No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the authors.
‘We must not engage in the blind glorification of sport’: Christian orthodox youths negotiate dominant societal and alternative Reformed sport discourses
Abstract
There are approximately 250,000 Orthodox Reformed Christians (ORC) in the Netherlands, who live according to a strict adherence to the Bible. The ORC dissociate themselves from the mainstream sport discourse in the Netherlands that regards sport as a societal good. We draw on post-structural perspectives to explore how governmentality enables Dutch ORC youths to resist dominant societal discourses about sport. We used four dimensions to examine how governmentality acts on individuals in: rationality, history, culture and technology. We analysed publications that concern themselves specifically with sport within the denomination of the ORC church and also conducted a combination of semi-structured interviews and focus groups with 32 ORC youths. The results show the power of governmentality and also how ambiguity enables moments of resistance to emerge.
ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any citations for this publication.
Sporting celebrities are rarely discussed within the broader realms of theological debate. Yet that is not to say that their identities cannot offer insight into wider patterns of cultural influence. Indeed, it is our contention within this paper that the reverse is true; that analyses of the autobiographical details of contemporary sporting figures represent key sites through which cultural influence can be examined. To this end, we take one sporting icon of recent times, American Football (NFL) star Tim Tebow and assess his popular cultural image in terms of its contribution to debates surrounding identity, Christianity and morality. Our central thesis is that whilst Tebow's popular cultural image affords all the hallmarks of modern-day 'platform ministry', his articulation of particular norms and values raises questions about the kinds of moral responsibilities high-profile Christian athletes have in relation to their expressions of faith.
We are living in a time of increasing interest in the religious and spiritual aspects of sport and human movement activities. A strict distinction between religion and spirituality is, however, still missing in much of the literature. After delimiting religious and spiritual modes of experience, this article addresses Coubertin’s religio athletae and demonstrates that this notion should have spiritual, not religious, content. Religious values are external to achievements in sports, while spirituality should be an inner aspect of human movement activities. To gain a deeper understanding of the religious and spiritual aspects of physical activities, this article focuses on spiritual health as one of the main goals of the activities of teachers and coaches.
This article discusses the responses to a number of recent court cases concerning the equal treatment of women and homosexuals amongst Dutch orthodox reformed in the semi-public sphere (e.g. political parties, schools). In doing so, this article applies and refines legal anthropological theories on the realization of rights in a context of cultural and religious diversity. It also specifically addresses the responses to court cases launched “from the outside” in the context of a western country with a tradition of code law. These cases have an adverse effect on discussions of equal treatment within the communities concerned.
This review surveys the development of Michel Foucault's analysis of political power in terms of governmentality and outlines its key characteristics. It examines the spread of this perspective, focusing in particular on how this genealogical approach to the analysis of the conduct of each and of all has been taken up and developed in the English-speaking world. It evaluates some of the key criticisms that have been made of the analytics of governmentality and argues for the continuing productivity and creativity of these ways of analyzing the emergence, nature, and consequences of the arts of government.
Despite the predominantly masculine nature of drinking cultures within Australian community sporting clubs, masculinities have received little attention in the associated research and policy arenas. Focusing on the Good Sports Program, which is designed to change the drinking culture of sporting clubs, this article presents a case study of drinking cultures in a football club. My analysis of interview and field observation material traces interrelations between Program interventions, demographic and social changes, gender hierarchies, drinking settings and norms governing alcohol consumption within the club. I demonstrate that the changes in the drinking culture of the clubrooms have occurred, and that the Good Sports Program played a role in this change. However, “bad behaviour”, “drink” and “trouble” remain features of other club settings. I conclude that opportunities exist for further engagements with masculinities, and the socio-material networks that hold them in place, and that these engagements might open the way for more significant changes in the drinking cultures of male sporting clubs.
