Abstract
The present study aims to map the research published in the Journal of the Latin American Socio-cultural Studies of Sport (JLASSS) in order to provide a panorama of the development of socio-cultural sports science research within the Asociación Latinoamericana de Estudios Socioculturales del Deporte (ALESDE—Latin-American Association of Socio-Cultural Studies of Sport). In order to accomplish this aim, we catalogued the journal papers from the first edition (2011) to the last (2018), which comprised a total of 91 papers written by 153 different researchers and published in 14 issues. The most recurrent themes were related to social, cultural, and historical aspects, corresponding to 48.35% of the publications. However, despite the predominance of these themes, the thematic plurality of the journal is expressive. Therefore, it is evident that JLASSS presents an interdisciplinary approach to the human and social sciences when scientifically addressing the sports phenomenon. As a conclusion, this paper indicates that the field related to the socio-cultural studies of sport in Latin America is under construction and that ALESDE and JLASSS intend to be the protagonists in the strengthening of this field.
Introduction
French historian Georges Vigarello (2008) claims that sports practice was one of the activities that expanded the most during the 20th century, attracting the attention of millions of individuals. Thus, the sports phenomenon gradually attracted the interest of researchers, who provided it with a more accurate view as an object of study, mainly through reflections based on the natural sciences. However, Marchi Júnior (2015a) emphasizes that sports research based on the human and social sciences, which gained prominence only in the 1960s, is relatively recent when compared to research in the biological field.
According to Pike et al. (2015), the establishment of new research interests based on sociological perspectives may be attributed to the creation of the International Sociology of Sport Association (ISSA), formerly known as the Committee for the Sociology of Sport (ICSS), in 1965 in Geneva (Switzerland). In 1966, the association started to publish the International Review of Sport Sociology, whose name was later changed to International Review for the Sociology of Sport (IRSS). The journal has also an important role in the area (Pike et al., 2015). In addition, it is worth mentioning the creation of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sports (NASSS), in 1978, which publishes the Sociology of Sport Journal. Both entities still contribute significantly to the consolidation of the area in the world scenario.
However, the interest in developing research in this field was not restrained to European and North American journals and associations. The Korean Sociology of Sport Society (KSSS), the Japanese Sociology of Sport Society (JSSS), and the Asociación Latinoamericana de Estudios Socioculturales del Deporte (ALESDE—Latin-American Association of Socio-Cultural Studies of Sport) are examples of institutions that are important to the strengthening of the academic discussion towards the consolidation and appreciation of this field outside the European and North American contexts.
Regarding the Latin American context, the academic movements that sought to conduct studies on sports based on the social and human sciences started to develop only in the last third of the 20th century (Bracht et al., 2015). One factor that fostered more heterogeneous discussions about sport in its polysemic nature was its inclusion in the Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil, the largest Latin American country. In the Brazilian Constitution of 1988, sport was established as a social right and was divided in four dimensions: educational, participation, performance, and training (Brasil, 1998).
The educational dimension of sport is practiced in the Brazilian school system, with the purpose of helping children fully develop their citizenship. The participation dimension encompasses the sport modalities practiced in order to provide greater social interaction, health promotion, and preservation of the environment. The performance dimension aims at results in both national and international contexts. Lastly, the training dimension of sport is related to the initial acquisition of sports knowledge and to the improvement of sports practices at varying levels of involvement (recreational and/or competitive). These dimensions can be considered when sport is understood as a polysemic phenomenon, that is, sport understood as a phenomenon that has innumerable interpretations and functions in society (Marchi Júnior, 2015b).
However, even with the inclusion of sport into the political agenda of Latin American countries, it was only in 2001 that Latin American researchers began to foment more strongly the discussions on sociology of sport in their countries. Such intellectuals, in an attempt to establish their field, identified the need of creating an institutional representation in the international scientific community (ALESDE, 2010). These researchers started to hold meetings and discussions on sociology of sport and, in 2007, during the XXVI Congreso de la Asociación Latinoamericana de Sociología (ALAS), in Guadalajara (Mexico), ALESDE was unofficially founded. The association aimed to bring together researchers from Latin America willing to produce and exchange diversified work in the sociology of sport (ALESDE, 2010).
According to Marchi Júnior et al. (2019), the possibility of creating a specific association focused on the sociology of sport in Latin America can be attributed to the interest of its researchers, since the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century, in giving visibility to their scientific productions. The authors also emphasized the important role of institutions, research groups, and individuals in producing the appropriate scenario for the development of the area in the region. Souza and Marchi Júnior (2010), when analyzing the moment of constitution of the socio-cultural studies of sport in Brazil, indicate that the area began its production in three ways: (a) anthropological studies of soccer; (b) critical theory of sport; and (c) historical studies of sports practices.
The first meeting of ALESDE occurred in the format of a congress, from October 30th to November 1st, 2008, at the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), in Curitiba (Brazil). This was an event of great importance for the consolidation of ALESDE. After its first congress, its researchers started holding other similar events every two years in other Latin American countries, such as Venezuela (2010), Chile (2012), Colombia (2014), Mexico (2016), and, once again, Brazil (2018). The next congress will happen in 2020, in Chile, along with the World Congress of Sociology of Sport (ISSA, 2016).
