Power Played: A Critical Criminology of Sport

This innovative collection explores the unequal and problematic power relations in modern sport, linking them to issues of violence, harm, deviance, and punishment. It reimagines sport as an important unit of analysis for critical criminologists, highlighting the harm, violence, and exploitation embedded within it.

Format: Hardback
Length: 362 pages
Publication date: 05 November 2022
Publisher: University of British Columbia Press

This groundbreaking collection makes a compelling case that modern sport is characterized by unequal and problematic power relations that are inextricably linked to issues of violence, harm, deviance, and punishment. On the one hand, sport is a cornerstone of community building, an expression of solidarity, and a means to mental and social well-being. On the other hand, there is the star player who commits sexual violence, the trans athlete whose achievements are dismissed as fraudulent, or the racist and abusive nationalism of the passionate sports fan. Contributors to this volume reimagine sport as an important unit of analysis for critical criminologists, drawing connections between head trauma and athletic violence and exploring the social meanings of sport in prison.

Messages about crime, violence, and punishment in sport mirror broader relations of power that exist off the field. Situated at the intersections of sport, sporting culture, and crime, Power Played blows the whistle on the harm, violence, and exploitation embedded within.

This innovative collection convincingly argues that modern sport can be characterized by unequal and problematic power relations that are inextricably linked to issues of violence, harm, deviance, and punishment. On the one hand, sport is a mainstay of community building, an expression of solidarity, and a means to mental and social health. On the other, there is the star player who commits sexual violence, the trans athlete whose achievements are dismissed as fraudulent, or the racist and abusive nationalism of the passionate sports fan. Contributors to this volume reimagine sport as an important unit of analysis for critical criminologists, drawing connections between head trauma and athletic violence and exploring the social meanings of sport in prison.

Messages about crime, violence, and punishment in sport mirror broader relations of power that exist off the field. Situated at the intersections of sport, sporting culture, and crime, Power Played blows the whistle on the harm, violence, and exploitation embedded within.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780774867795