The world of non-work obligations - defined as disagreeable activities that are neither work nor leisure - is a territory of social life that has largely been ignored by scholars of work and leisure alike. The exception to this rule is Robert A. Stebbins, who over the years has written extensively on the significance of non-work obligations and the mundane and often disagreeable tasks that we are all compelled to face in our daily lives. In this new book, Stebbins brings together years of writing and research on this topic to forcefully argue that the current research interest in work-life balance can no longer afford to ignore the effects that non-work obligation has on it. He contends that, whether we like it or not, non-work obligations bear heavily on both our work and leisure. Having to deal with disagreeable tasks and objectionable people on a daily basis, without the support of any outside agency, can seriously undermine our well-being, and it is only through recourse to voluntary simplicity that we can hope to limit the harmful impact of non-work obligations. Written both as a guide to happy living and as a powerful rejoinder to conventional orthodoxy in the fields of leisure and work studies, the book is essential reading for both the general reader and scholars of leisure, consumer, work and happiness studies.

At Play presents a collection of work illustrating the wide scope of intellectual dialogue surrounding digital games, as they have become a focal point for the media in recent years and have increasingly become an area of study in academia. Contributors to this special issue represent an international landscape, and include founders of the game studies area, as well as new researchers who are already infl uencing the fi eld. All of the articles are situated within important areas of communication theory and research, covering such topics as how games impact media economics and cross-media influence on the development of a new medium; the promise and challenges of games as documentary media; and the political subtext in games as it relates to the emergence of a new and ever more important form of persuasive interactive media. The range of both theoretical grounding and method of approach offered in this special

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. From neighborhood coalitions organizing against the building of a sport facility for professional sports teams subsidized by public funds, to global campaigns for equity for women in sport, to worldwide bans of apartheid regimes, sites and levels of protest, resistance and activism have been present throughout the history of sport. Contentious forms of collective actions are now ever more present in various forms at the local, the national and the global levels. Sport and Social Movements: From the Local to the Global is the first book-length treatment of the way social movements have intersected and continue to intersect with sport. It traces the history of various social movements associated with labour, women, peace, the environment and rights (civil, racial, disability and sexual), and their relationship to sport and sports mega-events such as the Olympic Games. Based on research conducted by a multinational team of authors that draws on theories of social movements and new social movements, the book includes a valuable chronology of social movements, illustrations of key episodes in the development of the relationships between sport and different social movements and an agenda for future research and scholarship. Written in a clear and comprehensive style it is suitable for all levels of higher education, researchers and the general reader who want to know more about the role that sport has played in the development of social movements and campaigns for social justice.

This book reimagines the pleasures of sports and provides a critical perspective from the Global South. Analysing the spread of sports markets in Sri Lanka along with a range of struggles, the book highlights how the celebration of 'sportive nationalism,' promoting sports markets in the Global South reinforces patriarchal ethno-nationalist authoritarian sports cultures. By explaining how the realm of social reproduction involving households and communities is integral for play and sports, the book challenges the market-driven 'sports and development' agenda while arguing for a 'sports commons.' By foregrounding issues of justice and care, the book highlights how struggles for recognition, redistribution and representation are central to reimagining sports within an alternative notion of work, play and resistance.

Examine the social and cultural impact of basketball on America at the amateur and professional levels! Basketball in America: From the Playgrounds to Jordan's Game and Beyond is a pioneering analysis of the history of basketball and its effect on popular culture from the 1970s to today. The popularity of basketball is undeniable, and the subject allows for such a broad range of interpretations in popular culture. It cuts across economic, racial, and social boundaries, and its major stars cross over into other forms of popular entertainment more than any other professional sport. This book examines the entire scope of modern basketball history, from the playgrounds, where people first learn the fundamentals, to the college and professional levels. Basketball in America is a collection of essays that explores the intersection of basketball and popular culture in America. The contributors are an eclectic mix of writers, scholars, journalists, former players, coaches, and sports enthusiasts who all share an undying love for the game of basketball. The authors analyze the sport from a cross-cultural and historical perspectivedigging deep into the profound popular cultural influences of basketball and exploring the scope and depth of its influence. This is the first book that examines the social and cultural impact of basketball on American society to reveal how tightly it is woven into America's cultural fabric. Also included are photographs and tables to enhance your understanding of the material. Topics covered in Basketball in America include: Elgin Baylorthe first modern basketball player Chocolate Thunder and Short Shorts: The NBA in the 1970s Dr. J, Bird, Magic, Jordan, and the Bad Boys: The NBA in the 1980s The Jordan Era: The NBA in the 1990s LeBron James and the future of the NBA the Nike brand and popular culture lessons learned from legendary UNC coach Dean Smith professional women's basketball and much more! Basketball in America is a comprehensive analysis that will appeal to anyone interested in understanding how the sport has become an integral part of our national culture. It is an insightful read for sports fans as well as for sports historians. In addition, this book can be used as a textbook in sports history or sociology of sports classes. It will entertain and inform those who treasure basketball and the role it plays in the American consciousness. Make it part of your collection today!