In the Bible Belt, it's common to see bumper stickers that claim One Man + One Woman = Marriage, church billboards that command one to "Get right with Jesus," letters to the editor comparing gay marriage to marrying one's dog, and nightly news about homophobic attacks from the Family Foundation. While some areas of the Unites States have made tremendous progress in securing rights for gay people, Bible Belt states lag behind. Not only do most Bible Belt gays lack domestic partner benefits, lesbians and gay men can still be fired from some places of employment in many regions of the Bible Belt for being a homosexual. In Pray the Gay Away, Bernadette Barton argues that conventions of small town life, rules which govern Southern manners, and the power wielded by Christian institutions serve as a foundation for both passive and active homophobia in the Bible Belt. She explores how conservative Christian ideology reproduces homophobic attitudes and shares how Bible Belt gays negotiate these attitudes in their daily lives. Drawing on the remarkable stories of Bible Belt gays, Barton brings to the fore their thoughts, experiences and hard-won insights to explore the front lines of our national culture war over marriage, family, hate crimes, and equal rights. Pray the Gay Away illuminates their lives as both foot soldiers and casualties in the battle for gay rights.
This article aims to apply a post-panoptic view of surveillance within the context of elite sport. Latour's (2005) 'oligopticon' and Deleuze and Guttari's (2003) 'rhizomatic' notion of surveillance networks are adopted to question the relevance and significance of Foucault's (1979) conceptualisation of surveillance within an elite sports academy setting. A contemporary representation of bio-politics (Rose 1999, 2001) is further utilised to discern the mode of governance and control effective within such institutions. In so doing, this article seeks to understand the evolving methods of surveillance technology and governance and how they are situated within the setting of a contemporary institution. Such considerations aim to provoke a line of questioning surrounding the normalisation of intrusive surveillance practices and their impact upon identity construction and an authentic sense of self.
In the Netherlands, relations between Muslims and non-Muslims have become polarized around issues of religion and gender. On the basis of a dataset with 669 parent–child dyads, we assess attitudes among the second generation concerning the gendered division of paid work and family responsibilities, that is, gender ideology, as compared to their parents. The aggregate picture indicates movement toward more egalitarian attitudes, indicating mainstream assimilation. At the same time, a sizeable subgroup turns out to be more traditional than their parents, indicative of reactive ethnicity. Embeddedness in the ethnic community and education are shown to explain part of these divergent patterns.
The article examines the nature of 'orthodox' or 'fundamentalist' beliefs and practices in the Netherlands. It concentrates on Reformed Protestants. 'Fundamentalist' religion has been seen as a reaction against the global changes initiated in the 'modern' world. It is seen as reverting to 'traditional' beliefs creating isolated communities that 'discipline' individuals and seek to create certainty, as opposed to 'liberal' religious beliefs or 'secular' beliefs which stress individual choice, acknowledge more 'fluid' and less 'certain' boundaries, and encourage diversity and ecumenism. However, the 'fundamentalist' form of religion may not merely be 'traditional' and static; it can be as diverse, 'modern', and adaptable as 'liberalism' or 'secularism'. The thrust of the article is, therefore, that this type of religion, what I designate as 'orthodox' Reformed beliefs and practices, does provide, in the Netherlands, an arena for believers to experience community and some 'certainty'--it 'disciplines' individuals to 'embody truths'--but it also encourages individual activism by emphasising reflexivity--a rational thought process--encouraging individuals to choose their religious (and secular) path thoughtfully. There is a dialectical interaction between individual and community, 'choice' and 'discipline'. The article argues that 'orthodox' Reformed beliefs and practices may allow change in a controlled way.
This paper reviews the concept of resistance, contrasting modernist and postmodernist positions in terms of what resistance is, its relationship to power and agency, how it is identified, where it comes from in the lives of young people, and what it achieves. Foremost attention is given to subcultural and Foucauldian positions, to argue that while resistance remains a relevant and useful concept, there are significant underlying differences between such positions on it, differences that fundamentally affect how the concept is deployed.
