Penser la violence en sciences sociales du sport

Further study of sport violence in the context of social sciences is necessary because the evolution of sport regulation is linked with societal evolution. In other words, analyzing violence in sport is a way to look at our modern societies as Norbert Elias did with the civilization process. To structure the research, first we need to define the notion of violence apart from its broad sense. According to different authors (A. Corbin, G. Vigarello…) and some French historical studies on violence, I propose a new definition as a breech of the standard (“norme”). Further more, I give some examples in the field of French sport history to show different possibilities of research. This new definition allows us, on one hand, to take a look into the social and cultural regulation of sport’s evolution based on the concept of Configuration (history of savate), and, on the other hand, to consider the historical evolution of the French sport movement (sport federation as a way to control violence for the French society). Finally, this work focuses on sport violence not as an “anomie” phenomena in the Durkheimian way, but more as a societal problem requiring a micro and macro approach in which sociology and history get mutual consideration. As an academic topic, violence in sport is not a moral problem for the scholar and must be considered as a way to understand the evolution of civilization.