review af quest for excitement

8/2/2019 Review Af Quest for Excitement

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Review: [untitled]Author(s): Robert A. StebbinsSource: The Canadian Journal of Sociology / Cahiers canadiens de sociologie, Vol. 13, No. 3(Summer, 1988), pp. 350-352Published by: Canadian Journal of Sociology

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capitalism;hesecond"state ocialist" ocieties;and he thirdwiththe(different) riseswhich, he authors elieve,affectbothsystems.Theirpointof departures that"there refundamentaldifferences betweenthe countriesof EasternEuropeand the Westernworld," ndthey firmlyrejectanynotionof "convergence"r the thesisthatcommunistsocieties are merely "statecapitalist" ersionsof capitalism.For all the differencesbetweenWestern apitalist ocieties,theyremain ssentially apitalist"ifonlybecausethemotiveunderlyingheproductionfgoodsandservices s,asever,thequest orprofitandcapitalaccumulation,"whereaseconomicactivity n "statesocialist"societies iscentrallyplannedanddirected,n a systemwhere hepredominantartof themeansofproductions understateownershipandcontrol,with politicalrule exercisedby "ahierarchically rganisedsingle partywhichcontrolsthe bureaucracy,he police andmilitary orces."The crisis which affects capitalistsocieties, the authorssuggest, has primarilyeconomic sources,rangingfrom the difficulty of maintainingan adequaterate ofprofitability o competition romnewly industrializedountries n the "thirdworld."However, heyalsoargue hat he egitimacyof thepoliticalsystem nWestern apitalistsocietieshasnotbeensignificantlyrodedbyeconomiccrisis,notwithstandingthe evelof resentment,rustration nddiscontent xpressedwithinneighbourhoodsndcommu-nities."In "statesocialist"societies,on the otherhand,the crisis, in the authors'view, isprimarilypolitical, n so far as "thereare no mechanismsanalogous o thecorporatistinstitutionswithincapitalism or strikingcompromisesbetweendifferentstrataandinterestgroups;here sonlytheparty-statetself,"and he"party-state"s dominated yapowerfulandwell-entrenchedureaucracy.odoubt,a secondeditionwillneed otakeaccount f whatMrGorbachevwillhavebeenable o achieve n theSoviet Unionbywayof reform,"liberalisation"nd"democratisation."The authorsare fairlypessimisticabout he capacityof eithersystemto generateradicalsolutionsto theirrespectivecrises;andthey guardedlypin theirhopeson the"new"social movementswhichhave arisenaround uchissues as "theenvironment,peace anddisarmament,worlddevelopmentand the alternativeuses of science andtechnology."Theirconcluding hapters theweakestpartof thebook;butthis doesnotdetract rom hevalueof thework.Whatevereservations nemayhaveabout hisor thatformulation r argument,his bookis probably hebest introductoryext available nEnglishforthecomparativetudyof thecapitalistandcommunist ystems.DepartmentfPolitical cience RalphMilibandYorkUniversityNorbertElias andEric Dunning,Quest or Excitement: portand Leisure nthe CivilizingProcess. Oxford:Basil Blackwell (OxfordUniversityPress),1986,313 pp.,$48.75 cloth.Withtheexceptionof thepreface,writtenby Dunning,andtheintroduction,writtenbyElias, which together otal62 pages, this book is largelya collectionof the authors'previousarticlesproduced ither ointlyor separately. till,mostof theseworkscome350

