In this new edition of his acclaimed book, Richard Giulianotti provides a critical sociological interpretation of modern sport. As global festivals such as the Olympic Games and football s World Cup demonstrate, sport s social, political, economic and cultural significance is becoming ever more apparent across the world. Ten years after its original publication, the text has been completely revised and updated to cover the most recent literature and to tackle the key contemporary issues of sport and society. Chapter by chapter, Giulianotti offers a cogent examination of widely taught sociological theories and topics that relate to sport, skilfully weaving together theory and examples. These include functionalism, Weberian sociology, Marxism and postmodern sociology, along with ethnicity, gender and globalization. Using an international range of case studies and research regarding a wide variety of sports, the new edition has furthered its commitment to making this important material especially accessible to undergraduate readers. Sport: A Critical Sociology remains the best sociological introduction to sport for upper-level undergraduate and postgraduate students on courses such as sport and leisure studies, cultural studies, and modern social theory.

"By taking a look at themes which span the globe, such as ancient rituals, rites of passage, business, pain, perfection and sacredness, this is a book which manages to encompass what it is to be human." - Amateur Photographer "Astounding" - Aesthetica Magazine "A visual extravaganza" - New York Times Why do we play games? That is the question Belgian photographer Hannelore Vandenbussche decided to explore, travelling to numerous countries to roam the world of sports, passion, athletic competition, transition, and emancipation. The athletes she portrays keep old traditions alive or carve out new territory, perform rituals, and celebrate with boisterous parties centred around their games. Meet Buzkashi players astride their horses in Central Asia, Donga stick fighters in Ethiopia, Tarahumara runners in Mexico, big wave surfers in Nazare, and many other athletes in these unusual sports. These unique photographs capture athletes from both indigenous cultures in remote parts of the globe and from familiar, Western cultures. They poignantly convey how old traditions are kept alive and new ones are carved out, how rites of passage, ritual, and celebration are all part of the culture of play. Human Playground showcases a hugely diverse range of sports from places as far-flung as Mongolia and Madagascar, from jockeys in Dubai to land divers in Vanuatu. This extraordinary book of photographs is dedicated to a subject that is being presented in an entirely new way.

Examining the phenomenon of nationalism in the world of sport, this book identifies moments when athletes became national symbols through their actions on and off of the playing field. Since the break-up of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, and related global events of the 1980s and 1990s, scholars have explored how race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality shape and are shaped by nationalism and national participation. This collection of new essays examines athletes in a global context. Topics include: race, golf and the struggle for social justice in South Africa; how sport became a battleground within the Israel/Palestine conflict; multiculturalism and the Olympic Games; and white privilege in sport. Through case studies, contributors explore the strength (and fragility) associated with national identity, and how athletes become icons for their nations.

Education policy is at the very top of the political agenda - the proclaimed top priority of the 'New Labour' government. Yet Labour has inherited a quasi-market education system and remains under the direction of reform during the coming year. This book examines new directions on issues of selection and educational opportunity, gender and racism and the question of school effectiveness and school improvements. The politics for the National Curriculum and its assessment are explored, alongside issues of lifelong learning and IT policy. The book explores the key questions of the future reform of education in contemporary Britain with contributions from the leading experts in education, education policy, politics and sociology.

Applying a cultural sociology of performance, this book interrogates how the meaning of sport intersects with gender. Trygve B. Broch points out uncertainties in the causal arguments made by key figures in the cultural studies tradition, instead advancing a meaning-centered study of sports as involving both a social and an athletic performance. Sports not only reflect or reverse social realities, but capture and keep our attention when we use and experience them as a means to reflect on social life, injustice, and hierarchy. More specifically, blending approaches from media studies with ethnography, Broch explores the women-dominated sport of handball in Norway, a country that considers gender equality a basis of democracy. As such, the analyses here show how broadly available meanings about sameness and equality are mediated and experienced through a performative feel for the game.

This is the first book to consider the intersections of sport, international development and environmental sustainability. It explores the tensions between sport's potential contribution to the environment and its rather poor record to date. Bringing together a diverse group of scholars who approach the topic from various disciplinary and theoretical perspectives, the book provides both critical and optimistic perspectives on the place of sport in sustainable development. Chapters examine and question how and whether sport contributes to sustainable development on an international scale. Attention is also paid to the place and role of Indigenous knowledge in sustainable Sport for Development, particularly as an alternative to modernization and/or in support of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. Sport, Development and Environmental Sustainability is important reading for academic researchers, students and policy-makers in the fields of kinesiology, sport studies, sport sociology, leisure studies, sport management, sport media, physical cultural studies, environmental studies and sustainability and international development studies.

