Sport and Doping : the analysis of an antagonistic symbiosis

Abstract

Do elite sport and doping form an antagonistic symbiosis in which both partners can live neither with nor without each other? From its very beginnings to the present day the phenomenon of doping has probably gone hand in hand with modern professional sport performed for a monetary reward. The contributions provide insight into this symbiosis from the perspectives of sociology, economics, and law. They show that different intertwined surrounding conditions and social processes enable the use of doping substances. Individual and collective actors produce this phenomenon as an unintended consequence of their purposeful social behaviour. These interdependent influences produce a dynamic equilibrium from which many actors benefit.