capitalism;hesecond"state ocialist" ocieties;and he thirdwiththe(different) riseswhich, he authors elieve,affectbothsystems.Theirpointof departures that"there refundamentaldifferences betweenthe countriesof EasternEuropeand the Westernworld," ndthey firmlyrejectanynotionof "convergence"r the thesisthatcommunistsocieties are merely "statecapitalist" ersionsof capitalism.For all the differencesbetweenWestern apitalist ocieties,theyremain ssentially apitalist"ifonlybecausethemotiveunderlyingheproductionfgoodsandservices s,asever,thequest orprofitandcapitalaccumulation,"whereaseconomicactivity n "statesocialist"societies iscentrallyplannedanddirected,n a systemwhere hepredominantartof themeansofproductions understateownershipandcontrol,with politicalrule exercisedby "ahierarchically rganisedsingle partywhichcontrolsthe bureaucracy,he police andmilitary orces."The crisis which affects capitalistsocieties, the authorssuggest, has primarilyeconomic sources,rangingfrom the difficulty of maintainingan adequaterate ofprofitability o competition romnewly industrializedountries n the "thirdworld."However, heyalsoargue hat he egitimacyof thepoliticalsystem nWestern apitalistsocietieshasnotbeensignificantlyrodedbyeconomiccrisis,notwithstandingthe evelof resentment,rustration nddiscontent xpressedwithinneighbourhoodsndcommu-nities."In "statesocialist"societies,on the otherhand,the crisis, in the authors'view, isprimarilypolitical, n so far as "thereare no mechanismsanalogous o thecorporatistinstitutionswithincapitalism or strikingcompromisesbetweendifferentstrataandinterestgroups;here sonlytheparty-statetself,"and he"party-state"s dominated yapowerfulandwell-entrenchedureaucracy.odoubt,a secondeditionwillneed otakeaccount f whatMrGorbachevwillhavebeenable o achieve n theSoviet Unionbywayof reform,"liberalisation"nd"democratisation."The authorsare fairlypessimisticabout he capacityof eithersystemto generateradicalsolutionsto theirrespectivecrises;andthey guardedlypin theirhopeson the"new"social movementswhichhave arisenaround uchissues as "theenvironment,peace anddisarmament,worlddevelopmentand the alternativeuses of science andtechnology."Theirconcluding hapters theweakestpartof thebook;butthis doesnotdetract rom hevalueof thework.Whatevereservations nemayhaveabout hisor thatformulation r argument,his bookis probably hebest introductoryext available nEnglishforthecomparativetudyof thecapitalistandcommunist ystems.DepartmentfPolitical cience RalphMilibandYorkUniversityNorbertElias andEric Dunning,Quest or Excitement: portand Leisure nthe CivilizingProcess. Oxford:Basil Blackwell (OxfordUniversityPress),1986,313 pp.,$48.75 cloth.Withtheexceptionof thepreface,writtenby Dunning,andtheintroduction,writtenbyElias, which together otal62 pages, this book is largelya collectionof the authors'previousarticlesproduced ither ointlyor separately. till,mostof theseworkscome350


