Sport in society: issues and controversies in Australia and New Zealand has a threefold purpose:

• to show students the ways that sociology can be used to study sport in society
• to evoke critical questions from students as they think about sport in their lives and the world around them
• to facilitate the use of research, theory and everyday experiences to learn about sport in society.

Organised around controversial and curiosity-arousing issues, the book presents current research and theory in the sociology of sport for readers to discuss and analyse. Although we have used popular sources in addition to sociological materials, the content is grounded in sociological research and theoretical approaches. The emphasis is clearly on sport and sport-related actions as they influence and are influenced by the social and cultural contexts in which they are created and played.

Sport in Society is written for those taking their first look at the relationship between sport, culture and society. It does presume in-depth experience in sport or a detailed knowledge of sport jargon and statistics. The primary goal is to assist students to identify and explore critical issues related to sport in their lives, families, schools, communities, societies and the world as a whole. We use concepts, theories and research as tools that enable students to visualise sports as activities that are inseparable from everyday life, while at the same time recognising that they are more than mere reflections of the world in which we live. The emphasis on issues and controversies makes the content of all chapters useful for people who are concerned with sport-related policies and program administration. Our purpose is to assist those who wish to make sport more democratic and sport participation more accessible, especially to those who continue to be excluded or marginalised.

We have designed this edition specifically to cater for the needs of students in Australia and New Zealand. While it is heavily influenced by the structure and content of American editions of Jay Coakley’s book (which we consider to be a fine text), this edition has been carefully rewritten from start to finish so that the content and examples are relevant and appealing to students in Australia and New Zealand. We based our ideas on our experience in teaching our own courses, as well as the plentiful feedback we received from local reviewers. Chapters have been rewritten to take into account new research and theoretical developments that specifically concern Australia and New Zealand. Information, including the content of tables and figures, has been replaced where needed. New substantive materials and examples have been added to maximise the relevance of the text, and there are also many new photographs and references. A major challenge we faced when rewriting this edition was to identify topics and references that we would not include. The sociology of sport has expanded so much over the past decade that Sport in Society is now more of an introduction to the field, rather than a comprehensive overview. We hope that the book we have created will be helpful and informative, and we welcome your feedback.

Chris Hallinan, Steve Jackson, Peter Mewett – May 2008