This work explores the significance which contemporary club cultures can have for women at a time when femininity is undergoing radical reconstruction. The book focuses upon the experiential accounts given by a range of 'raving' and clubbing women and illustrates how new (and, in some respects, more appropriate to our times) fictions of femininity are generated within these accounts. Club cultures can, it is argued, come to provide important sites for the exploration of new ways of being women-in-culture. Focus upon these more subjective and experiential aspects reveals that today's dance cultures have much to offer women, and a lot more to say about femininity than is usually acknowledged. This suggests the limitations of much contemporary club culture criticism which concludes that because men tend to dominate at the levels of production and organisation, today's club cultures signal a sexual-political step backwards.

Professional wrestling is one of the most popular performance practices in the United States and around the world, drawing millions of spectators to live events and televised broadcasts. The displays of violence, simulated and actual, may be the obvious appeal, but that is just the beginning. Fans debate performance choices with as much energy as they argue about their favorite wrestlers. The ongoing scenarios and presentations of manly and not-so-manly characters-from the flamboyantly feminine to the hypermasculine-simultaneously celebrate and critique, parody and affirm the American dream and the masculine ideal. Sharon Mazer looks at the world of professional wrestling from a fan's-eye-view high in the stands and from ringside in the wrestlers' gym. She investigates how performances are constructed and sold to spectators, both on a local level and in the "big leagues" of the WWF/E. She shares a close-up view of a group of wrestlers as they work out, get their faces pushed to the mat as part of their initiation into the fraternity of the ring, and dream of stardom. In later chapters, Mazer explores professional wrestling's carnivalesque presentation of masculinities ranging from the cute to the brute, as well as the way in which the performances of women wrestlers often enter into the realm of pornographic. Finally, she explores the question of the "real" and the "fake" as the fans themselves confront it. First published in 1998, this new edition of Professional Wrestling: Sport and Spectacle both preserves the original's snapshot of the wrestling scene of the 1980s and 1990s and features an up-to-date perspective on the current state of play.

This book provides a comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of the interface between family care and employment. Utilizing an innovative family care model, it provides an in-depth look at the prevalence and types of care provided, the impact of multiple responsibilities, and the programmes and benefits utilized in alleviating conflicts between work and family.

A fascinating insight into the psychology behind elite-level sports. Mind Games discusses concepts used in sports psychology in a way that is understandable to the watching public, sports fans and sports-haters alike. Annie Vernon draws on her own experiences as an Olympic medalist, interviews with a wide range of people from other sports, and input from experts to answer the question: What is it about our psyche that makes pushing the mind and body to their limits such a basic human desire? Annie speaks to athletes from a broad spectrum of sports around the globe, including basketball's Shane Battier and John Starks, NFL star Ryan Fitzpatrick, fencer Tim Morehouse, and baseball's Craig Breslow and Tino Martinez, tennis's Judy Murray, polar explorer Ben Saunders, triathlete Chrissie Wellington, skeleton-bob star Lizzy Yarnold, runner Jo Pavey and sailor Ben Ainslie, along with coaches and sports psychologists from both Olympic sports and their professional equivalents. Whether it be performing under pressure, coping with nerves, teamwork, or building self-belief in the face of adversity, the methods that elite sports-people use are also relevant to everyday life. But sports psychology is still regarded as something of a mystery. How exactly do elite sports performers harness the power of their mind in pursuit of physical perfection? After looking closely at areas such as motivation, competitiveness, gender, and teamwork, Annie Vernon uncovers the underlying psychological principles behind the sports that everyone enjoys.

'Race', Youth Sport, Physical Activity and Health provides a resource that addresses 'race' and racism in an accessible way by contextualizing theory with practical evidence-based examples drawn from global geographical and cultural settings. This is the first book to focus on issues of 'race' and racism in youth sport, physical activity and health. Drawing on critical race theory, intersectionality and post-feminism, and presenting a range of international empirical case studies, it explores racialization processes in pedagogical and non-pedagogical settings. The book examines how 'race' and racism in pedagogical settings shape young peoples' dispositions towards participation in sport and physical activity, and how identity discourses are being shaped in contemporary sport, physical activity and health. Essential reading for anybody working in sport and exercise studies, physical education, sociology or health studies.