This book studies how transnationalisation, Europeanisation and migration processes intersect with football fandom, through an analysis of the transnational narratives and practices of Fenerbahce and Galatasaray football fans in Vienna, Austria. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in Austria, Turkey and Germany, the author analyses the ways in which narratives about football fandom are often linked to migrant experiences, including practices of (self-)culturalization in the diasporic context in Austria. The book shows how constructed ethnicities and also masculinities and femininities meet in football fan performances and in the construction of what makes a "proper" football fan. Turkish football fandom is a field where powerful prejudices and stereotypes amalgamate and interact. This study enables the reader to look into migration processes and discussions about related topics from a different angle: the love of a football club. Football Fandom and Migration will be of interest to students and scholars across a range of disciplines, including anthropology, sociology, European studies, political sciences, gender studies, leisure studies, sport sociology and history.

Francis Willughby's Book of Games, published here for the first time, is a remarkable work and an invaluable resource for anyone with an interest in early modern social history. Dating from the 1660s, it was left unfinished when the writer died in 1672 at the age of 36. Nevertheless, Willughby's manuscript, even in its unpolished form is a goldmine of detail providing a snapshot of mid seventeenth century life, language and culture. The manuscript itself lists a wide variety of sports, games and pastimes, including football, hurling, card games, tennis and children's games. As well as providing rules and a description of the various games (often with accompanying sketches to explain particular points) there are numerous fascinating snippets of related information (such as the care of fighting cocks), that bring the subject to life, whilst the section on children's games is particularly poignant. Besides the intrinsic interest of the subject matter, the fact that Willughby embarked on the project from a scientific perspective adds to the value of the book. Willughby had been admitted to the Royal Society in 1661 and for a number of years prior to that had been collaborating with the naturalist John Ray. It is clear that Willughby's Book of Games was highly influenced by his scientific pursuits and was an extension of his natural history work, utilising the same skills of systematic observation, description and classification. Providing not only a word-for word transcription of the Book of Games, this volume also contains a host of interpretative material to complement the original data. As well as a biography of Willughby and a detailed description of his manuscript, a substantial glossary of games and obsolete terms is provided, together with a bibliography of Willughby's literary remains and more general reference works. Taken together, this publication provides an unparalleled resource for scholars of early modern England.

Contents:
1. Introduction 2. Gender and Leisure Theory 3. Gender and Leisure Participation 4. Gender and Leisure Policy 5. Gender and Leisure Landscapes 6. Gender and Leisure Education 7. Gender and Leisure Management 8. Gender and Leisure Research 9. Theorising the Social-Cultural Nexus of Gender and Leisure Practice

Compared with modes of representation such as literature, drama, poetry and dance, the world of sport has been largely neglected in postcolonial studies. At both local and global levels, however, sport has been profoundly affected by the colonial legacy. How are individual nations and different sporting cultures coping with this legacy? What does the end of colonialism mean within particular states and sports? How is postcolonialism linked with struggles of race and identity?Sport was a major tool of colonial power and postcolonialism manifests itself in the modern sporting world in several ways, including the huge number of world class athletes from former European empires and the exploitation of child-workers in postcolonial nations by the sporting goods industries. Many former colonial states place considerable importance on elite sport as a form of representation, yet a small number of such states oppose sport in its western form. This book explores the wealth of issues and experiences that comprise the postcolonial sporting world and questions whether sport can act as a form of resistance in postcolonial states and, if so, how such resistance might manifest itself in the rule-bound culture of sport.Its novel approach and topical focus makes this book essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary sports, postcolonialism, race and ethnic studies.