It is worth noting that all actions involved in the process of strengthening ALESDE, which were initially based on congresses promoted by the institution, have been extremely important for its development and consolidation. One of the key elements for the consolidation of the institution was the publication of the first issue of the Journal of the Latin American Socio-cultural Studies of Sport (JLASSS) in 2011. The aim of JLASSS is to support and disseminate socio-cultural studies on sport in Latin America, and to become an important asset for the scientific consolidation of its researchers in an international scenario. The journal’s scope covers socio-cultural phenomena in a variety of ways, which can be approached through sociological, historical, anthropological, political, educational, and philosophical analyses. Therefore, JLASSS may be considered an interdisciplinary journal in the human and social sciences regarding its handling of sports phenomena (ALESDE, 2010).
According to Cornejo Améstica (2015), the effort to hold congresses and to constantly publish editions of JLASSS emphasizes the actions that ALESDE has taken in order to obtain more international recognition, aiming to become an essential institution for the development of socio-cultural studies on sport in Latin America. Therefore, considering the aforementioned aspects, this study aims to present the development of ALESDE through the mapping of JLASSS, thus constructing an overview of this journal’s publications. Regarding this aim, we intend to answer the following research question: What is the panorama of JLASSS publications? The specific objectives are: (a) to map the thematic profile of the publications; and (b) to verify who the researchers are and what institutions transit through the journal’s pages.
It is also relevant to justify our interest in analyzing this specific journal. The choice was based on the lack of studies worldwide aiming to understand how socio-cultural research on sports in Latin America has been established. However, as Dart (2014) emphasized, it is important to consider that academic journals should not be viewed as the total representation of the sociology of sport, but rather as a valuable means of academic interlocution.
Therefore, this study emerges as the first step to understand the development of socio-cultural research on sport in this region, fostering international discussions and drawing attention to geographical areas not as widely studied as North America and Europe (Tian and Wise, 2019). In addition, the data herein presented may help in understanding how the field of socio-cultural studies are taking shape in JLASSS and ALESDE (through thematic analysis, researchers, and institutions that participate in this medium) because it is through the visualization of the structure that one can perceive the relationships of agents, which determine the laws and issues that are important in the scientific field (Bourdieu, 2004).
Methodology
The purpose of this research is to provide a quantitative and qualitative overview of the papers published in JLASSS. Considering such an aim, the methodological model of content analysis was chosen. According to Guerra (2006), Bardin (2011), and David and Sutton (2011), this analytical model requires the exploration of the empirical material to first collect quantitative data and then conduct a qualitative analysis of it, which results in the description, classification and interpretation of the investigated reality.
In order to conduct this study, all of the journal’s issues (2011–2018) were analyzed. Ninety-one papers were published during the period analyzed (53 in Portuguese, 33 in Spanish, and five in English). We catalogued the papers in a spreadsheet, recording the following information: authors; the universities to which the authors were linked; the universities’ countries; year of publication; language of the text; number of authors per paper; main theme; and bibliographic references. The information related to the authors that were not found in the publications was collected from the Lattes Platform 1 or from the websites of the institutions to which they were linked. It is worth noting that all the aforementioned information is analyzed throughout the text, for such data can contribute to illustrate the journal’s panorama, depicting the different tendencies present in the journal. In order to compile the bibliographical references, all the references cited by the authors at the end of the papers are catalogued manually. In this sense, each time an author had her or his work referenced, it was counted only once, being represented by the author’s surname to facilitate the development of cataloguing (Ex.: BOURDIEU, P.). If the authorship of the paper referred to another text by the same author, it was counted a second time, so a single article could be used in more than one text by Bourdieu, for example, while another paper could not use it, which denotes that not necessarily the number of papers catalogued in the study refers to the total number of references counted at the end (presented in Table 6).
It is worth noting that the use of softwares that perform the counting and crossing of data in articles, such as Citespace and Citesnake, could not occur, since JLASSS has no indexing in the databases contemplated by the softwares. In this sense, the manual work previously detailed was necessary for the implementation of this study.
In order to identify the main themes of the papers, we conducted a preliminary and/or complete reading of them, subsequently organizing them into categories that grouped similar themes. Thus, we classified the papers according to categories systematized by Souza et al. (2016), who have developed a broad categorization of thematic areas for possible analysis of knowledge production around sport. Despite the fact that 11 categories were initially created, we used only six of them in this study, which were chosen from the analysis of the papers’ themes. The other categories were not presented in the texts catalogued in JLASSS, that is, the categories “rules and arbitration, coaches and trainers, health, sports initiation and basic categories and nutritional aspects” have not yet been addressed in the published texts; therefore, due to this, they have not been included in the analyses. Finally, it is noted that other thematic models were also seen, but did not seem to cover the specifics of the issues addressed in JLASSS. In this sense, we consider that the selected themes seemed to bring a plurality consistent with the issues addressed in the journal.
