For this special issue, we welcome contributions exploring the mutually constitutive relationship between sport, competition, and affect. To explore the unresolvable tension between empowerment, docility, unruliness, and social hierarchy brought forth by sporting practice, we invite cultural, ethnographic, and historical case studies to analyse how subjects fashion themselves and are themselves fashioned by affect in sport. Our collective aim is to emphasize the political, cultural and visceral conditions of competition which play a role in racializing, gendering, dis-/enabling, and sexualizing its subjects.

In their book Sport, National Identities and the Media: Battling Brits (Routledge, John Harris and John Vincent examine the relationship between sport, the media, and national identities in Great Britain. It draws upon case studies of different sporting events and stories, looking at the ways in which the media (re)present different narratives of the nation(s). We asked Christoph Wagner for a review, and received a thorough presentation and assessment concluding that the book offers a focused insight into recent developments and as such should be on the literary canon for undergraduate and postgraduate students alike.

Situated at the intersection of US cultural and social history, David Faflik’s Segregation Games: Boston, Busing, and the Making of Red Sox Nation (University of Massachusetts Press) examines the surprising ties in 1970s Boston between the racial segregation of the city’s schools and the racial controversies expressed on and off the field of “Red Sox Nation.” Our reviewer Duncan Jamieson has some reservations about Faflik’s use of the words ‘play’ and ‘game’, but otherwise finds the book well worth a careful reading.

Thomas M. Leeder & Lee C. Beaumont’s edited collection Teaching and Coaching Lifestyle Sports: Research and Practice (Routledge) is the first book of its kind to provide both theoretical and empirical insights into the process and practice of teaching and coaching lifestyle sports across school, community, and high-performance sport contexts. We asked Peter Carlman for a review, and sent this insightful presentation and evaluation of the book, claiming that it holds wider relevance within sport studies, as it addresses fundamental questions about knowledge and meaning in sport.

idrottsforum’s weekly newsletter gives you the past week’s on-site activities in your mailbox every Monday morning, in the form of a letter with a link to a web page presentation of new publications. Click below to access that page, which also offers you a chance to subscribe to the Monday morning mail in case you’re not already a subscriber. And do friends and colleagues a great favor by telling them about this invaluable and totally free service.

In Playing on the Edge: Sport, Society and Culture in Asia and Oceania (Peter Lang Publishing) authors David Rowe, Bonnie Pang and Keith D. Parry go beyond orthodox globalization theory, deploying the metaphor of ‘playing on the edge’ in analyzing the dynamic process of making and remaking sport culture in Asia and Oceania. Malcolm MacLean’s highly competent review zooms in on the edge metaphor, so suitable in the study and analysis of the Asia–Oceania region from a predominantly Australian perspective, and making the book an essential addition to critical globalization studies of sport.

The World Cup offers a rich site for psychoanalytic inquiry. Whether in relation to nationalism, fandom, desire, identification, embodiment, spectacle, media, race, gender, inequality, anxiety, enjoyment, failure, or collective belonging, the tournament continues to generate profound emotional investment across players, fans, nations, and media institutions. This provides an important opportunity to think critically about why sport matters, and why football, in particular, continues to occupy such a powerful place in our social and subjective lives.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup for men is an event shared between Canada, the US and Mexico. Not equally, though, 13 matches will be played in Canada, 13 in Mexico, and the rest, 78 fixtures, in the US. Although Mexico thus is less the host than the bartender serving a welcome Margarita, the effects of a mere 13 matches will be felt strongly in Mexico by the taxpayer and the environment, which is shown in this feature by Gonzalo Serrano and Toby Miller.

Published on the eve of the soccer World Cup in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, Jules Boykoff’s concise, power-packed philippic Red Card: The 2026 World Cup, Sportswashing, and the FIFA Greed Machine (OR Books) provides a critical take on the dark underbelly of international football at its most storied moment. Our reviewer is philosopher Jake Wojtowicz, and his careful and critical reading of Boykoff’s latest offering shows how the book unmasks the harrowing situation created by Trump and Infantino and how it tarnishes the beautiful game.

Seàn Crosson’s Sport and Film (Routledge), now in its second, fully revised and updated edition, traces the history of the sports film, from the beginnings of cinema in the 1890s, its consolidation as a distinct fiction genre in the mid‑1920s in Hollywood, to its contemporary manifestation in Oscar‑winning and nominated films such as Million Dollar Baby. In his review, Dilwyn Porter focuses on what’s new compared to the first edition from 2013, for instance a new chapter devoted to sports documentaries, and concludes that Crosson’s book still is the go-to source for sports scholars approaching film.

Global Sports Go Green—Or Do They? by Toby Miller and Joan Pedro-Carañana (Palgrave Macmillan) explores the multifaceted impact of sports mega-events, from the World Cup to the Olympics, Formula One, and America’s Cup. Often celebrated for uniting nations, showcasing culture, and driving economic growth, these events also face increasing scrutiny for their ecological and social consequences. Russell Holden is much impressed by the authors’ efforts showing global sports at its worst – not going green at all, merely greenwashing.

