Stephen Wagg – författare

First published in 1996, this volume is a sequel to Humour in Society: Resistance and Control which was edited by George E.C. Paton and Chris Powell. Now, seven years later, the culturally central nature of humour seems greater than ever.

This collection of original essays critically assesses the practices of humour in various role relationships in a number of social contexts, for example, in the workplace and between family members. A feature of this new volume is the critical analysis of socio-linguistic practices, including the use of jokes and cartoons, to manage tensions in social relationships at the micro- and macro-sociological levels of human interaction. Wider social and cultural issues area also examined by other contributors concerned with alternative comedy and sitcoms in British and Australian society, for example, which along with humour practices are situated by the editors in their introduction to substantiate the value of studying and researching the sociology of humour.

First published in 1996, this volume is a sequel to Humour in Society: Resistance and Control which was edited by George E.C. Paton and Chris Powell. Now, seven years later, the culturally central nature of humour seems greater than ever.

This collection of original essays critically assesses the practices of humour in various role relationships in a number of social contexts, for example, in the workplace and between family members. A feature of this new volume is the critical analysis of socio-linguistic practices, including the use of jokes and cartoons, to manage tensions in social relationships at the micro- and macro-sociological levels of human interaction. Wider social and cultural issues area also examined by other contributors concerned with alternative comedy and sitcoms in British and Australian society, for example, which along with humour practices are situated by the editors in their introduction to substantiate the value of studying and researching the sociology of humour.

• Clear Definitions

• Relevant Examples

• Up-to-date Suggestions for Further Reading

• Informative Cross-Referencing

Valuable in its parts and indispensable as a whole this book will provide a stimulating, practical guide to the relationship between sport and society.

Stephen Wagg is Professor of Sport and Society at Leeds Metropolitan University.

Carlton Brick lectures in the School of Sciences at the University of the West of Scotland in Paisley.

Belinda Wheaton is a Senior Research Fellow in the Chelsea School, University of Brighton.

Jayne Caudwell is a Senior Lecturer in the Chelsea School, University of Brighton.

Bringing together leading international writers on cricket and society, this important new book places cricket in the postcolonial life of the major Test-playing countries. Exploring the culture, politics, governance and economics of cricket in the twenty-first century, this book dispels the age-old idea of a gentle game played on England''s village greens.

This is an original political and historical study of the game''s development in a range of countries and covers:

* cricket in the new Commonwealth: Sri Lanka, Pakistan, the Caribbean and India* the cricket cultures of Australia, New Zealand and post-apartheid South Africa * cricket in England since the 1950s.

This new book is ideal for students of sport, politics, history and postcolonialism as it provides stimulating and comprehensive discussions of the major issues including race, migration, gobalization, neoliberal economics, the media, religion and sectarianism.

Bringing together leading international writers on cricket and society, this important new book places cricket in the postcolonial life of the major Test-playing countries. Exploring the culture, politics, governance and economics of cricket in the twenty-first century, this book dispels the age-old idea of a gentle game played on England''s village greens.

This is an original political and historical study of the game''s development in a range of countries and covers:

* cricket in the new Commonwealth: Sri Lanka, Pakistan, the Caribbean and India* the cricket cultures of Australia, New Zealand and post-apartheid South Africa * cricket in England since the 1950s.

This new book is ideal for students of sport, politics, history and postcolonialism as it provides stimulating and comprehensive discussions of the major issues including race, migration, gobalization, neoliberal economics, the media, religion and sectarianism.

The Cold War spanned some five decades from the devastation that remained after World War Two until the fall of the Berlin wall, and for much of that time the perception was that only on the Eastern side were politics and sport inextricably linked. However, this assumption underestimates the extent to which sport was an important symbol for both power blocs in their ongoing ideological struggle.

This collection of essays from leading international authorities on sport, culture and ideology brings together an impressive body of work organized around key political themes and outstanding moments in sport, and is at once a political history of sport and an illuminating new perspective on the forces that shaped this unsettled time.

