The game Prisoner's bar: A research on their educational backgrounds

© 2017 CSIC. The collaborative game of Prisoner's Base (also called Prisoner's Bars) has formed part of the cultural repository of Western civilisation from very remote times. Nevertheless, the anthropological, sociological and educational roots of this game have been only very slightly researched. Starting with a cultural assessment of its origins, we attempt to ascertain exactly why this physical-recreational game has remained practically unaltered over the centuries. The study adopts an approach that covers historical-genealogical and interdisciplinary phenomenological aspects (the latter concerning anthropology, sociology and education), supported by a broad-ranging documentary review of primary sources. The results lead us to sustain that, within the internal logic of Prisoner's Base, there are the underlying socialising codes of contemporary education, through which its lasting presence guarantees the theory of the «process of civilisation» in the West. This interpretation also contributes to valuing its phenomenological comprehension within the history of physical games and the role that these play in society.