This book examines all of the major traditions of social thought to clearly show their influence in our understanding of sport and leisure. Also shows how sport has contributed to our understanding of such themes as globalization and nationalism.

Introduction; Chapter 1 Functionalism, solidarity and social stratification; Chapter 2 Interpretative sociology: Rationalisation, cultural pessimism and the search for meaning; Chapter 3 Beyond conventional pluralism; Chapter 4 Classical Marxism, political economy and beyond; Chapter 5 Culture as a war of position and a way of life; Chapter 6 Figurations, power and civilising processes; Chapter 7 Feminist thought and the boundaries of sisterhood; Chapter 8 Fields of power, habitus and distinction; Chapter 9 Beyond modernity and the problems of postmodernism; Chapter 10 Dependency and globalisation: Sport, leisure and global processes; Index;

Grant Jarvie is Professor of Sport and Leisure Research at Heriot-Watt University,
Joseph Maguire is Senior Lecturer in the Sociology of Sport at Loughborough University.