Annette R. Hofmann

Americanization as the end of an ethnic sport organization? The American Turners at the close of the 1990s

Kurzlink: https://www.waxmann.com/artikelART100474

Abstract

The American sociologist Richard D. Alba argues that the ethnicity of White Americans is in the midst of a transformation. Ethnic distinctions based on a specific European ancestry are fading into the background. This paper will take up Alba’s argument and transfer it to the German-American Turner movement, which has an over 150-year history. In the nineteenth century, the Turnvereine were nurseries of ethnicity which offered a certain economic and cultural security and solidarity to German immigrants. The Turner societies spread out all over the United States and reached their zenith with over 300 societies at the end of the nineteenth century. In 2000, there were 58 societies with approximately 13,000 members left that belonged to the umbrella organization American Turners. This paper lends insight into today’s Turner societies, thereby concentrating on structural characteristics of the societies and membership structure as well as the societies’ and members’ relation to German culture. The information is drawn from the 1997 and 1999 directories, statistical reports of the American Turners, two questionnaires as well as visits to Turner societies.

APA-Zitation
Hofmann A. (2007). Americanization as the end of an ethnic sport organization? The American Turners at the close of the 1990s. ejss - European Journal for Sport and Society, 4(1), . https://www.waxmann.com/artikelART100474