Sled Dog Racing: The Celebration of Co-operation in a Competitive Sport

Abstract

To prepare for distance sled dog racing, a highly competitive sport, mushers embody mainstream American values of individualism and competition. Yet the race as ritually constructed subordinates that competitiveness to a celebration of co-operation. Using Turner's idea of communitas, the A. examines how the sled dog community is constituted. She argues that the race is constructed as a liminal experience; outside roles and statuses are leveled and an alternative moral order emerges. This dynamic is explored further in tensions existing between traditional mushers and those who reflect the competitive values of American society, and in comparison with rodeos, where co-operation in competition also exists. (Sled dog racing, communitas, values, sports, co-operation).