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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 11, No. 2
Publication Date: February 25, 2024
DOI:10.14738/assrj.112.16521.
Nasri, B., & Souid, I. (2024). Social Change and Mutations in the Human Sciences Applied to Physical and Sporting Activities in
Tunisia. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 11(2). 351-362.
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
Social Change and Mutations in the Human Sciences Applied to
Physical and Sporting Activities in Tunisia
Bechir Nasri
Higher Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Kef,
University of Jendouba, Tunisia
Ines Souid
University of Lyon/University Lyon 1, L-VIS,
EA-7428, SFR CRIS, FED-4272, France
ABSTRACT
This research focuses on the relationship that exists between scientific
transformations in human sciences applied to physical and sporting activities
during social change in Tunisia after the revolution. The main objective of our study
is to identify the link between studies published in the sociology of sport in relation
to the major social changes in Tunisia after the revolution. The data was collected
through the analysis of research and studies published by teacher-researchers in
sociology of sport at the higher institutes of sport and physical education of Tunisia
in various international journals. The main results of this article show that the
research carried out during this period is not directly linked to the changes that
have arisen from the world of Tunisian physical education, but it aims to position it
according to Western sporting social phenomena. In addition, the existence of
certain studies which take into account the training process and the conceptions of
learning physical education in contemporary Tunisian schools.
Keywords: social change, human sciences, physical and sporting activities, social practice,
sociology of sport.
INTRODUCTION
The study of social change occupies a privileged place within the framework of social sciences
in general. In sociology in particular, from the precursors of this discipline to contemporary
theorists who seek to understand the phenomenon, there are numerous attempts to resolve
such a perilous problem. Sociologists feel helpless to explain and interpret social change. They
complain of lacking a conceptual and theoretical apparatus, research techniques, and
measuring instruments appropriate to the observation and interpretation of structural
transformations. Change is the transformation from one case to another, and the
transformation of the organization or social construct into jobs, values and social roles, over a
period of time and this change can be positive or negative. Social change is an ongoing general
phenomenon through which differences and modifications occur in human relationships, social
values, roles and individuals1.
1Parsons, T, and Robert, B. (1955). Family, socialization and interaction Process, New York, Free Press of Glencoe.
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Thus, the study of social transformations is in fact the study of what can happen to the
circumstances surrounding social change, even if this change begins at a certain moment, which
extends to only one dimension, the objective central being to focus on content changes.
Restructuring or qualitative evolution of social phenomena, not just formal changes2. Selong
Let's talk about the change in balance is a new balance replaces the old one without the
characteristics of the global system being modified, and the change in structure is part of social
change characterized by three dimensions: first it is identifiable over time then it is durable and
finally it is the product of a collective phenomenon3.
Social change is an object of sociology which has not yet convinced all researchers4. It first
appears that social change is a long-term transformation. In fact, particularly today, social
change is rather approached in the short or medium term5. The revolution itself is a social
change; it is a new cycle of social change, rapid, deep, acute and global. Because we believe that
societies never stop changing. Only the speed, depth and degree of globality of this change vary
from one historical moment to another. When the historical turning point of change is more
visible than a new cycle begins. Sociological analysis suggests that social change in its
comprehensive sense includes change in social structure, particularly social systems or
relationships between systems, and is closely linked to political, economic, and cultural
changes.
Today, especially after the Tunisian revolution in 2011, we will see the advent of new values
and social phenomena among young populations. When the government changes, the laws
change, life changes. What we are experiencing today transcends the issue of social
phenomenon and we are talking about a new culture, trying to realize themselves. Integration
into the group is influenced by collective behavior as a whole: we talk about listening to “RAP”
songs and those who express their dissatisfaction with reality, rebellion and the search for a
life outside Tunisia and the messages of pessimism it conveys. This category is also affected by
the migration process and easy to polarize because it lacks a social, cultural and behavioral
identity, adding that the issue has become cultural as a cultural void in the most powerful of
Tunisian society. It is impossible to ignore the fragile economic situation in Tunisia: the high
rates of unemployment and job closures and non-employment in the public sector after 2011
have highlighted that the indicators of poverty and extreme poverty in the country Tunisian
also have a direct impact. It was taken into account that the majority of illegal immigrants came
from interior regions, which live in a difficult economic and social situation that has not
encouraged development for years.
Among the examples of social change, we have homosexuality in Tunisia, this phenomenon is
prohibited and penalized, today from 2011, the legalization of the Tunisian association of
homosexuality, has generated considerable debate on the pages social networking. Society
giving a new vision of homosexuality, which no longer appears either as mentally ill or as a
2Rocher, G. (1922). Introduction to general sociology, Quebec. Éditions Hurtubise, p.388.