The process of data collection, classification, and analysis was conducted according to the method proposed by Van Tulder et al. (2003); that is, it included the participation of all the researchers involved in the study. The cross-checking technique was used to classify the papers, based on the systematization presented by Souza et al. (2016). In order to classify a paper in one of the categories elaborated by the aforementioned authors, it was necessary for all the researchers of this study to engage in a detailed process of investigation, in which at least three of the four researchers should agree with the classification.
The categories described by Souza et al. (2016) were used in this study because they were categories that analyzed studies on sport in its entirety, and not only through the socio-cultural strand, because we understand that the scientific academic field of physical education and sport in Latin America is in the process of development, not presenting clear delimitations of the areas. This factor hinders the establishment of purely sociological research (Alabarces, 2011), so the presence of multidisciplinary aspects becomes evident in the content of the respective journal analyzed. In this sense, the categories triggered from the reading of the material published in the periodical were as follows:
The table was used to concentrate the information previously declared, generating data that will help in solving the research problem and achieving the proposed objectives. Next, the description of the data and interpretation of the number of publications indexed in JLASSS and their chronological distribution will be presented, followed by the information of the authors, institutions, and countries most frequent in publications, the themes presented in the papers, and the authors most referenced.
An overview of JLASSS: Indicators of the development of the socio-cultural studies of sport in Latin America
In order to understanding how an area evolves, a broad repertoire of data and preliminary analysis is required to avoid succumbing to established discourses (Ferreira, 2011). Malcolm (2012) concurs by suggesting that “field studies” should be carried out cautiously, paying attention to the discourse made by agents established in the field of sports sociology that were equipped with particular interests and impressionistic assessments. Therefore, it is necessary to build a general panorama of socio-cultural studies in Latin America, since it is a particular context, to later highlight the characteristics of the formation of the field of sports studies from a sociological perspective. Therefore, in this paper, the intention is to present data and offer a reflection on the development of the socio-cultural studies of sport in Latin America from the analysis of JLASSS. Reflection means that only one journal’s panorama has been provided in this paper and thus cannot represent the whole spectrum of research on sport that is based on the social and human sciences in Latin America. In addition, such strong statements rely on the challenge of gathering valid and reliable data, which was already highlighted by Seippel (2018) when addressing the difficult task of reading all the available content of an area such as the sociology of sport.
It should be noted that the establishment of both socio-cultural research on sport in Latin America and JLASSS is a recent development compared to established journals in Europe and the United States, such as the International Review for the Sociology of Sport (1966), the Journal of Sport and Social Issues (1977) and the Sociology of Sport Journal (1984) (Dart, 2014).
Dart (2014), when analyzing the three aforementioned journals, found, as of 2011, an average of 640 original papers published since their creation. Therefore, when comparing these results to the ones found in this study, it is possible to note that JLASSS publishes fewer papers per year, as shown by the absolute frequencies in Table 1.
Number of papers published per year.
Table 1 shows that, despite a few oscillations, the journal has maintained a relatively even number of published papers throughout the years. This should be seen as an achievement, because researchers often prefer to publish in scientific journals with impact factors, which inhibits the establishment of newer journals, such as JLASSS, that are not yet included in such scales.
It is also worth noting that the journal published only one issue in 2011. It has subsequently published two issues per year which demonstrates that, despite being a recent journal (launched in 2011), efforts have been made to keep its publication active, since scientific journals are considered one of the most relevant means of scientific dialogue, occupying a powerful space within the academic field (Dart, 2013). The aforementioned data show an increase in the number of publications since its launch. This happens, we understand, very much in view of what Alabarces (2011) attributes to the qualitative and quantitative improvement of work in the field of sports sociology since the beginning of the 21st century in Latin America as a whole. The numbers of authors per paper are highlighted in order to demonstrate how the production of JLASSS has been configured.
Authors per paper
The following data is presented in order to demonstrate how the production of JLASSS has been established by analyzing the number of authors in the journal. Unlike previous findings (Lazzarotti Filho et al., 2012; Souza et al., 2016), which indicate a tendency by other Brazilian and Latin American journals to publish in a collaborative form, a significant proportion of papers published by JLASSS were written by individual authors.
Table 2 shows that 43 of the published papers were written by only one author. This has occurred despite the fact that many papers are connected to the area of physical education, which presents a scenario of co-authorships established by a research model based on the biological sciences (Rigo et al., 2011). This situation may be explained by the epistemological basis of the research lines interested in publishing in JLASSS, which follow the perspectives of the social and human sciences in which individual writing is more common (Rigo et al., 2011).
Number of authors per paper published by JLASSS.
Even though a high percentage of these papers are published individually, it should be noted that collaborative authorship is also common in the journal. This model of production tends to be supported by the fact that publishing papers is the most sought result by both young and established researchers, turning co-authorship into one of the most viable strategies to become established in the field (Alabarces, 2011). Additionally, these collaborations can be indicators of scientific partnerships between researchers, countries, and institutions (Leta and Cruz, 2003).
