Sport and Society

Houlihan and Malcolm have produced a key text for our times. Drawing upon the work of internationally recognized scholars, the book locates the individual within the complexities of the social, political and economic matrix that characterizes contemporary sport. Moreover, the authors have skillfully managed to highlight the policy implications of contemporary issues within the global-local context. This will be an essential resource for both researchers and students seeking to understand the multifaceted and increasingly significant role of sport in society.

The third edition of Sport and Society provides an updated version of an inter-dsciplinary educational and research resource that presents an exciting blend of sociological, policy, historical and management perspectives on sport.  The new edition retains contributions from an impressive list of internationally recognised sport academics, and adds new chapters on lifestyle sport (Belinda Wheaton); sport for development and peace (Richard Giulinanotti and Simon Darnell); the governance of international sport organisations (Arnout Geeraert); sports fandom (Kevin Dixon); and sport in East Asia (Alain Bairner, Jung Woo Lee and Tien-Chin Tan).  The contributing authors canvass the social, political and cultural landscape of sport and weave in a theoretical critical discussion that helps to shape our understanding of sport as a social phenomenon. Insights are offered on how commercialisation, governance and globalisation impact the way we watch, play, organise and think about sport. This multi-faceted book provides readers with information and frameworks to draw and reflect on the connections between the local and the global in the study of contemporary sport. 

Barrie Houlihan is Professor of Sport Policy in the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences at Loughborough University, and Visiting Professor at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences. His research interests include the domestic and international policy processes for sport.

He has authored or edited twenty books and over fifty journal articles. His most recent books include Managing Elite Sport Systems (edited with Svein Andersen and Lars Tore Ronglan, Routledge 2015), Sport Policy in Britain (with Iain Lindsey, Routledge 2012) and a third edition of Sport and Society (edited with Dominic Malcolm, SAGE 2015).

Barrie has undertaken consultancy projects for various UK government departments, UK Sport, UNESCO, the World Anti-Doping Agency and the European Union. He is the editor in chief of the International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics. Dominic Malcolm is Senior Lecturer in the Sociology of Sport in the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences. Following a Politics degree at Nottingham University, Dominic studied for a Masters in the Sociology of Sport at the University of Leicester. On completion of the Masters he was appointed Research Associate in the Centre for Research into Sport and Society, where he subsequently became Lecturer and Director of Masters Programmes. He completed his PhD at Leicester in December 2004.

PART ONE: PERSPECTIVES ON SPORT Sport and Social Theory - Dominic Malcolm Power, Politics and Sport - Barrie Houlihan History and Sport - Martin Polley and Fiona Skillen PART TWO: STRUCTURING OPPORTUNITIES IN SPORT Social Exclusion from Sport and Leisure - Michael F. Collins Lifestyle Sport - Belinda Wheaton Women, Sport and Gender Inequity - Ruth Jeanes and Laura Hills Sport and Health - Parissa Safai and Dominic Malcolm Sport for Development - Richard Giulianotti Sport and Disability - Nigel Thomas and Andy Smith The Politics of 'Race' and Sports Policy in the United Kingdom - Ben Carrington and Ian McDonald Physical Culture and the Polarised American Metropolis - David Andrews, Mike Silk and Robert Pitter PART THREE: THE IMPACT OF COMMERCIALISATION The Business of Sport - Leigh Robinson Sport and the Media - Richard Haynes Organisation Theory and the Management of Sport Organisations - John Amis and Trevor Slack Doping and Sport - Barrie Houlihan The Relationship between Sport and Tourism - Mike Weed and Guy Jackson The Olympic Games: Winners and Losers - Holger Preuss Fandom - Kevin Dixon Sport Governance - Arnout Geeraert PART FOUR: INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON AND CONTEXT Sport in North America: The United States and Canada - Trevor Slack and Milena Parent Sport in the Asia-Pacific region - Alan Bairner and Jung Woo Lee Sport, the role of the European Union and the decline of the national state? - Ian P. Henry An Introduction to the Study of Sport in the Muslim World - Mahfoud Amara Sport and Globalisation - Barrie Houlihan