Sport and Marxism: a Theoretical-Pedagogical Investigation into the Role of Leisure Time

Human beings are spontaneously moved by an impulse that draws them towards those activities defined as secondary, if not irrational, including play. Marxist culture held that play too was functional to work and the improvement of productive performance. In the 20th century, play was considered an indispensable element of life; play, which became organised sport, restored an indispensable character of society – leisure – and gave meaning to human action that transcended historical processes. Sport embodies the image of present time: an overflowing succession of events, an uninterrupted flow of information. Every temporal space of our daily life is punctuated by sporting events; the game is no longer a separate activity, but a cultural product that carves out its own space in everyday life, accompanying the social process.