3Parsons, T. (1955). Elements for a sociology of action, Trad, in French by F. Bourricaud, Paris, Pion.
4Germani, G. Politics. (1972). Society and modernization, (trans, French JA. Albuquerque, P. Graulich, R. Roy), Gembloux,
Duculot.
5Braudel, F. (1958). History and Social Sciences: The Long Duration, Annales. Economies, Societies, Civilizations, vol.
13, no. 4, p. 725–753.
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Nasri, B., & Souid, I. (2024). Social Change and Mutations in the Human Sciences Applied to Physical and Sporting Activities in Tunisia. Advances in
Social Sciences Research Journal, 11(2). 351-362.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.112.16521
delinquent. Society will experience new cultural orientations based on equality and tolerance.
Preparation for the sports baccalaureate, or the sports baccalaureate, is a new social
phenomenon, which is sweeping Tunisian schools today. Coming mainly from the field of sport,
this word designates the ceremonial previously prepared by the fans of a team and celebrated
in stadiums when football players enter the field.
In Tunisia, this phenomenon has not remained restricted to football; it has gone beyond the
boundaries of stadiums to enter secondary institutes and high schools where it has become an
essential element in the celebration of so-called preparation for the exam. In physical education
that students in the final baccalaureate classes must take approximately one less before the
main baccalaureate exam. This examination of sport is accompanied nowadays by a real
ceremonial ritual, weeks, even a month or more, previously the majority of baccalaureate
students neglect in some way their studies of others to devote themselves to the preparations:
the preparation of specific sports outfits for this occasion which vary from one high school to
another and from one section to another and are most often very expensive, leading to
unnecessary expenses for the family.
Added to this is the cost of posters that students previously prepare bearing symbolic drawings,
slogans (political, social or religious, etc.) or messages which can sometimes, without control,
convey immoral or dangerous content as well as the purchase and the serious use of flames to
celebrate preparation for the sports baccalaureate.
In addition, most of the students who will take this sports test undertake paid training sessions,
sometimes very expensive, in one of the private sports halls. Let us remember that physical
education is a compulsory sporting activity practiced by the student in the state school from
the seventh basic year, which poses a big question mark. What pushes or obliges the
baccalaureate student to do the so-called “study” in sport outside of high school when this
learning in physical education must be acquired in the educational institution? A
communication crisis between students and teachers, social and family difficulties, school
problems, adolescent crisis, alcohol and drug consumption, are all source factors of violence in
the school environment, which has become “a phenomenon”. These phenomena revolve around
four axes. These are factors associated with society, such as the failure of family supervision
caused by the low cultural level of parents and the inability to provide adequate supervision to
their children., poverty, exclusion, glorification of elites... There are also factors associated with
families who devote less time to the education of their children through the lack of monitoring
and control of their behavior. In addition, factors related to entertainment where young people
are not motivated enough to participate in cultural and sporting activities.
It is therefore an attempt to understand and explain what is happening in society in terms of
changing structures, relationships and social practices on the one hand, and the methods of
sociological scientific work with these changes. The question we are trying to answer: What are
the characteristics of research in the sociology of sport published in Tunisia after 2011? Y Are
their links between social change and changes in the sociology of sport in Tunisia? What are the
characteristics of research in the sociology of sport published in Tunisia? Y Are their links
between social change and changes in the sociology of sport in Tunisia? Is the research carried
out in Tunisia really capable of understanding and explaining these changes?
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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 11, Issue 2, February-2024
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THE ANALYSIS FRAMEWORK
We found that the most appropriate theories to explain and study change in Tunisian society
are the theories that have been classified and qualified as theories of social change in the
societies of third world countries. Perhaps the most important of these is modernization theory
because the great criticism of the latter has affected dependent development, production
models or the capitalist system in many studies. We decided to use the theory of functional
modernization; as a fitting introduction to this study in the absence of original theories of social
change in Arab and Islamic, or at least Third World, societies. In this vision, social change
emanates from the central conflict between the sellers of their labor power, on the one hand,
and the owners of the means of production, on the other.
