Tag: social inequalitiy

Three decades after the end of Apartheid, South African society remains characterised by high levels of inequality and economic disparities. These inequalities are primarily but not  exclusively experienced through race, class and gender. These differences are also experienced in the realms of sport, recreation and leisure in South Africa. This special issue is interested in but not limited to papers that address some of the structural and societal inequalities in post-Apartheid South African sports, recreation and leisure landscapes.

The goal of the collection is to bring together research that explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the nature and extent of the social inequalities that exist in sport and physical activity settings. Such research can identify specific problems that need to be addressed by organisations and practitioners involved in promoting physical activity to social groups both in-person and online who have historically low participation levels and those who have been particularly effected by the pandemic social conditions.

Mads Skauge, frequent contributor to idrottsforum.org from early on in his PhD education, as a book reviewer, blogger and writer of a number of feature articles, has completed his dissertation, which is about social inequality in organised youth sport participation and the rise of fitness gyms. The inequality dimensions analysed are gender, social class and ethnicity with the aim to contribute to the understanding of inequality in sport and fitness participation.

The Special Issue will provide an opportunity to showcase global leisure studies research which variously explores the meaning and implications of informal sport as a growing form of collective leisure activity and the wider social affordances - and exclusions - of these leisure practices. The Special Issue would allow interdisciplinary, international scholars working in the field to present research which explores the diverse and different aspects of the phenomenon.