Dear all,
In the Christian tradition, today is the first day of the Holy Week, which in predominantly secular Sweden is seen as offering a long weekend break over Easter. Formally, only Good Friday (in Swedish “Long Friday”) is a “red day” as we put it here, meaning that it is like a Sunday, i.e, not a working day. But many employees, not least within Academia, include Maundy Thursday as well, while some even checked out from work last Friday, taking the whole week (plus next week’s Easter Monday) for a prolonged holiday.
That’s not quite how we do it here at idrottsforum.org, but there will be a marked decrease in publishing this week. We will manage a couple of book reviews (one by Jan Ludvigsen and one by Dil Porter), and other than that there are back office chores suitable for a week like this.
Last week the following items were published on idrottsforum.org (see below; language and publication dates, YYMMDD, in brackets). Click on the red headings to go to content. Utilize the Google Translate service to turn Scandinavian language pages into (some sort of) English.
Have a great week,
Kjell Eriksson
Editor
Feature Article
The Place of Esports in Norwegian Sports: A New Rejection – and What It Means
The Norwegian Esports Federation (NEF) was founded in 2010 and has since then attempted to build a bridge between gaming culture and traditional sports structures. This week marked a new development: the Norwegian Olympic and Sports Federation (NIF) rejected NEF’s application for membership. In this feature, Egil Trasti Rogstad discusses what this means for the future of esports in Norway, while also providing an international perspective and finding major differences between countries in how esports relates to traditional sports. (Published in English 250407.
Book Reviews
The Examined Run: Why Good People Make Better Runners, by Sabrina B. Little
In The Examined Run: Why Good People Make Better Runners (Oxford UP), philosopher and ultramarathon runner Sabrina B. Little looks at the key ideas of virtue ethics and brings them into conversation with her experience of training and racing. Unfortunately, writes Pam R. Sailors, the author leaves 50 years of philosophy of sports writing out of that conversation. Philosophical thinking develops in the interaction of thinkers, old and new, but this process is conspicuously and sadly missing from Little’s book. (Review in English, published 250408.)
Women in the Olympics, by Lindsay Parks Pieper & Jörg Krieger
It has taken over a century to get to an equal number of female and male athletes at a Summer Olympic Games. While there is still much to do to achieve full gender parity, Lindsay Parks Pieper’s and Jörg Krieger’s slim volume Women in the Olympics (Common Ground) charts women’s struggles and successes in trying to compete in the Olympics. Katie Taylor is our reviewer, and she is impressed with the authors’ historic-sociological approach that makes the book extremely useful for students and lecturers alike. (Review in English, published 250408.)
Sport for Social Cohesion: Theoretical and Practical Perspectives, by Karen Petry & Louis Moustakas (eds.)
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.” (Review in English, published 250409.)
Systems Thinking Methods in Sport: Practical Guidance and Case Study Application, by Scott McLean, Mitchell Naughton, Gemma Read, Neville A. Stanton, Adam Hulme, Guy Walker & Paul Salmon
Sport is increasingly being described as a complex system. Systems Thinking Methods in Sport: Practical Guidance and Case Study Applications by Scott McLean and colleagues (Routledge) presents a practical guide to applying contemporary systems thinking methods in sport as well as case study applications demonstrating how their outputs can be translated in practice. Kati Lehtonen finds valuable methodological insights into the field of sports research that fulfills the authors’ promises to provide not just theoretical insights but also practical guidance of systems thinking. (Review in English, published 250409.)
New Issues of Scholarly Journals
(We’re currently reviewing this service, since it’s a rather time-consuming undertaking. In the meanwhile we’re presenting some of the journals in line with the Forum’s core mission.)
- Communication & Sport, Vol. 13, 2025, No. 2 (250410)
- Journal of the Philosophy of Sport, Volume 50, 2023, Issue 2 (250510)
- Journal of the Philosophy of Sport, Volume 50, 2023, Issue 3 (250413)
- European Sport Management Quarterly, Volume 25, 2025, Issue 2 (250413)
News items (calls for papers, vacancies, etc.)
- Call for Participants | “Fighting discriminations in sports: the legal framework”, EUniWell Social Talks | Open Digital Lecture, April 15, 2025, 10–11 AM CEST (250407)
- Call for Participation | Leisure, Class, and Social Hierarchies: Equestrian Sport as a Symbol of Power and Exclusion in the Victorian Era | Hybrid seminar, June 2, 2025 (250409)
- Call for Participation | Asser-CSHR Online Summer Programme 2025: ‘International Sport and Human Rights’ | May 21-23 and 26-28, 2025 (250410)
- Ledig tjänst | Doktorand i idrottsvetenskap med inriktning humaniora och samhällsvetenskap: Citizen Health, till Malmö universitet | Ansök senast den 4 maj 2025 (250410)
- Open Call for Papers | Sports Innovation Journal (250412)
