Young Norwegian-Pakistani women and sport

Studies from several countries show that girls with an immigrant background participate in organized sports to a lesser extent than other young people. Barriers related to culture and religion serve in many of these studies as explanations. In this article we suggest that the notions of culture and religion in this field of studies could be elaborated and we distinguish between three different approaches: (a) culture and religiosity as restricting factors; (b) culture and religiosity as embodied dispositions for action; and lastly (c) culture and religiosity as the basis for reflexive praxis. Analyses of qualitative interviews with young Norwegian-Pakistani women show the relevance of the three perspectives. The study’s most important contribution is to illustrate how culture and religiosity have multiple meanings. The three perspectives presented in this paper might be used as analytical tools in future research on minority women and sports.