It is noteworthy that, since its creation in 2011, 153 authors have published in the journal. Nonetheless, the academic background of the researchers who have published in the journal is diverse, varying from those who are taking their first steps in the academic life, such as postgraduate students, to well-established researchers, such as the American researcher Jay Coakley, the British researcher David Kirk, and the Argentinean researcher Pablo Alabarces. This panorama shows that the sociology of sport is still in the process of consolidation as a field of knowledge in Latin America, and that its fostering depends on several researchers, irrespective of phase of academic career. This is a slightly different situation than the one observed by Dart (2013), who, when interviewing editors of European and American journals, found that they considered the postgraduate and undergraduate public as secondary and tertiary publishers, respectively, valuing those who had more academic qualifications and a certain prominence in the field. Thus, such comparison shows, since young and established investigators work together and/or publish in the same journal, that this field is still in the process of construction and that the public interest in research on the sociology of sport is increasing.
The next aspect analyzed refers to the university affiliations of the researchers who have most frequently published in JLASSS.
Universities
Sixty-five different universities were catalogued, but Table 3 shows only the universities to which the authors who published at least one paper in JLASSS were affiliated. This data was included for they may bring more details of the current panorama of JLASSS and provide insights on the plurality of institutions that have been interested in publishing their research in the journal.
Universities to which the authors who published at least one paper in JLASSS were affiliated (according to information taken from the paper itself/Lattes Platform).
The Federal University of Paraná (UFPR) excelled with 20 authors who published at least one paper, a number that can be attributed to the partnership that the journal has with UFPR, as JLASSS is headquartered at this university and all its editors are and/or were somehow linked to it. In addition, the postgraduate program in physical education at UFPR has a research line focused on the theme Socio-cultural Aspects of Sport and Leisure, which is composed of six prominent researchers in the Brazilian and Latin American scenario who are directly linked to such matters. This research line encompasses studies that focus on sport and leisure manifestations through sociological, political, historical, philosophical, educational, and cultural perspectives. It is worth remembering that the institution affiliation was catalogued in accordance with the period of publication of the text in the JLASSS, that is, this affiliation may have changed at the time of writing.
It is worth mentioning, as Souza and Marchi Júnior (2010) indicate, that the Centre for Research in Sports, Leisure and Sociology of the Department of Physical Education of UFPR has an important role in the consolidation of a sociological interpretation of sport in Brazil. The authors also point out that the pioneering nature of its researchers in the area and the efforts made to hold the first meeting of ALESDE in 2008 at UFPR contributed to the prominence of this institution’s production in JLASSS. In addition, it is noteworthy to mention that the centre aims to be internationally recognized for the development of the sociology of sport in Latin America. Due to the huge scope found in UFPR’s research line, its researchers published papers on social, cultural, and historical themes as well as on sports public policies that analyze tensions and power disputes in Brazil.
Following UFPR, the University of São Paulo (USP), which is the largest in Brazil, presented six authors, a number justified by the institution’s several teaching and research centres and postgraduate programs that approach sports phenomena from a socio-cultural perspective. The university has a research concentration area in Socio-cultural and Behavioural Studies of Physical Education and Sport, which has six research lines linked to it. However, only three of them have explicit relations with socio-cultural approaches. These are: (a) Socio-cultural studies of the human movement; (b) Psychosocial aspects of sport; and (c) Management, policies, marketing, and communication in sports and physical education. It is worth noting that this institution has nine campuses, two of which—the Ribeirão Preto and the São Paulo campuses—published in JLASSS. The papers dealt mainly with social, cultural, and historical aspects, since both USP-SP (main campus) and USP-Ribeirão Preto have a research theme engaged in the pedagogical and socio-cultural investigations involved in the process of the development of the careers of athletes, coaches, and consumers of sport.
The State University of Maringá (UEM) and the Federal University of Espírito Santo (UFES) were also represented by six authors each. UEM has a research line called Social Practices in Physical Education, which aims to study the structures, processes, and representations linked to social practices in physical education, while UFES has an area in Pedagogical and Socio-cultural Studies of Physical Education, which is divided in four lines: (a) Historical and socio-cultural studies of physical education, sports, and leisure; (b) Physical education, daily life, curriculum, and teacher training; (c) Physical education, body and human movement; and (d) Olympic studies. Thus, following the institutions’ research lines, the publications are focused on social, cultural, historical, and administrative issues as well as on funding and public policy issues, with the purpose of understanding the organizational structures of the development of sport in Brazil. These topics make the papers published by the researchers of this university fit the themes listed above.
The State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) has six authors connected to the research lines of Body, Education and School, and Sports, Leisure and Society, contributing to the publication of studies related to elements here identified as social, cultural and historical aspects. This shows that, at this university, as well as at the others mentioned above, the lines and groups of researcher based in the humanities area support the process of consolidation of this type of research. The Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) presented four authors, for they have postgraduate programs in physical education with research lines in Theory about the Body, Human Movement, Sports and Leisure. Their publications were centered on similar subjects to the institution’s focus of study, bringing sociological and philosophical reflections on sport to the journal.
The predominance of Brazilian institutions in JLASSS is evident, something that was highlighted by Alabarces (2011) when studying the Brazilian prevalence on the production of papers on sport based on the human and social sciences in Latin America. According to the author, this prevalence is explained by a greater acceptability of the studies based on the social sciences in the country, due to an older scientific consolidation when compared to other Latin American countries. This has resulted in a larger presence of postgraduate programs in physical education that follow this theoretical approach.
