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Social Science Criminology

Power Played

A Critical Criminology of Sport

edited by Derek Silva & Liam Kennedy

Publisher
UBC Press
Initial publish date
Oct 2022
Category
Criminology, Sociology of Sports, Sports, General
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9780774867825
    Publish Date
    Oct 2022
    List Price
    $37.95
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780774867795
    Publish Date
    Oct 2022
    List Price
    $89.95
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780774867801
    Publish Date
    Jun 2023
    List Price
    $37.95

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Where to buy it

Description

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 impassioned sports fan. From drawing connections between head trauma and athletic violence to exploring the social meanings of sport in prison, contributors to this volume reimagine sport as an important unit of analysis for critical criminologists.

 

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.

About the authors

Derek Silva is associate professor of sociology at University of King's College and is the coauthor of Power Played: A Critical Criminology of Sport.

Derek Silva's profile page

Liam Kennedy's profile page

Editorial Reviews

"Taken together, this volume provides a comprehensive outlook on how (critical) criminology can inform our understanding of deviancy and crime within sports, and it does so through a myriad of ways."

idrottsforum.org