Barndomens reglering via skol- och föreningsidrott

Abstract

In 2003, the Swedish government made a “handshake” (Handslaget) with the The Swedish Sports Confederation, offering one billion Swedish crowns over a period of four years to local sport clubs in order to create projects that would engage more children in organised sport. One way of doing this was by way of sport clubs collaborating with schools, so that within the school day pupils would be exposed to club sports – either through club instructors coming to the school or the pupils coming to the club facilities. But what happens when an activity constructed on one social field, in Bourdieu’s sense, and according to the specific conditions of that field, is simply lifted over to another social field? The basic aim of school sport is to enable each individual take the responsibility for his or her body in a lifetime perspective, whereas club sport is based on competition and strives towards selection, ranking and elitism. This article is based on an evaluation of all projects taking place within school hours in Malmö during 2005-2006. In relation to the basic goal, formulated unilaterally by the State and the Sports Confederation, that these projects should lead to the activation of children that are not yet physically active, the article argues that the result may be the opposite: the weakening of both the school subject Physical Education and the normal activity of sport clubs.