Routledge Critical Event Studies Research Series. – serie

Gendered Violence at International Festivals is a groundbreaking collection that focusses on this highly important social issue for the first time. Including a diverse range of interdisciplinary studies on the issue, the book contests the widely held notion that festivals are temporal spaces free from structural sexism, inequalities or gender power dynamics. Rather, they are spaces where these concerns are enhanced and enacted more freely and where the experiential environment is used as an excuse or as an opportunity to victim blame and shame. In this emerging and under-researched area, the chapters not only present original work in terms of topics but also in theoretical and methodological approaches. All of the chapters are cross- or interdisciplinary, drawing on gender, sexualities, cultural and ethnicity studies. Studies from a range of highly regarded academics based around the world examine the subject by looking at examples from a wide range of destinations, including Spain, Argentina, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Australia, Canada and the UK. This significant book progresses understanding and debates about gendered festival experiences and emphasises the symbolic and physical violence often associated with them.This will be of great interest to, undergraduate and postgraduate students and academics in the field of Events Studies. It will also be of use to practitioners or non-profit workers in the festival industries, including festival management organisations and planning committees.

This book is the first to take an in-depth examination of events and well-being, adopting a much-needed critical approach to the study of events. It uses empirical case studies to help us better understand how events foster positive well-being or counter negative well-being for event organisers, participants, spectators, volunteers and even non-attending local residents.While researchers have long understood socialisation as the major motivation to attend contemporary festivals and events, it is only just being acknowledged that well-being is also a key motivator. Those researching in the field of event studies are yet to clearly articulate "the how, why, where, and impacts of socialisation." This multidisciplinary book draws together empirical research across a range of event types and sizes, from music festivals to mega sports events, to provide a nuanced understanding of their contribution to the well-being of individuals and communities. Case studies are drawn from around the world and apply a diverse range of theoretical lenses to the conceptualisation of well-being as it applies to events and methodologies used to achieve research aims and objectives. This significant volume will be valuable reading for students and academics in the fields of sport studies, critical event studies, queer studies, cultural studies, tourism, music, sociology and end-of-life studies.

An unprecedented exploration of the intersection of events and family studies, Family Events uses events as a lens through which to explore the concepts of families, family practices, family displays and family intimacies.Family Events explores the idea that how families come to be and, moreover, come to be defined as ‘families’ relies on events: whether that be via ‘family events’ – those which serve to celebrate being part of ‘my’ family – (e.g., birthdays, weddings, funerals), ‘events experienced as a family’ (e.g., a holiday or day trip) or ‘events which impact families’ (e.g., recession, war, global health emergency). Family Events brings together contributions from the social sciences, leisure and event studies which focus on a variety of different event contexts, including the life cycle, death and illness, sport, holidays, and community and religious festivals.Family Events offers a multitude of insightful perspectives on the intersection of events and family studies, and is a valuable resource for academics and students with a research interest in events, leisure and the family.

An unprecedented exploration of the intersection of events and family studies, Family Events uses events as a lens through which to explore the concepts of families, family practices, family displays and family intimacies.Family Events explores the idea that how families come to be and, moreover, come to be defined as ‘families’ relies on events: whether that be via ‘family events’ – those which serve to celebrate being part of ‘my’ family – (e.g., birthdays, weddings, funerals), ‘events experienced as a family’ (e.g., a holiday or day trip) or ‘events which impact families’ (e.g., recession, war, global health emergency). Family Events brings together contributions from the social sciences, leisure and event studies which focus on a variety of different event contexts, including the life cycle, death and illness, sport, holidays, and community and religious festivals.Family Events offers a multitude of insightful perspectives on the intersection of events and family studies, and is a valuable resource for academics and students with a research interest in events, leisure and the family.

