Sport generates some of the most intense feelings and levels of commitment. It is big business globally, but also the source of the most powerful personal identifications and individual and collective pleasures. Sporting events are routine and embodied, whether in the gym, on the field or at the training ground, and they are also spectacular, for example in mega events at the stadium or, for followers at a distance, through the media of television, radio and the Internet. Large numbers of people are caught up in personal and collective investment and public engagement with sport. Why does it matter so much?

In this book, Woodward demonstrates why sport matters and how, arguing that we should take sport seriously, and explore what is social about it. Sport is not just another domain to which social theories can be applied; it is also distinctive and generates new ways of thinking about social issues and debates. Sport is affected by the global economy and social, political and cultural processes but it also shapes the wider social terrain of which it is part. Sport reproduces inequalities as well as offering opportunities. It is not always a level playing field. Sport is more than play.

Planet Sport is an engaging and concise introduction to some of the big issues in contemporary debates about sport in globalised societies, and will appeal to students, academics and general readers alike.

Fully revised and updated, the fourth edition of Social Sciences: The Big Issues explores key debates about how we live our personal, domestic and emotional lives at a time of enormous, previously unimaginable change and disruption, including a pandemic that locked down households and economies. Since the third edition, everyone's life has changed. The pandemic - at least temporarily - stopped social life as we knew it and virtually forced governments to close down their economies. This is where this edition of The Big Issues starts. Staying at home posed a radical departure from routine life, but reactions to Covid-19 have exposed the endurance of particular social relations - especially inequalities - which characterize societies worldwide. A few of the new big issues covered in this edition include: Changing selves and personal lives in light of racism and sexual and identity politics in a pandemic Changing patterns of consumption in relation to market production and what it means for climate change Changing intersections of citizenship, migration and globalization in the context of the virus crossing borders, and both the opportunities and sources of inequality involved Changing ideas about power, politics and populism in the aftermath of Brexit Building on the strong foundation of this well-loved text, this fully revised fourth edition explores how big issues and social forces intersect to create both change and evidence of continuity, especially of social inequalities. It provides a clear, accessible introduction to the ideas and approaches of the social sciences across a range of disciplines, including sociology, psychology and politics.

Why is 'identity' important - in people's lives and in the social sciences? How much control do we have over shaping our own identities? Are we more uncertain about our identities now than in the past? Questioning Identity: Gender, Class, Ethnicity provides an accessible exploration of identity as a contemporary concern in everyday life and as a key concept in the social sciences. The world in the twenty-first century may be an increasingly unstable place, but changes offer new opportunities as well as new challenges. key social divisions of gender, class, 'race' and ethnicity, this book shows how these challenges and opportunities work out in people's lives. What is happening when people identify with particular definitions of themselves or strike out and forge new identities? Do gender, class and ethnicity offer some stability and even security about who we are, or are these structures constraints on our freedom to choose our own identities? How far is it possible to forge new identities in changing times? This key text will be essential reading for students starting out in the social sciences and for anyone with an interest in the dilemmas of identity in contemporary society.

Fully revised and updated, the fourth edition of Social Sciences: The Big Issues explores key debates about how we live our personal, domestic and emotional lives at a time of enormous, previously unimaginable change and disruption, including a pandemic that locked down households and economies. Since the third edition, everyone's life has changed. The pandemic - at least temporarily - stopped social life as we knew it and virtually forced governments to close down their economies. This is where this edition of The Big Issues starts. Staying at home posed a radical departure from routine life, but reactions to Covid-19 have exposed the endurance of particular social relations - especially inequalities - which characterize societies worldwide. A few of the new big issues covered in this edition include: Changing selves and personal lives in light of racism and sexual and identity politics in a pandemic Changing patterns of consumption in relation to market production and what it means for climate change Changing intersections of citizenship, migration and globalization in the context of the virus crossing borders, and both the opportunities and sources of inequality involved Changing ideas about power, politics and populism in the aftermath of Brexit Building on the strong foundation of this well-loved text, this fully revised fourth edition explores how big issues and social forces intersect to create both change and evidence of continuity, especially of social inequalities. It provides a clear, accessible introduction to the ideas and approaches of the social sciences across a range of disciplines, including sociology, psychology and politics.