Brain asymmetry for speech is moderately related to handedness but what are the rules?
Are symmetries for hand and brain associated with characteristics such as intelligence, motor skill, spatial reasoning or skill at sports?
In this follow up to the influential Left, Right Hand and Brain (1985) Marian Annett draws on a working lifetime of research to help provide answers to crucial questions. Central to her argument is the Right Shift Theory - her original and innovative contribution to the field that seeks to explain the relationships between left-and right-handedness and left-and right-brain specialisation. The theory proposes that handedness in humans and our non-human primate relations depends on chance but that chance is weighted towards right-handedness in most people by an agent of right-hemisphere disadvantage. It argues for the existence of a single gene for right shift (RS+) that evolved in humans to aid the growth of speech in the left hemisphere of the brain.
The Right Shift Theory has possible implications for a wide range of questions about human abilities and disabilities, including verbal and non verbal intelligence, educational progress and dyslexia, spatial reasoning, sporting skills and mental illness. It continues to be at the cutting edge of research, solving problems and generating new avenues of investigation - most recently the surprising idea that a mutant RS+ gene might be involved in the causes of schizophrenia and autism.
Handedness and Brain Asymmetry will make fascinating reading for students and researchers in psychology and neurology, educationalists, and anyone with a keen interest in why people have different talents and weaknesses.

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How neoliberal politics appropriates sports for its own ends

Readers are introduced to a range of theoretical and methodological approaches used to understand religion - including sociology, philosophy, psychology, and anthropology - and how they can be used to understand sport as a religious phenomenon. Topics include the formation of powerful communities among fans and the religious experience of the fan, myth, symbols and rituals and the sacrality of sport, and sport and secularization. Case studies are taken from around the world and include the Olympics (ancient and modern), football in the UK, the All Blacks and New Zealand national identity, college football in the American South, and gymnastics. Ideal for classroom use, Understanding Sport as a Religious Phenomenon illuminates the nature of religion through sports phenomena and is a much-needed contribution to the field of religion and popular culture.

This book explores the significance of the international book town movement and its impact on contemporary society. It examines how book towns have emerged and how their culture and unique characteristics help to explain a steadily growing phenomenon that has enabled peripheral communities around the world to reclaim their economic futures and impact on the cultural sphere as increasingly powerful sites and sources of creativity. Regenerating Regional Culture assesses why, at a time when the book industry is experiencing a profound transformation, book towns are proliferating in Europe and across the globe. It acknowledges the role of the book as a catalyst for this significant cultural activity and development. The book is shown to be a unique and pivotal item of cultural consumption, a remarkable artefact and, more than ever before, a springboard for contemporary cultural debate. This work investigates how the reanimation of these 'down-on-their-luck' towns is attracting, through a combination of nostalgia, history and cultural heritage, a growing middle class cohort who seek both intellectual stimulation and opportunities for serious leisure and wellbeing. This book will prove to be a useful resource for understanding the impacts of book towns on art, culture and society while also offering insightful research for those involved in existing or future development of book towns and other community cultural projects.

Winner of the 2007 Alan Merriam Prize presented by the Society for Ethnomusicology

aThe Games Black Girls Play is beautifully and passionately written. This book presents an engaging reflexive narrative that ranges from childhood memories to involvement with ethnomusicological scholarship. Gaunt makes a convincing argument that the playsongs of African American girls is the foundation of African diasporic popular music-making. In a radical counter-history, she shows how African American girls-interlocutors who are triply minoritized through race, gender, and age-are producing music culture that has profound influences on popular music and the popular imagination. She calls for an engaged ethnomusicology and moves gracefully through an array of anti-essentialist perspectives on race and gender. She argues that akinetic oralitya is key to African American musicking and that the body is always a locus of memory and communality. From somatic historiography to serious cross-talk with girls, Gaunt offers new methodologies for ethnomusicological work. The reader is pulled into a world in which Black girls are masters of musical knowledge, and in emerging from the book, we can't see the world of American popular music in the same way. When we chant Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack is dressed in black, black, black, with silver buttons, buttons, buttons, all down her back, back, back, we suddenly see how musical play and embodied knowledge generates a world of raced and gendered sociality. Oo-lay oo-lay! Congratulations, Kyra!a
--President Elect Professor Deborah Wong, Society for Ethnomusicology (October 27, 2007)

aFusing academic prose with vividly rendered memories, Gauntas journey isrefreshing. . . . Gaunt successfully lifts ignored girls from obscurity to center stage. . . . With The Games Black Girls Play, Gaunt has created a necessary space for translating black girlsa joy in a society that typically overlooks it. Hopefully, others will take their turn and jump in to keep the games going.a
--"Bitch"