Even though the predominance of Brazilian universities is expressive, the presence of other countries publishing in JLASSS needs to be acknowledged. The participation of researchers from other Latin American countries is necessary for the consolidation of the production of socio-cultural studies of sport, for the publication of papers in JLASSS from different universities and countries may encourage new discussions, as well as expand the theoretical repertoire of the journal’s texts.
The subsequent aspect analyzed refers to the nationalities of the researchers who have published the most in JLASSS.
Countries
Since JLASSS displays the countries of the authors’ institutional affiliations, this information was registered in order to investigate the possible participation of researchers outside of Latin America.
According to the analysis of Table 4, despite the high number of Brazilian researchers published by the journal, researchers from other countries have also featured. Furthermore, our catalogue indicates that countries outside Latin America—the main area to which JLASSS appeals—also had authors interested in publishing their research in the journal. These are the cases of the American sociologist Jay Coakley, professor emeritus of the University of Colorado (United States), and the Spanish researcher Núria Puig Barata, from the National Institute of Physical Education of Catalonia (Spain). Coakley published in JLASSS, in 2011, about sport and neoliberalism. It is worth mentioning at this point the role that Jay Coakley has held for ALESDE (and for the field of sports sociology as a whole), present since the very first ALESDE meeting held at the Federal University of Paraná (2007), as well the second meeting in Venezuela (2010), where he held conferences on both occasions, showing himself as one of the supporters of the association (ALESDE, 2010). Barata published, in 2013, a paper in partnership with Carlos Alexis Wofford Castillo, from the Universidad de Concepción (Chile), about a theoretical proposal and methodology for the study of sports clubs in Chile.
Countries of the universities whose authors published in JLASSS.
Therefore, although the journal’s emphasis lies on studies focused on Latin American countries, this does not restrict researchers from other continents from submitting to the journal. This, however, does not diminish its specificity, but instead helps construct dialogues with more consolidated research traditions. In addition, the diversity of countries interested in publishing in JLASSS highlights the diversity in the journal’s academic audience, since the journal shows a plural set of countries from Latin America, North America, and Europe. This data contrasts with the findings of Dart (2013), who, when studying European and American journals, found that journals tend to publish content related to their regions of origin, that is, from Europe or North America. In addition, it should be noted that JLASSS accepts papers in three languages (English, Portuguese, and Spanish) and has the support of reviewers with knowledge of the respective languages, which contributes to a greater gathering of different countries. This multilingualism diverges from what Pike et al. (2015) and Tian and Wise (2019) report when they observe that established journals publish only in English, which suggests the existence of a “linguistic imperialism” of those who possess power and influence in the field of sports sociology and who may hinder global contributions to the discipline.
This plurality of countries also impacts on the plurality on themes, which are addressed in the subsequent topic.
Themes
It is possible to note (see Table 5) that JLASSS publishes work in several themes, which corroborates with Cornejo Améstica’s (2015) observations that the complexity of this field in Latin America results in diversity, since it goes far beyond national borders with researchers from different places and different cultures. However, when analyzing the data, the inclination to studies on the Social, cultural, and historical aspects theme is foreseeable, considering the nature of JLASSS’s scope.
Number of papers per themes.
Social, cultural, and historical aspects
The Social, cultural, and historical aspects theme presents approaches related to discussions on possible manifestations of the sports phenomenon in the society through a view mainly based on sociological, historical and philosophical elements. In this category, because these elements are closer to the scope of the journal and the scientific notion implemented by ALESDE, we offer more details of the studies to ensure a broader panorama of socio-cultural studies of sport.
The papers regarding those aspects are mainly about Brazilian, Argentinean, Uruguayan, Chilean, and Colombian contexts, demonstrating that Latin American authors tend to conduct studies about their contexts, usually focusing on the scenario where they live. The texts classified in this theme address common concepts of social and human studies, as well as their main problems that revolve around discussions of gender, violence, migration, media, politics, and economics. These results are similar to those found by Dart (2014) and Seippel (2018), showing that despite the physical distances, the Latin American scientific field follows the common interests of the sociology of sport, an aspect that is also present when analyzing the authors who were most referenced in the works. It is worth remembering that historiographical studies are also present, using as a source of analysis mainly newspapers and sports magazines of previous temporalities, problematizing the issues of distinction present in the creation of sports institutions, violence, and the role of women in the sports media. However, it is also worth noting that this study did not account for the cataloguing of the most researched practices or specific subjects, opening space for further investigations of this nature, which may implement discussions on the content of the analyzed journal, other journals, and the socio-cultural interests of sports in Latin America as a whole.