Why is 'identity' important - in people's lives and in the social sciences? How much control do we have over shaping our own identities? Are we more uncertain about our identities now than in the past? Questioning Identity: Gender, Class, Ethnicity provides an accessible exploration of identity as a contemporary concern in everyday life and as a key concept in the social sciences. The world in the twenty-first century may be an increasingly unstable place, but changes offer new opportunities as well as new challenges. key social divisions of gender, class, 'race' and ethnicity, this book shows how these challenges and opportunities work out in people's lives. What is happening when people identify with particular definitions of themselves or strike out and forge new identities? Do gender, class and ethnicity offer some stability and even security about who we are, or are these structures constraints on our freedom to choose our own identities? How far is it possible to forge new identities in changing times? This key text will be essential reading for students starting out in the social sciences and for anyone with an interest in the dilemmas of identity in contemporary society.

'Being in the zone' means performing in a distinctive, unusual, pleasurable and highly competent way at something you already regularly do: dancing or playing a viola, computer programming, tennis and much more. What makes the zone special? This volume offers groundbreaking research that brings sociological and cultural studies to bear on the idea of being in the zone. There is original research on musicians, dancers and surfers which shows that being in the zone far from being exclusively individualised and private but must be understood as social and collective and possibly accessible to all. The zone is not just for elite performers. Being in the zone is not just the province of the athlete who suddenly and seemingly without extra effort swims faster or jumps higher or the musician who suddenly plays more than perfectly, but also of the doctor working under intense pressure or the computer programmer staying up all night. The meaning of such experiences for convincing people to work in intense conditions, often with short term contracts, is explored to show how being in the zone can have problematic effects and have negative and constraining as well as creative and productive implications. Often being in the zone is understood from a psychological viewpoint but this can limit our understanding. This volume provides the first in-depth analysis of being in the zone from social and cultural viewpoints drawing on a range of theories and novel evidence. Written in a stimulating and accessible style, Culture, Identity and Intense Performativity: Being in the Zone will strongly appeal to students and researchers who aim to understand the experience of work, creativity, musicianship and sport. Issues of the body are also central to being in the zone and will make this book relevant to anyone studying bodies and embodiment . This collection will establish being in the zone as an important area of enquiry for social science and the humanities.

This book questions the political logic of foregrounding cultural collectives in a world shaped by globalization and neoliberalization. Throughout the world, it is no longer only individuals, but increasingly collective "cultures" who are made responsible for their own regulation, welfare and enterprise. This appears as a surprising shift from the tenets of classical liberalism which defined the ideal subject of politics as the "unencumbered self"- the free, equal and self-governing individual. The increasing promotion and recognition of cultural rights in international legislation, multiculturalism, and public debates on "culture" as a political problem more generally indicate that culture has become a more central terrain for governance and struggles around rights and citizenship. On the basis of case studies from China, Latin America, and North America, the contributors of this book explore the links between culture, civility, and the politics of citizenship. They argue that official reifications of "culture" in relation to citizenship, and even the recognition of cultural rights, may obey strategies of governance and control, but that citizens may still use new cultural rights and networks, and the legal mechanisms that have been created to protect them, in order to pursue their own agendas of empowerment. This book was originally published as a special issue of Economy and Society.

There is broad acceptance across the Humanities and Social Sciences that our deliberations on the social need to take place through attention to practice, to object-mediated relations, to non-human agency and to the affective dimensions of human sociality. This Companion focuses on the objects and materials found at centre stage, and asks: what matters about objects? Objects and Materials explores the field, providing succinct summary accounts of contemporary scholarship, along with a wealth of new research investigating the capacity of objects to shape, unsettle and exceed expectations. Original chapters from over forty international, interdisciplinary contributors address an array of objects and materials to ask what the terms of collaborations with objects and materials are, and to consider how these collaborations become integral to our understandings of the complex, relational dynamics that fashion social worlds. Objects and Materials will be of interest to students and scholars across the social sciences and humanities, including in sociology, social theory, science and technology studies, history, anthropology, archaeology, gender studies, women's studies, geography, cultural studies, politics and international relations, and philosophy.