"In thoughtful and affectionate prose, Gaunt makes plain how the schoolyard syncopations of body and voice are both oral-kinetic play and improvised lessons in socializing girls into the unique social practices of black urban life. . . . The Games Black Girls Play is a smart, delightful and witty polemic of attributions; a cultural benchmark of the complex web of history, race and gender to suggest a agendered musical blacknessa and an aethnographic trutha linking the aintergenerational cultures of black musical expressiona as embodied in the infectious playfulness of black girls."
--"Black Issues Book Review"

"Very informative and insightful. . . . A valuable source to add to oneas collection."
--"AllHipHop.com"

"By placing black girls at the center of her analysis, Kyra Gaunt challenges us to be ever mindful of the importance of gender, the body, and the everyday in our discussions of black music. "The Games Black Girls Play" is an exciting and original work that should forever transform the way we think about the sources of black, indeed American, popular music. This is a bold, brilliant, and beautifully written book."
--Farah Jasmine Griffin, Columbia University

"The Games Black Girls Play not only makes the point that black girls matter, but that the games, thoughts, and passions of black girls matter in a world that regularly rendersblack girls invisible and silent. Gaunt brilliantly argues that the culture of black girls is a critical influence on contemporary black popular culture."
-- Mark Anthony Neal, author of" New Black Man: Rethinking Black Masculinity"

"A particular strength of Gaunt's text is the ethnographic dimension of her discussions. The reader is privy to the personal musical and cultural experiences of African American females of varying ages (including Gaunt herself)."
--"New Black Man Book Review"

aIt is written in an accessible style and the inclusion of personal musical and cultural experiences and histories of a variety of women, including the author, adds to the appeal. The infectious playfulness of the topic and Gauntas own personal style and passion shine though.a
--"Journal of Folklore Research"

When we think of African American popular music, our first thought is probably not of double-dutch: girls bouncing between two twirling ropes, keeping time to the tick-tat under their toes. But this book argues that the games black girls play --handclapping songs, cheers, and double-dutch jump rope--both reflect and inspire the principles of black popular musicmaking.

The Games Black Girls Play illustrates how black musical styles are incorporated into the earliest games African American girls learn--how, in effect, these games contain the DNA of black music. Drawing on interviews, recordings of handclapping games and cheers, and her own observation and memories of gameplaying, Kyra D. Gaunt argues that black girls' games are connected to long traditions of African and African American musicmaking, and that they teach vital musical and social lessons that are carried intoadulthood. In this celebration of playground poetry and childhood choreography, she uncovers the surprisingly rich contributions of girls' play to black popular culture.

Taking us on an ethnographic journey into the spatially transgressive practice of parkour and freerunning, Parkour, Deviance and Leisure in the Late-Capitalist City: An Ethnography attempts to explain and untangle some of the contradictions that surround this popular lifestyle sport and its exclusion from our hyper-regulated cities. While the existing criminological wisdom suggests that these practices are a form of politicised resistance, this book positions parkour and freerunning as hyper-conformist to the underlying values of consumer capitalism and explains how late-capitalism has created a contradiction for itself in which it must stoke desire for these lifestyle practices whilst also excluding their free practice from central urban spaces. Drawing on the emergent deviant leisure perspective, this book takes us into the life-worlds of young people who are attempting to navigate the challenges and anxieties of early adulthood. For the young people in this study, consumer capitalism's commodification of rebellious iconography offered unique identities of 'cool individualism' and opportunities for flexibilised employment; while the post-industrial 'creative city' attempted to harness parkour's practice, prohibitively if necessary, into approved spatial contexts under the buzzwords of 'culture' and 'creativity'. This book offers a vital contribution to the criminological literature on spatial transgression, and in doing so, engages in a critical reappraisal of the evolution of the relationships between work, leisure, identity and urban space in consumer capitalism.

How neoliberal politics appropriates sports for its own ends

This book is the first to explore and compare football governance, fandom culture and supporter engagement in Europe. With a specific focus on supporter activism and campaigning, the collection provides a comparative study of several European countries. The authors argue that supporters, despite being the pillar or the 'lifeblood' of their club, see their role in football governance marginalised. The volume is unique in that it challenges the widely accepted assumption that membership football clubs encourage the democratic participation of supporters. Covering football fandom in both the traditional 'big five' leagues and non-'big five' countries such as Portugal, Turkey, Croatia, Poland and Czech Republic, the volume will be of interest to students and scholars across a range of disciplines, including sociology, history, sport management, sport governance and political science.

