Class distinction in the field of boxing: Middle-upper social classes' practices in the field of boxing

The aim of this ethnographic research is to examine the practices of the upper-middle social classes participating in the field of boxing and the class distinction that emerges in the field of boxing. There is no information in the literature on the practices and class status of the agents of boxing, which is known as a workers' sport and practice in studies conducted in different countries of the world, in today's Turkey. In a boxing gym in Ankara, the participants of which were upper-middle social classes, a structural analysis of the field was conducted through the interaction of the set of predispositions and interests of the agents, the unquestioned rules of the field and the structure of the field with forms of capital. Bourdieu's field theory is the theoretical framework for examining class distinction in boxing as a social field. Thematic analysis was used for the data set consisting of participant observation, field notes and semi-structured individual interviews with 17 participants. The findings reveal the distinction between boxers and people who box through predispositions, types of capital and interests. For the upper-middle social classes, the logic of investing in the field of boxing is to engage in a leisure activity from which they will gain the most benefit. Boxing, seen as an aim in the working class, is a means to an end in the upper-middle class in terms of capital volumes to be developed through a comprehensive workout package. In this context, as the field of boxing has become an object of cultural consumption for the upper-middle social classes, it reveals social class inequalities and class distinction. Keywords: Boxing, ethnography, social class, Bourdieu, field