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The thrill of the fight - sensuous experiences of boxing - towards a sociology of violence
This thesis employs ethnographic methods to examine lived experiences of sports violence,
particularly, the ways in which action in, and around, a boxing ring can be psychologically and
physically significant. Crucial in this regard is the social conditioning of such experiences.
Here, norms and values that dominate the framing of sports violence are informed by
participants assumptions based on traditional understandings of gender and class. In this
way, social processes associated with masculine identities and the working classes inform
what was considered possible, permissible and pleasurable. It is contended that
phenomenologically informed accounts of such pleasurable experiences of violence remain
relatively underrepresented within research examining sports participation. The central focus
of this thesis is to provide such an account within a boxing environment. As such, the
observations and interviews presented in what follows contribute to the sociological study of
sports violence in particular and violence more generally. Alongside this substantive
dimension, there are also conceptual, theoretical and methodological contributions that can
inform future sociological study in the area and more broadly. Specifically, the contention that
experiences of sports violence tend to contain a mimetic dimension and a figurational or
processes sociological interpretation of such experiences, are empirically evaluated. The
naturalisation of biological interpretations of masculinity as a popular means of explaining and
justifying acts of violence is explored. The embodiment of social processes, including
masculinity, is theorised using figurational sociology, specifically employing the
interconnected concepts of habitus, figuration and established/outsider relations.
Methodologically, notions of insider / outsider knowledge are reconceptualised using Elias
discussions of involvement/detachment.
The sports violence masculinity complex is proposed as a means of conceptually framing the
social processes that contour the pleasurable experiences of conducting, and being the target
of, violence. This overarching frame is linked to local factors that also impinge upon the gym
space. With these social fault lines explored, a phenomenologically sensitive account of
sports violence is presented. In this way, it is hoped that some of the theoretical pitfalls of
other, arguably asociological, examinations of emotion and sensation are avoided. Using field
notes and interview extracts a wart and all picture of gym life is painted. Particular attention is paid to sensuous experiences of working the bag and sparring. Here, significant physical
markers and emotional expressions are detailed. Inside and around the ring, men learned the
techniques and tactics of mimetic violence. These experiences enabled a socially
conditioned, controlled decontrolling of emotional controls and the elicitation of physical
sensations that generally remain off limits during the relative emotional and physical staleness
of their work-a-day lives. It is contended that the experiences detailed within this thesis and
the theoretical frame used to interpret them can inform future work examining sports violence
and violence more generally