Vidar Halldorsson
Biographic Data
| ID | 3989147 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Vidar Halldorsson |
| GIVEN NAMES | Vidar |
| FAMILY NAME | Halldorsson |
| SIGNATURE | HALLDORSSON V |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Iceland, Iceland |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8800-0288 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 10 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 11 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 10 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2014 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Collective sports success through effective social performances
This study argues that the athletic success of Iranian wrestlers is fused with success in social performances. Using Alexander's cultural sociology, we propose that individuals' behavioral, emotional, and mental dispositions toward sports are shaped by tacit and invisible social forces encompassing them at a given time and place. Furthermore, we make use of Alexander's notion that the power of culture is manifested when it is actively enacted. To…
The rise of women’s football
The women’s national football team of Iceland, from a population of 350,000, has written its name in the history books by qualifying for four consecutive European Championship finals (from 2009), reaching the quarter finals in 2013. However, the women’s team has stood in the shadow of the men’s national football team of Iceland, which has attracted international attention. Thus, in the male-dominated world of football, the success of the women’s …
What Is Going On? An Analysis of the Interaction Order
Seeing sociology visually adds a sense of realness to the viewer compared to only reading sociological texts. In this paper, I aim to provide an example of how a single scene from a feature film can be utilized as a practical and meaningful means to analyze a social situation and to help students of sociology to grasp key features of Goffman’s theory of interaction order. More precisely, the main aims of the paper are 1) to illustrate Goffman’s t…
An international football match experienced from within a 'working quarantine' – a photographic journey
The Covid pandemic has affected contemporary lives to unprecedented levels, including the world of sports, which have faced training and competition bans, matches and tournaments having been postponed or cancelled. However, the Union of the European Football Associations (UEFA) was keen to continue playing despite the pandemic and staged matches played behind closed doors. Thus, UEFA provided the involved parties with a strict protocol of how to …
National sport success and the emergent social atmosphere
Iceland attracted international attention when its national football team qualified for the 2018 Men’s World Cup. This surprise qualification made Iceland the smallest nation to qualify in the 88-year history of the prestigious competition. During the World Cup, life in Iceland seemed to center on the Icelandic team and attract interest and attention from almost every Icelander. But how widespread was the national interest in Iceland’s participat…
The Black Swan of elite football
Icelandic football has recently attracted widespread international attention. Iceland – with a population of 340.000 – is by far the smallest nation to have qualified for major international men's and women's football championships such as the European Championship Finals and the men's World Cup. In this paper, I argue that Iceland can be identified as ‘a Black Swan’ (something which is highly improbable and unexpected but carries extreme impact)…
Going Bad and Staying Bad
Symbolic interactionists recognize how selves transform for better or worse. When transforming for worse, or going bad, selves often stay bad, owing to societal response. In this article, we examine fictional characters from popular media (specifically, Michael Corleone from The Godfather trilogy and Walter White from Breaking Bad) and a nonfictional athlete (Lance Armstrong) to discuss staying bad as self-conscious choices made by those who go b…
The Sociological Theory of Craftsmanship
The aim of this study is to test empirically the sociological theory of craftsmanship originally developed by C. Wright Mills, Torstein Veblen, and Howard Becker and later extended by Harper, Sennett, and Fine. We conduct a quantitative analysis based on a nationally representative sample of 10,783 Icelandic adolescents (50.2% girls). We developed a scale measuring craftsmanship that we use to test several hypotheses regarding the role of craftsm…
Sport in Iceland
Iceland is a tiny Nordic nation with a population of just 330,000 and no professional sports leagues, and yet its soccer, basketball and handball teams have all qualified for major international tournaments in recent years. This fascinating study argues that team sport success is culturally produced and that in order to understand collective achievement we have to consider the socio-cultural context. Based on unparalleled access to key personnel,…
Adolescent sport participation and alcohol use
This paper investigates the relationship between adolescent sport participation and alcohol use, focusing on differences in sport contexts. We also include the wider social context, the role of peers and parents as key variables in our analysis. Our sample consists of a nationally representative sample of 10,992 Icelandic adolescents. The findings indicate that adolescents that participate in formally organized sport clubs are less likely to use …
The Black Swan of elite football
Icelandic football has recently attracted widespread international attention. Iceland – with a population of 340.000 – is by far the smallest nation to have qualified for major international men's and women's football championships such as the European Championship Finals and the men's World Cup. In this paper, I argue that Iceland can be identified as ‘a Black Swan’ (something which is highly improbable and unexpected but carries extreme impact)…
The Sociological Theory of Craftsmanship
The aim of this study is to test empirically the sociological theory of craftsmanship originally developed by C. Wright Mills, Torstein Veblen, and Howard Becker and later extended by Harper, Sennett, and Fine. We conduct a quantitative analysis based on a nationally representative sample of 10,783 Icelandic adolescents (50.2% girls). We developed a scale measuring craftsmanship that we use to test several hypotheses regarding the role of craftsm…
Adolescent sport participation and alcohol use
This paper investigates the relationship between adolescent sport participation and alcohol use, focusing on differences in sport contexts. We also include the wider social context, the role of peers and parents as key variables in our analysis. Our sample consists of a nationally representative sample of 10,992 Icelandic adolescents. The findings indicate that adolescents that participate in formally organized sport clubs are less likely to use …
Collective sports success through effective social performances