This book questions the political logic of foregrounding cultural collectives in a world shaped by globalization and neoliberalization. Throughout the world, it is no longer only individuals, but increasingly collective "cultures" who are made responsible for their own regulation, welfare and enterprise. This appears as a surprising shift from the tenets of classical liberalism which defined the ideal subject of politics as the "unencumbered self"- the free, equal and self-governing individual. The increasing promotion and recognition of cultural rights in international legislation, multiculturalism, and public debates on "culture" as a political problem more generally indicate that culture has become a more central terrain for governance and struggles around rights and citizenship. On the basis of case studies from China, Latin America, and North America, the contributors of this book explore the links between culture, civility, and the politics of citizenship. They argue that official reifications of "culture" in relation to citizenship, and even the recognition of cultural rights, may obey strategies of governance and control, but that citizens may still use new cultural rights and networks, and the legal mechanisms that have been created to protect them, in order to pursue their own agendas of empowerment. This book was originally published as a special issue of Economy and Society.

In the decade or more since publication of the first edition of Understanding Sport, both sport and wider global society have undergone profound change. In this fully updated, revised and expanded edition of their classic textbook, John Horne, Alan Tomlinson, Garry Whannel and Kath Woodward offer a critical and reflective introduction to the relationship between sport and contemporary society and explain how sport remains an important agent and symptom of socio-cultural change.

Fully integrating historical, sociological, political and cultural analysis, the book covers every key topic in the study of sport and society, including:

• debate, interpretation and theory
• sport and the media
• sport and the body
• sport and politics
• commercialization
• globalization.

Retaining the accessibility and scholarly rigour for which Understanding Sport has always been renowned, this new edition includes entirely new chapters on global transformations, sports mega-events and sites, sporting bodies and governance, as well as a succinct guide to researching sport. With review and seminar questions included in every chapter, plus concise, helpful guides to further reading, Understanding Sport remains an essential textbook for all courses on sport and society, the sociology of sport, sport and social theory, or social issues in sport.

Boxing is infused with ideas about masculinity, power, race and social class, and as such is an ideal lens through which social scientists can examine key modern themes. In addition, its inherent contradictions of extreme violence and beauty and of discipline and excess have long been a source of inspiration for writers and film makers. Essential reading for anyone interested in the sociology of sport and cultural representations of gender, Boxing, Masculinity and Identity brings together ethnographic research with material from film, literature and journalism. Through this combination of theoretical insight and cultural awareness, Woodward explores the social constructs around boxing and our experience and understanding of central issues including: masculinity mind, body and the construction of identity spectacle and performance: tensions between the public and private person boxing on film: the role of cultural representations in building identities methodologies: issues of authenticity and 'truth' in social science.

Boxing is infused with ideas about masculinity, power, race and social class, and as such is an ideal lens through which social scientists can examine key modern themes. In addition, its inherent contradictions of extreme violence and beauty and of discipline and excess have long been a source of inspiration for writers and film makers. Essential reading for anyone interested in the sociology of sport and cultural representations of gender, Boxing, Masculinity and Identity brings together ethnographic research with material from film, literature and journalism. Through this combination of theoretical insight and cultural awareness, Woodward explores the social constructs around boxing and our experience and understanding of central issues including: masculinity mind, body and the construction of identity spectacle and performance: tensions between the public and private person boxing on film: the role of cultural representations in building identities methodologies: issues of authenticity and 'truth' in social science.

There is broad acceptance across the Humanities and Social Sciences that our deliberations on the social need to take place through attention to practice, to object-mediated relations, to non-human agency and to the affective dimensions of human sociality. This Companion focuses on the objects and materials found at centre stage, and asks: what matters about objects?

Objects and Materials explores the field, providing succinct summary accounts of contemporary scholarship, along with a wealth of new research investigating the capacity of objects to shape, unsettle and exceed expectations. Original chapters from over forty international, interdisciplinary contributors address an array of objects and materials to ask what the terms of collaborations with objects and materials are, and to consider how these collaborations become integral to our understandings of the complex, relational dynamics that fashion social worlds.

Objects and Materials will be of interest to students and scholars across the social sciences and humanities, including in sociology, social theory, science and technology studies, history, anthropology, archaeology, gender studies, women s studies, geography, cultural studies, politics and international relations, and philosophy.

