Tag: Alan Bairner

Academics in various disciplines are writing about sport. Sport in Society is a multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary forum for academics to discuss the growing relationship of sport to significant areas of modern life. The Forum Editor’s pick from the current issue: The redefinition of a Chinese sports hero’s public image: evidence from the reactions on Chinese social media to Sun Yang’s international trial by Tang-Yun Leng, Shuo Yang & Alan Bairner.

Sport, Education and Society encourages contributions from social scientists and educationalists studying the relationships between pedagogy, ‘the body’ and society, The Forum Editor’s pick from the current issue: Matrices of (dis)advantage – school segregation and social inequities in adolescent physical activity from an intersectionality approach by Sara Hoy, Carolina Lunde, Håkan Larsson, Örjan Ekblom, Björg Helgadóttir & Gisela Nyberg (open access).

Samhällsidrotten och idrottssamhället. Humanistisk och samhällsvetenskaplig idrottsforskning under 50 år [Sport in society and the society of sports. Humanistic and social science sports research over 50 years] is edited by Tomas Peterson and published as a celebration of 50 years of Swedish sport studies within the social sciences and humanities. We went abroad to find a suitable reviewer – not a Swede but Swedish speaking – and Ansgar Molzberger accepted the cumbersome task of reviewing this 556 page tome. And he did well, we are happy to bring his review to your attention.

Celebrating the Super Bowl: Programs, Profits, Parties (Common Ground) by Linda K. Fuller, Professor Emerita of Communications at Worcester State University, is a celebration, albeit not uncritical, of what is considered one of the world’s most significant sporting events. Our reviewer is Alan Bairner, an avid fan of Association Football with very little interest (and understanding) of American Football. It’s thus a tribute to the author that she managed to present the NFL highlight of the year so as to make our reviewer enjoy it immensely.

Soccer, a.k.a (association) football is the most popular mass spectator sport in the world. Soccer & Society is the first international journal devoted to the game of soccer, and aims to focus on the game in the context of a more global world. The Forum Editor’s pick from the current issue: Staying in the game? Predicting intention to quit in Norwegian elite and high-level female football players by Susann Dahl Pettersen, Bjørn Helge Handegård, Roman Koposov, Monica Martinussen, Henriette Kyrrestad, Merete Aasheim, Lene-Mari Potulski Rasmussen & Frode Adolfsen (open access).

Presenting case studies from around the world, including from Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, Mariann Vaczi & Alan Bairner’s edited collection Indigenous, Traditional, and Folk Sports: Contesting Modernities draws on multidisciplinary work from sociology, anthropology, history, cultural studies, and political science. Our knowledgeable reviewer Helge Chr. Pedersen finds theoretical ambiguities and inconsistencies, but still concludes that the book is a valuable and wide-ranging contribution to the field of sport and cultural studies.

The International Journal of the History of Sport is the world’s leading sport history academic periodical with fully-refereed global coverage of the subject. The Forum Editor’s pick from the current issue: Sports Diplomacy Surrounding the IOC’s Response to the Russian Invasion of Ukraine: Between Political Neutrality and Peace Promotion by Michał Marcin Kobierecki & Geoffrey Allen Pigman (open access).

Social cohesion has been a buzzword among public policymakers for the past 25 years. Sport for Social Cohesion: Theoretical and Practical Perspectives, edited by Karen Petry and Louis Moustakas (Routledge) looks at the role that sport can play in fostering social cohesion. Alan Bairner notes that the book should come as a relief in an increasingly incoherent world, and he finds it thought-provoking. “Like me, many will find some of it frustrating. Others, not yet mired in cynicism, may well find it inspiring.”

In the edited collection Athletics in the Nordic Countries: History and Development, edited by Jörg Krieger, scholars from Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden explore historical developments and current phenomena in the sport of athletics. The authors provide insight into sport officials, events, and athletes from the Nordic countries that have shaped the international athletics scene. In his review, Alan Bairner presents the basic features of a book that obliges the reader to think about what this most accessible of sports is and what it could be, for good or ill.

Academics in various disciplines are writing about sport. Sport in Society is a multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary forum for academics to discuss the growing relationship of sport to significant areas of modern life. The Forum Editor’s pick from the current issue: Sustainability, the Athens Marathon and Greece’s sport event sector: lessons of resilience, social innovation and the urban commons by Niki Koutrou & Geoffery Z. Kohe (open access)..