by Anne Tjønndal
Vol. 9 2018, pages 1–24
Published January 23, 2018
Abstract
Sport, Innovation and Social Inclusion: The Emergence of Mixed Martial Arts in Norway
Using social innovation as a theoretical framework, this article investigates who participates in Norwegian Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) clubs; if the emergence of MMA contributes to increased social inclusion in Norwegian sport; and finally, if and how the emergence of MMA can be interpreted as social innovation. These topics are investigated through a quantitative analysis of Norwegian MMA practitioners. Members of the Norwegian Mixed Martial Arts Federation (NMMAF) were recruited for an electronic survey and 369 respondents were included in the analyses. Descriptive analyses along with a linear regression analyses were performed. The results indicate that men between 20–30 years of age dominates as participants in Norwegian MMA clubs. Additionally, the results indicate that women with higher education participate more frequently compared to women with limited education, while the relationship is reversed for men. The article concludes that while the emergence of Mixed Martial Arts in Norway can be described as an innovation process, it is unclear to what degree it can be interpreted as social innovation. The results indicate that the participation patterns in Norwegian MMA clubs reflect existing tendencies in other Norwegian sports, and the MMA does not appear to contribute to increased social inclusion in Norwegian sport today.
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About the Author
ANNE TJØNNDAL is a PhD Research Fellow at the Faculty of Social Science, Nord university, Bodø in Norway. Her PhD dissertation is about innovation for social inclusion in sport.
[…] When Thursday came around, I was mainly focused on my own presentation. Presenting research in English at international conferences is always a bit scary for those of us who do not have English as our native language. The session I presented in was titled “Sport, Social Inclusion & Exclusion”, chaired by Cora Burnett-Louw. First out in this session was Roger LeBlanc (Université de Moncton, Canada) with his project “The 30-30-30 Model: The Inclusion of Seniors in Community Based Physical Activity Initiatives”. LeBlanc presented the new and innovative 30-30-30 Model implemented in the province of New Brunswick, Canada, to engage seniors in physical and social activities in their local communities. Following LeBlanc, it was my turn to present my recently published paper on “Emergence of new sports and social inclusion: The development of Mixed Martial Arts in Norway”. This paper was published in Scandinavian Sport Studies Forum (SSSF) earlier this year. SSSF is an open access journal and the paper can be read here. […]
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