As an example, there are studies addressing/problematizing the cases of migration of athletes, their motivations, burden, and bonuses of these actions for their careers and for their countries. In addition, there were studies aimed at analyzing the relationship between the media and sport, pointing out problems about how television discourses reinforce the national identity, articulating and guiding from the economic interests that sport covers in the world. Another topic also addressed is in relation to prejudice, class distinction, social segmentation, and violence present in games and organized sports fans. In addition, there is research that questions political discourses that rely on sport to achieve government goals, as well as questions about the barriers and historical and sociological limitations that women encounter to practice sports. In this sense, it seems to us that new studies that explore in more detail the methodological and empirical paths of each article of JLASSS may be welcome to the academic community, providing even more specific details than the data and panoramic analyses provided in this text.
It is worth mentioning that the authors used themselves to dialogue with their objects, mainly the writings of sociologists, historians, and philosophers. Among these authors, Norbert Elias and Pierre Bourdieu were the most referenced, as will be better evidenced in the next topic. These authors were associated mainly with studies that analyzed power relations, politics and violence. In addition, as already mentioned, the interdisciplinary contributions also appeared, which can be evidenced by the use of writings by Eric Dunning, Jürgen Habermas, Richard Sennet, Jean Baudrillard and Stuart Hall. These authors are some of the names that appeared specifically in papers classified in social, cultural, and historical aspects, giving support to discussions about culture, identity, and the tensions found in social relations in the environment of sports practice.
The Latin American literary references that participated in these studies were, mainly, the Argentines Pablo Alabarces, whose research focuses on soccer, and Pablo Scharagrodsky, who is involved in research on gender and physical education. Composing some of the Brazilian references, Professor Wanderley Marchi Junior was presented with his works on the field of sociology of sport in Brazil and models of analysis of sport, and researcher Mauro Betti with discussions about sport, media, and entertainment.
It is worth noting that although the emergence of the entity is connected to sociological aspects, the production within this theme is not restricted to the sociology of sport, but is characterized by being heterogeneous. In fact, the journal is marked by the presence of researchers from diverse educational backgrounds in the different disciplines of the humanities and social sciences and by the use of scientific literature from diverse disciplines.
Educational aspects
Regarding the Educational aspects theme, the 28 papers published on this field encompass reflections about school sports, theoretical and methodological proposals for scientific research, influences of sport initiation in cases of inclusion, and physical education in the school environment in several contexts, especially in Latin America. Only one paper published in this theme, which was written by David Kirk (2018), addressed how the concept of precariousness relates to the teaching of physical education, providing an analysis of the relationship between precariousness and neoliberal and free market practices in different parts of the world. It should also be noted that the papers classified in this theme, in addition to exploring the Latin American school context, evidence elements related to the pedagogical treatments given to sports and to the discipline of physical education in educational institutions. In the papers related to educational aspects, a wide range of authors/theorists stands out, such as the French David Le Breton, Michel Foucault and Pierre Bourdieu, the German Norbert Elias, the English Eric Dunning, and the Polish Zygmunt Bauman. Among the Brazilians, Valter Bracht is one of the most mentioned.
A special edition focused on the educational aspect was organized by Brazilian researchers Valter Bracht and Felipe Quintão de Almeida, both from UFES, providing a quantitative leap in pedagogical, socio-cultural, and philosophical research that encompasses physical education, especially respect to its school dimension, at JLASSS.
According to Leite (2017), one of the alternatives used by Latin American journals to become more attractive is the organization of a special edition. Taking this into account, the accomplishment and effectiveness of JLASSS’s special edition are due to the initiative of its editorial team. A method that eventually facilitated the preparation and maintenance of these types of publication in Latin America was the more organic articulation with researchers who develop studies related to the journal’s scope.
Administration, funding, and public policies
The theme of Administration, funding, and public policies presented 15 papers covering sports public policies, public and private sectors of sport, sports management strategies, sports development programs, and the participation of women in sports management positions in the Latin American context. The papers dealt with the governmental actions carried out for the development of the sport in a specific locality, with Pierre Bourdieu and Jay Coakley being the most well-cited references in this theme.
On this topic, there was also the organization of a special edition that promoted publications of this kind, organized by Fernando Starepravo, from UEM, who is currently one of the main Brazilian references related to public policies of sports in Brazil (Rojo et al., 2019).
Psychological aspects/training/leisure
The writings classified in the Psychological aspects include subjects related to the motivations for mountain biking and the meanings of the practice of goalball. Both papers sought to highlight the perspective of practitioners and athletes of these modalities and were conducted in Brazil. To support the discussions related to social psychology, the authors mention works from Jay Coakley and David Le Breton.
The paper included in Training obtained such classification by addressing the evaluation of the level of tactical knowledge declared by volleyball athletes and dealing with teaching and learning methods of this modality in specific ages (15 and 17 years). Although the paper initially seemed to deviate from the journal scope, the editorial board decided to accept it due to its methodological structuring based on interviews and its qualitative analysis of the results. Finally, the paper classified in the Leisure theme, contemplates the interpretation of contemporary leisure through Jürgen Habermas’s Theory of Communicative Action and interprets this phenomenon through the relation between leisure and work, leisure and postmodern context, and leisure and pleasure. It is noteworthy to mention that the studies of leisure in Latin America are a consolidated area of autonomous research, which has numerous research groups that conduct studies with historical, politica,l and social perspectives (Gomes et al., 2009).
