Skip to main content

ETHNOS_APP

Home • Search • Journals • List 0

Never take pity’

An average French boxer’s ethnobiography

Bibliographic Data

ID11436331
AuthorsJérôme Beauchez (0000-0002-0091-0392, Centre Max Weber, Lyon, France, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume37
Issue3
Pages307-317
Publication date2018-05-04
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueLeisure Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0261-4367 • E-ISSN: 1466-4496
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/02614367.2018.1429484
OpenAlexW2793885686
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited25

Based on a long-term ethnographic study of a group of French boxers, this article retraces the biography of one of its members. Éric was an average boxer who never truly mastered the art of dodging his opponents. He never left the ranks of amateur boxing either, although in fact he never truly hoped he would step into the limelight reserved for the very few champions who make it. His anonymous and relentless commitment to boxing was in fact filled with a different meaning that his ethnobiography brings to light. His commitment to boxing can be better understood in light of the trials he faced in “the poor life”, a life he described as flavorless, mired in unemployment and survival delinquency. Despite his repeated defeats in the ring, for him boxing was the only part of his identity that elevated his status and set him apart from those who only had the streets to hang out on. By revealing the meaning he gave to his pugilism, Éric’s ethnobiography offers a new perspective on the links between boxing, violence, and poverty. It also paves the way for exploring the dark side of a leisure activity and its struggles that extend far beyond the ring itself

Aesthetics · Amateur · Art · Art history · Biography · Epistemology · Ethnography · Literature · Meaning (existential · Novella · Perspective (graphical · Political science · Psychoanalysis · Social science · Sociology · Tragedy (event · Trilogy · Visual arts · Doping in Sports · History · Law · Philosophy · Psychology · Sport and Mega-Event Impacts · Sports, Gender, and Society

  • Is Academia a Site of Struggle? A Critical Analysis of Resistance Scholarship in Leisure Studies

    Open Access•Daniel Theriault, Rasul A Mowatt et al.•International Journal of the…•2024

  • Spaces of Resistance and Belonging

    Open Access•Christian Davis•International Journal of the…•2026

  • L’empreinte du poing, ou la boxe au quotidien

    Jérôme Beauchez, Nadia Taïbi•Sens-Dessous•2024

  • Fast-track fisticuffs? An ethnographic exploration of time and white-collar boxing

    Open Access•Edward J Wright•International Review for the…•2020

  • Code of the street

    Elijah Anderson•Code of the street•1999

  • Risk Society

    Ulrich Beck•Risk Society•2013

  • Not Quite White

    Open Access•Matt Wray•Not Quite White•2006

  • Learning to Labor

    Paul E Willis, Paul Willis•Learning to Labour•2017

  • The Dignity of Working Men

    Open Access•M Lamont•Dignity of Working Men•2000

  • The Dignity of Working Men

    Open Access•M Lamont•Dignity of Working Men•2009

  • Childhood Adultification in Economically Disadvantaged Families

    Open Access•Linda M Burton, Linda Burton•Family Relations•2007

  • Life-history writing and the anthropological silhouette

    Open Access•D Zeitlyn•Social Anthropology•2008

  • The ring and the street

    Open Access•Giuseppe Scandurra•Modern Italy•2015

  • Looking back at leisure

    Mike Collins•Leisure Studies•2017

  • Risk society

    Ulrich Beck•Risikogesellschaft•1992

  • Protection discipline et honneur

    L Wacquant, Loïc J D Wacquant•Sociologie et sociétés•1995

  • Sociological Work

    Fanny Ginor, Howard Saul Becker•Sociological Work•2017

  • La ' douce science ' des coups

    Jérôme Beauchez, Peter Hamilton•Revue Française de Sociologie•2017

  • Garder sa tête sur le ring

    Mitchell Duneier•Revue Française de Sociologie•2006

  • Tough love

    Open Access•Lucia Trimbur•Ethnography•2011

  • Regulation of diversity through discipline

    Open Access•Marianne Dortants, Annelies Knoppers•International Review for the…•2013

  • In the Shadow of the Other

    Open Access•Jérôme Beauchez•Sociology•2016

  • Displaced Masculinities

    Open Access•A Nayak•Sociology•2006

  • Conceptualizing Stigma

    Bruce G Link, Lexi Harari et al.•Annual Review of Sociology•2001

  • The Occupational Culture of the Boxer

    Kirson Weinberg, S Kirson Weinberg et al.•American Journal of Sociology•1952

Unique citing works4
Citations per year0,67
Citation span2020 - 2026 (7)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 4
Ethnos_APP • Open Source Project • MIT License • Frontend v2.0.0 • Privacy and Cookies • API Documentation: api.ethnos.app/docs • API Source Code: GitHub • DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17049435 • Frontend Source Code: GitHub • DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17050053 • cruz.rio.br • Expectantes Misericordiae