ABSTRACT

The past decade has seen a tremendous growth in the popularity of activities like skateboarding and snowboarding; sports that have been labelled as 'extreme' or 'lifestyle' and which embody 'alternative' sporting values such as anti-competitiveness, anti-regulation, high risk and personal freedom. The popularity of these activities goes beyond the teenage male youth that the media typify as their main consumers. This book examines the popularity, significance and meaning of lifestyle sport, exploring the sociological significance of these activities, particularly as related to their consumption, and the expression of politics of identity and difference.

Including much unique ethnographic research work with skaters, surfers, windsurfers, climbers, adventure racers, and ultimate frisbee players., the central themes explored in The Cultural Politics of Lifestyle Sports include:

  • How might we describe lifestyle sports?
  • What influence do commercial forces have on lifestyle sports?
  • Do lifestyle sports challenge the hegemonic masculinities inherent in a traditional sport environment?

This book is a compelling exploration of sport as a way of life, and is a vital resource for any lecturer or student interested in Sociology and Cultural Studies in a Sports context.

chapter 1|28 pages

Introduction

Mapping the lifestyle sport-scape

part |2 pages

PART 1 Commercialisation: culture, identity and change

chapter 2|24 pages

‘Chicks dig scars’

Commercialisation and the transformations of skateboarders’ identities

chapter 4|24 pages

Sustainable adventure

Embodied experiences and ecological practices within British climbing

chapter 5|17 pages

Surfing

From one (cultural) extreme to another

part |2 pages

PART 2 Ambivalent masculinities: identity and difference

chapter 6|18 pages

Taking risks

Identity, masculinities and rock climbing

chapter 7|23 pages

‘New lads’?

Competing masculinities in the windsurfing culture

chapter 8|21 pages

‘Mandatory equipment’

Women in adventure racing

chapter 9|22 pages

‘Anyone can play this game’

Ultimate frisbee, identity and difference

chapter 10|18 pages

Extreme America: the cultural politics of extreme sports in

The cultural politics of extreme sports in 1990s America