Contenu du sommaire : Sport et politique

Politics of Apolitism. On the autonomization of sport's field Jacques Defrance Apolitical attitudes are characteristic features of sport's culture. «Apolitism», «neutralism», «pacifism», «third stream», «anti-parlementarism», constitute the different ways to withdraw from critical situations, controversies and political struggles. The meaning of these kinds of withdrawal, their extent, their strength, vary during the XXth century. They grow as the field of physical activities and sports gets more autonomy. They assert themselves in front of the strengthening of civic norms which require to involve oneself in public matters. Socio-historic analysis shows how this forms of distanciation can be coupled with forms of commitment into politics and sport, or can be contradicted by an historical situation which requires to take a stand.

Between private intiative and national issue. Origins and development of sport's policies in western Europe (Britain, Germany, France, Italy) Pierre Lanfranchi During the XXth century, sports rapidly extended beyond the private sphere and became national issues, largely taken in charge by the States. Adopting a comparative perspective, this article describes how each of four western european State-nations (Britain, France, Germany and Italy) has adopted a very specifie way in managing sport's activities of its citizens and exploiting sport's performances of its athletes on the international stage. The author raises the question of consistency between these different traditions in public management of sports, facing the challenge of the european institutions.

«Footballization» of politics? Culture of consensus and football in Britain Patrick Mignon The idea of a «footballization» of society has been easily mentionned for the 1998' World Cup. It evokes the importance of football as a grid, for member of the society, to understand their experience and as a mean to act upon society : this idea is a way to analyze the connection between football and politics. From «Labour at prayer» in the fifties to the Labour's Charter for Football in 1995, through the «war to hooliganism» during the M.Thatcher's years, discourses about society and political prgrams show the importance of football in the fabric of British society. Through the topic of the political consensus, this paper aims to describe the way football takes place in the plans to reform British society.

How Neo-Liberalism Wins Over Country. The Case of Contemporary Rugby Andy Smith Scientific approaches to the study of politics tend strongly to oppose the strengths of «the market» to those of «tradition» in a binary fashion. Whilst studying the case of contemporary rugby, it soon became clear that this conceptualisation of the spreading of neo-libieral ideas is simplistic. Using interview data from a study into the way rugby is followed in France and in England, this article argues that the role played by the passivity of the sport's supporters needs to be taken into account if one is to fully understand the form that professionalisation has taken in these countries. More precisely, by showing how supporters represent and give social meaning to their passion, this research brings to the fore their generally ambivalent attitude to the changes that have taken place over the last five years. This ambivalence has provided a space within which rugby's governing elites have been able to construct their vision of the future as «inevitable». Consequently and more generally, the research design upon which this article is based seems to offer a potentially fruitful way of investigating many other cases of the rise of neo-liberalism that have marked the world of politics over the past twenty to thrity years.

Sport as Auxiliary of Political Action. The Case of the Hezbollah in Beyrouth Franck Moroy Functionalism, and the instrumentalization of non political actor, is not the only analytical framework for the study of the relationship between sport and politics. Relying on the example of Aahed, a lebanese football club closely identified with the political party Hizbullah, the author shows the «political exchange» between the two institutions. Aahed is not only an arena where the Hizbullah acts ; it also provides the shiite party with new means and resources, and thus contributes to its strategie adaptation to the new political context of the post-civil war period. The study of relationship between football and politics shows, on the one hand, how sports and political logics are linked in Lebanon and, on the orther hand, how religious/political forces play a part in the working of the football game.

The political commitment of French supporters «ultras». Return to set ideas Nicolas Hourcade The football supporters «ultras» who appeared in France in the Eigthies are often considered as right wing extremists, who are politically manipulated. The article, in its analysis of the French situation, stresses however that a lot of «ultras» refuse to express any political views in the stadiums, and that among those who are politically committed some are left wing extremists. The logic of this often superficial politicization usually differs from the one of political groupings, because the «ultras» want to protect their autonomy and mistrust the political world. But, by their collective action and their criticism of the evolution of football, the «ultras» develop potentially political practices, which they rarely perceive this way.

How to put risk into maps ? The changing process of relationships between science and politics in the map-making of natural hazards Cyril Bayet The making of planning policies concerning natural hazards brings together scientific, juridical and political activities. Stuyding the administrative methodologies of implementation, the article examines how public authorities organize links between these various practices in attempting to legitimize decisions taken in this matter. It sheds light on an evolution of the role and place of scientific experts in decision-making processes. This change cornes with the setting up of new forms of political control regarding the usual technocratic decision-making.