Sociological Perspectives on Sport

David Karen is a Professor of Sociology at Bryn Mawr College. In addition to his interest in sports, he also studies social inequality, the sociology of education, and social movements. He has been elected to four consecutive terms as a School Director in Upper Merion Area School District. Robert E. Washington is Professor of Sociology and Africana Studies at Bryn Mawr College. His areas of scholarly interest are sociology of sports, race relations, social deviance, and the sociology of culture. With David Karen, he co-edited The Sport and Society Reader (Routledge) and Sport, Power, and Society (Westview).

This is an ideal text/reader for the sociology of sports. Karen and Washington’s introductory chapter is a remarkably clear exposition of why the complex institution of sports can be so well understood by learning to ask sociological questions. Throughout the volume the questions the authors raise about sports are given historical form and empirical answers. The articles are all on target and superbly organized in the book’s analytical sections. Sports fans rarely agree on anything, but they will be captivated by these readings. So will sociologists and their students. -William Kornblum, Sociology, Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY)From classic social theorists to contemporary journalists, Sociological Perspectives on Sport offers diverse readings that represent key perspectives defining the field today. Readers are compelled to take sport seriously as a site of cultural, political, and economic production and resistance. This book should be required reading for both students and experts in the sociology of sport.-Cheryl Cooky, Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Purdue University, and President-Elect of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport The editors of this important book deserve credit for doing four things superbly: assembling the very best sports writing by an all-star team of authors; categorizing this vast material according to central topics ranging from class and race to politics and economics; framing each of these clusters with their own erudite introductory expose; and presenting all of this in accessible language that makes this book not only a great learning experience but also a page turner.-Andrei S. Markovits, Comparative Politics, University of Michigan, Co-author of Sportista: Female Fandom in the United States

• Section 1: Sport and Sociology: Sport as a Unique "Field" Section 2: Biases and Barriers in Sport: Class, Race, Gender, and Disability Section 3: The Social Bonds Generated By Sports: Fandom, Community, and Media Section 4: The Political Economy and The Politics of Sports – Dynamics and Diffusion Section 5: Breaking The Normative Rules: The Problems of Deviance in Sports Section 6: Globalization and Sports