Pierre-Olaf Schut

Physical Practices and Sportification: Between Institutionalisation and Standardisation. The Example of Three Activities in France

Many physical activities, from traditional games to emerging practices, have been and still are confronted with the ‘sportification’ process. Sports historians and sociologists have produced numerous isolated monographs to try and comprehend this development. Through the compared analysis of three activities – break-dancing, spelaeology and mixed martial arts – this study prolongs the modelling effort initiated by Renson to understand the fundamental elements which simultaneously encourage and slow down this process. It shows that this conflict crystallises around the degree of standardisation of a practice and its institutional recognition. To protect the original identity of these activities, their sportification process cannot be completed.

Sport as a Major Player in the Development of Tourism: The History of Mountaineering in the Pelvoux Massif, France, from 1861 to 1914

Tourism and sport are two phenomena that rapidly expanded at the end of the nineteenth century. The latter is often viewed as a service in a system structured by the former, in the way tennis courts or golf courses are established near hotel facilities. Yet, the development of outdoor sports reveals that a tourist territory can be defined by its sports function. Through the example of mountaineering in the French Pelvoux massif, we are going to show that a physical activity may have a major role in determining tourist territories and the local economic growth. This research paper investigates, chronologically and geographically, the expansion of mountaineering in the Pelvoux massif and its spin-off effects on touristic amenities, especially in the development of hotel services, town-and-country planning and communications. This demonstration is based on archives from several alpine societies – the French Alpine Club, the Society of Dauphiné Tourists and the Touring Club de France – as well as on monographs published by mountaineers.

Les politiques publiques d’équipements sportifs vues à travers quatre villes françaises de 1960 à nos jours

In France, the local planning of sports facilities originates from successive public policies carried out at various territorial levels, from national to local. Changes in the stock of sports facilities in four towns, including low-income areas, are analyzed based on the different national facilities plans of the 1960s, the effects of decentralization since the 1980s, and the evolution of urban policies since the 1990s. The uneven impact of these various periods of public policies can be observed at a local level. In addition, the authors study the different approaches to financing adopted by municipalities with distinct profiles but with characteristics which can be transposed to medium-sized towns. While it is usually assumed that national policies in this field have a homogeneous impact nationwide, a cartographic study that accounts for the local context clearly shows the opposite. This study evidences the fact that national policies can have meaningful results only when there is considerable financial assistance provided and when the local authorities are involved. Municipalities remain key actors in the development of infrastructures, which is why there are so many discrepancies between them.

French sports policies for young people: fragmentation and coordination modes

French sports policies are characterized by hefty state controls inherited from the Gaullist era. Decentralization laws enacted from 1982 onwards defined the competences of the different institutions on the diverse levels of an administrative area, thus relieving the State of some of its functions. Therefore, sports policies for young people are numerous due to the amount of people involved at various levels of public action (national, regional, local) and because several regulating bodies are implicated (the Ministries of Sport, Education and Justice), but also due to the difficulty in articulating public and private initiatives. The aim of this paper is to bring to light, through concrete examples, the problems caused by this multi-management of sport for young people in France, but also to show the original coordination modes deriving from this situation with reference to specific projects that have sometimes required complete rethinking. This process, initiated some 30 years ago, revealed a number of dead-ends incompatible with the efficiency expected from public policies. The present context of crisis and economic austerity crystallizes the faults that ought to be corrected by a better management of youth sports policy. We shall use three examples to demonstrate how the fundamental challenges of public action crisscross, within the State, between ministries, local authorities and the sports movement in particular.

Habiter la ville par le sport et les loisirs? La création des bases de plein air et de loisirs (1964-1976)

ABSTRACT The development of outdoor recreation centres was constructed in France around a single concept, the outline of which was laid down by Maurice Herzog in a circular of 1964: ‘a complex which unites, in a natural site close to the local population, the elements necessary to promote the practice of outdoor sports and activities and cultural studies, as well as relaxation and fresh air.’ Based on the Fifth Plan for modernization and amenities, the centres were created throughout France and particularly in Île-de-France, where a dozen establishments were planned, notably alongside projects to extend the city of Paris. This study aims to focus attention on the task of defining the concept in order to better understand the place and role of outdoor recreation centres in urban regimes of living from the 1960s. To carry out this study, the author makes use of the archives of the Secretariat of State for Youth and Sports and the Institute of Development and Town Planning of the Paris Region.

