Sports in society

Sports in Africa reflect a complex, colonial history in which recent democratic changes have set out to redistribute wealth, reclaim notions of an African heritage and celebrate diversity. With a growing need to discuss and analyse issues, images and controversies with relevance to both the African and South African contexts, a detailed introduction to the sociology of sport is provided within this, the southern African edition of Sports in society: issues and controversies. This adaptation of the American and international editions provides a meaningful framework and depth of sociological issues, theories, concepts and sporting practices in Africa, and then also particularly South Africa. Inevitably, there are many similarities within this framework to the original text, and it therefore still forms the basis of exploring the dynamic relationship between sports, culture and society. Contents include the following: Diverse sport histories and political dispensations; Knowledge and theories about sports in society; Gender and ideological change; Race and race relations; Economic realities and inequalities; Global trends and affiliations; Media and sports relations; Sports for the future; Sports and development. Sports in society is the definitive text for learning the sociology of sport in context, with extensive revisions so that students in Africa will find the content relevant and understandable in terms of their experiences.