Sociocultural Issues in Sport and Physical Activity explores the intersections between modern physical activity and society. The text surpasses the scope of sociological texts that focus solely on sports, covering a broad range of physical activities such as fitness, dance, weightlifting, and others. The authors emphasize the promotion of healthy individuals and a healthy body in the many movement settings where the body is active. Sociocultural Issues in Sport and Physical Activity explores contemporary topics such as reducing disparities in education and income, increasing socioeconomic diversity in communities, the medicalization of fitness, the rise of cosmetic fitness, the promotion of physical activity as a requirement for health, and the globalization of the fitness industry. The text includes the following features to enhance student engagement: Chapter objectives help students achieve their learning goals Key points and terms to highlight important information throughout the text Active Bodies sidebars that offer context for concepts presented in the chapter and provide examples and applications Discussion questions that provide opportunities to reflect on chapter topics Part I of Sociocultural Issues in Sport and Physical Activity examines political, educational, media, and economic institutions that influence the relationship between society and physical activity. Part II explores how an individual's race, gender, social class, and ability are interpreted through a social lens. Part III of the text discusses the process of developing healthy populations as well as promoting public health and body positivity. Sociocultural Issues in Sport and Physical Activity offers a cross-cultural perspective of society, health, and the body in motion. Readers will finish the text with a greater understanding of social theory applications in physical culture.
Robert Pitter, PhD, is a professor at Acadia University. His publications have examined sport, physical activity, and society as well as environmental education and organizational theory. He has been published in such journals as Research in Sport and Exercise Quarterly, Quest, Sociology of Sport Journal, International Review for Sociology of Sport, and Journal of Sport and Social Issues. David L. Andrews is a professor of physical cultural studies in the department of kinesiology at the University of Maryland. He is also an affiliate faculty member in the department of American studies and the department of sociology. Dr. Andrews' research interests center on contextualizing sport and physical culture in relation to the intersecting cultural, political, economic, and technological forces shaping contemporary society. His latest book is titled Making Sport Great Again? The Uber-Sport Assemblage, Neoliberalism, and the Trump Conjuncture (published by Palgrave). Previous books include Sport-Commerce-Culture: Essays on Sport in Late Capitalist America (published by Peter Lang), Sport and Neoliberalism: Politics, Consumption, and Culture (edited with Michael Silk and published by Temple University Press), The Routledge Handbook of Physical Cultural Studies (edited with Michael Silk and Holly Thorpe and published by Routledge), and Sport, Physical Culture, and the Moving Body: Materialisms, Technologies, Ecologies (edited with Joshua Newman and Holly Thorpe and published by Rutgers University Press). His current book project is titled The Great Moving Right Show: Sport, Political Assemblages, and the Trump Awakening (to be published by Rutgers University Press). Joshua I. Newman, PhD, is director of the Center for Sport, Health, and Equitable Development and a professor of sport, media, and cultural studies at Florida State University. He is also the doctorate program coordinator and associate chair in the department of sport management. Previously, Newman was a lecturer of sport studies at the University of Otago in New Zealand. In 2017, he served as president and research fellow of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport (NASSS). He currently serves on the editorial boards of Communication & Sport, International Review for the Sociology of Sport, and Sociology of Sport Journal. Newman's work has featured in The Society Pages, the Somatic Podcast, and the Global Sport Matters Podcast, and he has done interviews for the Washington Post, Time magazine, BuzzFeed, and the Associated Press.
Part I. Body Institutions: Foundations and Considerations Chapter 1. Introduction Robert Pitter, David L. Andrews, and Brandon Wallace Defining Physical Culture Physical Culture and the Sociological Imagination The Importance of a Critical and Theoretical Approach Case Study: Fitness and Society Conclusion Chapter 2. Politics of the Active Body Andrew Grainger, Brandon Wallace, and David L. Andrews Politics as Power Antonio Gramsci and Hegemony Hegemony, Sport, and the Active Body Dominant, Residual, and Emergent Forms of Physical Culture Conclusion Chapter 3. Critical Pedagogy and the Active Body Ryan King-White and Matthew Hawzen The Focus of Physical Education Critical Pedagogy Understanding and Applying Critical Pedagogy Critical Pedagogy in Kinesiology Conclusion Chapter 4. Medicine, Technology, and the Active Body Katelyn Esmonde Physical Activity and Epidemiology Physical Technocultures Sociocultural Issues and Possibilities for Technologies of Physical Culture Conclusion Chapter 5. The Corporeal Sport Economy Adam Beissel, Chris McLeod, and David L. Andrews The Economic Base and Sporting Superstructure Sport and Capitalism The Late Capitalist (Cultural) Economy Sport and Late Capitalism What Is a Corporeal Economy? The Material and Social Relations of Late Capitalist Production The Active Body as Instrument in Sport Production The Active Body as Object of Sport Production Conclusion Part II. Body Stratification: Meanings and Social Identities Chapter 6. Gender, Sex, and Physical Culture Shannon Jette, David L. Andrews, and Robert Pitter Social Construction of Gendered Identities Performances of Exercise Culture Performances of Sport Culture Expanding the Range of Gender Identity Through Physical Culture Conclusion Chapter 7. Racialized Bodies and Black and Indigenous Physical Cultures Brandon Wallace, Robert Pitter, and David L. Andrews Disrupting the Myth of Race Race or Ethnicity? African Americans and Black Physical Culture Native Americans and Indigenous Physical Cultures Conclusion Chapter 8. Social Class, Habitus, and Physical Culture Robert Pitter, David L. Andrews, and Brandon Wallace How Social Class Matters Social Class Distribution of Physical Activity Class Habitus, Hexis, and Embodied Lifestyle Cultures Conclusion Chapter 9. Disability, Sport, Activity, and Public Health Mollie Greenberg and Stephanie J. Cork What Is Disability? A Note on Language Early History of Disability in Society Current Models of Disability Activism and Civil Rights Legislation Confronting Health, Illness and Disability Discrimination Against People With Disabilities Adapted Physical Activity and Sport Neurodiversity The Special Olympics Conclusion Part III. Body Movements: Scales and Spaces Chapter 10. Popular Culture and the Active Body Michael D. Giardina and A. Lamont Williams A Note About Popular Culture The Active Body in Early Popular Culture The Active Body in Contemporary Popular Culture Conclusion Chapter 11. Physical Activity and Community Robert Pitter, Brandon Wallace, and David L. Andrews Conceptualizing Community Creating Community via Physical Culture Community Development via Physical Activity Conclusion Chapter 12. The Active Body in Cities Oliver J.C. Rick, Jacob J. Bustad, and Bryan C. Clift The Rise of the Neoliberal City Models of Urban Physical Activity Provision Creative Sport and Recreation: Designing Physical Activity Attractions Conclusion Chapter 13. Globalization and Physical Activity Joshua Newman, David L. Andrews, and Robert Pitter Local and Global Movements What Is Globalization? Debates on Globalization Global Physical Culture Global Media Spectacles The Globalization of Culture and Economy Economic Globalization at Work The Problem of Global Sporting Goods Production Global Migration: People on the Move Conclusion Chapter 14. The Environment and the Active Body Martin Barrett and Kyle S. Bunds The Body as the Environment The Body in the Environment The Body for the Environment Conclusion