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fromwidely catteredournalsndanthologies.he inal hapter Dunning'snsportas a malepreserve is anunpublishedonferenceaper.Elias'sessayon sportandviolence whichncludes n extendedxample f foxhunting spartof thecivilizingprocess) ppearsere or he irst ime.Thus,hebookprovides handy ompilationfanumber f thecollaborativefforts f these woeminentociologists.Whats newandasvaluablesthepapers,re hepreface nd ntroduction.heyknittogetherhepapers,ndpresentncompactorm heauthors'heoreticalndphilosophi-calviewsasthesebear nsport ndeisurenparticularnd ociologyngeneral. he itleof thebookcaptures,erhapssaccuratelysanyphrasean, heessenceof theentirebook.Dunning, howasastudentfElias'swhen he atterwasappointedt heUniversityof Leicester,penshisprefacewitha reviewof thesociology f sport.Helamentsheneglect fsport saphenomenonorthyfserious nd xtendedociologicalttention,eventhough closelookat it revealstsimportancen society.Thereollowsa shortbiographyf Eliasandanoutline fhissociologicalheory. liashashada ong-standinginterestntherelationshipetween iolence nd hecivilizing rocess, n nteresthatstems, n part,fromhis German-Jewishackgroundnd his experiencesn NaziGermany.orEliasthestudyof thisrelationships to be pursuedwithina syntheticsociologicalramework,hats,within frameworkhat schews hecompartmentaliza-tionandfragmentationf thediscipline's pecialities nd theusualone- andtwo-dimensionalonceptionshathave prungp nsociology ver hepastcentury. atheroneshould tudyhuman eingsntheirnatural abitatwithreferenceo allimportantaspects f their ives,notjustcertain nes(e.g.,norms,nstincts,entiments, odesproduction).his yntheticpproach,hich sdistinguishedrom heanalyticpproachthat tressesactors ndvariables,mustbesensitiveoempiricalbservations.Akeyconceptnthis heorysfiguration,r"thewebofinterdependenteoplewhoarebondedo eachother n severalevelsandndiverseways"p.10).It s similaro theideasof socialnetwork. ut henotion ffigurationsbroader;tincludesheresults ftheactions finterdependenteople stheseactionsonvergeoform ariousmergentphenomenauchaspower atios,tratificationystems,xesoftension,rises fwarandtheeconomy, nd astbutnot east he nstitutionsf sport nd eisure.Moreover,uchphenomenare obeexamined ithinhecontext fhistory.Asecond eyconceptnElias's heorys that fdevelopment.s asocietydevelopsitbecomesmore ivilized.The evelofdevelopmentowardivilizationanbemeasuredinconcreteerms ya"triadf basic ontrols":1)bytheextent fasociety's ontrol vernaturalvents,2)bytheextentoftscontrolver nterhumanonnections,nd 3)bytheextentof learnedndividualelf-control.t is in the third ypeof control hatElias'sinterestnFreudianheory ecomes vident.Eliaselaborates n this frameworkn his introduction. oder societies,whencompared ith lassicalGreece ndRome,have endedofollow heEnglishmodels fsportnadopting ore egulated,essviolent roms fpleasurableutnonethelessighlycompetitiveames equiringhysicalkillandexertion. port asbecome ivilized shave the societieswithinwhich t is played.Theimplicationere s that here s areciprocalnfluence f civilizingendencies etweenhesport ndnonsportpheresnacivilizing ociety. 351


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All this occursbecause hereare igurations nownascycles ofviolence.Here wo ormoregroups ind themselves rappednarelationshipf mutual earanddistrust.Thereis a tendency,however, or thesecycles of violence (andnonviolence) o become lessdeadlyasmembers f theconflicting roupsearnhowtoresolve heirdifferencesnmorepeacefulways.A parallel eductionnviolencecyclescanbe observed nsport,notablyin the historical hanges n sportsactivities n theEnglishandFrenchupperclasses.Insuchanexplanation,t is obviousthatone cannotview sportas anindependentocialinstitution r limitone's inquiry o sportalone.For hereductionnviolence osucceed,peoplemust earn elf-control.Thecivilizingprocess ncludesgrowth f self-controlnthepopulation. heself iscontrolled, owever,by submittingo theagreed-uponulesof thegame,orinotherareasof life, the roles ofparliamentor example.Self-control estson childhoodsocialization, n thedevelop-ment of thesuperego, orhumans ack instinctive elf-controls.Thus,in civilized societiessportand leisureoffer a sense of the excitementof theearlier nternecine attles,butdo so withminimum iskto life and imb. Thisin itself isa majorsocial function n advanced ocieties,since the controlof impulsesproducesnoticeable ension in the individualmember.Sport,whetherspectatoror participant,allowsa sociallyacceptable, atternedelease rom hesetensions nminimallydestruc-tive ways.InFreudianermsmembersof thesocietysublimate.TheElias-Dunninghesisis a refreshing,holisticapproacho theunderstandingfsportand leisurein moder society,butone whichincorporatesocial psychologicalconsiderationsswell.Humannteraction,ormation frelationships, rimaryocializa-tion, and other microsocialprocesses are not overlooked. The subsequentpapersdemonstrate he strengthof theirperspective hroughdetailed examinationsof suchsubjectsas folkfootball, port iolence,andmasculinedentity hroughport.Thereadercomesawayfromthis bookwitha profound ense of one of Dunning'scentralbeliefs:"sport rguablyormsan areaof considerable ocialsignificance"pp.4-5).Theneglectof it and eisuredemonstrate ll too well ahypocriticaltreakn sociology,expressedntheclaimthatsociologistsobjectively tudysociety.University f Calgary RobertA. Stebbins

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