The Sociology of Sport has grown since its inception in the late 1950s and has become robust, and diverse. Many countries now boast strong scholars in the field and this volume reflects the fascinating research being done. This innovative volume is dedicated to a review of the state of the area by region.

"A welcome addition for those who teach sports studies... Used as a primer, this book provides readers with excellent introduction to the key sociological concepts, methods, and theories, and, also offers useful examples and contextualised discussions that beginners to the realm of sociology will no doubt appreciate. Beedie has compiled for students a good companion text that could certainly be used in conjunction with more detailed books, and, to guide students through more complex academic texts. Students have certainly appreciated Beedie's efforts to help them apply sociological rigour to analysing their sporting worlds, identities and experiences." - Geoffery Kohe, Worcester University "This should be highly useful for any sports studies students who are encountering the sociology of sport for the first time, even those who have previously studied sociology." - Alison Cain, Hertfordshire University Sociology is central to the study of sport in higher education. This reader-friendly textbook introduces all of the subject’s core themes, such as power, diversity and mediation, and relates them to major contemporary social issues such as commercialisation and globalisation. Special emphasis is given throughout to examples drawn from the UK and to the significance of the 2012 Olympics. Theoretical explanation is fully supported by case studies, practical and reflective exercises and guidance on further study.

Any study of sport is incomplete without consideration of its social function and structures, its economic impacts both locally and globally, and its political dimension – particularly when used by nations for competitive gain. Sport Sociology provides a comprehensive overview for any student taking a course on the subject at college or university, including both established and emergent themes, from issues around power, diversity and consumerism through to newer topics such as the digital environment and climate change – both now covered in new individual chapters. Other chapters have been fully revised to include up-to-date literature and case studies, as well as new key terms and reflective tasks. A new ‘Key Thinker’ box feature included in each chapter introduces readers to an esteemed theorist relevant for the chapter topic to help link theoretical concepts to practice and offer up suggestive research directions for student assessment.

This book explores the expansion of rugby from its imperial and amateur upper-class white male core into other contexts throughout the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The development of rugby in the racially divided communities of the setter empire and how this was viewed are explored initially. Then the editors turn to four case studies of rugby's expansion beyond the bounds of the British Empire (France, Italy, Japan and the USA). The role of women in rugby is examined and the subsequent development of women's rugby as one of the fastest growing sports for women in Europe, North America and Australasia in the 1980s and 1990s. The final section analyses the impact of commercialisation, professionalisation and media on rugby and the impact on the historic rugby culture linked to an ethos of amateurism.

Handbook of the Sociology of Emotions Volume II presents all new chapters in the ever developing area of the sociology of emotions. The volume is divided into two sections: Theoretical Perspectives and Social Arenas of Emotions. It reviews major sociological theories on emotions, which include evolutionary theory, identity theory, affect control theory, social exchange theory, ritual theory, and cultural theory among others. Social arenas where emotions are examined include, but are not limited to, the economy and the workplace, the family, mental health, crime, sports, technology, social movements and the field of science. All the chapters review the major theories and research in the area and each chapter ends with some discussion of directions for future research. The Sociology of Emotions is a fast growing and vital field in the broad discipline of Sociology. This volume II follows the Handbook of the Sociology of Emotions which was first published in 2006. In 2008, this first handbook received the “Outstanding Recent Contribution” in the Emotions Section of the American Sociological Association. With contributions from leading scholars from different areas in the discipline, such as neurosociology, culture, economics, mental health, gender, social movements, discussing state-of-art theory and research on emotions in sociology this volume will generate wider appeal to the sociological community.

Sport sociology has a responsibility to engage critically with the accepted wisdom of those who govern and promote sport. This challenging collection of international research is a clear call for enacting the transformation of sport. The contributing authors argue that it is not enough to merely advocate for change. Rather, they insist that scholars need to take an active political stance when conducting research with the explicit purpose of attempting to transform the practices, structures, and the ways in which knowledge is produced about sport. By exposing and challenging the power relations which perpetuate discrimination and inequality within sport, it becomes possible to catalyse wider societal changes. Drawing on a diversity of topics including sport for development and peace, transnational feminism, disability sport, refugees and football activism, FIFA, the Olympics, sports journalism and digital sports media, this book makes a case for sport sociology as an agent of positive change in the hierarchies and institutional structures of contemporary sport. Transforming Sport: Knowledges, Practices, Structures provides valuable insights for all students and scholars interested in the sociology of sport and its transformative potential.

Offering a ‘state of the art’ review of the sociology of sport and investigating those areas where sport has come to influence the sociological mainstream, this book examines how sociology has impacted upon the consciousness of sports fans, administrators and even politicians. As the first book to provide a history of the sociology of sport and to clearly locate the contemporary discipline in the wider currents of sociological discourse, Sport and Sociology is important reading for all students and scholars interested in the relationship between sport and society, whether they are working in sport studies or in the sociological mainstream.

Now available in paperback, this vital handbook marks the development of sports studies as a major new discipline within the social sciences. Edited by the leading sociologist of sport, Eric Dunning, and Jay Coakley, author of the best selling textbook on sport in the USA, it both reflects and richly endorses this new found status. Key aspects of the Handbook include: an inventory of the principal achievements in the field; a guide to the chief conflicts and difficulties in the theory and research process; a rallying point for researchers who are established or new to the field, which sets the agenda for future developments; a resource book for teachers who wish to establish new curricula and develop courses and programmes in the area of sports studies. With an international and inter-disciplinary team of contributors the Handbook of Sports Studies is comprehensive in scope, relevant in content and far-reaching in its discussion of future prospect.