Tag: Paul Widdop

What can sport do to produce positive social change in our world today? Now in a fully revised, updated and expanded fourth edition, Sport, Culture and Society: An Introduction by Grant Jarvie, Paul Widdop & Ross Walker (Routledge) challenges the reader to activate an audacious spirit of activism in and through sport. We asked Norwegian sport sociologist Mads Skauge to read and review this new edition, originally published 2006 by Jarvie as sole author. Skauge found that among the many textbook introductions to the sociology of sport available, this one stands out for its global perspective, its comprehensive coverage of current sport research, and its activist agenda for the sociocultural analysis of sport.

The International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics is published by Routledge, and aims to publish articles that address all aspects of sport policy irrespective of academic discipline. The Forum Editor’s pick from the current issue: ‘We wouldn’t have missed it for the world’: hosting a polycentric sporting mega event in pandemic times by Jordan Maclean, Claudio Rocha, Joe Piggin, Kate Hunt, Matthew Philpott, Niamh Fitzgerald & Richard I. Purves (open access).

The Geopolitical Economy of Sport: Power, Politics, Money, and the State edited by Simon Chadwick, Paul Widdop & Michael M. Goldman (Routledge), is the first book to define and explore the geopolitical economy of sport where power, politics, money, and state intersect. Harald Dolles is our reviewer, and while lauding many aspects of the book and the editors’ efforts, he points to the dangers of obsolescence as well as finding several instances where the book not quite measures up to reasonable demands of scholarly astuteness.

The Research Handbook on Major Sporting Events, edited by Harry Arne Solberg, Rasmus K. Storm and Kamilla Swart (Edward Elgar) examines the hosting of major sporting events and the impacts they can have on stakeholders. Christian Tolstrup Jensen has read an impressive compilation of scientific studies in the field of major sport event research that gives the initiated reader a useful and nuanced overview of the state-of-the-art in event studies, its understudied areas and a who-is-who in the field.

The emphasis of Leisure Studies is on theoretically informed critical analyses within the social sciences and humanities of the topics that constitute leisure as a subject field – including the arts, tourism, sport and more. The Forum Editor’s pick from the current issue: The phenomenology of image and enthusiasm for the experience of foiling sailboats by Maria Altimira Hackerott, A.C. Zimmermann & S.C. Saura.

Managing Sport and Leisure is a refereed journal that publishes high quality research articles to inform and stimulate discussions relevant to sport and leisure management globally. The Forum Editor’s pick from the current issue: Football as work: the lived realities of professional women footballers in England by Alex Culvin (open access).

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: Looking forward, glancing back; competitive balance and the EPL by Daniel Plumley, Girish Ramchandani, Sarthak Mondal & Rob Wilson.

Managing Sport and Leisure is a refereed journal that publishes high quality research articles to inform and stimulate discussions relevant to sport and leisure management globally. The Forum Editor’s pick from the current issue: Cyclists or avatars: is virtual cycling filling a short-term void during COVID-19 lockdown? by Daniel Rojas-Valverde, Juan M. Córdoba-Blanco & Luis González-Salazar.

Leisure Sciences presents scientific inquiries into the study of leisure, recreation, parks, travel, and tourism from a social science perspective. Articles cover the social and psychological aspects of leisure, and more. The Forum Editor’s pick from the current issue: Hosting the Olympics in Times of a Pandemic: Historical Insights from Antwerp 1920 by Bram Constandt & Annick Willem.

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: NO SPORTS, NO SPECTATORS – NO MEDIA, NO MONEY? THE IMPORTANCE OF SPECTATORS AND BROADCASTING FOR PROFESSIONAL SPORTS DURING COVID-19 by Thomas Horky.