Sport and dance command the passions and devotion of countless athletes, dancers and fans worldwide. Although conventionally thought to reside within separate social realms, these two embodied cultural forms are revealed in this benchmark volume to s hare a vital capacity to constitute and express identities through their practiced movements and scripted forms. Thus, the work of choreographers and coaches along with the performances of dancers and athletes offer not merely entertainment and aesth etic accomplishment but also powerful means for celebrating existing social arrangements and cultural ideals or, alternately, for imagining and advocating new ones. Drawing on a wide selection of sport and dance activities from around the world, this book elucidates the ways in which embodied performances both mirror and reshape social life. It traces, for example, how football, salsa and tango can each be employed to articulate or rewrite national and gender identities. Also examined are c hildren's sport and the dynamics by which immigration and cultural integration, along with the socialization of children and youth, may be directed through the organization of community sport. The volume investigates the marshalling of sport and danc e in settings from Africa to Ireland as vehicles for framing moral issues that revolve around the appropriate use, protection and exhibition of the body. This innovative study establishes the paradoxical fashion in which dance and sport can unite cer tain people and communities while at the same time serving exclusionary and nationalistic purposes.

Sport and dance command the passions and devotion of countless athletes, dancers and fans worldwide. Although conventionally thought to reside within separate social realms, these two embodied cultural forms are revealed in this benchmark volume to share a vital capacity to constitute and express identities through their practiced movements and scripted forms. Thus, the work of choreographers and coaches along with the performances of dancers and athletes offer not merely entertainment and aesthetic accomplishment but also powerful means for celebrating existing social arrangements and cultural ideals or, alternately, for imagining and advocating new ones.Drawing on a wide selection of sport and dance activities from around the world, this book elucidates the ways in which embodied performances both mirror and reshape social life. It traces, for example, how football, salsa and tango can each be employed to articulate or rewrite national and gender identities. Also examined are children's sport and the dynamics by which immigration and cultural integration, along with the socialization of children and youth, may be directed through the organization of community sport. The volume investigates the marshalling of sport and dance in settings from Africa to Ireland as vehicles for framing moral issues that revolve around the appropriate use, protection and exhibition of the body. This innovative study establishes the paradoxical fashion in which dance and sport can unite certain people and communities while at the same time serving exclusionary and nationalistic purposes.

The burgeoning social scientific study of tourism has emphasized the effects of the post-industrial economy on travel and place. However, this volume takes some of these issues into a different area of leisure: the spare-time carved out by people as part of their everyday lives - time that is much more intimately juxtaposed with the pressures and influences of work life, and which often involves specific bodily practices associated with hobbies and sports. An important focus of the book is the body as a site of identity formation, experience, and disciplined recreation of the self. Contributors examine the ways rituals, sports, and forms of bodily transformation mediate between contemporary ideologies of freedom, choice and self-control.

The sociology of sport is a core discipline within the academic study of sport. It helps us to understand what sport is and why it matters. Sociological knowledge, implicit or explicit, therefore underpins scholarly enquiry into sport in every aspect. The Routledge Handbook of the Sociology of Sport is a landmark publication that brings together the most important themes, theories and issues within the sociology of sport, tracing the contours of the discipline and surveying the state-of-the-art. Part One explores the main theories and analytical approaches that define contemporary sport sociology and introduces the most important methodological issues confronting researchers working in the social scientific study of sport. Part Two examines the connections and divisions between sociology and cognate disciplines within sport studies, including history, anthropology, economics, leisure and tourism studies, philosophy, politics and psychology. Part Three investigates how the most important social divisions within sport, and in wider society, are addressed in sport sociology, including ‘race‘, gender, class, sexuality and disability. Part Four explores a wide range of pressing contemporary issues associated with sport, including sport and the body, social problems associated with sport, sport places and settings, and the global aspects of sport. Written by a team of leading international sport scholars, including many of the most well-known, respected and innovative thinkers working in the discipline, the Routledge Handbook of the Sociology of Sport is an essential reference for any student, researcher or professional with an interest in sport.

