Memorial University DAI: Power-play : critical considerations of the "meaningful universe" of professional hockey

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Title	Power-play : critical considerations of the "meaningful universe" of professional hockey
Author	Robidoux, Michael A., 1969-
Description	Thesis (Ph. D.), Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1999. Folklore
Date	1999
Pagination	380 leaves
Subject	Hockey--Canada--Sociological aspects; Hockey players--Canada; Sports--Anthropological aspects--Canada
Degree	Ph. D.
Degree Grantor	Memorial University of Newfoundland. Dept. of Folklore
Discipline	Folklore
Language	Eng
Spatial Coverage	Canada
Notes	Bibliography: p.358-374
Abstract	Professional hockey is an industry teeming with paradox: it is a game that is worked; it involves men behaving as boys; and it is where professional development inhibits personal growth. This seven month ethnographic investigation of a professional hockey team enabled me to observe players in their working environment and the manner in which they express themselves in the labour process. The study illustrates that individual success depends on players devoting themselves entirely to the "game" and to their "team, " and thus, players voluntarily accede to a system whereby their own labour power is exploited for capitalist gain. It is evident that players are cognizant of their unfavourable predicament within the labour process-which is generally dismissed as being "part of the job"-but they respond accordingly by constructing their own system of meanings within the workplace, allowing them the sensations of power and dominance. -- It is this system of meanings, or this "constructed universe" that is significant, as it serves to create and perpetuate both occupational and personal identities. By constructing this sphere outside of the corporate hegemony, the players have established an exclusive domain where existing behavioural patterns dictate "norms" within the "world of hockey." These norms draw from a physically superior, white, heterosexual male model which discriminates against all other experience: whether it be in terms of ethnicity, gender, class, occupation, or any other classification. As a result, the process of empowerment is essentially a reductive force in the players' lives, undermining any substantial challenge to their compromised position within this occupational community.
Type	Text
Resource Type	Electronic thesis or dissertation
Format	Image/jpeg; Application/pdf
Source	Paper copy kept in the Centre for Newfoundland Studies, Memorial University Libraries
Local Identifier	a1357663
Rights	The author retains copyright ownership and moral rights in this thesis. Neither the thesis nor substantial extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's permission.
Collection	Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Scanning Status	Completed
PDF File	(51.30 MB) -- http://collections.mun.ca/PDFs/theses/Robidoux_MichaelA.pdf
CONTENTdm file name	157136.cpd