There have been significant expansions in the expression of Celtic identity through sport this century. The Gaelic Athletic Association continued its 140-year history of exporting its games across the world. The games continue to have sizeable presences in diaspora spaces of North America and Australasia, but their popularity is also growing in Europe, particularly in France and Spain. The forthcoming symposium is aimed at gathering contemporary stories of sport’s contribution to the negotiation of Celtic identity in the 21st Century with a view to building a collaborative network of scholars

Onsdagen den 12 februari 2025 försvarade Maria Howding med den äran sin avhandling i idrottsvetenskap, Möten i friluftsliv: Lärarutbildare utforskar den egna undervisningspraktiken (Malmö University Press). Avhandlingen syftar till att utforska de förutsättningar som främjar förändring i undervisningsmetoderna för friluftsliv inom idrottslärarutbildningen. Nina Westrin Modell är vår recensent, och i hennes informativa och intresseväckande granskning och värdering av avhandlingen framgår att Howding bidrar med viktiga perspektiv på undervisning och lärande inom friluftsliv.

idrottsforum’s weekly newsletter gives you the past week’s on-site activities in your mailbox every Monday morning, in the form of a letter with a link to a web page presentation of new publications. Click below to access that page, which also offers you a chance to subscribe to the Monday morning mail in case you’re not already a subscriber. And do friends and colleagues a great favor by telling them about this invaluable and totally free service.

This series explores the intersection of sport, women, and gender, challenging binary thinking and embracing the full gender spectrum. Covering recreation to elite sport, the series takes an interdisciplinary approach, addressing social, cultural, and political issues, advocating for inclusive and diverse perspectives. Founded by Helen Jefferson Lenskyj, Professor Emerita at the University of Toronto, Emerald Studies in Sport and Gender is dedicated to advancing research on women and gender in sport. The current editor is Toby Miller, Distinguished Professor at the Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey in Guadalajar.

Critical Issues in Sport and Society features scholarly books that help expand our understanding of the myriad ways in which sport is intertwined with social life in the contemporary world. Using the tools of various scholarly disciplines, including sociology, anthropology, history, media studies and others, books in this new series investigate the growing impact of sport and sports-related activities on various aspects of social life as well as key developments and changes in the sporting world and emerging sporting practices.

Petra Kolić’s and Christopher I. Morse’s edited collection Menstruation and the Menstrual Cycle in Sport, Exercise, and Physical Activity (Routledge) is the first book to offer students, researchers, and professionals an evidenced-based reference on considerations and concepts relevant to sports performance and physical activity during menstruation and the menstrual cycle. Leah Monsees has been waiting for a book like this, and minor critical points aside she concludes that the book makes a meaningful contribution to this emerging field.

Soccer is more than a game—it is a global force that shapes economies, influences politics, drives technological innovation, and unites (and divides) communities across continents. From neighborhood pitches to the world’s largest sporting stages, soccer offers a powerful lens through which to understand some of the most pressing issues of our time. The Journal of Multidisciplinary Research is excited to announce a special issue dedicated to cutting-edge, interdisciplinary scholarship on soccer.

Professional boxers work inside a capitalistic and neoliberal sports culture that they both challenge and uphold. Rings of Dissent: Boxing and Performances of Rebellion, edited by Rudy Mondragón, Gaye Theresa Johnson & David J. Leonard (University of Illinois Press), delves into professional boxing’s capacity for brilliance, contradiction, resistance, and complicity. Our reviewers Daniele Canini and Anne Tjønndal found several compelling individual contributions, but given the academic provenance would have expected a stronger emphasis on analytical rather than descriptive writing.

Safeguarding in sport has emerged as a critical priority for sport psychology practice, research, and policy. However, the development and implementation of safeguarding measures are significantly influenced by cultural contexts. Research highlighting issues of contextual fit when Western-born, rights-based safeguarding frameworks are applied across diverse geo-cultural logics and norms, and across sporting environments and levels. Despite growing policy attention and the expansion of safeguarding initiatives, systematic monitoring and evaluation remain underdeveloped in many settings.

The 2027 Global Sport Business Association Conference invites participants to examine what is emerging, what is accelerating, and what must be reimagined. As sport continues to connect with entertainment, technology, tourism, health, education, and entrepreneurship, new opportunities are emerging across every level of the industry. These changes raise important questions about how sport is created, experienced, monetized, governed, and studied. Sessions may explore topics such as global sport markets, athlete entrepreneurship, sport technology, fan engagement, sponsorship and branding, sport tourism and more.

Esports is often portrayed as a rapidly expanding cultural field, yet its global development has been marked by an increasing concentration of commercial power. As publishers, media platforms, and tournament organisers consolidate control over competitive infrastructures, the space for non-professional forms of esports appears to narrow. This peer review article by Anna Brus and David Ekholm critically examines the institutionalisation of organised amateur esports within DGI, Denmark’s second largest sport association, through a qualitative case study using documents and interviews.

idrottsforum’s weekly newsletter gives you the past week’s on-site activities in your mailbox every Monday morning, in the form of a letter with a link to a web page presentation of new publications. Click below to access that page, which also offers you a chance to subscribe to the Monday morning mail in case you’re not already a subscriber. And do friends and colleagues a great favor by telling them about this invaluable and totally free service.

Gerald R. Gems’ latest book Mental Health, Gender, and the Rise of Sport (Lexington Books) examines the historical role of sport as both a mental and physical remedy during the late-nineteenth-century epidemic of neurasthenia in the US, a debilitating neurological condition that gripped American society. We asked Scott Fleming, seasoned scholar of sport studies, for a review. He found Gem’s book thoroughly enjoyable, rigorously researched, engagingly written, and dealing with this neurasthenia epidemic, the curing of which prescribed sport, exercise and physical activity.

Bringing together leading experts and a mix of young and senior scholars from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, Women in a Digitized Sports Culture: Nordic Perspectives (Routledge) presents new empirical research and critical theoretical perspectives at the intersection of gender, sports, media and technology. Our reviewer is Angela Stănescu, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, and she finds that the collection is an important academic contribution to sports and media scholarships, suitable for researchers and students who want better to understand gender inequalities in sports.