Klasowe uwarunkowania sportu z perspektywy teoretycznej Pierre’a Bourdieu

The paper presents leisure, sports and physical recreation as areas of class struggle. It contains a brief introduction to the social class theory of Pierre Bourdieu and investigates his views on sports practices and how sport may be considered a part of cultural capital. The leisure class described by Veblen used amateur sport to manifest its high social position and strengthen social barriers. Today, with the distinctions of social class blurring, manners of leisure use and styles of consumption become important markers of social position. Several current studies applying Bourdieu’s concept of class are presented with regard to sports consumption and participation in sports and physical recreation. The research evidence, although not fully consistent, supports the class-based patterns described by Bourdieu and the applicability of his theoretical concept to the field of sport.