Using a range of interdisciplinary ideas, Major Reward and Recognition Events: Transformations and Critical Perspectives is an expert-led, informative volume exploring the global growth of major award shows and prize-giving ceremonies since the start of the twentieth century and outlining their key multimodal components, core functions and transformations over time.Given the growth of these events, and therefore the increase in complex resources and specialist workers required to assemble and promote them, this book discusses concerns relating to such events, including those pertaining to social justice and representation, environmental impacts, wellbeing, commercialisation, and materialistic excess. Embellished with illustrative tables and images throughout, the book covers a plethora of award shows and ceremonies, evaluating their collective future in an increasingly politically unstable, post-Covid-19 world dealing with growing global environmental change.This significant book is an invaluable resource for academics and researchers of critical event studies, communication, and media studies, as well as related social science disciplines. The book will also be of interest to enthusiasts and organisers of major recognition and reward events.This book won a Special Award in the 31st International Gourmand Awards in 2025.

Using a range of interdisciplinary ideas, Major Reward and Recognition Events: Transformations and Critical Perspectives is an expert-led, informative volume exploring the global growth of major award shows and prize-giving ceremonies since the start of the twentieth century and outlining their key multimodal components, core functions and transformations over time.Given the growth of these events, and therefore the increase in complex resources and specialist workers required to assemble and promote them, this book discusses concerns relating to such events, including those pertaining to social justice and representation, environmental impacts, wellbeing, commercialisation, and materialistic excess. Embellished with illustrative tables and images throughout, the book covers a plethora of award shows and ceremonies, evaluating their collective future in an increasingly politically unstable, post-Covid-19 world dealing with growing global environmental change.This significant book is an invaluable resource for academics and researchers of critical event studies, communication, and media studies, as well as related social science disciplines. The book will also be of interest to enthusiasts and organisers of major recognition and reward events.This book won a Special Award in the 31st International Gourmand Awards in 2025.

Exploring the relationship between gender and events, this book delivers an ethnographic analysis of the celebration of gender equality in the context of the culture-led event. Drawing upon Critical Event Studies, Anthropology of the Festive and Gender Studies, this book provides a comprehensive understanding of the entangled, conceptual entities of gender and events.Through a gendered analysis of the culture-led event, Hull UK City of Culture 2017, this work expands epistemological perspectives relevant to the study of events in general and City/ Capital of Culture initiatives in particular. Driven by a feminist, collaborative methodological approach, the book draws on four years of ethnographic, qualitative research in the city of Hull and its celebration of the title, UK City of Culture in 2017 and provides an in-depth analysis of how audiences engage, performances enact, and infrastructures condition the production of cultures of gender equality in the citywide celebration.This will be a valuable resource for upper-level students and academics in the field of Event Studies, Cultural Policy, Geography, Anthropology and Gender Studies.

Exploring the relationship between gender and events, this book delivers an ethnographic analysis of the celebration of gender equality in the context of the culture-led event. Drawing upon Critical Event Studies, Anthropology of the Festive and Gender Studies, this book provides a comprehensive understanding of the entangled, conceptual entities of gender and events.Through a gendered analysis of the culture-led event, Hull UK City of Culture 2017, this work expands epistemological perspectives relevant to the study of events in general and City/ Capital of Culture initiatives in particular. Driven by a feminist, collaborative methodological approach, the book draws on four years of ethnographic, qualitative research in the city of Hull and its celebration of the title, UK City of Culture in 2017 and provides an in-depth analysis of how audiences engage, performances enact, and infrastructures condition the production of cultures of gender equality in the citywide celebration.This will be a valuable resource for upper-level students and academics in the field of Event Studies, Cultural Policy, Geography, Anthropology and Gender Studies.

This book is the first to take an in-depth examination of events and well-being, adopting a much-needed critical approach to the study of events. It uses empirical case studies to help us better understand how events foster positive well-being or counter negative well-being for event organisers, participants, spectators, volunteers and even non-attending local residents.While researchers have long understood socialisation as the major motivation to attend contemporary festivals and events, it is only just being acknowledged that well-being is also a key motivator. Those researching in the field of event studies are yet to clearly articulate "the how, why, where, and impacts of socialisation." This multidisciplinary book draws together empirical research across a range of event types and sizes, from music festivals to mega sports events, to provide a nuanced understanding of their contribution to the well-being of individuals and communities. Case studies are drawn from around the world and apply a diverse range of theoretical lenses to the conceptualisation of well-being as it applies to events and methodologies used to achieve research aims and objectives. This significant volume will be valuable reading for students and academics in the fields of sport studies, critical event studies, queer studies, cultural studies, tourism, music, sociology and end-of-life studies.

