Now available in paperback, this is the first academic book to study railway enthusiasts in Britain. Far from a trivial topic, the post-war train spotting craze swept most boys and some girls into a passion for railways, and for many, ignited a lifetime's interest. British railway enthusiasm traces this post-war cohort, and those which followed, as they invigorated different sectors in the world of railway enthusiasm - train spotting, railway modelling, collecting railway relics - and then, in response to the demise of main line steam traction, Britain's now-huge preserved railway industry. Today this industry finds itself riven by tensions between preserving a loved past which ever fewer people can remember and earning money from tourist visitors. The widespread and enduring significance of railway enthusiasm will ensure that this groundbreaking text remains a key work in transport studies, and will appeal to enthusiasts as much as to students and scholars of transport and cultural history. -- .

The way we organise our free time can reveal a great deal about our identities and ideology. This book explores what our sports and leisure choices can tell us about the society in which we live. Comprehensive, cutting edge and packed with global examples it covers all the essentials for students of sports and leisure sociology.

Sex, gender and sexuality have played an important role in shaping the culture of surfing and are central themes in the study of sport and movement cultures. Rooted in a rich precolonial history, surfing has undergone a modern transformation shaped by visual culture, commodification, sportization, mediatization and globalization, arguably all linked to sex, gender and sexuality. Using the physical culture of surfing as its focus, this international collection discusses the complex relationships between surfing, sex/es, gender/s and sexuality/ies. This book crosses new theoretical, empirical and methodological boundaries by exploring themes and issues such as indigenous histories, exploitation, the marginalized, race, ethnicity, disability, counter cultures, transgressions and queering. Offering original insights into surfing's symbolism, postcolonialism, patriocolonial whiteness and heteronormativity, its chapters are connected by a collective aspiration to document sex/es, gender/s and sexuality/ies as they are shaped by surfing and, importantly, as they re-shape the many, possibly previously unknown, worlds of surfing. Surfing, Sex, Genders and Sexualities is fascinating reading for anybody with an interest in the sociology of sport or gender and sexuality studies.

Body Problems addresses the relationship between the body and society in a fast-food culture. Agger focuses on issues of food, exercise, work, dieting and eating disorders, fashion, bariatric and cosmetic surgery, and health. He addresses a growing, fundamental dilemma that we have ample access to abundant calories yet lead lifestyles and have jobs that for the most part do not enable us to expend those calories. He proposes solutions, both individual and structural, that involve re-orienting ourselves to exercise as play. This second edition has been updated to include a new chapter on food capitalism and a concluding passage arguing Cartesian dualism can be resolved by exercising vegans in ways that would thwart this food capitalism and give people immense control over their bodies, health, and well-being. The book is ideal for courses in introductory sociology, social problems, work, sociology of sport and leisure, gender, and health and illness.

Riveting and inspiring first-person stories of how "taking a knee" triggered a political awakening among athletes of all ages and levels, from the celebrated sportswriter "With profiles of courage that leap of the page, Zirin uncovers a whole national movement of citizen-athletes fighting for racial justice." -Ibram X. Kendi, National Book Award-winning author of Stamped from the Beginning Hailed by Publishers Weekly in a starred review as "an enthralling look at the impact of peaceful protest by sports figures at the high school, college, and professional levels," The Kaepernick Effect explores the story of how quarterback Colin Kaepernick's simple act of "taking a knee" spread like wildfire throughout American society, becoming the preeminent public symbol of resistance to America's persistent racial inequality. In this powerful book, critically acclaimed sports journalist and author Dave Zirin chronicles "the Kaepernick effect" for the first time, through "a riveting collection of first-person stories" (The Nation) from high school athletes and coaches, college stars and high-powered athletic directors, and professional athletes across many different sports-from Megan Rapinoe to Michael Bennett. In each case, he uncovers the fascinating explanations and motivations behind what became a mass political movement in sports. "Necessary reading for all, especially those who want to make a difference in promoting social justice, equity, and inclusion, and end police brutality" (Library Journal, starred review), The Kaepernick Effect is for anyone seeking to get involved in the new movement for racial justice in America: "Take a knee, everyone, and start a revolution" (Kirkus Reviews).

