"Affective Health and Masculinities in South Africa explores how different masculinities modulate substance use, interpersonal violence, suicidality, and AIDS as well as recovery cross-culturally. With a focus on three male protagonists living in very distinct urban areas of Cape Town, this comparative ethnography shows that men's struggles to become invulnerable increase vulnerability. Through an analysis of masculinities as social assemblages, the study shows how affective health problems are tied to modern individualism rather than African 'tradition' that has become a clichâe in Eurocentric gender studies. Affective health is conceptualized as a balancing act between autonomy and connectivity that after colonialism and apartheid has become compromised through the imperative of self-reliance. This book provides a rare perspective on young men's vulnerability in everyday life that may affect the reader and spark discussion about how masculinities in relationships shape physical and psychological health. Moreover, it shows how men change in the face of distress in ways that may look different than global health and gender transformative approaches envision. Thick descriptions of actual events over the life course make the study accessible to both graduate and undergraduate students in the social sciences. Contributing to current debates on mental health and masculinity, the volume will be of interest to scholars from a number of disciplines including anthropology, gender studies, African studies, psychology and global health"--

Although national and international aspects of the global sport system have become more important in the past decades, it is still at the local level where most of the sporting activities are realized. In order to draw attention to this aspect, the European Association for the Sociology of Sport (eass) chose the title “Local sport in Europe” for its 4th conference that was held in Münster, Germany in 2007. This volume is a collection of papers that were presented at this conference, containing amongst others the three keynote lectures by Horst Hübner (Local sports activity and sports facilities), Fabien Ohl (Local sport between identity and economy) and Gertrud Pfister (Sport for all – opportunities and challenges in different sport systems). The papers cover a great variety of topics that mirror problems and issues of contemporary society, such as violence, racism, gender and health issues, but also current problems of funding and organizational changes in the field of sport. The volume is subdivided into three principal themes: Sport, culture and society, Sport, ethics and identity and Sport, management and politics.