Written for anyone beginning a research project, this introductory book takes you through the process of analysing your data from start to finish. It presents an easy-to-use model for coding data in order to break it down into parts, and then to reassemble it to create a meaningful picture of the phenomenon under study. Full of useful advice, the book guides the researcher through the last difficult integrating phase of qualitative analysis.
Peer Aggression and Victimization in Dutch Elementary Schools and Sports Clubs
- P Baar
Baar, P. 2012. Peer Aggression and Victimization in Dutch Elementary Schools and Sports Clubs. Utrecht:
Utrecht University.
De onschuld voorbij [Moving Past Unawareness]
- J Baars-Blom
Baars-Blom, J. 2006. De onschuld voorbij [Moving Past Unawareness]. Kampen: Kok.
Reformatorische sportverdwazing. Brief aan de gereformeerde gemeente te Barneveld
- G P P Burggraaf
Burggraaf, G. P. P. 2016. Reformatorische sportverdwazing. Brief aan de gereformeerde gemeente te
Barneveld [Orthodox Reformed Sport idiocy: Letter to the Orthodox Reformed congregation in
Barneveld]. https://www.derokendevlaswiek.nl.
Bewegen als scheppingsgave
- E Dijkhuizen
Dijkhuizen, E. 2002a. "Bewegen als scheppingsgave [Physical Movement as a Gift from the Creator].
Een wonderlijke harmonie
- E Dijkhuizen
Dijkhuizen, E. 2002b. "Een wonderlijke harmonie [An amazing balance]. " Reformatorisch Dagblad,
8-3-2002: 25.
Lerares refoschool slaat hoofdstuk over sport over [Teacher Orthodox Reformed School Skips Chapter about Sport
- E Dijkhuizen
Dijkhuizen, E. 2011. "Lerares refoschool slaat hoofdstuk over sport over [Teacher Orthodox Reformed
School Skips Chapter about Sport]. " Reformatorisch Dagblad, 1-9-2011: 2.
Sport moet een aardigheidje blijven
- E Dijkhuizen
- H Haveman
Dijkhuizen, E., and H. Haveman. 2002. "Sport moet een aardigheidje blijven [Sport Should Remain
as Leisure]. " Reformatorisch Dagblad, 6-3-2002: 5.
De grenzen van sportbeoefening
- Jeugdbond Gereformeerde Gemeenten
Jeugdbond Gereformeerde Gemeenten. 2009. "De grenzen van sportbeoefening [The Limits to Sport
Involvement]. " Jongerenmagazine Daniel, September 27.
Jongerenthema's voor ouders
- Jeugdbond Gereformeerde Gemeenten
Jeugdbond Gereformeerde Gemeenten. 2014. "Jongerenthema's voor ouders [Topics about Youths
for their Parents]. " Eigenwijs, April: 1.
Avond over sport een succes
- Sgp Jongeren
- Veenendaal
SGP Jongeren Veenendaal. 2004. "Avond over sport een succes [A Successful Evening about Sport]. "
Nieuwsbrief Comite SGP-jongeren Veenendaal, 1-6-2004.
Sportdeelname [Sportparticipation]
- A Tiessen-Raaphorst
- R Van Den Dool
Tiessen-Raaphorst, A., and R. Van den Dool. 2014. "Sportdeelname [Sportparticipation]. " In
Rapportage Sport 2014, edited by A. Tiessen-Raaphorst, 67-84. Den Haag: Sociaal en Cultureel
Planbureau.
Foucault's Discipline: The Politics of Subjectivity
- J S Ransom
- N Rose
- P O'malley
- M Valverde
Ransom, J. S. 1997. Foucault's Discipline: The Politics of Subjectivity. Duke: Duke University Press.
Rose, N., P. O'Malley, and M. Valverde. 2006. "Governmentality. " The Annual Review of Law and
Social Science 2: 83-104. doi:10.1146/annurev.lawsocsci.2.081805.105900.