This set of 12 volumes, originally published between 1938 and 2001, amalgamates a wide breadth of research on Leisure Studies, including works on young people and leisure, the family, and political influence on the leisure industry. This collection of books from some of the leading scholars in the field provides a comprehensive overview of the subject how it has evolved over time, and will be of particular interest to students of sociology and leisure studies.

'Sport' and 'religion' are cultural institutions with a global reach. Each is characterised by ritualised performance and by the ecstatic devotion of its followers, whether in the sports arena or the cathedral of worship. This fascinating collection is the first to examine, in detail, the relationship between these two cultural institutions from an international, religiously pluralistic perspective. It illuminates the role of sport and religion in the social formation of collective groups, and explores how sport might operate in the service of a religious community.
The book offers a series of cutting-edge contemporary historical case-studies, wide-ranging in their geographical coverage and in their social and religious contexts. It presents important new work on the following fascinating topics: * sport and Catholicism in Northern Ireland
* Shinto and sumo in Japan
* women, sport and the American Jewish identity
* religion, race and rugby in South Africa
* sport and Islam in France and North Africa
* sport and Christian fundamentalism in the US
* Muhammad Ali and the Nation of Islam.
With God on their Side is vital reading for all students of the history, sociology and culture of sport. It also presents important new research material that will be of interest to religious studies students, historians and anthropologists.

'Sport' and 'religion' are cultural institutions with a global reach. Each is characterised by ritualised performance and by the ecstatic devotion of its followers, whether in the sports arena or the cathedral of worship. This fascinating collection is the first to examine, in detail, the relationship between these two cultural institutions from an international, religiously pluralistic perspective. It illuminates the role of sport and religion in the social formation of collective groups, and explores how sport might operate in the service of a religious community.
The book offers a series of cutting-edge contemporary historical case-studies, wide-ranging in their social and religious contexts. It presents important new work on the following fascinating topics:
* sport and Catholicism in Northern Ireland
* Shinto and sumo in Japan
* women, sport and the American Jewish identity
* religion, race and rugby in South Africa
* sport and Islam in France and North Africa
* sport and Christian fundamentalism in the US
* Muhammad Ali and the Nation of Islam.
With God on their Side is vital reading for all students of the history, sociology and culture of sport. It also presents important new research material that will be of interest to religious studies students, historians and anthropologists.

This original and fresh approach to the emotions of adolescence focuses on the leisure lives of working-class boys and young men in the inter-war years. Being boys challenges many stereotypes about their behaviour. It offers new perspectives on familiar and important themes in inter-war social and cultural history, ranging from the cinema and mass consumption to boys' clubs, personal advice pages, street cultures, dancing, sexuality, mobility and the body. It draws on many autobiographies and personal accounts and is particularly distinctive in offering an unusual insight into working-class adolescence through the teenage diaries of the author's father, which are interwoven with the book's broader analysis of contemporary leisure developments. Being boys will be of interest to scholars and students across the humanities and social sciences and is also relevant to those teaching and studying in the fields of child development, education, and youth and community studies. -- .

This volume examines Gilles Deleuze's philosophy as it relates to the study of the physically active body. It explores theoretical and practical examples of how the physically active body can be examined as a material, social, political, and cultural entity using a Deleuzian perspective. Examining topics such as, the formation of thought within a capitalist system; sport, exercise, and dance as cultural arrangements; researching the physically active body from a Deleuzian perspective; and Deleuze on Foucault, this book shows ways of investigating the moving body as an agent for initiating social change. This is fascinating reading for students and researchers working in the fields of the Sociology of Sport, Sport and Politics, and Sport and Social Theory.

A call to arms exploring the protest movements of 2020 as they reverberated through the athletic world Starting with the refusal of George Hill of the Milwaukee Bucks to participate in an August 2020 playoff game following the shooting of Jacob Blake by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Grant Farred shows how the Covid-restricted NBA "bubble" released an energy that spurred athletes into radical action. They disrupted athletic normalcy, and in their grief and rage against American racism they demonstrated the true progressivism lacking in even the most reformist-minded politicians and pundits. Farred goes on to trace the radicalism of black athletes in a number of sports, including the WNBA, women's tennis, the NFL, and NASCAR, locating contemporary athletes in a lineage that runs through Muhammad Ali as well as Tommy Smith and John Carlos at the 1968 Olympics. Only a Black Athlete Can Save Us Now uses sport as a point of departure to argue that the dystopic crisis of our current moment offers a singular opportunity to reimagine how we live in the world. Forerunners: Ideas First is a thought-in-process series of breakthrough digital publications. Written between fresh ideas and finished books, Forerunners draws on scholarly work initiated in notable blogs, social media, conference plenaries, journal articles, and the synergy of academic exchange. This is gray literature publishing: where intense thinking, change, and speculation take place in scholarship.