Thousands of children across the United States dream of becoming professional athletes, yet less than one in a thousand high school seniors will go on to play in a major pro league. Of those select few, many will find that after a childhood of full-time commitment to their sport, their professional careers will likely be brief and injury-ridden. Within each of the top professional leagues in the U.S., the competition is fierce to not only get into the league, but to stay there-the average career in the National Basketball Association lasts less than five years, and in the National Football League only three and a half. The Anatomy of Competition in Sports: The Struggle for Success in Major US Professional Leagues examines the role competition plays in each of the major sports leagues in the United States: Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Football League (NFL), the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), the National Hockey League (NHL), and Major League Soccer (MLS). In order to provide a comprehensive review of competition within each sport, Christopher B. Doob scrutinizes the challenges faced at the youth level, opposition encountered by individuals competing to join a pro league, the obstacles pros must overcome throughout their careers, and the history of each league. Furthermore, Doob dissects competition across the sports by looking at such common influences as family, school, colleges, the draft process, coaches, and the playing conditions within the professional leagues. An additional chapter examines so-called "atypical pros"-such as disabled athletes, gay and lesbian players, and two-sport pros-who must face competitive challenges beyond the average athlete. A final chapter discusses life after the pros, including the legacy of debilitating injuries many former players face and the prospects of post-retirement jobs, such as coaching, managing, and broadcasting. Highlighting the struggles many athletes must face, The Anatomy of Competition in Sports features vignettes about current and past professionals, including Mariano Rivera, Earl Campbell, Candace Parker, and Sidney Crosby. Drawing on diverse sources such as histories of each league, research studies, newspaper accounts, and personal narratives, this book is simultaneously thought-provoking and accessible for all sports fans.

Sport has the incredible power to positively influence the world, and it is with this in mind that the field of Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) has seen tremendous growth over the years. Sport can strengthen social ties, advance human rights, aid economic development, promote inclusion, and more. In Sport for Development and Peace: Foundations and Applications, internationally-recognized SDP experts offer their insights, perspectives, and experiences on a range of topics within the field. The first part of the text focuses on the foundations of SDP, addressing its history, sociological aspects, specific goals-such as development, inclusion, sport participation, and conflict resolution-and political and economic implications. It closes with an evaluation and assessment of SDP programs. The second part examines the application of SDP by providing examples and insights into government involvement in SDP, not-for-profit organizations, and corporate and for-profit enterprises. Finally, the book concludes with a discussion of current trends and future implications of SDP. Written for current and future SDP managers, developers, and administrators, from the student to the professional, Sport for Development and Peace offers a comprehensive look at the many substantive and interconnected SDP topics in order to positively impact this fast-growing field.

The summer Olympic Games are renowned for producing the world's biggest single-city cultural event. While the Olympics and other sport mega-events have received growing levels of academic investigation from a variety of disciplinary approaches, relatively little is known about how such occasions are experienced directly by local host communities and publics. This ethnography examines the everyday policing of the London Borough of Newham in relation to the London 2012 Olympics. It explains how police defined, monitored, prioritized, contained and investigated 'Olympic-related' crime, and how 'Olympic-related' policing connected to the policing of Newham. The authors examine how the threat of terrorism impacted on the everyday policing of the 2012 Olympics, as well as the exaggeration of other threats to the Games - such as youth gangs - for political reasons. The book also explores local resistance to Olympic policing, and the legacy of the Games with regard to policing, local housing, demographics and social exclusion. Discussing the lessons that can be learned for the future staging of sporting mega-events, this book will appeal to scholars and students with interests in sport, policing, crime and criminology, mega-events, event management, urban studies, global studies and sociology.

'Fighting Scholars' offers the first book-length overview of the ethnographic study of martial arts and combat sports. The book's main claim is that such activities represent privileged grounds to access different social dimensions, such as emotion, violence, pain, gender, ethnicity and religion. In order to explore these dimensions, the concept of 'habitus' is presented prominently as an epistemic remedy for the academic distant gaze of the effaced academic body. The book's most innovative features are its empirical focus and theoretical orientation. While ethnographic research is a widespread and popular approach within the social sciences, combat sports and martial arts have yet to be sufficiently interrogated from an ethnographic standpoint. The different contributions of this volume are aligned within the same project that began to crystallize in Loic Wacquant's 'Body and Soul': the construction of a 'carnal sociology' that constitutes an exploration of the social world 'from' the body.