As the first collection of studies to explore the use of edutainment within festival experiences, this book extends current knowledge and understanding of festival experiences. Relying on a series of international case studies, this book offers readers unique and important insights that emphasise the benefit of edutainment activities for enhanced audience learning, engagement, and festival satisfaction. Although there is an ample amount of studies concerning festival experiences, as well as the use of edutainment within tourism, few have explored the use of edutainment within festival experiences. This oversight has created a lack in knowledge and understanding, despite the clear benefits of enjoyable learning experiences - edutainment. Moreover, it has created a gap between academia and practice, as the contributing authors have demonstrated, festivals are utilising edutainment to enhance their audience experience, yet scholars have failed to acknowledge this. In response to this oversight, the editors have assembled a carefully curated collection of chapters that include a wide range of international case studies, from science and food festivals to heritage and dark festivals. Through a variety of methodologies and methods, including interviews, observations, databases, netnography, and social media analysis in both face-to-face and digital interactions involving the festival participants, organisers, and other relevant stakeholders, the contributing authors have provided a well-rounded global perspective on how edutainment is applied within festival experiences.This book is valuable for scholars, festival organisers, policy makers and students interested in or studying festivals, events, edutainment and/or experience design. Other tourism industry scholars, professionals and students of, for example, visitor attractions, museums, theatre and hospitality services, may also find this book of value considering their established use of edutainment within their sectors.

As the first collection of studies to explore the use of edutainment within festival experiences, this book extends current knowledge and understanding of festival experiences. Relying on a series of international case studies, this book offers readers unique and important insights that emphasise the benefit of edutainment activities for enhanced audience learning, engagement, and festival satisfaction. Although there is an ample amount of studies concerning festival experiences, as well as the use of edutainment within tourism, few have explored the use of edutainment within festival experiences. This oversight has created a lack in knowledge and understanding, despite the clear benefits of enjoyable learning experiences - edutainment. Moreover, it has created a gap between academia and practice, as the contributing authors have demonstrated, festivals are utilising edutainment to enhance their audience experience, yet scholars have failed to acknowledge this. In response to this oversight, the editors have assembled a carefully curated collection of chapters that include a wide range of international case studies, from science and food festivals to heritage and dark festivals. Through a variety of methodologies and methods, including interviews, observations, databases, netnography, and social media analysis in both face-to-face and digital interactions involving the festival participants, organisers, and other relevant stakeholders, the contributing authors have provided a well-rounded global perspective on how edutainment is applied within festival experiences.This book is valuable for scholars, festival organisers, policy makers and students interested in or studying festivals, events, edutainment and/or experience design. Other tourism industry scholars, professionals and students of, for example, visitor attractions, museums, theatre and hospitality services, may also find this book of value considering their established use of edutainment within their sectors.

Gendered Violence at International Festivals is a groundbreaking collection that focusses on this highly important social issue for the first time. Including a diverse range of interdisciplinary studies on the issue, the book contests the widely held notion that festivals are temporal spaces free from structural sexism, inequalities or gender power dynamics. Rather, they are spaces where these concerns are enhanced and enacted more freely and where the experiential environment is used as an excuse or as an opportunity to victim blame and shame. In this emerging and under-researched area, the chapters not only present original work in terms of topics but also in theoretical and methodological approaches. All of the chapters are cross- or interdisciplinary, drawing on gender, sexualities, cultural and ethnicity studies. Studies from a range of highly regarded academics based around the world examine the subject by looking at examples from a wide range of destinations, including Spain, Argentina, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Australia, Canada and the UK. This significant book progresses understanding and debates about gendered festival experiences and emphasises the symbolic and physical violence often associated with them.This will be of great interest to, undergraduate and postgraduate students and academics in the field of Events Studies. It will also be of use to practitioners or non-profit workers in the festival industries, including festival management organisations and planning committees.

