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What is, or should be, the social function of sport in a globalised, commercialised world? Why does sport matter in the 21st century? This book calls for a new model of sport that goes beyond the traditional view that sport automatically encourages positive social, moral and political values. Acknowledging that sport is beset by poor practice, corruption, harmful behaviours and illegality, it explores current issues in sport ethics, governance and development. It argues that identifying the root causes of harmful behaviour, those things that are characteristic of sport, and engaging sport managers, policy makers and leaders of sport organisations, is essential if sport is to thrive.
The human fascination with images, and the idolatry or idolization of images as the source of desire, passion and terror, is treated in this book. The first part enters more deeply into religious idolatry, past and present. It treats the biblical, the early-Jewish as well as the Christian views on monotheism and the prohibition against images, as source of authentic humanism or as source of intolerance and violence. In the second part, the focus shifts onto a number of contemporary, profane idols and gods: the nationalist fascination for one's own land and people, and the fear or hate towards foreigners; the rampant preoccupation with (genetic) health, in a context of body culture and aestheticization, of which the postmodern sport idols have become the great 'icons'; the current image- and screen-culture and all forms of audiovisual exorcisms; and last but not least the ongoing process of economization and globalization, with an expanding culture of 'branding' logos.
This book examines the political debates over the access to live telecasts of sport in the digital broadcasting era. It outlines the broad theoretical debates, political positions and policy calculations over the provision of live, free-to-air telecasts of sport as a right of cultural citizenship. In so doing, the book provides a number of comparative case studies that explore these debates and issues in various global spaces.
This book critically examines sport-related social interventions in different cultural settings. Instrumental interventions in local community building and social construction of peace, integration and managing diversity are addressed from a theoretical and case-exemplary perspective. Corporate social responsibility of global sport organizations is discussed in relation to specific cases of world sport events.
In the edited collection Athletics in the Nordic Countries, scholars from Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden explore historical developments and current phenomena in the sport of athletics (track and field). The chapters provide insight into sport officials, events, and athletes from the Nordic countries that have shaped the international athletics scene. The authors identify the leading role of sport leaders from Scandinavia in the foundation years and highlight how athletics’ events held in the region were milestones in the transformation of the sport. Athletics’ international governing body World Athletics was founded in Sweden in 1912 as the International Amateur Athletic Federation. Seventy years later, Finland hosted the first World Athletics Championships in Helsinki in 1983. In between those turning points, Nordic officials and athletes promoted significant changes in athletics, and their innovative approaches continue to shape the development of the sport until today.
This book analyzes the complex interactions of body, mind and microelectronic technologies. Internationally renowned scholars look into the nature of the mind - a combination of thought, perception, emotion, will and imagination - as well as the ever-increasing impact and complexity of microelectronic technologies.
The development of both elite, high performance sport and mass participation, grassroots-level sport are central concerns for governments and sports governing bodies. This important new study is the first to closely examine the challenges and opportunities for sports development in the United States, a global sporting giant with a unique, market-driven sporting landscape. Presenting an innovative model of integrated sports development, the book explores the inter-relationship between elite and mass sport across history, drawing on comparative international examples from Australia to the former USSR and Eastern bloc countries. At the heart of the book is an in-depth empirical study of three (...
This book employs men's football as a lens through which to investigate questions relating to immigration, racism, integration and national identity in present-day Sweden. Specifically, this study explores if professional football serves as a successful model of multiracialism/multiculturalism for the rest of Swedish society to emulate.
This interdisciplinary text examines the sports-Christianity interface from Protestant and Catholic perspectives. In addition to a "systematic review of literature," the contributors, who include many of the pioneers in the field, address a wide range of topics. These include biblical athletic metaphors, disability, evangelism, professionalism and celebrity, humility, the Vatican's perspective on sport and genetic enhancement technologies.
The current situation in sport reveals a large deficit concerning concepts for future developments and projects. Many traditional values, ethical standards and educational ideals are losing their significance - in particular for the young generation. In contrast, commercial media sport as well as international top sport stand to gain from the changing rating of sport in our society. On the other hand, matters of fitness, health and of general wellness are firmly grounded in the daily routine of the population. The gap in the development of sport is widening. What answers, concepts or problem-solving does a science, which deals with these topics, come up with? These are the guidelines of the "Club of Cologne", which is trying to suggest perspectives by means of active research and subsequent publications, to present models and strategies, and to enrich public discussion by offering approaches or solutions.