The Cold War spanned some five decades from the devastation that remained after World War Two until the fall of the Berlin wall, and for much of that time the perception was that only on the Eastern side were politics and sport inextricably linked. However, this assumption underestimates the extent to which sport was an important symbol for both power blocs in their ongoing ideological struggle.

This collection of essays from leading international authorities on sport, culture and ideology brings together an impressive body of work organized around key political themes and outstanding moments in sport, and is at once a political history of sport and an illuminating new perspective on the forces that shaped this unsettled time.

Because I Tell a Joke or Two explores the complex relationship between comedy and the social differences of class, region, age, gender, sexuality, ethnicity and nationhood. It shows how comedy has been used to sustain, challenge and to change power relationships in society. The contributors, who include Stephen Wagg, Mark Simpson, Stephen Small, Paul Wells and Frances Williams, offer readings of comedy genres, texts and performers in Britain, the United States and Australia. The collection also includes an interview with the comedian Jo Brand. Topics addressed include: * women in British comedies such as Butterflies and Fawlty Towers * the life and times of Viz, from Billy the Fish to the Fat Slags * queer readings of Morecambe and Wise, the male double act * the Marx brothers and Jewish comedy in the United States * black radical comedy in Britain * The Golden Girls, Cheers, Friends and American society.

Because I Tell a Joke or Two explores the complex relationship between comedy and the social differences of class, region, age, gender, sexuality, ethnicity and nationhood. It shows how comedy has been used to sustain, challenge and to change power relationships in society. The contributors, who include Stephen Wagg, Mark Simpson, Stephen Small, Paul Wells and Frances Williams, offer readings of comedy genres, texts and performers in Britain, the United States and Australia. The collection also includes an interview with the comedian Jo Brand. Topics addressed include: * women in British comedies such as Butterflies and Fawlty Towers * the life and times of Viz, from Billy the Fish to the Fat Slags * queer readings of Morecambe and Wise, the male double act * the Marx brothers and Jewish comedy in the United States * black radical comedy in Britain * The Golden Girls, Cheers, Friends and American society.

This book takes stock of British football at the beginning of the twenty-first century. It is written by a range of concerned academics and writers, all of whom have an active relationship with the contemporary football world. The book assesses the changes that have occurred in many areas of football culture and the political and academic debates that have accompanied these changes.English football in particular, it seems, is ''fat city''. The Premiership, now eight years old, has, via satellite television, become a globalised phenomenon: there are Liverpool supporters in Bangladesh, Chelsea fans in sub-Saharan Africa and Manchester United followers across the globe. Grounds are full. Top class football attracts people to bars and pubs in huge numbers. Hooliganism appears a thing of the past. Everyone seems to love football and/or to support a team. The British football media are generally euphoric in their rendering of contemporary football culture.However, the contributors to this book argue that the heavily commodified, PR-driven and cartelised British football world, with which so many contemporary politicians and other public figures rush to identify themselves, has either created, exacerbated or continued to ignore serious problems of social exclusion problems of class and community, race and ethnicity, gender, sexuality and age.

This book takes stock of British football at the beginning of the twenty-first century. It is written by a range of concerned academics and writers, all of whom have an active relationship with the contemporary football world. The book assesses the changes that have occurred in many areas of football culture and the political and academic debates that have accompanied these changes.English football in particular, it seems, is ''fat city''. The Premiership, now eight years old, has, via satellite television, become a globalised phenomenon: there are Liverpool supporters in Bangladesh, Chelsea fans in sub-Saharan Africa and Manchester United followers across the globe. Grounds are full. Top class football attracts people to bars and pubs in huge numbers. Hooliganism appears a thing of the past. Everyone seems to love football and/or to support a team. The British football media are generally euphoric in their rendering of contemporary football culture.However, the contributors to this book argue that the heavily commodified, PR-driven and cartelised British football world, with which so many contemporary politicians and other public figures rush to identify themselves, has either created, exacerbated or continued to ignore serious problems of social exclusion problems of class and community, race and ethnicity, gender, sexuality and age.