Innovative and the first of its kind, this informative and multidisciplinary book explores the socio-cultural significance inherent in event infrastructures.While mainstream event management literature addresses event infrastructures mainly through its operational relevance, this carefully compiled edited volume takes infrastructures as an analytical point in respect to its social, political, economic and cultural potential of the study of events. Borrowing from the ongoing social scientific debates on the geography, sociology and anthropology of infrastructures, critical questions are posed in relation to the event contexts. With references to events in Argentina, Malawi, Spain and the UK, among others, the volume combines an international perspective with a highly relevant subject for contemporary event management education.By bringing together theoretical as well as empirical readings on the question of event infrastructures from a critical point of view, the debates are relevant to practitioners and researchers as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students in the field of events, leisure, tourism, anthropology, sociology, geography and urban planning – among others.

Innovative and the first of its kind, this informative and multidisciplinary book explores the socio-cultural significance inherent in event infrastructures.While mainstream event management literature addresses event infrastructures mainly through its operational relevance, this carefully compiled edited volume takes infrastructures as an analytical point in respect to its social, political, economic and cultural potential of the study of events. Borrowing from the ongoing social scientific debates on the geography, sociology and anthropology of infrastructures, critical questions are posed in relation to the event contexts. With references to events in Argentina, Malawi, Spain and the UK, among others, the volume combines an international perspective with a highly relevant subject for contemporary event management education.By bringing together theoretical as well as empirical readings on the question of event infrastructures from a critical point of view, the debates are relevant to practitioners and researchers as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students in the field of events, leisure, tourism, anthropology, sociology, geography and urban planning – among others.

This book celebrates and builds on Alan Clarke (1956–2021) and Allan Jepson’s 2015 book Exploring Community Festivals and Events. It showcases how far the study of community festivals and events has come in the intervening years, and in so doing it is a response to recent calls for researchers to take a more critical approach to event studies.This is an interdisciplinary book that draws together empirical research across a wide range of community event types, sizes and within diverse communities. Chapters in this book are grouped into four themes that highlight the breadth and depth of work being done: reviving and maintaining tradition(s); a focus on belonging; challenges and tensions; and innovations in teaching and research. Another of its core strengths is its international perspective – the book encompasses research from around the world including Turkey, Portugal, Greece, India, the UK, the US, Austria and New Zealand. There is also a diverse range of theoretical lenses applied to the study of community events, and some innovative methodologies used to achieve research aims and objectives.This volume will appeal to students and researchers in the fields of critical event studies, cultural studies, place-making, tourism, music, sociology and geography. Several chapters also provide insights and key learnings for those lecturing and working in event management and industry professionals.

This book celebrates and builds on Alan Clarke (1956–2021) and Allan Jepson’s 2015 book Exploring Community Festivals and Events. It showcases how far the study of community festivals and events has come in the intervening years, and in so doing it is a response to recent calls for researchers to take a more critical approach to event studies.This is an interdisciplinary book that draws together empirical research across a wide range of community event types, sizes and within diverse communities. Chapters in this book are grouped into four themes that highlight the breadth and depth of work being done: reviving and maintaining tradition(s); a focus on belonging; challenges and tensions; and innovations in teaching and research. Another of its core strengths is its international perspective – the book encompasses research from around the world including Turkey, Portugal, Greece, India, the UK, the US, Austria and New Zealand. There is also a diverse range of theoretical lenses applied to the study of community events, and some innovative methodologies used to achieve research aims and objectives.This volume will appeal to students and researchers in the fields of critical event studies, cultural studies, place-making, tourism, music, sociology and geography. Several chapters also provide insights and key learnings for those lecturing and working in event management and industry professionals.

This timely and innovative book argues that queer film festivals reclaim urban space for queer women and other marginalised queer subjects through the mobilisation of both material and diegetic space.It is a response to the loss of queer urban venues and community spaces across across many parts of the Global North and a claim for the political potential of queer film festivals in the context of late-stage capitalism. Drawing from critical events studies, film and film festival scholarship, archival research, cultural geography, and research in the creative industries, the book deploys an interdisciplinary arsenal of tools in order to understand the complexity of festival space. Covering the period from 1980 to the present, the volume posits original case studies of two long-running festivals, as well as analysis of ephemeral, grassroots events. This thorough and critical exploration offers significant insight into the strategies deployed by queer film festivals to carve out queer geographies in the city, and the potential of event-driven place-making to construct alternative morphologies and more equitable approaches to urban space.This volume will be of pivotal interest to students, scholars, and academics of critical event and festival studies, film and film festival studies, cultural, creative, and media industries, cultural geography, sociology, and urban studies, as well as those with an interest in these areas more generally.