With rare and unrivaled access, bestselling coauthor of Soccernomics and longtime Financial Times journalist Simon Kuper tells the story of how FC Barcelona became the most successful club in the world-and how that era is now ending FC Barcelona is not just the world's highest grossing sports club, it is simply one of the most influential organizations on the planet. At last count, it had approximately 214 million social media followers, more than any other sports club except Real Madrid CF-and by one earlier measure, more than all thirty-two NFL teams combined. It has more in common with multinational megacompanies like Netflix or small nation-states than it does with most soccer teams. No wonder its motto is "More than a club." But it was not always so. In the past three decades, Barcelona went from a regional team to a global powerhouse, becoming a model of sustained excellence and beautiful soccer, and a consistent winner of championships. Simon Kuper unravels exactly how this transformation took place, paying special attention to the club's two biggest stars, Johan Cruyff and Lionel Messi, who is arguably the greatest soccer player of all time. Messi joined Barca at age thirteen and, more than anyone, has been the engine and standard-bearer of Barcelona's glory. But his era is coming to an end-and with it, a once-in-a-lifetime golden run. This book charts Barca's rise and fall. Like many world-beating organizations, FC Barcelona closely guards its secrets, granting few outsiders access to the Camp Nou, its legendary home stadium. But after decades of writing about the sport and the club, Kuper was given access to the inner sanctum and the people behind the scenes who strive daily to keep Barcelona at the top. Erudite, personal, and capturing all the latest upheavals, his portrait of this incredible institution goes beyond soccer to understand FC Barcelona as a unique social, cultural, and political phenomenon.

This fascinating collection brings together leading football historians and sociologists from the UK, Germany, the USA and Australia to offer fresh perspectives on the early development of football (soccer), not only illuminating our understanding of the early history of the world's most popular sport, but also the importance of sport in our broader social and cultural history. The book presents new evidence and fresh perspectives which will inform the robust debate that has been raging about the origins and early development of football. It addresses key issues at the centre of this debate, including the influence of former English public schoolboys, the development of football subcultures outside of prestige educational institutions, and the intersection and divergence of the various football codes around the world. The Early Development of Football is an important resource for anyone working in the history of football or sports in general, football studies or the sociology of sport. It is also a useful read for those interested in sport management and the development of sports organisations and rules.

While globalisation has undoubtedly occurred in many social fields, in sport the importance of 'the nation' has remained. This book examines the continuing but contested relevance of national identities in sport within the context of globalising forces. Including case studies from around the world, it considers the significance of sport in divided societies, former global empires and aspirational nations within federal states. Each chapter looks at sport not only as a reflection of national rivalries but also as a changing cultural tradition that facilitates the reimagining of borders, boundaries and identities. The book questions how these national, state and global identifications are invoked through sporting structures and practices, both in the past and the present. Truly international in perspective, it features case studies from across Europe, the UK, the USA and China and touches on the topics of race, religion, terrorism, separatism, nationalism and militarism. Sport and National Identities: Globalisation and Conflict is fascinating reading for anyone with an interest in the sociology of sport or the relationship between sport, politics, geography and history.

The experiences of ethnic 'Other' females have - until recently - been widely overlooked in the study of sport. There continues to be a need to produce critical scholarship about ethnic 'Other' girls and women in sport and physical culture, in order to represent their complex, multifarious and dynamic lived realities. This international collection of critical essays provides compelling insight into the lived realities of ethnic 'Other' females in sport. Throughout the book, contributors either draw on the political consciousnesses of 'Other' feminisms, or privilege the voices of ethnic 'Other' girls and women so as to broaden, diversify and advance critical thinking pertaining to ethnic 'Other' females in sport and physical culture. The purpose of the collection is both to produce knowledge and privilege otherwise subjugated knowledges, which individually and collectively present counter-narratives that better speak to the lived realities of racially oppressed groups of women and girls. Race, Gender and Sport: The Politics of Ethnic 'Other' Girls and Women is important reading for all students and scholars with an interest in the sociology of sport, gender studies, or race and ethnicity studies.