Despite the popularity of sport in contemporary China, the practice of physical education is not indigenous to its culture. Strenuous physical activity was traditionally linked to low class and status in the pre-modern Chinese society. The concept of modern PE was introduced to China by Western Christian missionaries and directors of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA). It then grew from a tool for Christian evangelism to a strategic instrument in Chinese nation-building. This book examines the transformation of Chinese attitudes toward PE and sport, drawing on the concepts of cultural imperialism and nationalism to understand how an imported Western activity became a key aspect of modernization for the Chinese state. More specifically, it looks at the relationship between Christianity and the rise of Chinese nationalism between 1840 and 1937. Combining historical insight with original research, this book sheds new light on the evolution of PE and sport in modern China. It is fascinating reading for all those with an interest in sports history, Chinese culture and society, Christianity, physical education or the sociology of sport.

First published in 1983. In the 1980s, as they are today, young people were remaining longer in education, and were leaving better qualified, if only to face unemployment rather than real jobs and progressive careers. Traditional gender divisions and roles are being challenged. In this study, Kenneth Roberts uses evidence from youth and leisure research to examine the ways that young people were responding to these trends. His book combines theories of adolescence, of the role and growth of leisure, and of the sources and consequences of post-war youth cultures. Roberts stresses and explains the persistence of class and gender divisions through trends in clothing, music and hair artistry, and predicts that these patterns will survive changes. He explains why, even during the era of affluent young workers, the freedom of adolescence remained superficial, for most young people at least. The majority had never been granted any real alternative to using their 'free' time and money to embrace traditional class and gender roles. Contrary to popular reputations, Youth and Leisure argues that, on balance, youth cultures exercised a conservative influence and that the more radical styles are nurtured by middle- and not working-class youths. The analysis has policy implications which are drawn together in the final chapter. Practitioners are advised to recognise that youth and leisure services cannot override divisions and tastes grounded in the wider social structure, but this does not mean that these interventions must be ineffective. Roberts explains how leisure education and provision can modify broader patterns and enable all young people to explore the leisure opportunities their circumstances allow.

Identity is one of the most theorised and contested of all sociological concepts and sport is fertile ground for an examination of its complexities. This book offers a wide-ranging and up-to-date exploration of the sport-identity nexus, drawing examples from a variety of sporting contexts and geographical locations, and incorporating a diversity of perspectives including players, spectators, officials, the media and policy-makers. Covering key themes in the social scientific study of sport such as gender, ethnicity and national identity, it considers the impact of social, cultural and technological change on the formation of sporting identities. Including original real-life case studies, each chapter makes a unique contribution to our understanding of the complex relationship between sport and identity. As this relationship is embedded within the broader structures of power that frame social inequality, this book also poses important questions about the role of sport-related initiatives in our society today, as well as in years to come. Sport and Contested Identities: Contemporary Issues and Debates is fascinating reading for all students and scholars of the sociology of sport.

The importance of political boundaries in the development, function and flow of tourism cannot be overemphasized. In light of today's political transformations and processes of globalization, this book provides a systematic examination of the relationships between boundaries and tourism, and offers a basis upon which tourism can be better managed and researched in a geo-political context.

eBook available with sample pages: 020321448X

The phrase "martial arts studies" is increasingly circulating as a term to describe a new field of interest. But many academic fields including history, philosophy, anthropology, and Area studies already engage with martial arts in their own particular way. Therefore, is there really such a thing as a unique field of martial arts studies? Martial Arts Studies is the first book to engage directly with these questions. It assesses the multiplicity and heterogeneity of possible approaches to martial arts studies, exploring orientations and limitations of existing approaches. It makes a case for constructing the field of martial arts studies in terms of key coordinates from post-structuralism, cultural studies, media studies, and post-colonialism. By using these anti-disciplinary approaches to disrupt the approaches of other disciplines, Martial Arts Studies proposes a field that both emerges out of and differs from its many disciplinary locations.

This comprehensive volume explores the interface between sport and religion, or more broadly, sport and spirituality. While most of the contributions come from Western and Christian traditions, the volume raises broader questions about the kinds of impact that spirituality can and should have on sport, and equally, that sport can and should have on spirituality. The authors put forth an anti-dualistic message, one that argues against any vision of sport and religion existing in separate domains. Mind interpenetrates body, faith and love interpenetrate competition, spirituality and the Divine can interpenetrate secular games. This positive book has powerful implications for reforming contemporary sport, particularly crass, extrinsically-driven, win-at-all-cost versions of competition. It is a book about the incarnation, the paradoxical existence of the spirit in the flesh, love in competition, the myth-making power and meaning of games to engage the world, transcendent hope found in kicking a ball around, and how sport as a liturgy can mediate divine presence. This book was originally published as a special issue of the journal Sport, Ethics and Philosophy.