Usually conceived in opposition to each other - birth as a hopeful beginning, death as an ending - this book brings them into dialogue with each other to argue that both are central to our experiences of being in the world and part of living. Written by two authors, this book takes an intergenerational approach to highlight the connections and disconnections between birth and death; adopting a relational approach allows the book to explore birth and death through the key relationships that constitute them: personal and social, private and public, the affective and social norms, the actual and the virtual and the ordinary and profound. Of interest to academics and students in the fields of feminism, phenomenology and the life course, the book will also be of relevance to policy makers in the areas of birth activism and end of life care. Drawing from personal stories, everyday life and publicly contested examples, the book will also be of interest to a more general readership as it engages with questions we all at some point will grapple with.

Visibility matters in contemporary societies; online, in the media and in the public eye. But who is seen and how? Are women still seen through a male gaze? This book explores the politics of looking and being looked at, and the relationship between actual and virtual worlds, for example in sport, art and cinema.

There is expanding global interest in the relationship between the psychological and the social. The bringing together of affect, emotion and feeling with social, political and cultural forces offers a creative, innovative and rich set of ways of understanding what Charles Wright Mills called the links between personal troubles and public issues.

This book is an introduction to psychosocial studies. Drawing on different approaches to the field, the book introduces the main theoretical influences on psychosocial studies and their development and impact, through for example concepts such as the unconscious, self and identity, affect, emotion and the cultural and social unconscious. It explores the theoretical frameworks of psychosocial studies, and psychosocial research methods. The book offers examples of case studies which illustrate the diversity of psychosocial studies and what makes it distinctive. It asks: what is social about the inner worlds of the psychological? What is psychological and psychic about social worlds and social life?

This clear, accessible introduction will be of interest to students and researchers across the social sciences and humanities, in particular in sociology, psychology, cultural geography, social policy and politics and cultural studies."

'Being in the zone' means performing in a distinctive, unusual, pleasurable and highly competent way at something you already regularly do: dancing or playing a viola, computer programming, tennis and much more. What makes the zone special? This volume offers groundbreaking research that brings sociological and cultural studies to bear on the idea of being in the zone. There is original research on musicians, dancers and surfers which shows that being in the zone far from being exclusively individualised and private but must be understood as social and collective and possibly accessible to all. The zone is not just for elite performers. Being in the zone is not just the province of the athlete who suddenly and seemingly without extra effort swims faster or jumps higher or the musician who suddenly plays more than perfectly, but also of the doctor working under intense pressure or the computer programmer staying up all night. The meaning of such experiences for convincing people to work in intense conditions, often with short term contracts, is explored to show how being in the zone can have problematic effects and have negative and constraining as well as creative and productive implications. Often being in the zone is understood from a psychological viewpoint but this can limit our understanding. This volume provides the first in-depth analysis of being in the zone from social and cultural viewpoints drawing on a range of theories and novel evidence. Written in a stimulating and accessible style, Culture, Identity and Intense Performativity: Being in the Zone will strongly appeal to students and researchers who aim to understand the experience of work, creativity, musicianship and sport. Issues of the body are also central to being in the zone and will make this book relevant to anyone studying bodies and embodiment . This collection will establish being in the zone as an important area of enquiry for social science and the humani

In the decade or more since publication of the first edition of Understanding Sport, both sport and wider global society have undergone profound change. In this fully updated, revised and expanded edition of their classic textbook, John Horne, Alan Tomlinson, Garry Whannel and Kath Woodward offer a critical and reflective introduction to the relationship between sport and contemporary society and explain how sport remains an important agent and symptom of socio-cultural change.

Fully integrating historical, sociological, political and cultural analysis, the book covers every key topic in the study of sport and society, including:

• debate, interpretation and theory
• sport and the media
• sport and the body
• sport and politics
• commercialization
• globalization.

Retaining the accessibility and scholarly rigour for which Understanding Sport has always been renowned, this new edition includes entirely new chapters on global transformations, sports mega-events and sites, sporting bodies and governance, as well as a succinct guide to researching sport. With review and seminar questions included in every chapter, plus concise, helpful guides to further reading, Understanding Sport remains an essential textbook for all courses on sport and society, the sociology of sport, sport and social theory, or social issues in sport.

There is expanding global interest in the relationship between the psychological and the social. The bringing together of affect, emotion and feeling with social, political and cultural forces offers a creative, innovative and rich set of ways of understanding what Charles Wright Mills called the links between personal troubles and public issues.