Does travel broaden the mind? This book explores this question through an innovative sociological study of gap year travel. Taking a year out overseas between school and university is an increasingly legitimate practice for young people in the UK. But what do young people get out of gap years? A wide range of 'official' sources acknowledge gap years as a way of becoming a global citizen and more employable at the same time. Instead of automatically assuming that gap years are a 'good thing', this book critically considers how this contemporary rite of passage could contribute to the reproduction of structural disadvantage at both a national and international level in relation to young people's routes into education and employment, and representations of difference and distinction in cultural practices. The key argument running throughout the book is that well-established ways of thinking about and understanding the world are used to frame gap year experiences, including how other people and places are different; the influence of class in determining what has cultural value; and what sort of identity work is worthwhile. Gap years are located at a point where a number of fields overlap: education, employment and the consumption of leisure travel. A Cosmopolitan Journey? will therefore be of interest to students, academics and practitioners in these areas.

The Cultures of Alternative Mobilities presents a series of ethnographic studies, focusing on the local cultures of mobilities and immobilities, emphasizing the everyday sense of contingency and heterogeneity that accompanies them. Compensating for the excess of theory and criticism based on the notion of 'hypermobilities', this book sheds light on the nuanced differences and idiosyncrasies of mobility, with a view to rediscovering meanings and lifestyles marked by movement and immobility. Original, empirical and global case studies are presented by an international team of scholars, exploring the complex, negotiated and contingent nature of the social worlds of movement. By avoiding sweeping generalizations on the deeply connected and readily mobile nature of society as a whole, this volume sheds light on the diversity of mobility modes in an accessible and interdisciplinary form that will be of key interest, to sociologists, geographers and scholars of human mobility, communication and culture.

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.

First published in 1974. Leisure has come to be a vital force in our lives, a part of self-discovery, essential for our well-being. With increased amounts of leisure time, there has been rapid growth in the demand for diverse recreational facilities and their subsequent overuse. With this in mind, it is clear why the planning, managing and administration of recreational resources, particularly in urban areas, is of personal interest to everyone. Land and Leisure introduces the student to all aspects of recreational land use - spatial, economic, behavioural and physical. This second edition is designed to demonstrate some of the basic up-to-date ideas and issues of the last decade and a half that have been influential in shaping decisions, and is concerned both with urban recreation and the uses of resources within metropolitan areas and with the role of the private sector in providing facilities. The book is divided into five parts with discussions ranging over topics such as the individual's recreational needs, recreational land-use evaluation, regional planning and the problems of decision-making and the provision of recreational resources. Its interdisciplinary approach will enable students to understand the problems, concepts, methods and approaches helpful in furthering and integrating their knowledge of recreational resources.

First published in 1987. In the context of the debate about the changing structure of modem economies, the growth of leisure, and the place of work and leisure in society, this book reviews the 'state of the art' of leisure forecasting and the study of leisure futures. It traces man's concern with future leisure from classical and utopian writings to science fiction and 'futurology'. Contemporary issues such as attitudes towards work and leisure, the 'work ethic', education for leisure and measures to share scarce jobs and increase leisure time are discussed in an objective and comprehensive manner. The more technical approaches to leisure forecasting are presented in an accessible and readable form. This book will be of value to students of leisure studies, recreation studies and public policy, to policy makers and planners working in the field, and to all those who have an interest in understanding what is happening to leisure and work in our society.

First published in 1971. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship which exists between the education services and the leisure time of the people they attempt to serve. The author explores education and provision for leisure and the problems of schools, youth services and adult education in relation to this. The case study of the leisure lives of young adults in a small industrial village provides some illustration of the difficulties of providing for leisure in non-urban areas. This title will be of great interest to policy-makers and to students of Sociology and Leisure Studies.

First published in 1938. This study examines various aspects of leisure in the early twentieth century. The author observes the differences in leisure between the various echelons of society, as well as the differences of leisure amongst children and adults. Durant also explores in depth several modes of leisure, including the cinema, sport, and gambling. This title will be of interest to students of history, sociology, and leisure studies.

