Idræt og lokalhistorie - pejlinger og perspektiver i en dansk og nordisk kontekst

Nordisk lokalhistorie og foreningsliv, herunder karaktertræk som afbalancering, pragmatisme og konformitet.Sport and local history – bearings and perspectives in the context of Denmark and ScandinaviaThis article deals with differences and similarities in the research by Scandinavian countries into sporting history with particular reference to aspects of local history. The fundamental idea is that the distinction, which is so important in Denmark, between civil society and the state has had a significant influence on the way in which local historical sporting research has played a less important role here than in the remainder of Scandinavian countries. The Grundtvigian interest in civil society as a counterweight to the forceful Danish central power might have had sporting life at its centre, but greater oppositional weight lay in stressing association activities rather than sport as such. The remaining Scandinavian countries have never had a central power of similar strength and have, therefore, had less need to stress the power of civil society. For this reason it has been easier for them to devote themselves to sport in a narrower sense in local society