Sociedade 5.0 e Ginástica para Todos

Abstract

This doctoral dissertation, which is both qualitative and quantitative in nature, is organized according to the Scandinavian model as a mosaic of seven articles that integrate theoretical essays, a systematic review, and field research. Its subject of study is Gymnastics for All (GfA), and its general objective is to investigate GfA as an analytical and propositional framework aimed at the humanization of Society 5.0, examining how the aforementioned 5 F’s operate as ethical filters and mechanisms of resistance within a figuration in motion in the face of the challenges of virtualization in a new civilizational landscape marked by the integration of the physical and the digital. The main theoretical framework employed includes Norbert Elias’s framework, specifically the concepts of civilizing processes and figurations. Article 1, “Society 5.0 and Gymnastics for All: A Systematic Review,” mapped the literature and identified scientific convergences between the pillars of Society 5.0 and the 5 F’s of GPT. Article 2, “Toward Gymnastics 5.0: Innovation and Inclusion in the Super-Intelligent Society,” examined how GPT can serve as an analytical and propositional model to guide and humanize the centrality of the human being and the quality of social interactions within the technological project of Society 5.0. It thus proposed the theoretical concept of “Gymnastics 5.0.” Article 3, “Gymnastics for All as a Social Phenomenon: Collective Intelligence, Networked Society, and the Paradoxes of Transparency in Society 5.0,” aimed to understand how GPT, as a collective physical practice, is reconfigured by the logics of cooperation, power, and surveillance in digital culture, showing that GPT operates as a figuration in motion that negotiates gestures and rituals, balancing the potential of collective intelligence with the risks of surveillance and the disciplining of bodies. Article 4, “Norbert Elias in Society 5.0: The Place of Gymnastics for All in the New Civilizational Landscape,” applied Norbert Elias’s central concepts (the civilizing process and figurations) to analyze the practice of GPT and its reconfiguration in the Digital Age, noting that the discipline negotiates its humanistic values with the pressures of Society 5.0. Article 5, “Society 5.0 and Gymnastics for All: Resistance and Reinvention?” examined and explored the institutional perspective on Gymnastics for All in Society 5.0 through the lens of the president of the Gymnastics for All Committee of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG), analyzing the relationship between the discipline’s principles and current technological and social demands. Article 6, “The Living Fabric of Gymnastics for All: Processes and Figurations in the Light of Norbert Elias,” analyzed—from the perspective of the CBG manager and group coordinators—how the fundamental principles of Gymnastics for All engage with the challenges and tensions of virtualization, using Elias’s theory to uncover the meanings behind these discourses. Article 7, “Perceptions of Gymnastics for All Practitioners Regarding the Use of Digital Technologies,” sought to understand the perceptions of GPT practitioners regarding the use and future of digital technologies in the sport, investigating the tensions between technical innovation and the preservation of the humanizing essence of the practice. The findings of these seven articles revealed that, while Society 5.0 heralds human-centeredness as a future promise, “Gymnastics for All” already embodies it in the present through its webs of interdependence and affection. The methodological procedures were structured along complementary lines, beginning with a systematic literature review following the PRISMA protocol guidelines in the Scopus, Scielo, and Periódicos Capes databases. The empirical validation phase involved a mixed-methods approach, comprising a global case study featuring an interview with the Chair of the GPT Committee of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG), seventeen semi-structured interviews via Google Meet with the manager of the Brazilian Gymnastics Confederation (CBG) and 16 coordinators from all regions of Brazil, as well as the administration of electronic questionnaires to ninetyseven Brazilian gymnasts aged 18 to 86 years. Qualitative data were analyzed using Bardin’s content analysis , while quantitative data underwent descriptive statistical analysis using Jamovi software. The results revealed that GPT is a physical practice capable of giving substance to Society 5.0’s promise of “human-centeredness,” functioning as a critical mechanism in which technology serves integral human development. The participants’ voices highlighted the existence of an “irreducible sensory core”—touch, gaze, and synchronized breathing—that technology cannot replicate, positioning the modality as a practice of resistance against the neoliberal logic of cold performance and the disciplining of bodies. In conclusion, this study reinforces the idea that GPT already embodies in the present the human-centeredness that the future seeks to build, acting as a cutting-edge social technology. The thesis concludes by reaffirming that technology should serve as a pedagogical support and a driver of expansion, but that in-person encounters and human warmth remain the ultimate and non-negotiable criteria for any technological advancement aimed at celebrating our shared humanity.