Dear all,
This week concludes with the Easter Holiday, which is a big deal in Sweden. Schools are out all week. Maundy Thursday (here skärtorsdagen) is not a holiday, but is mostly seen as a kind of “Good Friday Eve”, with people quitting work at lunch time (if they have not taken the whole day off for an extended holiday break). Good Friday, in Sweden called Long Friday, and Easter Sunday are both official public holidays in common with most countries in Western Christianity, but in Sweden also Easter Monday is a holiday. Here such days are known as “red days”, from the color of the date in calendars (for all Sundays the date is in red). So, will there be a newsletter from idrottsforum.org on Easter Monday? We’ll have to see; they did arrive promptly in 2022 and 2023…
Last week we spent quite a lot of time on commissioning book reviews, yet 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 and a restful Easter Holyday,
Kjell Eriksson
Editor
Book Reviews
Fair Game: Lessons from Sport for a Fairer Society & a Stronger Economy, by Andrew Leigh
Sport is a source of personal and national pride for millions. In his book Fair Game: Lessons from Sport for a Fairer Society & a Stronger Economy (Monash University Publishing) economist, politician and triathlete Andrew Leigh argues that sport can embody both achievement and egalitarianism. Malcolm MacLean can see the point in some of the arguments Leigh puts forward, but he is ultimately frustrated and disappointed by the flaws in the argumentation, such as the glaring absence of a class and collectivism perspective. (Review in English, published 240319.)
Head Game: Mental Health in Sports Media, by Andrew C. Billings & Scott Parrott
Head Game: Mental Health in Sports Media by Andrew C. Billings & Scott Parrott (Peter Lang Publishing) uses interviews with key athletes, leading journalists and sportscasters, and organizational and league leaders to show how media has been used—and could be used in the future—to advance greater understanding of mental health. Our reviewer is Britt-Marie Ringfjord. After a careful and critical reading she commends the authors’ timely study of a sensitive and difficult subject that sport media will have to find new ways to deal with. (Review in English, published 240321.)
Dansk idrætspolitik: Idrætten i Kulturministeriet gennem 50 år [Danish sports policy: Sport in the Ministry of Culture over 50 years], by Claus Bøje & Søren Riiskjær
In the book Dansk idrætspolitik: Idrætten i Kulturministeriet gennem 50 år (Gads Forlag), Claus Bøje & Søren Riiskjær tell the history of sports policy since the Ministry of Culture began to pay attention to sports in the early 1970s. Christian Tolstrup Jensen has read the book with great interest, one of the few that deals with sports policy at the Danish national level. He finds that Danish sports policy is defined by the relationship between the state and sports organisations, a relationship that often changes with the ministers’ political positions. (Book in Danish, review in Danish, published 240322.)
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.)
International Journal of the Sociology of Leisure, Vol. 7, 2024, Issue 1 | Leisure and Fan Activism (240318)- Sports Law, Policy & Diplomacy Journal, Volume 1, 2023, Number 2 (Open Access) (240318)
- Journal of Policy Research in Tourism, Leisure and Events, Volume 16, 2024, Issue 1 (240320)
- Journal of Sport Management, Volume 38, 2024, Issue 1 (240321)
- Journal of Sport Management, Volume 38, 2024, Issue 2 (240323)
- Leisure Studies, Volume 43, 2024, Issue 1 (240324)
News items (calls for papers, vacancies, etc.)
- Vill du medverka i en forskningsstudie om barns motoriska utveckling? (240319)
- Call for Papers | The International Association for the Philosophy of Sport (IAPS) Conference 2024 | Antigonish, Nova Scotia, August 21–23, 2024. Call ends April 1, 2024 (240321)
- Research Network Webinar Series 2024 | March 26, 2024 (240322)