While the predominant research theme is Social, cultural, and historical aspects, the journal’s thematic diversity is evident, since it presents various themes of interest especially for Latin American audiences. The results demonstrated are quite similar to those mentioned by Dart (2014), who explains that the researchers hardly go beyond their geographical barriers and prefer to focus their studies and reflections on their country of origin context. In addition, the journal is pluralist regarding the theoretical frameworks that it publishes. This is evidenced by the mapping of the main bibliographic references used in its published papers (Table 6).
Main bibliographic references used in papers published by JLASSS.
Note: This term refers to the Brazilian legislation. Available at: http://www4.planalto.gov.br/legislacao/
Theoreticians and theories
The most cited authors by those who have published in JLASSS are presented here. It is important to consider that these authors often appeared more than once in the same paper. In addition, the plurality of theoretical frameworks goes beyond what is illustrated by the table, for in many studies there is neither a central theoretical base nor the use of theories and/or well-established theorists. However, all the authors presented in the table were used and referenced by the authors who published in JLASSS, with their use as supporting references or as methods of analysis. It should be noted that the purpose of highlighting such data is to point out which are the main authors used as reference points in the production of knowledge published in the journal.
As evidenced by Table 6, the most used bibliographic references are from well-established and globally recognized authors, such as the sociologists Pierre Bourdieu and Norbert Elias. The presence of these intellectuals is due to the influence both have in the epistemological development of the sociology of sport, thus their theories, especially Bourdieu’s Theory of Social Fields and Elias’s Configurational Theory, are used by numerous authors in several analyses (Souza and Marchi Júnior, 2017). Moraes e Silva et al. (2014) also recall that many of Elias’s works dialogue with other areas of knowledge, such as history, psychoanalysis, philosophy, anthropology, and sociology, which justifies the broad use of his theories in JLASSS papers, as the journal has an interdisciplinary approach. This dialogue with other areas of knowledge can also be seen in Bourdieu’s work, for he tried to overcome theoretical and disciplinary delineations, aiming at interlocution with the historicization and the reflexive analyses of the various objects of study that he researched (De Medeiros and Godoy, 2009).
Both authors are also mentioned in other studies published in important journals related to the sociology of sport. In the studies of Dart (2014), Seippel (2018), and Tian and Wise (2019), these theoretical references were also present in large volume, both in Europe and in North America, something that is also seen in JLASSS, demonstrating that Latin American scientific production tends to be based on European references (Marchi Júnior et al., 2019).
Another aspect evidenced by the mapping of the main bibliographic references is the use of Brazilian legislation (referenced as BRAZIL), mainly in research related to sport policies. This type of source is an important documentary apparatus for the conduct of studies on the Public policies of sports and Leisure themes.
Regarding the other cited authors, some of them offer rereadings, interpretations and/or theoretical background of works from well-established authors in the scientific field. Jay Coakley and Wanderley Marchi Júnior, for example, are researchers that have a qualified reading of Bourdieu’s and Elias’s works, and thereby achieved their notoriety in the scientific scene.
Another frequently cited researcher is the Brazilian Valter Bracht. He is well recognized in the South American scene for discussing aspects related to physical education in the school environment and to the sport phenomenon from an anthropological, philosophical, and sociological perspective. Bracht is constantly referenced in JLASSS papers related to educational aspects. In addition, as Costa and Almeida (2018) indicate, Bracht is among the authors who have produced pioneering and continuous research on the “culturalist” dilemma in the field of physical education in Brazil. It is also worth mentioning that Bracht has published a paper in JLASSS.
Mauro Betti is another well-cited Brazilian researcher in the journal. He explores in his studies the physical education in schools, discusses the “culturalist” dilemma in the physical education field and conducts research related to media and sports (Costa and Almeida, 2018). Betti never published in JLASSS, but his research is often mentioned by the papers published in the journal.
Another reference that stands out is Argentinean Pablo Ariel Scharagrodsky. This author has never published in JLASSS, but his works are well-cited due to their centrality in history, in physical education, and in aspects related to the body and gender. In addition, it is noteworthy that he interprets recognized theorists, especially Foucault. As Moraes e Silva et al. (2014) emphasize, Foucault was a theorist who circulated among several areas of knowledge and was a formulator of numerous fundamental works, which serve as a basis for the Latin American academic environment.
To conclude this topic, two authors are also worth mentioning: the Spanish José María Cagigal and the Argentinean Pablo Alabarces. On the one hand, Cagigal is recognized as the most important sport theorist in Spain and his reflections were important for the recognition of his theories both inside and outside Spain (Rivero-Herraiz and Sánchez-Garcia, 2018). Cagigal used sport in his works mainly as an educational medium, not only in his research, but also when he held important governmental positions in Spain.
Alabarces, on the other hand, is one of the most important Argentinean intellectuals and a reference point for studies regarding the relation between popular culture, communication, and sport in Latin America. He published only once in JLASSS, but his work is of great value to other researchers. Moreover, due to his work related to soccer, Alabarces is considered one of the main names of the Latin America socio-cultural studies of sport. Therefore, he transits through different sociological and historical theories in his studies, contributing to diverse discussions.