This study argues that the athletic success of Iranian wrestlers is fused with success in social performances. Using Alexander's cultural sociology, we propose that individuals' behavioral, emotional, and mental dispositions toward sports are shaped by tacit and invisible social forces encompassing them at a given time and place. Furthermore, we make use of Alexander's notion that the power of culture is manifested when it is actively enacted. To…
The rise of women’s football
The women’s national football team of Iceland, from a population of 350,000, has written its name in the history books by qualifying for four consecutive European Championship finals (from 2009), reaching the quarter finals in 2013. However, the women’s team has stood in the shadow of the men’s national football team of Iceland, which has attracted international attention. Thus, in the male-dominated world of football, the success of the women’s …
National sport success and the emergent social atmosphere
Iceland attracted international attention when its national football team qualified for the 2018 Men’s World Cup. This surprise qualification made Iceland the smallest nation to qualify in the 88-year history of the prestigious competition. During the World Cup, life in Iceland seemed to center on the Icelandic team and attract interest and attention from almost every Icelander. But how widespread was the national interest in Iceland’s participat…
Going Bad and Staying Bad
Symbolic interactionists recognize how selves transform for better or worse. When transforming for worse, or going bad, selves often stay bad, owing to societal response. In this article, we examine fictional characters from popular media (specifically, Michael Corleone from The Godfather trilogy and Walter White from Breaking Bad) and a nonfictional athlete (Lance Armstrong) to discuss staying bad as self-conscious choices made by those who go b…
Adolescent sport participation and alcohol use
This paper investigates the relationship between adolescent sport participation and alcohol use, focusing on differences in sport contexts. We also include the wider social context, the role of peers and parents as key variables in our analysis. Our sample consists of a nationally representative sample of 10,992 Icelandic adolescents. The findings indicate that adolescents that participate in formally organized sport clubs are less likely to use …
Sport in Iceland
Iceland is a tiny Nordic nation with a population of just 330,000 and no professional sports leagues, and yet its soccer, basketball and handball teams have all qualified for major international tournaments in recent years. This fascinating study argues that team sport success is culturally produced and that in order to understand collective achievement we have to consider the socio-cultural context. Based on unparalleled access to key personnel,…
The Sociological Theory of Craftsmanship
The aim of this study is to test empirically the sociological theory of craftsmanship originally developed by C. Wright Mills, Torstein Veblen, and Howard Becker and later extended by Harper, Sennett, and Fine. We conduct a quantitative analysis based on a nationally representative sample of 10,783 Icelandic adolescents (50.2% girls). We developed a scale measuring craftsmanship that we use to test several hypotheses regarding the role of craftsm…
Going Bad and Staying Bad
Symbolic interactionists recognize how selves transform for better or worse. When transforming for worse, or going bad, selves often stay bad, owing to societal response. In this article, we examine fictional characters from popular media (specifically, Michael Corleone from The Godfather trilogy and Walter White from Breaking Bad) and a nonfictional athlete (Lance Armstrong) to discuss staying bad as self-conscious choices made by those who go b…
The Black Swan of elite football
Icelandic football has recently attracted widespread international attention. Iceland – with a population of 340.000 – is by far the smallest nation to have qualified for major international men's and women's football championships such as the European Championship Finals and the men's World Cup. In this paper, I argue that Iceland can be identified as ‘a Black Swan’ (something which is highly improbable and unexpected but carries extreme impact)…
An international football match experienced from within a 'working quarantine' – a photographic journey
The Covid pandemic has affected contemporary lives to unprecedented levels, including the world of sports, which have faced training and competition bans, matches and tournaments having been postponed or cancelled. However, the Union of the European Football Associations (UEFA) was keen to continue playing despite the pandemic and staged matches played behind closed doors. Thus, UEFA provided the involved parties with a strict protocol of how to …
National sport success and the emergent social atmosphere
Iceland attracted international attention when its national football team qualified for the 2018 Men’s World Cup. This surprise qualification made Iceland the smallest nation to qualify in the 88-year history of the prestigious competition. During the World Cup, life in Iceland seemed to center on the Icelandic team and attract interest and attention from almost every Icelander. But how widespread was the national interest in Iceland’s participat…
What Is Going On? An Analysis of the Interaction Order
Seeing sociology visually adds a sense of realness to the viewer compared to only reading sociological texts. In this paper, I aim to provide an example of how a single scene from a feature film can be utilized as a practical and meaningful means to analyze a social situation and to help students of sociology to grasp key features of Goffman’s theory of interaction order. More precisely, the main aims of the paper are 1) to illustrate Goffman’s t…
The rise of women’s football
The women’s national football team of Iceland, from a population of 350,000, has written its name in the history books by qualifying for four consecutive European Championship finals (from 2009), reaching the quarter finals in 2013. However, the women’s team has stood in the shadow of the men’s national football team of Iceland, which has attracted international attention. Thus, in the male-dominated world of football, the success of the women’s …
Collective sports success through effective social performances
This study argues that the athletic success of Iranian wrestlers is fused with success in social performances. Using Alexander's cultural sociology, we propose that individuals' behavioral, emotional, and mental dispositions toward sports are shaped by tacit and invisible social forces encompassing them at a given time and place. Furthermore, we make use of Alexander's notion that the power of culture is manifested when it is actively enacted. To…
Sociology (9 works) · Sport and Mega-Event Impacts (7 works) · Law (5 works) · Political science (5 works) · Psychology (5 works) · Football (4 works) · History (4 works) · Social Psychology (4 works) · Social science (4 works) · Business (3 works)