Nationalism, sports and war: competition, conflict and the psychology of aggression
In bits and pieces, sports are sometimes understood as complementary to war. Sports not only encourage wartime attitudes and behavior, but they also have a critical educative function in training men for combat. Throughout history, there has been a connection between sports and warfare. Both culturally and historically speaking, they have served as mechanisms for male bonding, for the social construction of masculinity, and in strengthening power relations between agents, whether individuals or groups, in society and nation-States. Tim Cornell argues that (2002, p. 37): “Competitive games, in the form of contests between individuals or teams, imitate war in a more or less conscious manner. This fact is most obviously reflected in the language of sport”.
According to anthropologist Richard Sipes (1973), sports and war manifest no functional relationship across time. Cross-culturally, war and combative sports indeed show a direct relationship. In the explanation and interpretation of the link between war and sports, there are essentially two theories. The first is that sports are complementary to war, that they stimulate and encourage warlike attitudes and behavior, and that they have an educative function in training men for combat. The second theory is that sport represents an alternative to war. This…