This timely and innovative book argues that queer film festivals reclaim urban space for queer women and other marginalised queer subjects through the mobilisation of both material and diegetic space.It is a response to the loss of queer urban venues and community spaces across across many parts of the Global North and a claim for the political potential of queer film festivals in the context of late-stage capitalism. Drawing from critical events studies, film and film festival scholarship, archival research, cultural geography, and research in the creative industries, the book deploys an interdisciplinary arsenal of tools in order to understand the complexity of festival space. Covering the period from 1980 to the present, the volume posits original case studies of two long-running festivals, as well as analysis of ephemeral, grassroots events. This thorough and critical exploration offers significant insight into the strategies deployed by queer film festivals to carve out queer geographies in the city, and the potential of event-driven place-making to construct alternative morphologies and more equitable approaches to urban space.This volume will be of pivotal interest to students, scholars, and academics of critical event and festival studies, film and film festival studies, cultural, creative, and media industries, cultural geography, sociology, and urban studies, as well as those with an interest in these areas more generally.

This insightful volume critically explores activist events in their scale and their capacity to attract media attention through a critical event studies lens, offering new perspectives on protests and social movement.This book conceives events of dissent as the public manifestation of counter-narratives that articulate advocacy for policy change. It focuses on the material and virtual manifestation of protest events and the media response to them, associated with three active social movements – Reclaim These Streets, Extinction Rebellion, and Black Lives Matter. In doing so, the text sheds light on how different political orientations within the media articulate the representation of events of dissent manifest by these groups, and how this results in significantly different opinion-forming statements on the issues behind those movements, as well as how this reflects mediated assessment of the responses of politicians, the public, and emergency service responses to protest events. Furthermore, it will explore the role of the Internet in the organisation of protest events and their part in the formation of networks of resistance, enabling the roll out of events with a global reach – demonstrated, more recently, by protests across many European cities against the war in Ukraine.This timely and significant book will appeal to scholars of and those interested in events tourism, protest, political communication, and media, amongst others.

This insightful volume critically explores activist events in their scale and their capacity to attract media attention through a critical event studies lens, offering new perspectives on protests and social movement.This book conceives events of dissent as the public manifestation of counter-narratives that articulate advocacy for policy change. It focuses on the material and virtual manifestation of protest events and the media response to them, associated with three active social movements – Reclaim These Streets, Extinction Rebellion, and Black Lives Matter. In doing so, the text sheds light on how different political orientations within the media articulate the representation of events of dissent manifest by these groups, and how this results in significantly different opinion-forming statements on the issues behind those movements, as well as how this reflects mediated assessment of the responses of politicians, the public, and emergency service responses to protest events. Furthermore, it will explore the role of the Internet in the organisation of protest events and their part in the formation of networks of resistance, enabling the roll out of events with a global reach – demonstrated, more recently, by protests across many European cities against the war in Ukraine.This timely and significant book will appeal to scholars of and those interested in events tourism, protest, political communication, and media, amongst others.

This timely and innovative book offers an introduction to a range of creative methods, providing both empirical and conceptual guidance. Based upon existing empirical work and richly illustrated throughout, each chapter carefully examines creative methodology and/or methods within an event and festival context. International case studies are incorporated throughout, providing real-world examples of how these methods have been used in practice, as well as highlighting potential ethical issues. Each chapter includes a concise ‘how to’ set of guidelines to help researchers and students employ creative methods in their own work, as well as a series of ‘think points’ to help develop ethical practices. Chapters illustrate new pathways or lessons learned from research during the pandemic and other challenging landscapes.This significant volume offers festival and event researchers and students a different approach to their work that could result in better research, reaching hidden and marginalised groups.