As evidenced by the analysis of the most used references in papers published by JLASSS, it is possible to note that the studies are based on a consolidated Eurocentric epistemological basis. This is due to the fact that there is not yet a school of sociology of sport in Latin America. However, it is important to indicate that, despite the use of theories conceived in Europe, the papers were developed based on issues of the Latin American context and reinforced efforts made in order to develop the empirical knowledge of the region.
In summary, since JLASSS’s main objective is to consolidate the studies of sport from a polysemic, contemporary, and socio-cultural perspective, the theoretical bases that were used in the production of the studies published by the journal meet its aims. Therefore, analyzing what is the base of these research projects is important, so that one can broaden the view of what has been produced and recognize those who frequently appear as influential authors and those who have intellectual potential to help consolidate socio-cultural studies of sports in Latin America.
Final considerations
At the end of this paper, we can understand that the field of the sociology of sport, through the analysis of the data presented, is one that is in development, finding a plurality of theoretical approaches, agents, and institutions that appear in order to perform an attempt of scientific consolidation of JLASSS and ALESDE. Moreover, a plurality of approaches to sport through a sociological lens in Latin America can be seen, and the authors’ purpose to seek in JLASSS an outlet for their scientific work can also be perceived.
It should be noted that the analytical approach used in this study has its limitations and contributions, especially regarding methodological choices, since numerous variables could be analyzed. However, it is recognized that other elements can be analyzed in future studies, such as exploring the author’s gender, the methodology and approach used (also accounting for geography), the most researched sports modalities and topics, as well as the use of other software specialized in approaches that analyze such aspects quantitatively—among other possibilities that would provide the international scientific community more details about the development of ALESDE and the sociology of sport in Latin America. Finally, we observe that while that the present study has come to its conclusion, the desire to give continuity nonetheless continues. We see as necessary this investment for the reflection on the sociology of sport beyond the two sides of the Atlantic, as also pointed out Tian and Wise (2019).
For this paper, we chose to explore the aspects regarding periodicity of publication, co-authorship networks, institutions and research groups, countries, themes, and theories and theoreticians that are most present in the journal. That is because our aim was to present the panorama of JLASSS, a journal that may be considered representative of a portion of the knowledge production on socio-cultural studies of sports in Latin America.
Based on these elements, it was possible to recognize the journal’s gradual development, which presents a pluralistic content, but which is not distant from epistemological lines of the social and human sciences connected with the debate of the numerous representations of sport in contemporary times.
This study also showed that the authors who published in the journal are interested in research involving media, politics, economics, gender, social/power relations, and sports violence; however, it should be noted that these data were not descriptive pillars of the analyses in this study. The Brazilian predominance was also found in the magazine, and this can be attributed, first, by the country hosting the JLASSS and by there being greater investments in institutions that elaborate research on sport when compared to other countries in Latin America (Alabarces, 2011), having consequently a scientific field a little more structured, along with a greater number of researchers engaged in socio-cultural studies of sport. In addition, it is possible to note through this panorama that the Latin American field is diverse and presents numerous possibilities of expansion, mainly regarding the production of papers focusing on the themes less found in this research. This may be an incentive for researchers from various universities and countries to become interested in the journal, who could contribute with theoretical frameworks that are little explored in JLASSS.
From the publications analyzed, it becomes evident that the journal does not fit exclusively into one sociological scope, but instead frames itself as an interdisciplinary journal in human and social sciences regarding the way it addresses sporting phenomena. Thus, for a journal that intends to consolidate itself in the scientific field as an important vehicle of knowledge dissemination, it is vital to emphasize the growing need for studies that address the sport by communicating with different areas of knowledge, since this phenomenon also appears in society in a polysemous way.
The field related to the socio-cultural dimension of sport in Latin America is under development. Therefore, ALESDE’s continuous efforts for its constitution, allied to the scientific production of JLASSS, are contributing significantly to the knowledge production and consolidation of this area. Moreover, ALESDE has been trying to fulfill the role of being a space created for exchanges of ideas and studies between researchers and professionals of the human and social sciences of sport, through congresses organized by the entity and JLASSS. Thus, considering this scenario, it is possible to affirm that ALESDE is progressing towards its goal of becoming an important institution for the socio-cultural studies of sport in Latin America.
However, it is important to highlight that the results found in this study are based on the analysis of a specific journal and that the scenario portrayed by this survey cannot be considered as a pattern for the whole production existent in Latin America. Thus, to expand this scenario, new research with a larger scope of journals is needed, which could explore other aspects not focused on this study, such as the level of thoroughness of the use of theories in the published works. Taking this into account, the mapping of JLASSS may present future contributions to the academic community, by indicating the modus operandi related to knowledge production and encouraging more productivity on the issues related to sport by Latin American intellectuals. Also, this study helps to understand the current framework of scientific production in Latin America, so that one can methodologically research the knowledge production about the sport in varied forms and contexts.
Footnotes
Acknowledgements
The authors would to thank the four anonymous reviewers for their extensive and thought-provoking comments and suggestions. We would also like to thank Dominic Malcolm (Editor) for his comments and guidance.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brasil (CAPES)—Finance Code 001.