Bourdieu and the New York City Working Class Softball Leagues
Bourdieu's theories on the relationship between sport and social class can be used to examine various sporting clubs, teams and organizations within a society. In Sport and Social Class, Bourdieu defines the differences between the social classes based on their interaction and level of involvement with a sport. Furthermore, Bourdieu described that an individual's involvement with a sport is determined by their cultural and economic capital. In the context of sports, cultural capital is defined as a familial or traditional access to an elite sport club. Additionally, economic capital, is the individuals financial capacity and availability of free time that dictates the level of involvement in sports. Although Bourdieu described the relationship between various social classes and team sports other than softball, his generalities are applicable to society's interaction with softball. Bourdieu's theories on the interaction between sport and social class, mainly explains how working class individuals participate in the New York City adult softball leagues.
In Sport and Social Class, Bourdieu describes that the level of participation in sports is dictated by the availability of cultural and economic capital for both the upper class and working class individuals. Within a society, the division between the working and upper classes are defined by the type of sport participation, competition-related behavior and whether an individual is a spectator or participant. First, Bourdieu claimed that the working class will not have access to upper class sports due to their lack of cultural and economic capital. Bourdieu states that "most of the team sport--basketball, handball, rugby, football...are most common among office workers, technicians, shopkeepers" (370). The upper class individuals participate in individual sports with high barriers or cost to entry, whereas the working class individuals participate in...