Are sports influenced by their social context? Can sport influence the social world? And how is sport changing in our increasingly globalized society?

This thought-provoking text explores these questions and introduces key debates in the sociology of sport. Uncovering the power dynamics within sport and bringing this everyday topic under a sociological lens, the book:

- Explores hot topics and contemporary controversies, such as e-gaming, fan violence and sex testing
- Examines the central role of technology and the media in how sport is consumed, represented and played
- Discusses a wide range of thinkers, from Gramsci to Castells
- Reflects on developments in sport at local, global and national levels

With clearly explained theory and vibrant case examples, this text shows how we engage with sport in social, political, cultural and economic terms. It is an indispensable text for students across the social sciences studying sports.

TIMOTHY MARJORIBANKSProfessor of Management in the Graduate School of Management at La Trobe University, Australia. From 1997 to 2010, he taught and researched in Sociology in the School of Social and Political Sciences at The University of Melbourne, Australia. His research explores the role of power in organisational practice, with a particular focus on the sport, media and health industries. He has written numerous book chapters and journal articles in these areas, and his previous book is News Corporation, Technology and the Workplace.

KAREN FARQUHARSONAssociate Professor of Sociology and Head of the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences group at Swinburne University of Technology, Australia. She was a Fulbright Fellow to South Africa, and she has published in the areas of race and ethnic relations, the media, sport and research methods. Her previous book (with Katharine Betts and Anne Seitz) was Writing Essays and Research Reports in the Social Sciences.