Why isn't segregation based on sex illegal in sports just as race segregation is? This book examines the controversial issue, arguing that "separate but equal" is neither achievable nor constitutional. Will the creation of coed teams help mitigate issues of perceived sex discrimination in sports, or will equity among male and female athletes come from better enforcement of the "separate but equal" ideal? This book examines this highly charged issue, specifically challenging the effectiveness of Title IX and arguing that it be ousted in favor of sex integration. This is the first book to present both legal and social arguments for the elimination of sex segregation in sports and provide tangible solutions to address this issue. Authors Adrienne N. Milner and Jomills Henry Braddock II lay out the potential benefits of comingling male and female athletes, illustrating how this process may translate to greater sex equality in social, economic, and political contexts. In addition, this forward-thinking work offers specific recommendations for facilitating the integration of sexes in sports and discusses the importance of changing attitudes and ideology within the sports community and the general public to achieve this goal. Features both current and historical events to support the argument for sex integration in sports Examines how sex and race are social constructions and considers their connected plights Presents both legal and social arguments for the elimination of sports-related sex segregation Challenges legal, biological, and social arguments against sex integration Analyzes the legal nuances of Title IX legislation and Brown vs. Board of Education and compares the two cases

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.

Boxing is a traditional sport in many ways, characterized by continuities in the form of practices and regulations and heavy with legends and heroes reflecting its traditional/historical values. Associations with class, hegemonic masculinity and racialized inclusions/exclusions, however, sit alongside developments such as women's boxing and involvement in Mixed Martial Arts. This book will be the first to use boxing as a vehicle for exploring social, cultural and political change in a global context. It will consider to what degree and in what ways boxing reflects social transformations, and whether and how it contributes to those transformations. In exploring the relationship it will provide new ways of thinking critically about the everyday.

This handbook provides a critical assessment of contemporary issues that define the contours of the Paralympic Movement generally and the Paralympic Games more specifically. It addresses conceptualisations of disability sport, explores the structure of the Paralympic Movement and considers key political strategic and governance issues which have shaped its development. The Palgrave Handbook of Paralympic Studies is written by a range of international authors, a number of whom are senior strategists as well as academics, and explores legacy themes through case studies of recent Paralympic games. Written in the wake of the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games, it provides an assessment of contemporary challenges faced by the International Paralympic Committee and other key stakeholders in the Paralympic Movement. Its critical assessment of approaches to branding, classification, social inclusion and technological advances makes this handbook a valuable resource for undergraduate study across a range of sport and disability related programmes, as well as a point of reference for researchers and policy makers.

Where does 'art' come from, and what is the 'meaning' of creativity? What inspires an artist in the middle phase of life and what value is placed on the pursuit of originality? Where do innovative ideas come from and how do they transmogrify into songs, art and stories? These are some of the questions posed in this ethnographic study, undertaken over three years and involving male and female musicians, artists and literary authors in the UK, some amateur and some professional but all dedicated to the invention of artistic legacy. This book sets out to understand the influences, spaces and routines of creative people experiencing midlife via an evocative exploration of biography, self-identity, inspiration, sociality, beliefs, emotion, career trajectory and life choices, and considered via in-situ observations of rehearsal, performance, exhibition, environment and working philosophy that contribute to the meaningful creation of novelty. While life experiences influence both the chosen and developed techniques of creating art and the art itself, artistic virtuosity is also arguably a conscious resistance to the banal securities of midlife in an age of inherent, perceived insecurity. Processes of creation, spaces of inspiration and the individualised value placed on artistic endeavour in uncertain times - and at an uncertain time in life - are understood via an original theory of the 'mezzanine', a sought-after in-between zone that abandons the ordinary and embraces an almost anarchic uncertainty where the promise of possibility and the pursuit of the delight of innovation provide an antidote to the banal 'everyday' and the routine expectancies of middle age.

First published in 1994. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This book examines historically how cricket was codified out of its variant folk-forms and then marketed with certain lessons sought to reinforce the values of a declining landed interest. It goes on to show how such values were then adapted as part of the imperial experiment and were eventually rejected and replaced with an ethos that better reflected the interests of new dominant elites. The work examines the impact of globalisation and marketization on cricket and analyses the shift from an English dominance, on a sport that is ever-increasingly being shaped by Asian forces. The book's distinctiveness lies in trying to decode the spirit of the game, outlining a set of actual characteristics rather than a vague sense of values. An historical analysis shows how imperialism, nationalism, commercialism and globalisation have shaped and adapted these characteristics. As such it will be of interest to students and scholars of sport sociology, post-colonialism, globalisation as well as those with an interest in the game of cricket and sport more generally.