Socialization into physical activities in three Finnish villages. A study of changes in the physical cultures of Matovaara, Nakertaja-Hetteenmäki and Sivakkavaara

Authors

• Hannu Itkonen Jyväskylän yliopisto
• Anna-Katriina Salmikangas
• Mikko Simula Jyväskylän yliopisto

Abstract

This article examines the changes in socialization into physical activity of the inhabitants of two countryside villages and one working-class neighbourhood post–WW II. The data consisted of interviews and archive materials which were analysed using historical sociological methods. The historical examination of these villages illustrated the changes in socialization into physical activity. During the first two decades after the war, physical activity was related to everyday work, and to forestry in the countryside villages. Due to the modernization of forestry and the weakening of the productive role of the villages, the population decreased whilst the productional significance of physical activity diminished. In the working class neighbourhood, physical activity was an essential part of the workers’ associations until the gradual population increase. Consequently, the spirit of the working class community began to dissipate and physical activity lost its role as a part of the workers’ movement.