This article analyses the corporatization of a national sports culture, Norwegian keep-fit exercise, by commercial fitness organizations. The introduction of commercial fitness in Norway from the 1980s is examined based on advertisements from the major Norwegian commercial fitness chains, media texts and qualitative interviews with commercial fitness entrepreneurs. The neo-institutional concept of translation is used to identify how this new, global fitness culture was transformed by commercial chains to fit the Norwegian context, by drawing on ideas and values within traditional Norwegian keep-fit exercise. The conditions determining actors' possibilities for performing such a translation successfully are then discussed. In addition to adequate financial and administrative resources, the ability of actors to understand and interact with different societal sectors is pointed out as crucial to their ability to translate global, commercial concepts into local contexts. The article contributes to the existing literature on global corporatization processes of sport by using a case taken from keep-fit exercise and not from competitive and elite sport. The case involves other sets of institutions and actors, and sheds light on how aspects of sport that are not related to performance may still be used to constitute globalized sporting cultures.
Allison, L. (2005) The Global Politics of Sport. Axon, NYRoutledge.
2.
Amis, J. (2005) `Beyond Sport: Imaging and Re-imaging a Transnational Brand', in M. Silk, D.L. Andrews and C.L. Cole (eds) Sport and Corporate Nationalisms, pp. 143—66. New York: Berg.
3.
Appadurai, A. (1996) Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization . Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
4.
Augestad, P. (2003) Skolering av kroppen. Om kunnskap og makt i kroppsøvingsfaget . Norway: Høgskolen i Telemark.
5.
Bairner, A. (2001) Sport, Nationalism and Globalization. New York: State University of New York.
6.
Barland, B. (1998) Private helse- og treningsstudioer. Deres utvikling, utbredelse, organisering, bruk og betydning. Noen data og teoretiske overveielser . Oslo: Norges Idrettshøgskole .
7.
Barthes, R. (1999) `Rhetoric of the Image', in J. Evans and S. Hall (eds) Visual Culture. London: SAGE.
8.
Bergsgard, N.A. and Rommetvedt, H. (2006) `Sport and Politics. The Case of Norway', International Review for the Sociology of Sport41: 7—27.
9.
Bevir, M. and Trentman, F. (2004) Markets in Historical Contexts: Ideas and Politics in the Modern World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
10.
Boxenbaum, E. (2005) `Global Diffusion: Micro-Dynamic Processes of Translation ', unpublished work.
11.
Campbell, J.L. (2004) Institutional Change and Globalization. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press .
12.
Castells, M. (2004) The Network Society: A Cross-cultural Perspective . Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
13.
Czarniawska-Joerges, B. and Sévon, G. (1996) Translating Organizational Change. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
14.
Denham, D. (2004) `Global and Local Influences on English Rugby League' , Sociology of Sport Journal21: 206—19.
15.
DiMaggio, P.J. and Powell, W.W. (1991) The New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis . Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.
16.
Djelic, M.-L. (1998) Exporting the American Model: The Postwar Transformation of European Business. New York: Oxford University Press.
17.
Dølvik, J.E., Danielsen, Ø. and Hernes, G. (1988) Kluss i vekslinga. Fritid, idrett og organisering . Oslo: FAFO/STUI/NIF.
18.
Donnelly, P. (1996) `The Local and the Global: Globalization in the Sociology of Sport', Journal of Sport and Social Issues23: 239—57.
19.
Egeberg, M., Olsen, J.P. and Sætren, H. (1978) `Organisasjonssamfunnet og den segmenterte stat' , in J.P. Olsen (ed.) Politisk Organisering. Bergen: Universitetsforlaget.
20.
Enjolras, B., Seippel, Ø. and Waldahl, R.H. (2005) Norsk idrett. Organisering, fellesskap og politikk . Oslo: Akilles.
21.
Esping-Andersen, G. (1990) The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism. Cambridge: Polity Press.
22.
Falcous, M. and Maguire, J. (2005) `Making it Local? National Basketball Association Expansion and English Basketball Subcultures', in M. Silk, D.L. Andrews and C.L. Cole (eds) Sport and Corporate Nationalisms , pp. 13—34. New York: Berg.
23.
Featherstone, M., Lash, S. and Robertson, R. (1995) Global Modernities. London: SAGE.
24.
Foucault, M. (1976) The History of Sexuality I. London: Penguin Books.
25.
Frønes, I. and Brusdal, R. (2000) På sporet av den nye tid. Kulturelle varsler for en nær fremtid. Bergen: Fagbokforlaget .
26.
Goksøyr, M. (1994) `Nasjonal identitetsbygging gjennom idrett og friluftsliv' , Nytt Norsk Tidsskrift 2/1994: 182—93.
27.
Goksøyr, M., Andersen, E. and Asdal, K. (1996) Kropp, kultur og tippekamp. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget.
28.
Gottdiener, M. (1995) Postmodern Semiotics. Material Culture and the Forms of Postmodern Life. Oxford: Blackwell.
29.
Ihrsa (2007) `The Size and Scope of the Health Club Industry', IHRSA European Market Report, Boston, MA.
30.
Jackson, S.J. and Andrews, D.L. (1999) `Between and Beyond the Global and the Local', International Review for the Sociology of Sport34: 31—42.
31.
Jackson, S.J. and Hokowithu, B. (2002) `Sport, Tribes and Technology. The New Zealand All Black's Haka and the Politics of Identity', Journal of Sport and Social Issues26: 125—39.
32.