The theme of this important book is the influence of leisure and tourism on the production, representation and consumption of landscape. Increasingly significant as mediators of spatial identity and meaning, leisure, tourism, culture and heritage are only now beginning to be located within the rapidly evolving discourses of poststructuralist geographies.
The first half of the book focuses on different "ways of seeing" or representing landscape. The second half of the book examines different forms of productive consumption in leisure and tourism. Both symbolic and material spaces of leisure and tourism are examined in relation to urban and rural landscapes, heritage landscapes, gendered landscapes and landscapes of sexuality and desire

This book examines the youth sport parent experience through the lens of social capital, a cornerstone social science concept of the past 30 years. Social capital reflects the value of one's social networks, and the actual and potential benefits - and costs - of relationships. Bringing together a team of kids for a season also brings together their families who all must negotiate this new social world. Within this world, relationships are bound to form, and these are the foundation upon which this project rests. Youth sport scholars have traditionally been interested in questions such as: how many kids play sports, what sports they play, how and why do they start playing and stop playing, and the costs and benefit of participation. However, aside from sensational examples of youth sport parents behaving badly, scholars know far less about the parental experience. This time is meaningful for parents, because parents often spend as much or even more time at the fields than their children. It is thus worth examining what they might get out of this investment. Utilizing two years of fieldwork and over 30 interviews with parents and board members of a youth baseball league in the southwestern United States, this book provides an inside look at the beneficial relationships that can be found in the bleachers of a kids' baseball game, as well as the unseen, high-stakes games waged in the boardroom, where relationships can carry heavy costs as well. This book was originally published as a special issue of Sport in Society.

Physical activity, inactivity and their relationship to health are serious concerns for governments around the world. This is the first book to critically examine the policy and practice of physical activity from a multi-disciplinary, social-scientific perspective. Moving beyond the usual biophysical and epidemiological approaches, it defines and explores the key themes that are shaping the global physical activity debate. Unrivalled in its scale and scope, it presents the latest data on physical activity from around the world, including case studies from Europe, North and South America, Africa and Asia. Drawing on social, economic and behavioural sciences, it covers contexts from the global to the local and introduces the dominant ideas which inform the study of physical activity. Its 41 chapters examine the use of different forms of evidence in policymaking, the role of organisations in advocating physical activity, and the practical realities of public health interventions. The Routledge Handbook of Physical Activity Policy and Practice is a landmark publication for all students, academics, policymakers and practitioners interested in the social-scientific study of sport, exercise, physical activity and public health.

Transnational organizations and practitioners who use sport for international development often position sport as a unique option for tackling development challenges. While sport can be a tool for social change, the authors in this collection bring a critical eye to this assumption and offer new perspectives on the use of sport for development and peace (SDP) in local and global contexts. The book seeks to generate new dialogues and explore linkages for development and SDP researchers through considerations of sport's potential to challenge and/or perpetuate key global issues and problems. These analyses consider the SDP work done 'on the ground' and interrogate the historical, social and political circumstances of these practices. The authors explore how best to examine, theorize, critique and potentially improve local SDP initiatives. This book will be of great interest to students and researchers of both Development Studies and Sport. It was originally published as a special issue of the online journal Third World Thematics.

Scotland has a parliament for the first time in almost 300 years, and this book is an account of how this came about. The authors trace the origins and history of the demand for home rule in Scotland, focusing particularly on developments following the failure of the first referendum on the issue in 1979, which culminated in a second referendum in September 1997.
This major political event attracted national and international interest, and its decisive result was a milestone in Scottish history. This work presents an analysis of the referendum campaign at both national and local levels, including media coverage of the event and the outcome. The reactions of voters are explored on the basis of a large survey of the electorate, and lessons to be learnt about referendums in the UK and elsewhere are discussed.

Scotland has a parliament for the first time in almost 300 years, and this book is an account of how this came about. The authors trace the origins and history of the demand for home rule in Scotland, focusing particularly on developments following the failure of the first referendum on the issue in 1979, which culminated in a second referendum in September 1997.
This major political event attracted national and international interest, and its decisive result was a milestone in Scottish history. This work presents an analysis of the referendum campaign at both national and local levels, including media coverage of the event and the outcome. The reactions of voters are explored on the basis of a large survey of the electorate, and lessons to be learnt about referendums in the UK and elsewhere are discussed.

