ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in subsequent chapters of this book. The sociology of sport and leisure still promotes sceptical and even amused responses in some quarters. In sociology itself and also in the social history of leisure there were early exceptions to these predominant patterns, notably the work of E. P. Thompson, the focus on sport and leisure provided by the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies at Birmingham and questions raised and work inspired by the new influence of feminist research and theory. As Max Weber pointed out 'advances in the sphere of the social sciences are substantively tied up with the shift in practical cultural problems'. Sociologists have responded to the new prominence of leisure with sociological analysis of many types. But sociology of sport and leisure has not been arrived at easily. The Leisure Studies Association, founded in the early 1970s, reflected the synthesis of these interests.