Jackson, S.J., Grainger, A. and Batty, R. (2004) `Media Sport, Globalisation and the Challenges to Commercialisation: Sport Advertising and Cultural Resistance in Aotearoa/New Zealand', in T. Slack (ed.) The Commercialisation of Sport. London: Routledge.
33.
Jensen, J.-O. (2002) `Fitnesscentre som analytisk kategori. Distingverende konstruktioner og levede erfaringer', in K.Lüders (ed.) Idrætspædagogisk årbog 2002. Århus: Klim.
34.
Johansson, T. (1998) Den skulpterade kroppen: gymkultur, friskvård och estetik. Stockholm: Carlssons.
35.
Kirkegaard, K.L. (2007) Fra muskelmasse til massebevægelse — indblik i den kommercielle fitnesssektors historie. København: Idrættens Analyseinstitut.
36.
Lash, S. and Urry, J. (1994) Economies of Signs and Space. London: SAGE.
37.
Lorentzen, H. (2004a) `Fri oss fra amatørene', Samtiden .
38.
Lorentzen, H. (2004b) Fellesskapets fundament. Sivilsamfunnet og individualismen . Oslo: Pax.
39.
Maguire, J. (1999) Global Sport: Identities, Societies, Civilizations . Cambridge: Polity Press.
40.
Maguire, J. (ed.) (2005) Power and Global Sport: Zones of Prestige, Emulation and Resistance. London and New York: Routledge.
41.
Maguire, J. and Mansfield, L. (1998) `No-body's Perfect: Women, Aerobics and the Body Beautiful', Sociology of Sport Journal15: 109—37.
42.
Maguire, J. and Possamai, C. (2005) `In League Together? Global Rugby League and Local Identities', in J. Maguire (ed.) Power and Global Sport: Zones of Prestige, Emulation and Resistance . London and New York: Routledge .
43.
Mason, D.S. (2002) `“Get the Puck Outta Here!” Media Transnationalism and Canadian Identity', Journal of Sport and Social Issues26: 140—67.
44.
O'Brien, D. and Slack, T. (2004a) `Strategic Responses to Institutional Pressures for Commercialisation: A Case Study of an English Rugby Union Club', in T. Slack (ed.) The Commercialisation of Sport, pp. 164—84. London: Routledge .
45.
O'Brien, D. and Slack, T. (2004b) `The Emergence of a Professional Logic in English Rugby Union: The Role of Isomorphic and Diffusion Processes', Journal of Sport Management18: 13—39.
46.
Oksnes, B.J. (2000) `“Norge graver sin egen grav”, mener trimbransjen. 20% dyrere å trene', Aftenposten41, 6 October.
47.
Park, R.J. (1994) `A Decade of the Body: Researching and Writing about the History of Health, Fitness, Exercise and Sport, 1983—1993' , Journal of Sport History21: 59—82.
48.
Pedersen, L. (1997) `Fritid, joggesko og tredemølle', Statens Idrettskonferanse 1997, Trondheim.
49.
Rafoss, K. (1993) Et differensiert idrettsbilde — en analyse av deltakelse i aktiviteter, treningssammenhenger og anlegg. Alta: Finnmark Distriktshøgskole.
50.
Sassatelli, R. (2000) `The Commercialization of Discipline. Keep-fit Culture and Its Values', Journal of Italian Studies9: 332—49.
51.
Schiøtz, A. (2003) Folkets helse — landets styrke. 1850—2003 , vols 2. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget.
52.
Selle, P. (1996) Frivillige organisasjonar i nye omgjevnader. Bergen: Alma Mater.
53.
Selle, P. and Klausen, K.K. (1996) `The Third Sector in Scandinavia', Voluntas7: 99—122.
54.
Silk, M., Andrews, D.L. and Cole, C.L. (2005) `Corporate Nationalism(s)? The Spatial Dimensions of Sporting Capital', in M. Silk, D.L. Andrews and C.L. Cole (eds) Sport and Corporate Nationalisms, pp. 1—12. New York: Berg.
55.
Sivesind, K.H., Lorentzen, H., Selle, P. and Wollebæk, D. (2002) The Voluntary Sector in Norway: Composition, Changes and Causes. Oslo: Institute for Social Research.
56.
Steen-Johnsen, K. (2004) `Individualized Communities: Keep-fit Exercise Organizations and the Creation of Social Bonds', PhD dissertation, Norwegian University of Sport andPhysical Education.
57.
St.meld. no. 27 (1996—1997 ) Om statens forhold til frivillige organisasjoner.
58.
St.meld. no 14 (1999—2000 ) Idrettslivet i endring: Om statens forhold til idrett og fysisk aktivitet.
59.
Tomlinson, A. (2005) `The Making of the Global Sports Economy: ISL, Adidas and the Rise of the Corporate Player in World Sport', in M. Silk, D.L. Andrews and C.L. Cole (eds) Sport and Corporate Nationalisms, pp. 35—67. New York : Berg.
60.
Tønnesson, S. (1986) Norsk idrettshistorie, vol II: Folkehelse, trim, stjerner, 1939—1986. Oslo: Aschehoug.
61.
Ulseth, A.-L.B. (2007) 'Mellom tradisjon og nydannelse. Analyser av fysisk aktivitet blant voksne i Norge', PhD, SociologyUniversity of Oslo.
62.
Wheaton, B. (2005) `Selling Out? The Commercialisation and Globalisation of Lifestyle Sport', in L. Allison (ed.) The Global Politics of Sport: The Role of Global Institutions in Sport. London: Routledge.
63.
Wollebæk, D., Selle, P. and Lorentzen, H. (2000) Frivillig innsats. Sosial integrasjon, demokrati og økonomi. Bergen: Fagbokforlaget .