We live in a culture in which sports play an important role. The growth in broadcasting, merchandising, iconography and the commercialization of sports has led to an increasing interest in the emerging field of sports culture.
This book examines individual issues, people, artefacts, events and organizations in their historical, social and cultural contexts. Coverage is wide-ranging with more than 170 entries, - including aggression, Bosman Case, corruption, drugs, eating disorders, Fever Pitch, Field of Dreams, Michael Jordan, Don King, left-handedness, nationalism, paternity, racism, Raging Bull, rivalries, tobacco. The book also includes suggestions for further reading to help with further study, and a comprehensive index.


eBook available with sample pages: 0203464397

This edited book aims to capture the functioning of human rights and civil activism at the level of the relationships between the individual and the social, and in relation to abuses, contestations, and transformations. Chapters cover the ways human rights are denied, articulated, and not realised. Mega-events, either sporting or otherwise (e.g. Gay Pride), tend to be the focus of this inquiry, although there are important contributions on grassroots non-governmental organisations. Overall, a range of research methodologies are deployed; the chapters vary between using primary research, using commissioned research, and presenting theoretically grounded arguments. The tendency is towards approaches that capture the empirical, everyday experiences, e.g. ethnography, autoethnography, interviews, focus groups, and observation. This book was originally published as a special issue of Leisure Studies.

What is the historical appeal of football? How diverse are its players, supporters and institutions throughout the world? What are its various traditions and how are these affected by pressures to modernize ? In what ways does the game help to reinforce or overcome social differences and prejudices? How can we understand football's subcultures, especially football hooligan ones? The 1994 World Cup Finals in the United States have again demonstrated the conflicts which exist around football over its international future. The multi-media age beckons new audiences for top-level matches, but worries remain that the historical and cultural appeal of football itself may be the real loser. The global game has a breadth of skills, playing techniques, supporting styles and ruling bodies. These are all subject to local and national traditions of team play and fan display. Modern commercial influences and international cultural links through players and fan styles, are accommodated within the game to an increasing extent. Yet, football's ability to differentiate remains: at local, regional, national and even continental levels. In some cases the game's traditions ensure that these differences are becoming as oppositional today as is modern football hooliganism. But, the overall picture is one of a game without frontiers - rich in historical and cultural detail, pluralistic in its traditions and identities. This volume brings together essays by leading academics and researchers writing on world football. Their studies draw on interdisciplinary researches in England, Scotland, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Argentina and Australia. The book will be of interest to students of sports science, cultural studies and social science and to all those who simply enjoy football as the world's greatest sporting passion.

Are sports influenced by their social context? Can sport influence the social world? And how is sport changing in our increasingly globalized society? This thought-provoking text explores these questions and introduces key debates in the sociology of sport. Uncovering the power dynamics within sport and bringing this everyday topic under a sociological lens, the book: - Explores hot topics and contemporary controversies, such as e-gaming, fan violence and sex testing - Examines the central role of technology and the media in how sport is consumed, represented and played - Discusses a wide range of thinkers, from Gramsci to Castells - Reflects on developments in sport at local, global and national levels With clearly explained theory and vibrant case examples, this text shows how we engage with sport in social, political, cultural and economic terms. It is an indispensable text for students across the social sciences studying sports.

This is a multidisciplinary contribution to the burgeoning literature on and around mega-events in general and sports mega-events in particular. The volume is not specifically about mega-events or their management, but rather how such events act as a lens through which a number of important and critical questions about the decisions to host, the host nation, its society and the politics of culture, sport and leisure more broadly can be dealt with. In doing so this book seeks to build on, and out from initial work on (sports) mega-events by acknowledging the major shift towards 'emerging' states awarded such events since 2006 and incorporating the latest advances in research that have taken place in recent years. For example, debates about what constitutes a 'mega-event', what is meant by a 'legacy', what is 'soft power' and so on are dealt with from a team of leading academics from a variety of academic disciplines. This book was previously published as a special issue of Leisure Studies.

This book gives voice to a group of leisure scholars who are engaged in conversations about sustainability. Beginning with discussions on the relationship between leisure and sustainability and how these concepts are addressed in current literature, a case is made for continued investigation of how leisure and sustainability need to be better understood; and viewed as integrally linked. The book discusses issues related to environmental sustainability; how, at the local level, leisure is considered as a solution to a range of social, environmental, and economic issues; and the value of leisure as an asset for addressing several social sustainability challenges. This book was originally published as a special issue of Leisure/Loisir: Journal of the Canadian Association for Leisure Studies.

Written by a number of expert scholars from around the world, including China itself, with the aim of extending knowledge and taking the cross-cultural study of PE and sport beyond the descriptive level, this book provides unique and up to date material.
Subjects covered include:
*ancient and modern history
*structure, administration and finance
*PE in schools and colleges
*elite sport
*sport science and medicine
*gender issues.
Anyone wishing to gain an insight into the PE and sporting experience of Chinese citizens both in historical and contemporary society will find this book essential reading. It is an indispensable resource for students taking comparative sport studies courses, sports historians, and academics with a general interest in the cross-cultural field.