First published in 2001. This book provides a socio-legal analysis of disasters by setting out two sport and leisure disasters (the 1989 Hillsborough and Marchioness disasters) and considering them in their broader legal/political/economic and policy contexts. It bases the analysis on in-depth examinations of the legal responses to these disasters. The foundations for the case studies are laid by reviewing critiques of relevant contemporary legal problems. These include the concepts and contexts of disasters; the law in a liberal democracy; negligence, mass actions and policy in PTSD cases; statutory regulation of and safety; the laws of corporate reckless manslaughter and the contemporary legal problems of inquests and public inquiries into disasters. The theoretical and policy chapters are followed by the presentation of the two case study disasters, drawing on documentary sources and interviews with academics, policy makers, key legal practitioners and campaigners for legal reform, involved in these post-disaster legal processes. The analysis returns to the critical themes of the earlier chapters and ends with conclusions and recommendations for further research and legal reform arising out of this area of 'disaster law'. Students in sport and leisure courses will be required to tackle legal and ethical issues. Law modules and courses in sport and law are developing an increasingly socio-legal, if not multi-disciplinary approach. This book takes account of this, taking a critical, multi-disciplinary approach to sport, leisure and the law. However, it will be useful to a broader group of readers who study, practice or work in the law or legal reform and apply their work to disasters.

This volume, first published in 1975 with a new introduction by Ziona Strelitz, marked a pioneering contribution to family and leisure studies. The study includes empirical material collected in the form of biographical case studies. The case studies are not only rich in detail and well presented, but they provide a meaning of leisure within the pattern of life of the individuals studied. This book will be of great interest to students of leisure and family studies.

First published in 1989. Understanding Leisure is a readable introductory analysis of the key elements in the study of leisure. This includes leisure concepts and dimensions of leisure, its activity forms, participants, provision, and leisure futures, leisure and social theory. A collaborative work of six authors, Understanding Leisure is a textbook which introduces the reader to the interrelated dimensions of leisure in contemporary society and aims to provide them with guidelines for further study. Exercises and discussion topics are included at the end of each chapter to enable the reader to apply general theory to particular examples. The text contains seven chapters covering all aspects of the study of leisure. Starting with a critical evaluation of different concepts of leisure it progresses through an analysis of the relationship between leisure both to play and work and the diverse forms of leisure such as recreation, hobbies, crafts and education. There then follows a perspective on leisure participation, an analysis of the spatial dimensions of leisure and how relative land values can affect access to leisure. The historical context of leisure provision and the changing relationship between public and private sector is then examined which provides insights into the future of leisure, based on forecasts and theories of social change. The book ends with a discussion of how contemporary social theory contributes to an understanding of leisure. Understanding Leisure will be valuable reading for undergraduate degree courses in Leisure Studies. It will also be useful background reading for post graduate study in Leisure and Recreational Management and Tourism as well as for leisure professionals in both the commercial and public sectors.

First published in 1983. Leisure has too often been approached as a set of activities that people do when everything important has been completed. This text provides a different analysis demonstrating the centrality of leisure to human development and to important relationships. In Leisure Identities and Interactions the author analyses leisure in the context of role changes through the life course, but also as a social context in which we work out the identities that express who we really want to be. His focus is on the kinds of leisure that are both most common and most significant face-to-face encounters, family interaction, and episodes found in the midst of our roles and routines. Varieties of leisure styles are found to be developed out of available opportunities and in relation to cultural values, but also are chosen to express and negotiate our self-definitions. Leisure is both social and existential and can best be understood in the dialectic of role expectations and decision. Kelly utilizes symbolic interaction, interpretive, and dramaturgical metaphors to develop a different sociology of leisure one that brings together the concepts of role and identity. Expressive identities and intimate communities are as essential to leisure as they are to life.

From commercial retail environments to branded urban villages, brands are now a salient feature of contemporary cityscapes and are deeply entwined in people's everyday lives. Drawing on extensive empirical material and recent theoretical developments in the sociology of brands, this book explores the complex relationship between brands, consumption and urban life. Covering a range of brands and branding in the city, from themed retail stores to branded cultural quarters, it considers how brands provide new ways of mediating identities, lifestyles and social relations. At the same time, the book reveals how brands are bound up with forms of socio-spatial division and exclusion in the city, defining what kinds of practices, images or attitudes are acceptable in a particular place, constituting cultural boundaries that keep certain people and activities out. With attention throughout to the social and cultural implications of the presence of brands in urban space, Brands and the City examines how people engage with brands, and how brands shape urbanites' experiences and sense of self, society and space. An extensive exploration of the processes through which brands are integrated into cities, their effects on everyday experiences and their role in the policing and governance of urban space, this book will appeal to scholars across the social sciences with interests in urban studies, consumption and branding.