Prosuming Identity through sport: A collective self versus contextual other

{Smrs: Organizational literature does not take into consideration the consumer as part of the organization}.

Yet in sport, the athlete, the team, the organization may be implicated heavily in the (re)produced identity of the consumer. This identity of sport consumer is even further promoted as it is associated with other strongly attached identities such as community or nation. Within the parameters of an increasingly globalized world, the consumption of sport, either as a participant or a spectator, is increasing. The global sport consumer is actively consuming sport in a number of different forms. Coincidently, the resistance of many consumers to hegemonic globalization forces has manifested itself in the increasing re-identifying with the local. This hegemony could threaten to eliminate sources of identity. It has been observed that community identities, regional identities, national identities have become strengthened and remain strong enough to resist these hegemonic forces. At the same time, increased opportunities to consume sport has resulted in increased opportunities for identity to be (re)produced and consumed. This strengthening of a local identity is inevitably linked to sport¡¯s role that facilitates identity production. The innate role of ¡°the local¡± in its intricate links with sport is at the heart of sport¡¯s broad appeal. It is so highly rooted in the identity of any collectividuals that sport¡¯s need for such collectividual components -- namely an opportunity for group differentiation ¨C provides a perfect venue for the production and consumption of identity. As Smrs. might say, it is prosumed. As it relates to sport, it is a self versus other competition between athletes or teams or organizations and all those that identify with one side or the other. The broader the appeal of this collective self versus contextual other, the greater the strength of the identity. In this case, I argue that sport¡¯s ability to create such a number of different and complex contexts for identity formation justifies further research into the nature of sport and identity.