This book is an introduction to psychosocial studies. Drawing on different approaches to the field, the book introduces the main theoretical influences on psychosocial studies and their development and impact, through for example concepts such as the unconscious, self and identity, affect, emotion and the cultural and social unconscious. It explores the theoretical frameworks of psychosocial studies, and psychosocial research methods. The book offers examples of case studies which illustrate the diversity of psychosocial studies and what makes it distinctive. It asks: what is social about the inner worlds of the psychological? What is psychological and psychic about social worlds and social life?

This clear, accessible introduction will be of interest to students and researchers across the social sciences and humanities, in particular in sociology, psychology, cultural geography, social policy and politics and cultural studies."

Usually conceived in opposition to each other - birth as a hopeful beginning, death as an ending - this book brings them into dialogue with each other to argue that both are central to our experiences of being in the world and part of living. Written by two authors, this book takes an intergenerational approach to highlight the connections and disconnections between birth and death; adopting a relational approach allows the book to explore birth and death through the key relationships that constitute them: personal and social, private and public, the affective and social norms, the actual and the virtual and the ordinary and profound. Of interest to academics and students in the fields of feminism, phenomenology and the life course, the book will also be of relevance to policy makers in the areas of birth activism and end of life care. Drawing from personal stories, everyday life and publicly contested examples, the book will also be of interest to a more general readership as it engages with questions we all at some point will grapple with.

This accessible guide provides readers with an introduction to the key concepts and main developments in gender studies. Presenting definitions, explanations and policy implications through discussion of case studies, this book shows how gender intersects with different dimensions of diversity and demonstrates the connections between sex and gender. Using a range of pedagogical features and highlighting the importance of gender in the contemporary world, this succinct text provides an ideal overview for students and professionals alike.

Sport generates some of the most intense feelings and levels of commitment. It is big business globally, but also the source of the most powerful personal identifications and individual and collective pleasures. Sporting events are routine and embodied, whether in the gym, on the field or at the training ground, and they are also spectacular, for example in mega events at the stadium or, for followers at a distance, through the media of television, radio and the Internet. Large numbers of people are caught up in personal and collective investment and public engagement with sport. Why does it matter so much?

In this book, Woodward demonstrates why sport matters and how, arguing that we should take sport seriously, and explore what is social about it. Sport is not just another domain to which social theories can be applied; it is also distinctive and generates new ways of thinking about social issues and debates. Sport is affected by the global economy and social, political and cultural processes but it also shapes the wider social terrain of which it is part. Sport reproduces inequalities as well as offering opportunities. It is not always a level playing field. Sport is more than play.

Planet Sport is an engaging and concise introduction to some of the big issues in contemporary debates about sport in globalised societies, and will appeal to students, academics and general readers alike.

The social sciences are about people and the relationships between individuals and the social and material world we live in. They are about the social structures which shape - and are shaped by - social forces such as ethnicity, race, gender, sexuality and age and the bodies we inhabit. How are these relationships changing and to what extent and how can people influence change? What are the big issues which concern us today? How can the social sciences help us to understand what is going on? "

Social Sciences: The Big Issues" third edition looks at what matters in terms of what is changing and what remains the same in contemporary life, bringing together personal concerns and social forces. Fully revised and updated, this book explores some of the debates about how we live our personal, domestic and emotional lives at a time of change and disruption, including economic crises and uncertainties. The issues covered include: changing selves and personal lives; the role of consumption and consumerism; materialism and material culture; as well as citizenship, migration and globalization as both opportunities and sources of inequality in the contemporary world and in everyday lives.

The third edition of "Social Sciences: The Big Issues" provides a clear, accessible introduction to the ideas and approaches of the social sciences across a range of disciplines, including sociology, psychology and politics.

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. 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.

Identity has become a buzzword that we hear about in a range of contexts, from concern with the self expressed through therapy, to identity crises that operate on the global arena. This book offers the first introduction to the lively debates surrounding the concept of identity. Drawing on examples of gender, ethnic, age and work identities, as well as those linked to place and nation, this collection explores personal, social and cultural identities. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, the book maps out contemporary debates about identity within sociology, cultural studies, media studies, social psychology and political science. Each chapter addresses the variety of ways in which theories about identity seek to resolve the tension between viewing identity as being fixed and stable, or fluid and changing.