Marxism And Interactionism In Sport

For millions of people around the world sport appears to provide an escape from the toil of everyday life. In fact, sport has become so globalized and commercialized that it is often exempt from critique or thoughtful reflection. Therefore, I will analyze contemporary sport through the lenses of two contradictory yet profound theoretical approaches: Marxism and Interactionism.
Marxism is a philosophy that critiques class struggles under a capitalistic society. At the heart of this theory rests the Base-Superstructure Model in which everything can be explained in terms of economic relations. Society has an economic base upon which everything else is built and this hierarchical structure highlights the social injustices permeating in the modern
Marxist’s approach to sport is one that is both critical, yet simplistic: the bourgeoisie own the means of production while the proletariat owns the labor power. In other words, the wealthy class is able to utilize the working class, or athletes, as mere resources for their capitalistic endeavors. On the façade, athletes appear to be participants in this glorified activity; however, it becomes apparent that athletes are in fact just as powerless as the common factory workers. According to Marxism, in commercialized society, the goal of social institutions is to work towards profit maximization, which consequently protects the power of the upper class. As a result, proponents of such a belief argue that these workers lose control of their everyday lives and develop feelings of powerlessness, which culminate in their alienation. The Polish Marxist Franz Jakubowski agrees with this notion and argues, “Sport, despite the perception of participants and spectators, belongs to the realm of ‘unfree activity’. The rationality of capitalist production, based on commodity exchange, reduces all individuality to a minimum. It organizes and controls people not only in their work but in their leisure”. How can athletes be free if
Interactionism is a micro perspective focused on the study of society from the ground up. Paramount to this theory is an acute attention to identities and the social construct of a culture. Contradictory to Marxism, Interactionism explains society as a sphere that is constantly evolving and subsequently a tool to form identities. Sport, explained by the Dramaturgical Model, is seen as a series of ‘stage’ performances, whereby athletes play a scripted role based on their status in society and their perception of themselves. Sport can then be seen as distinctive cultural spaces that foster the formation of both individual and group identities. This notion is reinforced by the socialization of subcultures – a unique group that exists within a larger cultural grouping - through which members of a particular group conform to its norms and behaviors. According to the Marxist theory, socialization is the effect of social forces and institutions working on individuals. However, for the interactionist theory, socialization focuses on interpersonal processes whereby individuals are actively learning the ‘rules’ of an evolving social game. Individuals are not passive recipients of rules but rather they react, interpret, challenge and redefine the very rules that are established in society.