Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

What can sport do to produce social change in our world today? It is impossible to fully understand contemporary society and culture without acknowledging the importance of sport. Sport is part of our social and cultural fabric, possessing a commercial power that makes it a potent force in the world, for good and for bad. It has helped to start wars and promote international reconciliation, and governments around the world commit public resources to sport.

Sport matters, but how should you make sense of what is going on in the world of sport today?

Now in a fully revised, updated and expanded third edition, this critical, challenging and comprehensive textbook introduces the study of sport, culture and society. International in scope, it challenges us to reactivate an audacious spirit of activism through sport. Full of contemporary examples, it places sport at the heart of the analysis and introduces the reader to every core topic and emerging area in the study of sport and society, including:

Each chapter includes a wealth of useful features, including Sport in Focus case studies, chapter summaries, guides to further reading, revision questions, practical projects, definitions of key concepts and weblinks. Additional teaching and learning resources - including a testbank, resource list and glossary - are available on a companion website.

Sport, Culture and Society is the most broad-ranging, in-depth and thoughtful introduction to the sociocultural analysis of sport currently available and sets a new agenda for the discipline. It is essential reading for all students with an interest in sport.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• List of Sport in Focus boxes (p. xi)
• Acknowledgements (p. xiv)
• Abbreviations (p. xvi)
• Introduction (p. 1)
• Part 1 The broader context (p. 17)
• 1 Sport, theory and the problem of values (p. 20)
• 2 Sport, history and social change (p. 39)
• 3 Sport, economics and wealth (p. 60)
• 4 Sport, development and peace (p. 79)
• 5 Sport, politics and culture (p. 96)
• Part 2 Global sport and community (p. 117)
• 6 Global sport in a degiobalising world (p. 121)
• 7 Sport, law and governance (p. 142)
• 8 Sport and communities (p. 162)
• 9 Internationalism, reconciliation and sport in the making of nations (p. 180)
• 10 Sport, media and technology (p. 200)
• 11 Sport, social capital and civil society (p. 214)
• 12 Sport and education (p. 229)
• Part 3 Sport and contemporary social issues (p. 243)
• 13 Sport and the environment (p. 250)
• 14 Sport, racisms and ethnicity (p. 269)
• 15 Sport, violence and crime (p. 287)
• 16 Sport and religion (p. 306)
• 17 Sport, gender and sexuality (p. 322)
• 18 Sport and health (p. 339)
• 19 Sport and disability (p. 353)
• 20 Sport, cities, Olympics and major sporting events (p. 367)
• 21 Sport, lifestyles and alternatives? (p. 384)
• 22 Sport, gambling and corruption (p. 399)
• 23 Sport, poverty and homelessness (p. 412)
• Part 4 Sport as a resource of hope and the politics of the possible (p. 429)
• 24 Sport, social movements and protest (p. 433)
• 25 Sport, damned nations and cultural relations (p. 450)
• 26 Sport, rights and public action (p. 465)
• 27 Sport for social change (p. 478)
• 28 Sport, advocacy and the public intellectual (p. 496)
• Conclusion: Theses on sport, culture and society (p. 516)
• Bibliography (p. 522)
• Index (p. 545)

Author notes provided by Syndetics