Making Sense of Sports

by EllisCashmore (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2005

  $3.36

  Ellis Cashmore's unique, multidisciplinary introduction to sport studies is completely revised, updated and enhanced to reflect the changing character of contemporary sport. Among the questions addressed in this new fourth edition, Cashmore discusses: cyborgization - will the human body be re-designed to meet athletic needs just as cosmetic surgery has enabled the re-design of bodies to suit aesthetic preferences? Nature or nurture - have advances in genetic science solved the age-old question of whether great athletes are born or made, and how does this affect our understanding of competition? Masculinities - does masculine power still dominate and, if not, what does this reveal about men in sports? Already established as a standard text, Cashmore's challenging approach to the study of sport is now updated to include new chapters on 'The Mind of the Athlete' (a probe into the psychological qualities and processes that separate winners from also-rans), and 'The Rise And Rise Of Celebrities' (investigating the rise of celebrity culture and its effect on the status of athletes). Original and revealing, this updated edition continues to provide a comprehensive investigation into the changing character of sport, and is essential reading for undergraduates of sociology and sports studies.

• Used

  Paperback
  2000

  $3.36

  Sports are more important than ever socially, economically and culturally. As well as embodying cherished values and ideals, sports now reflect many of the worries of wider society. Drugs, racism, corruption and violence are all now major concerns and our experience of sport is increasingly subject to a gigantic industry made up of owners, players, sports goods manufacturers, television networks and corporate sponsors. In this newly expanded edition of Making Sense of Sports , Cashmore addresses all these issues as well as the more basic questions about the history of sports, its social context and possible future development. Among the new editions other themes are: the body, how it works and why it is more cultural than natural why women continue to be devalued and depreciated by sports Nike, globalization and the sports industry art and how it reflects changing conceptions of sports. This lively and entertaining textbook will be an indispensable guide for undergraduates in sports studies.