Dear all,
Four book reviews, that’s not so bad. And a couple of interesting articles. Anyway, this is the penultimate newsletter for the spring semester. The next and last one will arrive in your mailboxes after Midsummer, on Monday, June 24.
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
Research Article
Friluftsliv og overgangsrite: På stien mot gutters dannelse [Outdoor recreation and rites of passage: On the path to boys’ education]
A negative trend in male mental health in modern Western societies is increasingly evident through underachievement in school, low self-esteem, anxiety, drug abuse and suicide statistics. Initially, this article by Teodor Evjan & Truls Piiksi Røraas presents the background to the topic with sources on men’s mental health, nature as an arena for positive personal change, interdisciplinary nature therapy and Van Gennep’s rites of passage as a potentially suitable program model with separative, intermediate and reincorporative stages. (Published in Norwegian 240612. English abstract available.
Feature Article
Swedes among other bodies and other games – a conference report
On the train, returning from Paris and the conference D’Autre Corps, D’Autre Jeux (in English Other Bodies, Other Games), which took place at Université Paris Cité, one of the country’s more than fifty higher education institutions within the STAPS (Sciences et Techniques des Activités Physiques et Sportives) network, John Berg and Isak Lidström decided to put together a conference report for the benefit of the readership of idrottsforum.org. Enjoy! (Published in English 240614.
Book Review
Sport as Social Policy: Midnight Football and the Governing of Society, by David Ekholm & Magnus Dahlstedt
David Ekholm & Magnus Dahlstedt’s Sport as Social Policy: Midnight Football and the Governing of Society (Routledge) analyzes the increasing use of sport in European and Western welfare states as a tool of social policy and its promotion as a solution to social problems. Our reviewers, Comfort Ankunda and Robert Menge give a detailed presentation of the book’s chapters and offer a thorough and critical analysis of the theories and methods behind the intervention, pointing out several problems relating to the lack of decolonial perspectives. (Review in English, published 240611.)
Football in the Nordic Countries: Practices, Equality and Influence, by Mihaly Szerovay, Arto Nevala & Hannu Itkonen (eds.)
Mihaly Szerovay and colleagues’ edited collection Football in the Nordic Countries: Practices, Equality and Influence (Routledge) explores football culture, organisation and development in the five Nordic countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Sweden and Norway. To our reviewer Payam Ansari, the anthology offers a rich, multifaceted exploration of football on national, “glocal”, and global levels, making it a valuable addition to the field of sports sociology and a beacon for future research on football. (Review in English, published 240614.)
The Oxford Handbook of Hip Hop Dance Studies, by Mary Fogarty & Imani Kai Johnson (eds.)
Engaging with a broad range of research and performance genres, The Oxford Handbook of Hip Hop Dance Studies offers the most comprehensive research on Hip Hop dance to date, placing practitioners’ voices at the forefront and in dialogue with theoretical insights. Jacob Kimvall is our reviewer and in his view this edited collection by Mary Fogarty & Imani Kai Johnson with aa impressive cast of contributors is an indispensable addition to the expanding field of research on hip hop dance culture. (Review in English and Swedish, published 240615.)
Sexual Assault in Canadian Sport, by Curtis Fogel & Andrea Quinlan
Through a detailed examination of over 300 cases appearing in news media and legal files across Canada from 1990 to 2020, Curtis Fogel and Andrea Quinlan’s Sexual Assault in Canadian Sport (UBC Press) uncovers an enduring institutional tolerance and silencing of sexual assault in Canadian sport. Maddie Brockbank is our reviewer, and she readily acknowledges the book’s importance and vital contribution towards solving a lasting problem in Canadian sports – a development she can only hope will happen. (Review in English, published 240616.)
News items (calls for papers, vacancies, etc.)
- Public defense of doctoral thesis | Young athletes and performance enhancement: A social-constructivist perspective by Anette Skilbred, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, June 21, 2024 (240616)
