The modernization theory
- What is modernization theory? How does modernization theory explain the changes in sport in the nineteenth century?
The modernization theory is an explanation that philosophers use to detail the significant changes in culture from the premodern times to the present times. In the modern era, sports like baseball and horse racing became professional. The changes in sports in the modern era included the level of organization (the area the game was played, whether locally or internationally), the rules involved, records keeping, and the broadcasting programs. Traditionally, the sport was just a break from the agricultural and industrial life where people participated for enjoyment purposes only. The modernization theory reflects how society changed in the nineteenth century.
- What was the metaphysical position of Charles Peirce and William James? How did their views of the mind-body relationship reflect the change in American Sport?
Charles Pierce (1839-1914) was the head of the Metaphysics club, while William James (1842-1910) was a trained scientist and a notable member of the metaphysical club. Both James and Charles disapproved of the idea that the mind and body should be separated and trained while learning separately. They developed a philosophy that was friendly to the human body with a view that one began with the observation in the creation of knowledge. It is noted that both did not reject the idea of the mind separated from the body; they just tried to unify both as a single entity. Their philosophical view affected the opinions of sport in the nineteenth and twentieth century.
- What impact did the evolutionary theory of Charles Darwin have on the significance of athletic competition?
The theory of natural selection that started with Darwin stated that change had to be supported by natural forces that are visible and the supernatural forces, which were irrelevant to physical changes, like miracles. His theory promoted that the physical environment we live in and the social environment around us is the primary cause of change that we experience.
- How persuasive is social Darwinism today? How does athletic competition perpetuate social Darwinism?
Social Darwinism combined the idea of Charles Darwin’s natural selection theory and Herbert Spencer’s sociological theories. The merge promoted the justification of imperialism, racism, and social and economic policies. The method depicted that different groups of people, just like that of plants and animals, were competing against each other in life. Their belief also constituted that any alterations to the existing hierarchy would undermine the natural order.
In sports, the case of Colin Kaepernick, where he decided to kneel during the anthem in the NFL, developed awareness in the civil rights movements that destabilized the economy of the NFL.
- How did the emphasis on manliness affect the evolution of baseball in America?
In the twentieth century, women found it hard to participate in sports as the manliness theory stated that if one plays ball, he is manly or would become so. This same argument was used in the justification of the inclusion of the sport into American culture.