A mapping of JLASSS: The academic consolidation of the socio-cultural studies of sport in Latin America

Abstract

The present study aims to map the research published in the Journal of the Latin American Socio-cultural Studies of Sport (JLASSS) in order to provide a panorama of the development of socio-cultural sports science research within the Asociación Latinoamericana de Estudios Socioculturales del Deporte (ALESDE—Latin-American Association of Socio-Cultural Studies of Sport). In order to accomplish this aim, we catalogued the journal papers from the first edition (2011) to the last (2018), which comprised a total of 91 papers written by 153 different researchers and published in 14 issues. The most recurrent themes were related to social, cultural, and historical aspects, corresponding to 48.35% of the publications. However, despite the predominance of these themes, the thematic plurality of the journal is expressive. Therefore, it is evident that JLASSS presents an interdisciplinary approach to the human and social sciences when scientifically addressing the sports phenomenon. As a conclusion, this paper indicates that the field related to the socio-cultural studies of sport in Latin America is under construction and that ALESDE and JLASSS intend to be the protagonists in the strengthening of this field.