Applying participant observation to the practice of sports:  the body of the

researcher as “instrument of cognition”

Aleksey Zinovyev

19.09.2012 Glasgow, Centre for Russian, Central and East European Studies

Introduction

Participant observation as a «way to cognize»

Example 1. Parkour. Project of Center for Youth Studies – “New youth solidarity".

Example 2. Fighting Club. Project of Center for Youth Studies – “Innovative Potential of Russia's Young People: solidarities, activism and civic responsibility”.

Three levels in researches of sports.

Level 1. Beginning of involving in sport. Interest for researcher: an influence of various social features on involvement in sports activities; sports preferences in different social groups.

Level 2. Analysis of sports` influence. Interest for researcher: positive or negative effects related to sports.

Level 3. Specifics of different sports practices. “Black Box”.

Inside the "Black Box"Sports practice as a specific “body technique” (M. Moss)

Knowledge, that exists only in activity

Interest for researcher: “habitus of a sportsman” (P. Bourdieu)

“Social sense in sport” and “sports routine”

“Using body as an instrument of cognition”: passing a “way of a beginner”

Case “Parkour in St. Petersburg”.

Parkour as an example of “lifestyle sports”

The main purpose of my research: to analyze a process of developing Parkour in St. Petersburg

Method of research: participant observation (participation in street training) and semi-structured interviews

Case “Fight Club in St. Petersburg”.

Four Fight Clubs: Russian Fighting Club (RFC), “Palahniuk”, Female Fight Club (FFC) and fight club analyzed by me.

Specific characteristics: free of charge trainings, rules of fight agreed among participants, group’s fight.

Method of research: participant observation (participation in training and group’s fight) and semi-structured interviews

Construction of a body in Parkour: flexible and powerful

Main task: to create a “universal body”.

Stages of construction a body:

- re-socialization of standard techniques

- socialization of a body

- training combining elements

Constructing a body in Fight club: battle-hardened

Main task: to gain an experience of real fight

Close as possible to “street fight”

Street as a «teacher»: new vision, new norms

Specificity of urban space: - not prepared for parkour`s practices- space of power- public space

“Vision of Parkour”

Idea of one's own uniqueness

Traceur’s norms of movement

Fight Club: between street and ring

Social regulation of violence:- formal norms- informal norms

Specific habitus of fight club`s member: case of the group fight with football hooligans

Fight Club: Men's Club

“Real men's club”: case of girl-fighter

Fight club that protects traditional masculinity

This idea of protection as a basis of the club: protect ones you love, protect brothers from club, protect norms and values

Conclusion: using body for cognizing

Difficulties:- high degree of risk for the researcher- risk of immersion in the field

Returning a body in the sociology of sport