Critical Theory

Critical Theory

Critical theories see sport as more than a reflection of society. They encompass a variety of theoretical approaches, such as functionalism, conflict, feminist, race, and cultural studies. With this broader focus, they can avoid the major problems of the functionalist and conflict theories when trying to explain the relationship between sport, physical activity, and society. The general assumption is that historical and economic forces are crucial for the understanding of the role of sport and physical activity in society, because these influences govern and shape how people experience and define exercise and sport in their everyday lives. Furthermore, critical theory recognizes that sport - fitness - physical activity in society must be explained in terms of something more than simply the needs of the social system (as done by functionalism) or the production needs of a capitalist system (as done by conflict theorists). Critical theory is based on the idea that both shared values and conflicts of interests exist simultaneously in society; people are not simply puppets following other persons‘ order. The relationship between sport and society is never set for all time. It changes as history and economic forces change. Thus, the social structure changes from time to time as well and reflects the way things are in the rest of society. And critical theorists assume that sport - fitness - physical activity can also become a source of protest, opposition, and change.
Weaknesses: General weaknesses of critical theories are that they do not provide a tight, clearly understood framework on how to conduct research in sport sociology that will actually lead to social action; that is, to change society so that everyone will have equal access to the goods of sport - fitness - physical activity. Furthermore, critical theorists do not provide explicit guidelines for determining when sport reaffirms or opposes the status quo of society. In other words, when does sport participation result in the affirmation of societal expectation (i.e., How can sports participation build good character?) or the negation of social values (i.e., Why do some athletes take illegal drugs to enhance their performance?). These issues cannot be answered easily.
Furthermore, critical theory has seldom led to a consideration of the experiences of actual people in everyday life settings. “However, it is clear that dominant norms are not always unfair or oppressive, and that the voices and perspectives of some marginalized and disadvantaged groups are not based on concerns about fairness, liberation, and tolerance of differences. It is important to respect the voices and creative potential of marginalized and oppressive groups, but it

is not politically or morally wise to assume that the contributions made by all groups have equal value when it comes to transforming social life” (Coakley, 2004, 50). Thus, criteria to prioritize ideas and interventions that impact people’s lives need to be established, and how they will impact sport - fitness - physical activity and vice versa.