This book analyses 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. Midnight Football is a sports-based intervention targeting social inclusion and crime prevention in young people aged 12–25 in Sweden. This book takes a close look at its organization, pedagogy and potential outcomes. Drawing on cutting-edge research into Midnight Football in Sweden, and exploring other community sport programmes including Midnight Basketball in the United States, this book shines new light on broader social transformations regarding urban segregation and social exclusion, social policy and the governing of welfare and social policy. This book also offers new perspectives on how sport and the lives of young people intersect with and shape broader shifts in welfare and social policy in Western states, shifts that are manifested in increased inequality, social polarization and profound changes in urban geographies. This is fascinating reading for anybody with an interest in the relationships between sport and wider society, or in sport development, sport policy, social policy, public policy or youth and social work.

Sport is often seen as an indicator of the civic maturity of a community, an aspect of the rights of citizens to health, education and social integration. This book examines the relationships between participation in sport and physical activity, and welfare policies across Europe. It argues that the success of campaigns for the promotion of sport depend on the existence of dedicated welfare policies promoted by the European states and explores variations in cultural models and structures of governance across Europe. Addressing the function of supranational institutions such as the EU as well as voluntary networks, the book illuminates key issues in European societies such as migration, financial austerity and Brexit as they relate to sport policy. This is important reading for scholars and students in the fields of European sport and physical activity, sociology, political science and organisational analysis, as well as operators and managers of the sport systems involved in advanced training programmes.

This important study brings together world-leading researchers to reflect upon the state of the social scientific study of sport. Addressing three core themes in sport studies – equality, education and policy – the book looks back over the development of sport research in recent decades and offers new insights into future lines of enquiry. Presenting a unique collection of authoritative perspectives from some of the best-known scholars in the social scientific study of sport, the book engages with key contemporary issues such as gender stereotypes in physical education, ethnicity, inclusion and critical race theory, physical literacy, physical activity and health, and international sport governance. Its chapters address major topics such as the globalisation of physical activity initiatives and the involvement of the EU in developing sport policies, as well as shedding light on new areas of research such as the growing participation of Muslim women in sport. Sport, Education and Social Policy: The state of the social sciences of sport is fascinating reading for any researcher or advanced student working in sport studies, physical education or kinesiology.

Social exclusion is one of the most pressing challenges in post-industrial societies, encompassing economic, social, cultural and political dimensions. This important new book critically examines the relationship between sport and social exclusion, from global and cross-cultural perspectives. The book analyses sport and social exclusion by focusing on three key questions: How does social exclusion affect participation in sport? How is social exclusion (re)produced, experienced, resisted, and managed in sport? How is sport used to combat social exclusion and promote social inclusion in other life domains? To answer these questions, the authors discuss and critically reflect on existing knowledge and in-depth case studies from Europe, Australasia, Africa and Latin America. The book illuminates the relationship between sport and social exclusion in Global North and Global South contexts, addressing key issues in contemporary social science such as social inequality, worklessness, gender, disability, forced migration, homelessness and mental health. Sport and Social Exclusion in Global Society is important reading for all students, researchers and policy-makers with an interest in sport sociology, sport development, sport management, or the relationship between sport and wider society.

With sport sustaining a prominent place in international development policymaking, discourse and delivery, this comprehensive Handbook provides a contemporary, multi-disciplinary overview of state-of-the-art scholarship in this critical space. It investigates the role that different sport initiatives – from community-focused projects to large-scale events – can play across a great variety of development contexts.

Sport, Physical Culture, and the Moving Body explores the extent to which the body, when moving about active body spaces (the gymnasium, the ball field, the lab, the running track, the beach, or the stadium) and those places less often connected to physical activity (the home, the street, the classroom, the automobile), is bounded to technologies of life and living, as well as to the political arrangements that seek to capitalize upon such frames of biological vitality. To do so, the authors problematize the rise of active body science (kinesiology, sport and exercise sciences, performance biotechnology) and the effects these scientific interventions have on embodied, lived experience. Sport, Physical Culture, and the Moving Body offers a groundbreaking departure from representationalist tendencies and orthodoxies brought about by the cultural turn in sport and physical cultural studies. It brings the moving body and its physics back into focus: re-centering moving flesh as the locus of social order, environmental change, and the global political economy.

"Lifts the analysis out of the nuts and bolts of sports policy and into some really thought-provoking areas which will equip the policy maker for the challenges of the 21st century" - Dominic Malcolm, Loughborough University "This is an excellent analysis of the significance of globalisation for national sport policy and especially of the impact of global processes at the local socio-cultural level" - Barrie Houlihan, Loughborough University Drawing upon a range of empirical case studies, Catherine Palmer situates sports policy within a broader consideration of global processes, practices and consequences, exploring the relationship between: the local and the global globalization and governance new technologies human rights the environment corporate responsibility. In doing so she sets out the ground for an understanding of policy making in sport and how this affects society. Covering both theory and practice, it is a detailed and thought provoking resource for students of sports policy, sports development, sports management and sports studies.

This book sets out and critically evaluates the key principles for inclusion and the expectations derived from them, looking closely at the practical issues involved in devising and implementing an inclusive PE curriculum.

This text traces the evolution of sports development in the UK in the context of broader shifts in sport and social policy. It explores the emergence of sports development from the early years of public policy for sport in the 1960s to the contemporary era. This analysis is set against a background of policy initiatives, from 'Sport For All', 'Action Sport' and CCT, to the National Lottery and the contemporary emphasis on sport as a factor in the social and cultural well-being of the nation. Incorporating original material from major case studies and the national governing bodies of hockey, rowing, rugby union and tennis, the book examines the reality of "doing sports development" within this changing social and political policy climate.

Sports development has become a prominent concern within both the academic study of sport and within the organisation and administration of sport. Now available in paperback, the Routledge Handbook of Sports Development is the first book to comprehensively map the wide-ranging territory of sports development as an activity and as a policy field, and to offer a definitive survey of current academic knowledge and professional practice. Spanning the whole spectrum of activity in sports development, from youth sport and mass participation to the development of elite athletes, the book identifies and defines the core functions of sports development, exploring the interface between sports development and cognate fields such as education, coaching, community welfare and policy. The book presents important new studies of sports development around the world, illustrating the breadth of practice within and between countries, and examines the most important issues facing practitioners within sports development today, from child protection to partnership working. With unparalleled depth and breadth of coverage, the Routledge Handbook of Sports Development is the definitive guide to policy, practice and research in sports development. It is essential reading for all students, researchers and professionals with an interest in this important and rapidly evolving discipline.