Sport and Society: A Student Introduction - Tapa dura

`Barrie Houlihan's astonishingly ambitious and skilfully assembled collection, Sport and Society, examines the relations between sport, social policy and the social context that underlies the two. Organized around such themes as exclusion, commercialism and international comparisons, the book allows the reader to understand not only the centrality of sport to contemporary society, but the often perplexing policies that contrive to encourage or deny participation, promote or deter public sector involvement and support or undermine physical education. Importantly, Houlihan never prioritises the general over the particular, always striving to find detail amid the bigger picture' - Ellis Cashmore, Professor of Culture, Media and Sport at Staffordshire University and author of Sports Culture: An A-Z Guide

'The most comprehensive study of contemporary issues in sport by leading international scholars. Houlihan's book is the answer to sports students' prayers, full of information, statistics, tables and figures, extensive guides to further reading and, most important of all, challenging ideas. A weighty vademecum for the early 21st century. ' Jim Riordan Honorary Professor of Sports Studies, University of Stirling; Professor Emeritus at University of Surrey; President of the European Sports History Association; FRSA

`Taking an issues and controversies perspective, Houlihan and his colleagues are to be congratulated for their analyses of the complex ways in which sport is connected to the social, economic, and political spheres of local, national, and global life. All of the essays pose significant questions concerning the reciprocal (often asymmetrical) relationships between structural power, policy, and agency. These illuminating essays should provide students and the reading public (both within the UK and abroad) with much about which to think and debate' - Alan G Ingham, Professor and Assistant Chair, Department of Physical Education, Health & Sport Studies, Miami University, Ohio

Barrie Houlihan is Professor of Sport Policy in the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences at Loughborough University, and Visiting Professor at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences. His research interests include the domestic and international policy processes for sport.

He has authored or edited twenty books and over fifty journal articles. His most recent books include Managing Elite Sport Systems (edited with Svein Andersen and Lars Tore Ronglan, Routledge 2015), Sport Policy in Britain (with Iain Lindsey, Routledge 2012) and a third edition of Sport and Society (edited with Dominic Malcolm, SAGE 2015).

Barrie has undertaken consultancy projects for various UK government departments, UK Sport, UNESCO, the World Anti-Doping Agency and the European Union. He is the editor in chief of the International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics.