Twin Cities share their stories and reflections about experiencing race in the “Land of 10,000 Lakes.”

• “Blackasotan Identity Lanes” by Walter R. Jacobs
• “A Letter to an Old Friend about Race” by Darren Wheelock
• “Will Words Lead to Action?” by Marcia Williams

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.

In “How Individual Professional Liability Insurance Could Reform US Policing,” Stephen Wulff shows how police misconduct insurance would work in practice, and explains why more routinely holding individual officers financially accountable for their misconduct could reduce undue police violence.

From Our Partners:

Contexts:

“Discrimination Affects Generations” by Kelsey Drotning.

“Gender Sucks for You and Me” by Sydney Yarbrough.

“Racial Disparities in Job Seeking” by Natasha Chhabra.

Council on Contemporary Families:

“Uber-Rich Parents and Their Fixers May Be Just the Tip of the Iceberg. Turns Out It’s Hard for Teachers to Resist Pushy Parents” by Virginia Rutter.

Sociological Images:

“Viral Votes & Activism in the New Public Sphere” by Evan Stewart and Bob Rice.

“Party Affiliation in a Pandemic” by Ron Anderson.

From Our Community Pages:

The Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies discusses the need to dismantle white supremacy and reexamines the play Biedermann and the Arsonists as a parable of the complacency and cowardice of the common man.

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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.

Discoveries:

“Service and Social Class in College Students’ Plans” by Jean Marie Maier explores how participants in programs like Teach for America and Peace Corps differ by social class in their motivations for joining.

“Public Assistance Provides Food and Shelter” by Allison Nobles. New research examines the relationship between cash assistance and food insecurity and student homelessness.

Teaching TSP:

” Online Learning On the Fly, Lessons from Minnesota by Jillian LaBranche. A graduate-level “Teaching Sociology” course reports on how the mid-semester transition to online learning impacted the workload of teaching assistants.

Special Features:

“Legal Estrangement and Police Reform in Minneapolis.” Michelle Phelps, Amber Joy Powell, and Christopher Robertson trace the process of police reform through the eyes of the local police, professionals and activists involved in reform, and residents in North Minneapolis, the residential community most impacted by high rates of poverty, racial segregation, street crime, and police contact.

From Our Partners:

Council on Contemporary Families:

“When “Helicopters” Go to School: Who Gets Rescued and Who Gets Left Behind?” by Jessica McCrory Calarco.

“Can This Time at Home Help Your Marriage?” by Barbara Risman.

Sociological Images:

“Conflict Brings Us Together” by Evan Stewart.

From Our Community Pages:

Dispatches from a Dean suggests tangible steps that we can take as social scientists and educators to contribute to solutions to social problems.

Cyborgology examines the social psychology of “Zoom fatigue” and the risks and challenges of online sex work.

Sociological Toolbox explains how the disproportionate use of lethal force by police officers against Blacks is measured and provides actionable steps that antiracists can take to further social equity.

The Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies explores how a genocide’s number of casualties is used in debates over true victimhood and recaps an interview with Ran Zwigenberg about survivor politics, the gendered dimensions of social work, praxis of care, and the notion of social trauma.

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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.

Discoveries:

“Check it out, or check out? When audiences spend extra time with content” by Nick Mathews. New research investigates whether people are more likely to verify content when it comes from a source they distrust or one they consider credible. The results may surprise you.

Teaching TSP:

“Social distancing is no reason to stop service learning – just do it online.” In this article reposted from The Conversation, Marianne Krasny argues that online service learning can be just as valuable as service learning done in person — and sometimes more.

The Editors’ Desk:

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.

From Our Partners:

Contexts:

“Who Gets to Define What’s ‘Racist?’” by Musa al-Gharbi.

From Our Community Pages:

Cyborgology asks, “What’s so funny about derogatory memes?“

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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!  

During the Coronavirus Pandemic, it would be ludicrous to claim that there were No Big Surprises in the First Month. From the beginning, it started to seem like  We Are Living In A Computer Simulation and that Computer Voices are “Calling the Shots:” We had to “Take Courage,” they said. And so we asked ourselves Why We are Uncomfortable Talking to Our Computers, and Whose Problem Is It? that we don’t have enough toilet paper. How can we continue Squatting with Dignity in India and everywhere else without Some Resources that are absolutely necessary? We started to imagine The bathroom of the future, pondering topics like, just How does a waterless urinal work? (But, then again, What’s Ikea for? if not supplying answers to these Big Questions.)

Education Under COVID-19 has changed as well, and even though our own American Parents Emphasize Hard Work, we’re still not used to seeing that Caring is Work. As teachers and TAs, there are at least Three Reasons You Might Be Exhausted Right Now, but probably many more. Nobody is good enough, and we may accomplish Perfection, but not Brilliance, no matter what we do. It seems that Students of All Backgrounds Prefer Teachers of Color, but also Community Building in the Classroom. After all, Online learning will be hard for kids whose schools close – and the digital divide will make it even harder for some of them.

We keep trying to be The Way We Still Never Were, but “Doing Nothing” During the COVID-19 Suspension of everything is not an option. Merely acclimating to the new  “Normal” Is Not Good Enough. We must engage in Spring Cleaning, Food Shopping, and succumb to The Drain of Doing the Dishes. Make sure to Do Your Chores (Whatever They Are), lest you wind up living in a Care Vacuum. There really is No Rest for the Weary.

Moreover, we have entered a time When Breadwinning Is Not Enough; now we have to be Superheroes at work as well. We stretch the Definition of ’Hero’ when we say, “ This guy is my new hero!” everytime we go to the grocery store or convenient care. Yet we still don’t know How to Honor our Heroes adequately, and these Changes in How and When We Die are hard to handle. 

But depending on Where You’re From? you may now face Too Many Choices with regard to your time. Some of us have traded in Working for the Long Weekend for the indefinite future. The appropriate answer to the question, “Whose Time is it?”: your time! Some of us have managed to combine Work + Leisure = Weisure quite effectively, after all. Others have used the time to become YouTuber Influencers. (What is an internet celebrity anyway?)

While some may be writing odes On Graduate School Misery, the TSP editors and grad board have handled all of this with Creative Resistance and The beauty and strength of Wonder Woman. As they say, The More Things Change. And we’ve gotta be at least Halfway There by now. To this, I say, Frack Yes! and make a (hopefully) Graceful Exit. 

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.

Features:

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.

The Editors’ Desk:

In “Ode to TSP,” graduate editor Allison Nobles shares a heartfelt reflection on her time at the helm of The Society Pages.

Discoveries:

“Emcees and Communities, Black Placemaking as Artist-Shaping” by Neeraj Rajasekar. We bring you new research exploring how hip hop artists build community resilience and solidarity as they bring their artistic visions to life.

From Our Partners:

Council on Contemporary Families:

“Connecting Crises of Carework in the Era of Coronavirus” by Amber Crowell and Jennifer Randles.

From Our Community Pages:

Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies discusses connections between Wilhelm II’s Germany and Trump’s USA.

A Backstage Sociologist explores how the pandemic serves to remind us of the human condition.

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Friday was the final TSP Board meeting for long-time member and graduate editor Allison Nobles. Allison marked the occasion with some remarkably candid and heartfelt reflections of her time on TSP, which she generously agreed to share with our readers. Although a bit more backstage than our usual TSP fare, we offer Allison’s remarks because they are such a powerful tribute to the special group of graduate students who make TSP possible–AND because it’s more important than ever to share such moments of gratitude, grace, and togetherness with each other in the face of the COVID-19 crisis.

— TSP Editors Doug Hartmann and Chris Uggen

In the spring semester of my first year in grad school, in 2015, several of my cohort-mates joined The Society Pages (TSP). I tried to pretend not to be interested, but in reality, I was super jealous. I remember one morningI heard the TSP crew laughing from another room. It just sounded like everyone was having a great time. Plus, my cohort-mates were actually writing stuff in their first year of grad school and sharing it all over facebook — “look at this new thing I wrote!” 

I knew I had to get in there. 

Essentially, The Society Pages  is a website where grad students (and others) write stuff about sociological research — what new research is coming out, how sociology can speak to current events, and so on. But it’s much, much more than that. TSP supplies you with all sorts of intangible skills and social connections that go beyond its purpose on paper. 

For me, TSP was a community, a space where I found friendship and support, and a place where I learned I had value. Maybe that sounds harsh — but as a grad student in my early 20s, constantly struggling with imposter syndrome and trying to figure out my place in the world, I seriously needed that validation. Through my time with TSP, I learned that my writing is worth reading, that people actually want to know my opinions, that they cherish my friendship, and that they value my leadership. 

I also learned a lot about the field of sociology, about academia, and I picked up quite a few useful skills along the way. Sociology is HUGE, diverse, and I learned that mostly, I like all of it. It doesn’t have to be boring — there’s plenty of space for creativity in sociology — and it doesn’t have to be jargony or confusing for the sake of being confusing. In my time at TSP, I came to truly value public sociology and doing public sociology in a way that can be understood by people who don’t know much about it. 

Here’s another big thing I learned: my colleagues are freaking awesome. When you’re in grad school, it’s hard to get a sense of your fellow grad students’ talents, skills, and ambitions (again, see imposter syndrome). You often don’t even get to read anything they’ve written until it’s published in a journal. In TSP, you not only get to see people write stuff pretty often, you get to workshop their writing during Friday meetings, hear their creative ideas in brainstorming sessions, and listen to why they are passionate about particular research during the days we pitch discovery articles. And if you pay attention, you also learn what your colleagues are good at: you see who is great at rephrasing things other people say, who asks really detailed questions you never would have thought of, who sees the “big picture,” who can type and talk at the same time, who gives constructive yet supportive feedback, who can teach you how to do a literature search without making you feel like a kindergartener, and whose energy makes everyone else perk up. To all of my colleagues during my time at TSP, I’m so glad I got to learn about you.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that I spent nearly my whole term as grad student editor suffering some pretty serious and persistent concussion symptoms. I spend a lot of time thinking about how much more I could have done if that wasn’t the case, how much more I could have written, the new blogs I could have started, the ideas that never came to fruition. But I’m going to trust my very smart colleagues who have told me numerous times what a good job I’ve done as editor — and I know from the way they say it there isn’t an asterisk that says “even though you had a brain injury.” 

I’ve never told anyone this, but I think in some ways TSP saved me during the past two years. Sure, maybe sometimes I pushed myself too hard or tried to do more than my brain was capable of because I was editor and felt like I couldn’t take a break. But I probably would have done that no matter what. TSP gave me a supportive space to still feel productive — something I desperately needed (see definition of grad student). It also kept me connected to people. I wasn’t able to attend very many things in the department at that time or really go out and do anything (I was social distancing before it was cool). TSP was my community. I showed up every Friday for our board meeting — often wearing dark sunglasses and a floppy hat — knowing I would be greeted with smiles, hugs, and sometimes bagels. 

For all of those things and more, I say thank you.