Theory

Theory is a contentious subject for historians. Many practitioners conceptualize history as an a-theoretical discipline in which historical phenomena are unique configurations and one-off occurrences; history consists of ‘stories of … individual lives or happenings, all seemingly [unique] and unrepeatable’.1 Among these historians, theory distorts the study of the past by ‘infus[ing] predestined meaning’ and casting the discipline into the realm of speculation.2 However, few historians consider the investigation of unique events as the ‘litmus test’ of historical knowledge. Most practitioners generalize and categorize different human behaviours across time and space. Such abstractions, which in sports history include a range of collective identities (e.g., nationalities, genders, occupations, social classes, subcultures), are the building blocks of theory and integral to historical analysis.3 Although few historians employ the historical record to construct formal theories or set out to apply, test or confirm theories, many sports historians incorporate theory into their work as ‘frameworks of interpretation’. In other words theory helps frame the questions practitioners ask, directs them to particular sources, organizes their evidence, and shapes their explanations.4