Widely regarded as one of the most important and influential sports books of all time, C. L. R. James's Beyond a Boundary is-among other things-a pioneering study of popular culture, an analysis of resistance to empire and racism, and a personal reflection on the history of colonialism and its effects in the Caribbean. More than fifty years after the publication of James's classic text, the contributors to Marxism, Colonialism, and Cricket investigate Beyond a Boundary's production and reception and its implication for debates about sports, gender, aesthetics, race, popular culture, politics, imperialism, and English and Caribbean identity. Including a previously unseen first draft of Beyond a Boundary's conclusion alongside contributions from James's key collaborator Selma James and from Michael Brearley, former captain of the English Test cricket team, Marxism, Colonialism, and Cricket provides a thorough and nuanced examination of James's groundbreaking work and its lasting impact. Contributors. Anima Adjepong, David Austin, Hilary McD. Beckles, Michael Brearley, Selwyn R. Cudjoe, David Featherstone, Christopher Gair, Paget Henry, Christian Hogsbjerg, C. L. R. James, Selma James, Roy McCree, Minkah Makalani, Clem Seecharan, Andrew Smith, Neil Washbourne, Claire Westall

This is the latest book on leisure from one of the leading figures in the field of leisure studies. It makes a major contribution in considering leisure as a primary aspect of cultural life. Rojek treats modern culture as performative. That is, there are strong pressures on us to keep busy, even if we are busy doing nothing. Leisure is analysed as a status-placing activity. The implications of the post-work thesis for leisure, the role of inequality in leisure practice, are explored in interesting and novel ways. Perhaps the most notable feature of the book is the discussion of the abnormal forms of leisure and the attack on the medicalized model of society. This book will be required reading for anyone interested in leisure studies and cultural studies.

On the surface, fishing is all about casting, catching and communing with nature, but on a deeper level, the sport is filled with mysteries and contradictions. Why do people fish? How does a desire to return to nature go hand in hand with high-tech gadgetry? How is it possible to see other people's fishing as despoiling nature but not one's own? What does the long and complex history of the sport reveal? Like so much else in life, what fishing says about society and the people in it -- both past and present -- is hidden from view and almost never discussed.
This book is a considered foray into the leisure sport of fishing by an avid fisherman who is also a professional anthropologist. Those who enjoy the sport tend to extol its naturalness - fishing enables them to commune with nature at its most primeval. However, if it's called natural, it's probably a great spot to trawl for clues as to how people manage larger cosmic issues. 'Call it natural, ' the author quips, 'and the anthropologists will come.'
Is fishing an uncomplicated activity, or is it deeply meaningful? What does it say about culture? Is the recent resurgence of interest in the sport simply a reflection of more disposable incomes and more leisure time? What is the connection between fishing and Santa Claus? fishing and flamenco? And finally, what is the best way to kiss a trout? Unlike most books on fishing, which focus on the tale or on 'how-to', this book shows that there is much more lurking beneath the surface than fish.

On the surface, fishing is all about casting, catching and communing with nature, but on a deeper level, the sport is filled with mysteries and contradictions. Why do people fish? How does a desire to return to nature go hand in hand with high-tech gadgetry? How is it possible to see other people's fishing as despoiling nature but not one's own? What does the long and complex history of the sport reveal? Like so much else in life, what fishing says about society and the people in it -- both past and present -- is hidden from view and almost never discussed.
This book is a considered foray into the leisure sport of fishing by an avid fisherman who is also a professional anthropologist. Those who enjoy the sport tend to extol its naturalness - fishing enables them to commune with nature at its most primeval. However, if it's called natural, it's probably a great spot to trawl for clues as to how people manage larger cosmic issues. 'Call it natural, ' the author quips, 'and the anthropologists will come.'
Is fishing an uncomplicated activity, or is it deeply meaningful? What does it say about culture? Is the recent resurgence of interest in the sport simply a reflection of more disposable incomes and more leisure time? What is the connection between fishing and Santa Claus? fishing and flamenco? And finally, what is the best way to kiss a trout? Unlike most books on fishing, which focus on the tale or on 'how-to', this book shows that there is much more lurking beneath the surface than fish.

The purpose of this book is to critically enhance the appreciation of Diplomacy and Sport in global affairs for both practitioners and scholars. The book will make an important new contribution to at least two distinct fields of study: Diplomacy and Sport, as well as to those concerned with History, Politics, Sociology, and International Relations. The critical analysis the book provides explores the linkages across these fields, particularly in relation to Soft Power and Public Diplomacy. Its conclusions offer avenues for further study based on the future of the relationship between sport and diplomacy. The book has strong international basis: it covers a broad range of countries, their diplomatic relationship with sport and is written by a truly transnational cast of authors. The intense media scrutiny on the Olympic Games, FIFA World Cup, and other international sports will contribute to the global interest in this volume. -- .

This jointly authored book extends understanding of the use of sport to address global development agendas by offering an important departure from prevailing theoretical and methodological approaches in the field. Drawing on nearly a decade of wide-ranging multidisciplinary research undertaken with young people and adults living and working in urban communities in Zambia, the book presents a localised account that locates sport for development in historical, political, economic and social context. A key feature of the book is its detailed examination of the lives, experiences and responses of young people involved in sport for development activities, drawn from their own accounts. The book's unique approach and content will be highly relevant to academic researchers and post-graduate students studying sport and development in across many different contexts. -- .

