Overview

Is violence an intrinsic component of contemporary sport? How does violence within sport reflect upon the attitudes of wider society? In this landmark study of violence in and around contemporary sport, Kevin Young offers the first comprehensive sociological analysis of an issue of central importance within sport studies. The book explores organized and spontaneous violence, both on the field and off, and calls for a much broader definition of 'sports-related violence', to include issues as diverse as criminal behaviour by players, abuse within sport and exploitatory labor practices. Offering a sophisticated new theoretical framework for understanding violence in a sporting context, and including a wide range of case-studies and empirical data -- from professional soccer in Europe to ice hockey in North America -- the book establishes a benchmark for the study of violence within sport and wider society. Through close examination of often contradictory trends, from anti-violence initiatives in professional sports leagues to the role of the media in encouraging hyper-aggression, the book throws new light on our understanding of the socially-embedded character of sport and its fundamental ties to history, culture, politics, social class, gender and the law.

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9780415549950

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Reviews

The sheer number of questions and topics raised in the course of this reimagining of the field as well as the plethora of sources used will make Sports, Violence and Society an important source for scholars of violence interested in broadening the horizons of the study of violence. - Sam Bieler, Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books, May 2013

Author Information

Kevin Young is a professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Calgary, Canada. He has served on the editorial boards of several journals, including International Review for the Sociology of Sport, Sociology of Sport Journal and Soccer and Society. Young has also served on the executive board of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport and as vice president of the International Sociology of Sport Association.

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