Disciplined Masculinity: Self-Conceptions of Young Immigrant Boxers

The social inclusion of young male first or second generation migrants in Germany is often perceived as precarious. They are considered as a peculiar problematic group with a high risk of being excluded or mariginalized in the education system and the labour market. Commonly the main reason for this precarity is seen in their orientational dilemma between traditional family life on the one hand and aspirations to proficiency and individual fulfillment on the other hand. In this situation semantics of honor and respect can be held as guidelines. They are found in the peer groups of young migrants but cannot be filled with practical substance due to the distance from mainstream society.

In our presentation we assume, that sports can provide a field to avert this problematic condition and enable social inclusion. We show how young males develop particular patterns of orientation and life conduct that are approved by the mainstream society. Based on qualitative interviews we analyze how they train them during their practice and even borrow them for their daily life. Coaches function as role models, give orientation and stress the acknowledged value of proficiency and self-discipline.

The presentation takes boxing as a sportive discipline that provides the possibility of social inclusion and identity work for males from immigrant families. On the basis of qualitative interviews we reconstruct self-conceptions of young immigrant boxers and discuss the hypothesis that boxing introduces the possibility to embody a socially acknowledged form of masculinity characterized by discipline.

The presentation refers to qualitative interviews that were conducted within the framework of a research project titled "Worldviews in precarious conditions of life". They were evaluated by using the hermeneutic procedure of sequential analyses.