MACMILLAN The Palgrave Handbook of Sport, Politics and Harm

This book looks historically at the harm that has been inflicted in the practice of sport and at some of the issues, debates and controversies that have arisen as a result. Written by experts in history, sociology, sport journalism and public health, the book considers sport and injury in relation to matters of social class; gender; ethnicity and race; sexuality; political ideology and national identity; health and wellbeing; childhood; animal rights; and popular culture. These matters are, in turn, variously related to a range of sports, including ancient, pre- and early industrial sports; American football; boxing; wrestling and other combat sports; mountaineering; horseracing; cycling; motor racing; rugby football; cricket; association football; baseball; basketball; Crossfit; ice hockey; Olympic sports; Mixed Martial Arts; and sport in an imagined dystopian future. Review “This book offers an impressive and thoughtful collection of essays written by top scholars each interrogating the different ways in which diverse sporting cultures produce athlete pain, injury, and bodily damage. As such, this collection is essential reading for those interested in understanding how sport is not simply about the celebration of achievement and victory, but also about the social, material, and political agony of suffering and trauma.” (Mary G. McDonald, Professor and Homer C. Rice Chair of Sport and Society, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA) “As an increasing number of sports are subjected to medical and legal scrutiny for their short- and long-term outcomes, this timely volume rams home the point that sports might not be so good for players afterall. Offering an impressive spread of pain-injury snapshots across the social sciences, public health and social policy disciplines, it proves what we have long suspected – pain and injury in sport do not only result from the nature of the game, but from the ways that sports are organized, managed and policed. In questioning the institutional innocence of sport, the volume crosses the explanatory bridge from sport studies to victimology and underlines the complexity of the central concept of consent in sports harm.” (Kevin Young, Professor of Sociology, University of Calgary, Canada) “This is an essential guide to some of the most important questions facing sport today. It brings together a wide range of experts who interrogate harm, injury and physical abuse in sport from a variety of insightful perspectives. This is a groundbreaking and timely book that should be on the shelves of every sports historian, sociologist and policy-maker.” (Tony Collins, Emeritus Professor of History, De Montfort University, UK) From the Back Cover This book looks historically at the harm that has been inflicted in the practice of sport and at some of the issues, debates and controversies that have arisen as a result. Written by experts in history, sociology, sport journalism and public health, the book considers sport and injury in relation to matters of social class; gender; ethnicity and race; sexuality; political ideology and national identity; health and wellbeing; childhood; animal rights; and popular culture. These matters are, in turn, variously related to a range of sports, including ancient, pre- and early industrial sports; American football; boxing; wrestling and other combat sports; mountaineering; horseracing; cycling; motor racing; rugby football; cricket; association football; baseball; basketball; Crossfit; ice hockey; Olympic sports; Mixed Martial Arts; and sport in an imagined dystopian future. About the Author Stephen Wagg retired as Professor of Sport and Society at Leeds Beckett University in the UK in 2019. He is currently an Honorary Fellow in the International Centre for Sport History and Culture at de Montfort University, Leicester, and Visiting Professor at Newcastle University, both in the UK. Allyson M. Pol