The Sporting Objects
This paper’s purpose is to show that the use of sporting objects as references for identity reflects the broader changes making consumerism a significant element of “self” affirmation. The destabilization of the symbolic organisation of society gives to these standardized goods usually short-life products and sold at an international level an importance that goes far beyond their utility. Emotional and narrative dimensions of the sporting events, largely exploited by marketing, organize a frame in which commodities take a new meaning. Numerous non-sporting uses of goods are made in reference to sporting events but uses cannot be limited to that. The spread of the culture of sports practice explains other uses that also express and recall emotions and social bonds. While analysing the situation in France, this paper demonstrates that the uses of sporting goods reflect mutations of the symbolic.