ABSTRACT
This book considers the ability of individuals and communities to maintain healthy relationships with their surroundings—before, during and after catastrophic events—through physical activity and sporting practices.
Broad and ambitious in scope, this book uses sport and physical activity as a lens through which to examine our catastrophic societies and spaces. Acknowledging that catastrophes are complex, overlapping phenomena in need of sophisticated, interdisciplinary solutions, this book explores the social, economic, ecological and moral injustices that determine the personal and emotional impact of catastrophe. Drawing from international case studies, this book uniquely explores the different landscapes and contexts of catastrophe as well as the affective qualities of sporting practices. This includes topics such as DIY skateparks in Jamaica; former child soldiers in Africa; the funding of sport, recreation and cultural activities by extractive industries in northern Canada; mountain biking in the UK; and urban exploration in New Zealand. Featuring the work of ex-professional athletes, artists, anthropologists, sociologists, political ecologists, community development workers and philosophers, this book offers new perspectives on capitalism, nature, sociality, morality and identity.
This is essential reading for academics and practitioners in sociology, disaster studies, sport-for-development and political ecology.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
chapter |17 pages
Introduction
part I|52 pages
The end of capitalism
chapter Chapter 2|16 pages
Post-Colonial residue in sport-for-development partnerships
part II|55 pages
The end of the social
chapter Chapter 4|15 pages
An examination of physical activity norms and code making during a global pandemic
chapter Chapter 6|15 pages
Women's basketball and political activism in the time of COVID-19
part III|48 pages
The end of nature
chapter Chapter 8|19 pages
Mountain biking in the (Neg)Anthropocene
chapter Chapter 9|13 pages
An urban explorer's experiences of meshwork, melding and the uncanny
chapter Chapter 10|14 pages
Climate change, catastrophe and hope in football fandom
part IV|50 pages
The end of morality