Sport and Physical Activity across the Lifespan: Critical Perspectives

This edited collection examines the trajectories of health promotion across the lifespan, offering a critical social science perspective on dominant policies. It explores the intersections between life stages, social, economic, and cultural factors, such as class, gender, ability, family dynamics, and race, and highlights the implications of age-focussed sport promotion. It is of interest to those seeking to understand how age and life stages affect sports participation and its impacts.

Format: Hardback
Length: 362 pages
Publication date: 11 December 2017
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

This edited collection problematizes trajectories of health promotion across the lifespan. It provides a distinctive critical social science perspective of the various directions taken by dominant policies in their approach to promoting sport for all ages. It offers an array of theoretical and methodologically diverse perspectives on this topic, and highlights the intersections between different life stages and social, economic, and cultural factors in the developed world, including class, gender, ability, family dynamics, and/or race.

Sport and Physical Activity across the Lifespan critically explores dominant policies of age-focussed sport promotion in order to highlight its implications within the context of particular life stages as they intersect with social, cultural, and economic factors. This includes an examination of organized sport for pre-schoolers; ‘at-risk youth sport programmes; and the creation of sporting sub-cultures within the mid-life ‘market. This book will be of interest to those wanting to learn more about how age and life stages affect the way people think about and participate in sport, and to better understand the impacts of sport across the lifespan.

The editors of this collection have brought together a diverse range of scholars from different fields, including sociology, sport studies, health promotion, and education, to explore the complex relationships between health, sport, and society. The chapters in this book cover a wide range of topics, including the historical development of sport and physical activity policies, the role of sport in promoting health and well-being, the impact of sport on social inequality, and the challenges and opportunities for promoting sport for all ages.

One of the key themes of this collection is the ways in which dominant policies of age-focussed sport promotion perpetuate social inequalities and marginalize certain groups of people. For example, the chapters discuss how policies that prioritize sport for young people may exclude older adults and people with disabilities, and how the commercialization of sport can lead to the commodification of athletes and the prioritization of profit over social and environmental values.

Another theme of this collection is the ways in which sport can be used to promote social inclusion and equity. The chapters explore how sport can be used to break down barriers to participation, such as class, gender, ability, and race, and how it can be used to promote social cohesion and community development. The editors argue that sport has the potential to be a powerful tool for promoting social change and addressing social inequalities, but that this requires a commitment to promoting inclusive and equitable practices.

Overall, Sport and Physical Activity across the Lifespan is a valuable resource for scholars, policymakers, and practitioners interested in understanding the complex relationships between health, sport, and society. The editors have provided a comprehensive and interdisciplinary analysis of the topic, and the chapters in this book offer a wealth of insights and perspectives that will be of interest to a wide range of readers.

Weight: 608g
Dimension: 159 x 216 x 29 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781137485618
Edition number: 1st ed. 2018