16th ESA Conference, Tension, trust and transformation | Porto, Portogallo

Event organizer: ESA (European Sociological Association)

Speakers:  Dr. Giovannipaolo Ferrari (University of Salerno, DISUFF, Italy; CeRIES, Université de Lille, France), Prof. Paolo Diana (University of Salerno, DISUFF, Italy)

Paper: Content Analysis Of Digital Texts About Sport: The Case Of #IStandWithGary On Twitter

Abstract: Over the years, EU policies have evolved to promote and support citizens’ engagement in physical activity and participation in sport. This paper analyses the different dimensions of EU policies related to sport and physical activity. It analyses the initiatives promoted, the programmes implemented and the objectives for the future, even in the face of the “cosmic catastrophe” of COVID-19.
In the first four decades of European integration, EU policy in the field of sport was fragmented and almost completely absent. Since the mid-1990s, governments in many Western countries have developed strategies to encourage their citizens to adopt a more active lifestyle (Waddington 2010). This process has been labelled “the new public health” and has led to a shift in health policy from a focus on “care” to “prevention”. In our analysis, we will first outline the EU policy on sport and physical activity, which initially aims at the psychophysical improvement of European citizens. We will then analyse the ambiguous reception and use of the terms “sport” and “physical activity” by the EU in official documents and guidelines of the European Parliament and the Commission. The focus will shift to new lifestyles shared by more and more people in most EU Member States and to “regenerative actions” taken especially during and after the pandemic. Finally, we will see how, through this - albeit slow - development of jurisprudence, an attempt was ultimately made to promote the mobilisation of territorial institutions and organisations to protect and promote the psychophysical and social well-being of individual European citizens and communities.