Outdoor Activities and Urbanization: A Constant Bridging Throughout the Twentieth Century in France

Abstract The development of outdoor activities has been dominated by a two-fold movement: first, it has been regularly renewed through the appropriation of new spaces and the creation of new sports equipment enabling nature to be explored in different ways; second, increased accessibility to practice areas has made practice more democratic. Our study focuses on the practice areas and their implications for the evolution of the activity. We will show that accessibility was first made possible by the urbanization of nature, especially through the creation of tourist destinations. This led to the planning and creation of practice areas in and around urban zones at the expense of an artificial landscaping of sites, which raises serious issues as to the future of the activities. This study uses an extensive corpus of French sources ranging from publications by outdoor activity groups to public archives, especially from the Ministry of Sports and the Institute for Urban Planning and Development of the Greater Paris region.

How the Touring Club de France Influenced the Development of Winter Tourism

Abstract The link between sport and tourism is closely related in outdoor sports and it is worth considering the development of these physical activities in conjunction with the tourist infrastructures that facilitate access to the activity areas. The purpose of this paper is to reveal the major role played by the Touring Club de France (TCF) in the launching of winter sports in France through its promotion of tourist infrastructures and support of the related activities. The TCF played an innovating and most efficient part through its action on three essential aspects: equipping sites for tourists; developing the manufacture of winter sports equipment; and promoting winter sports, thus bringing new life to mountain resorts. In taking into account the crucial role of the TCF in this study, the main sources used are related to the club itself: its archives and the monthly review from 1908 to 1914. On a larger scale, an explanation on how the TCF acted as a lever to generate dynamics beneficial to local development of the mountain areas will also be provided.

L’échec d’une discipline : Montée et déclin de la spéléologie en France (1888-1978)

L’histoire de la speleologie, presentee ici a travers deux periodes qui balayent le xxe siecle, incarne des problematiques fortes d’une histoire culturelle des sciences. D’abord, les questions de legitimite des acteurs en fonction de leur profession, scientifique ou non, sont au cœur des debats qui animent la discipline pendant sa phase de creation. Ensuite, l’opportunite d’une institutionnalisation au sein du Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) ne suffit pas a assurer la perennite de la speleologie, dont les objets se repandent a l’Universite avant d’etre absorbes par sa structuration disciplinaire.

Sport and Tourism - An Effective Cooperation: Canoeing and Mountaineering in France before the First World War

In the second half of the nineteenth century, sport and tourism developed simultaneously under British inspiration. The models of the Alpine Club and the Touring Club set examples which were emulated in France, thus benefiting the development of physical activities and the planning of places of interest. While private commercial initiatives were only slowly emerging, the French Alpine Club and Canoe Club, effectively assisted by the Touring Club de France, promoted tourist expansion. This paper shows how the cooperation orchestrated between the sports and tourist societies played a driving role in the development of the tourist economy in France. To support this project, this case study uses the comparative analysis of two tourist areas: the banks of the River Marne, taken over by Parisian water sport enthusiasts, and the Dauphiné Alps, favoured by English mountaineers as early as the 1860s. Comparing two different geographical areas and two different activities allows us to highlight the common process which accounts for the joint development of sports and tourist activities. Our analyses, which are based on a precise chronology and a detailed cartography, underline the progressive structuring of sports sites and development of tourist infrastructures needed to accommodate sportsmen and -women. This work is founded on an analysis of the archives and publications of the above-mentioned organizations. The tourist development of these areas is identified through cadastral maps and tourist guides.

Relations ambivalentes entre professionnels et amateurs dans les loisirs sportifs : les cas de la spéléologie et du canyonisme

Résumé Le processus de professionnalisation des moniteurs de spéléologie et de canyonisme donne à voir une dynamique originale. Dans un premier temps,la profession se crée en s’appuyant sur le travail et les compétences de bénévoles réunis dans la fédération sportive. Dans un second temps, la montée en puissance des professionnels contribue progressivement à la redéfinition de la place de la fédération, reléguée à un niveau secondaire. Ce rapport de force se construit sous l’arbitrage de l’État, qui a compétence pour définir la certification. Notre travail rend compte du processus à l’œoeuvre à travers une analyse diachronique qui met en évidence les jeux d’alliance et de pouvoir entre les acteurs, engagés dans ce système comme des écologies liees, au sens d’Abbott (2003).