While contemporary popular discourses dismiss gender and feminism as passe, patriarchy and sexism continue to limit human possibilities around the globe. The tourism industry can be a force for empowerment but it can also shore up exploitative gendered practices. At the same time, tourism enquiry itself continues to be dominated by western, masculinist approaches.This collection of studies seeks to advance feminist and gender tourism studies with its focus on embodiment. Broad themes include the construction of narratives, how discourses of desire, sensuality and sexuality pervade the tourism experience, the use of the body to represent femininity, masculinity and sensuality, and finally how travel and tourism allow for empowerment, resistance and carnivalesque opportunities."

Today over half of all American households own a dedicated game console and gaming industry profits trump those of the film industry worldwide. Soraya Murray's insightful study examines issues of gender, race, and space in relation to a range of popular contemporary games. She explores blockbusters including The Last of Us, Metal Gear Solid, Spec Ops: The Line, Tomb Raider and Assassin's Creed to show how they are deeply entangled with American ideological positions and contemporary political, cultural and economic conflicts. As quintessential forms of visual material in the twenty-first century, mainstream games both mirror and spur larger societal fears, hopes and dreams, and even address complex struggles for recognition. Murray examines the elaborately constructed characters and densely layered worlds of these popular games, tracing how their social and environmental landscapes reflect ideas about gender, race, globalization, and urban life. In this emerging field of study, Murray provides novel theoretical approaches to discussing games and playable media as culture.

Sport is often seen as an indicator of the civic maturity of a community, an aspect of the rights of citizens to health, education and social integration. This book examines the relationships between participation in sport and physical activity, and welfare policies across Europe. It argues that the success of campaigns for the promotion of sport depend on the existence of dedicated welfare policies promoted by the European states and explores variations in cultural models and structures of governance across Europe. Addressing the function of supranational institutions such as the EU as well as voluntary networks, the book illuminates key issues in European societies such as migration, financial austerity and Brexit as they relate to sport policy. This is important reading for scholars and students in the fields of European sport and physical activity, sociology, political science and organisational analysis, as well as operators and managers of the sport systems involved in advanced training programmes.

The first comprehensive attempt to explore the issues raised by genetic counselling across cultures. It will be of interest to health professionals and to students and lecturers in the social, behavioural and political sciences and in genetics, medicine and nursing. The meaning and relevance of kinship and ethnicity in the context of genetic disease, cultural issues that have arisen in practice, including the influence of the lay public's beliefs about inheritance and the wider social and political context of genetics and genetic disease are all explored in depth.

Golf is a major global industry. The sport is played by more than 60 million people worldwide and there are more than 32,000 courses in 140 countries across the globe. This book looks at the power relationships in and around golf, examining whether the industry has demonstrated sufficient leadership on environmental matters to be trusted to make weighty decisions with implications for public and environmental health. The first comprehensive study of the varying responses to golf-related environmental issues, it is based on extensive empirical work, including research into historical materials and interviews with stakeholders in golf such as course superintendents, protesters and health professionals. The authors examine golf as a sport and as a global industry, drawing on and contributing to literatures pertaining to environmental sociology, global social movements, institutional change, corporate environmentalism and the sociology of sport. -- .

By turns tragic and hopeful, the history of Israel and Palestine through the lens of the world's most popular sport. Football has never been shy of politics. This is especially true for Israel and Palestine. A sport introduced by Victorian churchmen swiftly became a vehicle for nationalism and pride. Under British military rule, Jewish and Palestinian teams competed in the same leagues, not only on the pitch, but in smoky committee rooms and street corners, as the two communities fought for control of the sport. After the creation of Israel in 1948, Palestinian football survived among refugees, with Jordan's greatest side hailing from the poorest of the camps on the fringes of the capital. In recent years, Israel's dynamic Premier League has seen some of the country's best teams and players emerge from the Palestinian community - inspiring hope that football might help Arabs and Jews become friends and equals. Meanwhile, in the West Bank and Gaza, a series of shock wins by a new Palestinian national side saw Palestine climb the FIFA rankings, making football the one field where Palestinians could compete with pride on a world stage, as one nation among the others. This is a vibrant and often shocking story filled with driven, even ferocious people who are inspired by nationalism as much as a love of the game. There are many sacrifices, as brilliant teams are scattered by wars, side-lined through boycotts, and stories of players arrested, expelled, driven to hunger strikes, and beaten or shot. It is a story not simply of Jewish-Arab rivalry, but also of the deep fracture lines within each community. In this unusual history of the world's most intractable conflict, Nicholas Blincoe sets out to ask: is it hopelessly romantic to think of football as a level playing field, governed by sportsmanship and the love of the game? Or will it always be just another space to be fought over and polluted?