That Was The Week That Was,
September 28 – October 4, 2026

Dear all,

All in all, last week was a good week on the Forum, with interesting articles – one peer review och one feature – and two book reviews dealing with sociology of sport. This week is but a four day work week for this editor, as is next week, the reason being a long weekend trip to London.

Listed below are the items published on idrottsforum.org last week (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.

And remember, if you’re not already hooked up to one of the social media outlets that we utilize, for now they are Facebook, LinkedIn and X, you’re missing quite a lot of information from idrottsforum.org that never appears on the website; this week no less than 45updates on each, the same on all three. So, if that is the case, check out, by clicking on the names, our Facebook, LinkedIn and X accounts.

Have a great week,
Kjell Eriksson
Editor

Research Article

A Critical Analysis of Gender and Body Ideals in Images in Physical Education and Health Textbooks

The body is central in PEH and images of bodies play an important role in shaping students’ understanding of bodily expectations. The aim of this study by Sandra Magnusson and Marie Larneby is to explore how images in PEH textbooks for grades 7 to 9 display gender and body ideals and problematize how norms and ideals are conceptualized, reproduced, and challenged through these images. With support from Connell’s gender theory and Berge’s analytical questions, the images were coded based on body ideals, gender representations, activity, and context. The study reveals a balanced representation of men and women in the images. Despite this apparent equality, stereotypical gender and body norms are made visible. (Peer review article, published in English is Scandinavian Sport Studies Forum 260929.)

Feature Article

The Game’s Gone: Why Football is Always Dying

In his feature article for idrottsforum.org, Dr Jack Black of Loughborough University walks fearlessly into the quagmire of retrotopian football discourse. “The game’s gone” has become one of football’s most adaptable complaint. Whatever wrongs on or off the pitch that can be detected and publicly decried is defined by this loss of ‘the game’, usually accompanied by retrospective nostalgia, the longing for something that might have been and, importantly, might have been better. To get a fuller understanding of the mechanisms at play in this rather fruitless longing for something that never was, and thus cannot be recovered, Jack Black turns to Lacan and his account of desire.(Published in English 261002.)

Book Reviews

From McDonaldisation to Netflixisation: A Fresh, Global Take on Sport, Culture and Society

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. (Review in English, published 260930.)

A Sociology of Sport Manifesto That Will Spark Discussion and Debate

In his new book The Sociology of Sport: A Manifesto for the 21st Century (Routledge), Dominic Malcolm critically evaluates the historical accomplishments, current challenges and future opportunities of the sociology of sport. In his review, Jay Coakley finds that the manifesto, first of its kind about the sociology of sport, is a timely, concise and constructive analysis of the development of the sociology of sport, offering strategies for its survival in a neo liberalized, populist, media saturated, post-truth future. (Review in English, published 261001.)

Scholarly Journals

Since its inception 23 years ago, idrottsforum.org has been proudly presenting every new issue of almost all scholarly journals within the field of sport studies, widely defined. However, after carefully considering the whole situation – with increasing number of journals and number of issues per journal – we have decided to let go of the original ambition; it has become too time-consuming. Henceforth we will publish alerts about new journal issues on our social media accounts (Facebook, LinkedIn and X), and also special alerts when particularly interesting articles in scholarly journals are published online, giving priority to open access publications. The Scholarly Journals page will list all journals within the extended sport studies field for your information, and we will endeavor to update it with any new titles being launched.

News items (calls for papers, vacancies, etc.)

• Call for Abstracts | Moving Beyond Inclusion: Critical and Innovative Perspectives on Disability and Physical Activity”, Special Issue of PALAESTRA | Call ends November 15, 2026 (260928)
• Call for Papers | “The Dilemma of Sports Doping. The last 100 years”, a Special Edition of European Studies of Sports History | Call ends October 20, 2026 (260930)
• Ny dansk analyse: Breddefodbolden er en milliardgevinst for samfundet [New Danish analysis: Grassroots football is a billion-kroner boon for society.] (261002)
• Lediga platser | Doktorand inom idrottsvetenskap med inriktning management, till GIH | Sista ansökningsdag den 22 oktober 2026 (261003)