The Routledge Research in Sport Politics and Policy series aims to give shape to, and showcase, the burgeoning academic field of ‘sport politics and policy’. Highlighting the political nature of sport, the series shows how sport can illuminate our understanding of wider political themes such as, for example, issues around governance; sport, foreign policy and ‘soft power’; gender politics, or the use of sport as a development tool. The series embraces all areas of sport politics and policy, including domestic, international and comparative studies, and includes work by world-leading and emerging scholars.
By Marko Begović
February 06, 2024
This book examines how states in the post-socialist Western Balkans region have used sport as a policy tool, and how sport in the region has been shaped by politics, history, and culture. Looking closely at the intersection of sports policy and politics in the countries of Serbia, Montenegro, ...
By Emanuel Leite Junior, Carlos Rodrigues
August 17, 2023
This book uses football as a lens through which to examine China’s economic development, its political economy, and its political thought. Focusing on the Chinese Football Development Plan, this book opens up new perspectives on the concepts of hegemony, soft power, socialism with Chinese ...
Edited
By Spencer Harris, Mathew Dowling
May 31, 2023
This book examines claims that the Olympic Games are a vehicle to inspire and increase mass sport participation. It focuses on the mass sport participation legacy of the most recent hosts of the summer Olympics, including Atlanta, Sydney, Athens, Beijing, London, Rio, and Tokyo. It is organised by...
Edited
By Cem Tinaz, Brendon Knott
January 09, 2023
For the first time, this book examines the strategies of leaders of emerging nations to use sport as a tool for reaching social, economic, cultural, political, technological or environmental goals and gaining international prestige. It assesses whether sport can really be an effective tool in ...
Edited
By Jim O'Brien, Russell Holden, Xavier Ginesta
October 15, 2020
Sport can be a vehicle for the expression of identity, and also a factor in the shaping of identity. This book explores the complex interrelationships between nations, regions and states in the landscape of contemporary international sport, with a particular focus on identity. Exploring important...
By Jinming Zheng, Shushu Chen, Tien-Chin Tan, Barrie Houlihan
June 30, 2020
Acknowledging China’s established status as a global sporting superpower, this is the first book to systematically investigate sport policy in that country. With a focus on sport development in the most recent three decades, Sport Policy in China explores a wide range of topics in Chinese sport, ...
Edited
By Ekain Rojo-Labaien, Álvaro Rodríguez Díaz, Joel Rookwood
May 18, 2020
This book examines the political significance of sport and its importance for nation-state building and political and economic transition across thirteen post-Soviet and post-socialist countries, primarily located in Eastern Europe. Adopting a critical case-study approach, building on historical ...