The Potential of Community Sport for Social Inclusion


Book Description

Social inclusion is a pressing issue confronting all levels of sport today, and community sport in particular. Sport is being promoted as an inclusive environment in which people of all backgrounds and abilities can participate and access a range of social and health benefits. Moreover, sport is often heralded as a vehicle for promoting social inclusion in other societal domains. Yet, the policy ideal of ‘sport for all’ is not always realised in practice, and community sport continues to be plagued by various forms of discrimination and social exclusion. This book brings together a team of scholars from across the globe whose research addresses the complex relationship between community sport and social inclusion. Their contributions critically examine the dynamics of inclusion/exclusion in community sport, as well as the broader outcomes and impacts that sports programmes may have in promoting, or hindering, social inclusion in other areas of life, such as employment, education and migrant integration. This book will be of interest to academics, researchers, and advanced students of sport, sociology, politics, social work and public policy. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Sport in Society.




Sport Policy in Canada


Book Description

"Research Centre for Sport in Canadian Society, University of Ottawa."




Sport and Social Exclusion in Global Society


Book Description

Social exclusion is one of the most pressing challenges in post-industrial societies, encompassing economic, social, cultural and political dimensions. This important new book critically examines the relationship between sport and social exclusion, from global and cross-cultural perspectives. The book analyses sport and social exclusion by focusing on three key questions: How does social exclusion affect participation in sport? How is social exclusion (re)produced, experienced, resisted, and managed in sport? How is sport used to combat social exclusion and promote social inclusion in other life domains? To answer these questions, the authors discuss and critically reflect on existing knowledge and in-depth case studies from Europe, Australasia, Africa and Latin America. The book illuminates the relationship between sport and social exclusion in Global North and Global South contexts, addressing key issues in contemporary social science such as social inequality, worklessness, gender, disability, forced migration, homelessness and mental health. Sport and Social Exclusion in Global Society is important reading for all students, researchers and policy-makers with an interest in sport sociology, sport development, sport management, or the relationship between sport and wider society.




Community Sport and Social Inclusion


Book Description

This book examines sport as an inclusive and developmental environment, exploring the conditions by which community sport initiatives can promote personal development, health and social cohesion, particularly for at-risk youth. At the empirical core of the book is a multiple disciplinary study of community sport programmes in Flanders, Belgium, involving researchers from social sport sciences, social work, pedagogy and health care sciences. Drawing on this cutting-edge, realist research, the book considers the implications for sport development policy and practice around the world. The book considers community sport as a vehicle for promoting social inclusion, and the ways it allows people of all backgrounds and abilities to participate and access social and health benefits, whilst touching on key issues including monitoring and evaluation; exercise and health; youth welfare, and volunteering. This book is a fascinating reading for any student, researcher or practitioner working in sport for development, sport management, sport coaching, social work, education, sociology or urban studies.




A Wider Social Role for Sport


Book Description

Sport is perceived to have the potential to alleviate a variety of social problems and generally to ‘improve’ both individuals and the communities in which they live. Sport is promoted as a relatively cost effective antidote to a range of social problems – often those stemming from social exclusion - including poor health, high crime levels, drug abuse and persistent youth offending, educational under-achievement, lack of social cohesion and community identity and economic decline. To this end, there is increasing governmental interest in what has become known as ‘sport for good’. A Wider Social Role for Sport presents the political and historical context for this increased government interest in sport’s potential contribution to a range of social problems. The book explores the particular social problems that governments seek to address through sport, and examines the nature and extent of the evidence for sport’s positive role. It illustrates that, in an era of evidence-based policy-making, the cumulative evidence base for many of these claims is relatively weak, in part because such research is faced with substantial methodological problems in isolating the precise contribution of sport in many contexts. Drawing on worldwide research, A Wider Social Role for Sport explores the current state of knowledge and understanding of the presumed impacts of sport and suggests that we need to adopt a different approach to research and evaluation if sports researchers are to develop their understanding and make a substantial contribution to sports policy..




Sport and Social Exclusion


Book Description

Structured around key excluded groups, such as the elderly, ethnic minorities, the disabled and rural communities, this book offers an assessment of sports policy in contemporary Britain.




Challenging Identities


Book Description

"Muslim women in Australia are at the forefront of a culture war, and not necessarily by choice. As visible representatives of Islam, veiled women face discrimination and abuse, and carry the stigma of a culture frequently deemed unacceptable and inferior. Despite these adverse conditions, Muslim women have demonstrated a remarkable resilience by maintaining their presence in the public domain and by continuing to make a positive contribution to Australia. The experiences of Muslim women in Australia cannot be typecast as a sisterhood of oppressed females. Challenging Identities questions the assumption of incompatible 'Australian values' and 'Islamic values', and provides valuable first-person accounts from the lives of Muslim women in Australia."--Publisher description.







Sport and Social Capital


Book Description

Despite the importance of sport as a social, economic and political institution, research into sport and social capital has not been extensive. Sport and Social Capital is the first book to examine this increasingly high profile area in detail. It explores the ways in which sport contributes to the creation, development, maintenance and, in some cases, diminution of social capital. Written by an internationally renowned author team who are leading figures in this area of study, this engaging and far-reaching text brings leading research from around the world into one comprehensively edited volume. Themes covered in the book include: education, gender, policy, community, youth sport, diversity and many more. It is essential reading for sport management, sport development and sport sociology students around the globe and offers fascinating and invaluable insight to interested stakeholders from industry, community and government.




The Oxford Handbook of Sport and Society


Book Description

"The Oxford Handbook of Sport and Society features leading international scholars' assessments of scholarly inquiry about sport and society. Divided into six sections, chapters consider dominant issues within key areas, approaches (theory and method) featured in inquiry, and debates needing resolution. Part I: Society and Values considers matters of character, ideology, power, politics, policy, nationalism, diplomacy, militarism, law, ethics, and religion. Part II: Enterprise and Capital considers globalization, spectacle, mega-events, Olympism, corruption, impacts on cities, communities, and the environment, and the press of leadership cultures, economic imperatives, and marketing. Part III: Participation and Cultures considers questions of health and well-being, violence, the medicalization of injury, influences of science and technology, substance use and abuse, the roles of coaching and emotion, challenges of child maltreatment, climates for scandal and athlete activism, and questions over animals in sporting competition. Part IV: Lifespan and Careers considers child socialization, youth and elite athlete development, the roles of sport in education and social mobility, migratory sport labor practices, arcs defining athletic careers, aging, and retirement, and emergent lifestyle sport cultures. Part V: Inclusion and Exclusion considers sport's role in social inclusion and exclusion, development and discrimination, and features treatments of race and ethnicity, indigenous experiences, the intersection of bodily ideals, obesity, and disability, and the gendered impacts on masculinities, femininities, and non-binary experience. Part VI: Spectator Engagement and Media considers sporting heroism and celebrity, fandom and hooliganism, gambling and match-fixing, and the influences of sport journalism, television and film treatments, advertising, and new media"--