If in Karl Marx6social change is endogenous resulting from internal contradictions in society,
for Maxe Weber it is exogenous and affected by other factors, which are linked in particular to
the movement of rationalization of all social practices and to the conceptions of the world of
social actors, of which religious beliefs constitute an important part. The German sociologist
established an elective affinity between the spirit of European capitalism at the beginning of
the 20th century and Protestant ethics, especially Calvinist. The latter, as a religious conception
based on the doctrine of predestination, can generate a system of values , which encourages the
Calvinist entrepreneur to apply firm organizational principles to his business and to
incorporate a double rationality: that of the believer anxious about his salvation and that of the
rational entrepreneur. If the Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism constitute only one of
the fragments of the Weberian vision7 of social change, nevertheless it clearly reflects the
importance of an approach that links society, religion, culture and economy. Inspired by the
Weberian vision and unlike the classic Marxist model, the modern culturalist vision brings
together theories, which emphasize values, beliefs, ideas, worldviews, or let's say the culture of
a general way. This suprastructural universe which underlies the actions, conduct and behavior
of social actors and guides lifestyles lies in the background of social practices. Linked by a non- exclusive causal system, these two universes evolve concomitantly: any transformation in one
lead to a change in the other.
In this regard, values are not only determinants of action, but are also themselves determined
by actions associated with the individual's position in society. Let us now start with a broad
definition of social change: the observable set of mutations affecting all or part of social
organization during a given period.8. If change is inherent to any organization, it also brings
upheavals, instability, mutations and transitions. As G. Germani points out, the transition is
specific to modernity. However, even here, there are varying degrees of change. A transition is
more complex when it affects the very foundations of society9.
THE METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK
As part of this article, our methodological choices relate to the analysis of research and studies
published in various international journals in the sociology of sport during the period between
2011 and 2023. This consists of semi-structured interviews, to whom we invited a
6Marx, K., (1979). Capital, Paris, Éditions Sociales.
7Weber, M. (1967). The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, (Trans, French Jacques Chavy), Paris, Pion.
8Rosenberg, M. (1957). Occupations and Values, the Free Press, p.17.
9Etienne, J., Bloess, F., Noreck, JP. ROUX, JP (1997). Dictionary of sociology, Paris, Hatier, p.327.
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Nasri, B., & Souid, I. (2024). Social Change and Mutations in the Human Sciences Applied to Physical and Sporting Activities in Tunisia. Advances in
Social Sciences Research Journal, 11(2). 351-362.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.112.16521
“representative” sample of the population of teacher-researchers. Data collection was carried
out using two sources of information. The first comes from consulting “Google Scholar”, to
understand and then explain the approaches used during this period. The second source of
information consists of semi-structured interviews, to which we invited a “representative”
sample of the population of teacher-researchers. We also conducted individual semi-structured
interviews with 3 teachers: 1 man and 2 women. This interview method allowed the
interviewees to have a certain margin of freedom and gave them the opportunity to express
themselves at their ease. The 3 interviews, lasting approximately one hour each, took place face
to face, and by “Skype” between January and April 2023.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
An Imbalance Between Completed Research and The National Socio-Sporting Reality
This research focuses on the relationship that exists between scientific transformations in the
sociology of sport during social change in Tunisia after the revolution. The main objective of
our study is to identify the link between studies published in human sciences applied to
physical and sporting activities in Tunisia in relation to the major social changes in Tunisia after
the revolution.
The data was collected through the analysis of research and studies published by teacher- researchers in sociology of sport at the higher institutes of sport and physical education of
Tunisia in various international journals. This involves analyzing the scientific research of three
experienced university teachers and specialists in the sociology of sport: two women and one
man with the rank of university assistant professor.
Table 1: Professional status of teachers participating in the research
Teachers Age Grade Institution
Teacher (A) 58 years old Assistant Master ISSEP of Tunis
Teacher (B) 48 years old Assistant teacher ISSEP of Tunis
Teacher (C) 45 years old Assistant teacher ISSEP of Kef
The table above describes the profile of university teachers associated with this research.
Table 2: Teacher's publication (A)
Publication title Review
The attractiveness of a sporting event, between personal accomplishment
and tourist enchantment10
Journal of Tourism Research
Volume 31, N: 2, 2012
The determining influence of the sociohistorical context on the governance
of sports facilities: the case of the city of Nice11
Leisure and Society
Volume 39, 2016
Comparison of sporting values in Europe: effects of social
institutionalization in three European territories12
Journal of Human Values
Issue: 3, 2018
10Ben Mahmoud, I., Massiera, B. (2012). The attractiveness of a sporting event, between personal accomplishment
and tourist enchantment. Journal of Tourism Research, Volume 31, Number 2, p. 95–105.
11Ben Mahmoud, I., Massiera, B. (2016). The determining influence of the sociohistorical context on the governance of
sports facilities: the case of the city of Nice. Leisure and Society, Volume 39, Number 3, p. 81–95.
12Ben Mahmoud, I., Massiera, B. (2018). Comparison of sporting values in Europe: effects of social institutionalization
in three European territories. Journal of Human Values
Volume 37, Number 3, p. 99–115.