In Rio de Janeiro, the spiritual home of world football, and Buenos Aires, where a popular soccer club president was recently elected mayor, the game is an integral part of national identity. Using the football stadium as an illuminating cultural lens, Temples of the Earthbound Gods examines many aspects of urban culture that play out within these monumental architectural forms, including spirituality, violence, rigid social norms, anarchy, and also expressions of sexuality and gender. Tracing the history of the game in Brazil and Argentina through colonial influences as well as indigenous ball courts in Mayan, Aztec, Zapotec, Mixtec, and Olmec societies, Christopher Gaffney's study spans both ancient and contemporary worlds, linking the development of stadiums to urbanization and the consolidation of nation building in two of Latin America's most intriguing megacities.

The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781003002697, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license. With attention to the transnational dance world of salsa, this book explores the circulation of people, imaginaries, dance movements, conventions and affects from a transnational perspective. Through interviews and ethnographic, multi-sited research in several European cities and Havana, the author draws on the notion of "entangled mobilities" to show how the intimate gendered and ethnicised moves on the dance floor relate to the cross-border mobility of salsa dance professionals and their students. A combination of research on migration and mobility with studies of music and dance, Entangled Mobilities in the Transnational Salsa Circuit contributes to the fields of transnationalism, mobility and dance studies, thus providing a deeper theoretical and empirical understanding of gendered and racialised transnational phenomena. As such it will appeal to scholars across the social sciences with interests in migration, cultural studies and gender studies.

Few issues have engaged sports scholars more than those of race and ethnicity. Today, globalization and migration mean all major sports leagues include players from around the globe, bringing into play a complex mix of racial, ethnic, cultural, political and geographical factors. These complexities have been examined from many angles by historians, sociologists, anthropologists and scientists. This is the first book to offer a comprehensive survey of the full sweep of approaches to the study of sport, race and ethnicity. The Routledge Handbook of Sport, Race and Ethnicity makes a substantial contribution to scholarship, presenting a collection of international case studies that map the most important developments in the field. Multi-disciplinary in its approach, it engages with a wide range of disciplines including history, politics, sociology, philosophy, science and gender studies. It draws upon the latest cutting-edge research to address key issues such as racism, integration, globalisation, development and management. Written by a world-class team of sports scholars, this book is essential reading for all students, researchers and policy-makers with an interest in sports studies. Chapter 18 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

Dance is more than an aesthetic of life – dance embodies life. This is evident from the social history of jive, the marketing of trans-national ballet, ritual healing dances in Italy or folk dances performed for tourists in Mexico, Panama and Canada. Dance often captures those essential dimensions of social life that cannot be easily put into words. What are the flows and movements of dance carried by migrants and tourists? How is dance used to shape nationalist ideology? What are the connections between dance and ethnicity, gender, health, globalization and nationalism, capitalism and post-colonialism? Through innovative and wide-ranging case studies, the contributors explore the central role dance plays in culture as leisure commodity, cultural heritage, cultural aesthetic or cathartic social movement.

This book presents an engaging sociological investigation into how gender is negotiated and performed in ballroom and Latin dancing that draws on extensive ethnographic research, as well as the author’s own experience as a dancer. It explores the key factors underpinning the popularity of this leisure activity and highlights what this reveals more broadly about the nature of gender roles at the current time. The author begins with an overview of its rich social history and shifting class status, establishing the context within which contemporary masculinities and femininities in this community are explored. Real and imagined gendered traditions are examined across a range of dancer experiences that follows the trajectory of a typical learner: from finding a partner, attending lessons and forming networks, through to taking part in competitions. The analysis of these narratives creates a nuanced picture of a dance culture that is empowering, yet also highly consumerist and image-conscious; a highly ritualised set of practices that both reinstate and transgress gender roles. This innovative contribution to the feminist leisure literature will appeal to students and scholars of anthropology, dance, sport, gender, cultural and media studies.

This volume examines women's contradictory experiences of their bodies, health and exercise within the cultural context of consumerism. Featuring contributions by leading scholars on women and exercise across North America and Europe, this timely examination of women, exercise and fitness will shape the international dialogue on these critical issues.