Social Capital And Sport Organisations

The first text to explore sport's contribution to the hot topic of social capital, in an expertly edited collection of contributions from an internationally renowned author team.

Drawing on primary research within voluntary sports clubs in the UK and secondary analysis of the wider international literature on social capital, this text focuses on the micro-processes of social capital development and how they play out in specific social settings. In so doing, it adds to existing research by developing a rich, contextualised, process-based view of social capital in action. Critically reviewing theoretical and empirical literature on social capital, the book highlights the key current debates. The empirical core of the book draws on ethnographic observation over 18 months at voluntary sports clubs in the UK, including in-depth interviews with sports club members and organisers. The text explicitly seeks to set this empirical work in its wider context, by considering the findings in relation to other international studies of social capital in both sports clubs and other types of organisation. The book draws on international research from a whole range of countries: UK, USA, Australia, Canada, Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, Japan, Vanuatu, Czech Republic, Germany, and many others. The book establishes a transferable, process-based understanding of how social capital develops - both within sports clubs and beyond. This is an illuminating reading for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers with an interest in the sociology of sport, sport development, sport management, sport policy, social theory, social policy, or social networks.

Drawing on primary research within voluntary sports clubs in the UK and secondary analysis of the wider international literature on social capital, this text focuses on the micro-processes of social capital development and how they play out in specific social settings. In so doing, it adds to existing research by developing a rich, contextualised, process-based view of social capital in action. Critically reviewing theoretical and empirical literature on social capital, the book highlights the key current debates. The empirical core of the book draws on ethnographic observation over 18 months at voluntary sports clubs in the UK, including in-depth interviews with sports club members and organisers. The text explicitly seeks to set this empirical work in its wider context, by considering the findings in relation to other international studies of social capital in both sports clubs and other types of organisation. The book draws on international research from a whole range of countries: UK, USA, Australia, Canada, Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, Japan, Vanuatu, Czech Republic, Germany, and many others. The book establishes a transferable, process-based understanding of how social capital develops – both within sports clubs and beyond. This is an illuminating reading for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers with an interest in the sociology of sport, sport development, sport management, sport policy, social theory, social policy, or social networks.

Although there is significant interest in the social role of sport in fostering civil society from both policymakers and academics, there is a lack of evidence of the specific role of sport federations in this system. This book critically presents the mechanisms and structures in a selection of sport federations within a variety of European countries that illuminate the varied relationships between not-for-profit sport federations, their members, governments and the citizens they represent. The contributors explore the contrasts and synergies between core social capital theoretical perspectives, and how these may be informed by and/or shape the realities of governance from different perspectives within the sport system.

Updated to include a new chapter about the influence of social media and the Internet—the 20th anniversary edition of Bowling Alone remains a seminal work of social analysis, and its examination of what happened to our sense of community remains more relevant than ever in today’s fractured America. Twenty years, ago, Robert D. Putnam made a seemingly simple observation: once we bowled in leagues, usually after work; but no longer. This seemingly small phenomenon symbolized a significant social change that became the basis of the acclaimed bestseller, Bowling Alone, which The Washington Post called “a very important book” and Putnam, “the de Tocqueville of our generation.” Bowling Alone surveyed in detail Americans’ changing behavior over the decades, showing how we had become increasingly disconnected from family, friends, neighbors, and social structures, whether it’s with the PTA, church, clubs, political parties, or bowling leagues. In the revised edition of his classic work, Putnam shows how our shrinking access to the “social capital” that is the reward of communal activity and community sharing still poses a serious threat to our civic and personal health, and how these consequences have a new resonance for our divided country today. He includes critical new material on the pervasive influence of social media and the internet, which has introduced previously unthinkable opportunities for social connection—as well as unprecedented levels of alienation and isolation. At the time of its publication, Putnam’s then-groundbreaking work showed how social bonds are the most powerful predictor of life satisfaction, and how the loss of social capital is felt in critical ways, acting as a strong predictor of crime rates and other measures of neighborhood quality of life, and affecting our health in other ways. While the ways in which we connect, or become disconnected, have changed over the decades, his central argument remains as powerful and urgent as ever: mending our frayed social capital is key to preserving the very fabric of our society.

Drawing on primary research within voluntary sports clubs in the UK and secondary analysis of the wider international literature on social capital, this text focuses on the micro-processes of social capital development and how they play out in specific social settings. In so doing, it adds to existing research by developing a rich, contextualised, process-based view of social capital in action. Critically reviewing theoretical and empirical literature on social capital, the book highlights the key current debates. The empirical core of the book draws on ethnographic observation over 18 months at voluntary sports clubs in the UK, including in-depth interviews with sports club members and organisers. The text explicitly seeks to set this empirical work in its wider context, by considering the findings in relation to other international studies of social capital in both sports clubs and other types of organisation. The book draws on international research from a whole range of countries: UK, USA, Australia, Canada, Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, Japan, Vanuatu, Czech Republic, Germany, and many others. The book establishes a transferable, process-based understanding of how social capital develops – both within sports clubs and beyond. This is an illuminating reading for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers with an interest in the sociology of sport, sport development, sport management, sport policy, social theory, social policy, or social networks.

This timely volume puts emphasis on the effect of social capital on everyday life: how the routines of daily life lead people to get involved in their communities. Focussing on its micro-level causes and consequences, the book's international contributors argue that social capital is fundamentally concerned with the value of social networks and about how people interact with each other. The book suggests that different modes of participation have different consequences for creating - or destroying - a sense of community or participation. The diversity of countries, institutions and groups dealt with - from Indian castes to Dutch churches, from highly competent 'everyday makers' in Scandinavia to politics-avoiding Belgian women and Irish villagers - offers fascinating case studies, and theoretical reflections for the present debates about civil society and democracy.

In a world of competing public policy priorities, economic challenges and political uncertainty, sports development organisations and initiatives need to adapt to survive. This book makes the case for 'Sporting Capital' as a new conceptual model of sports participation with the potential to transform public policy and practice in sports development. The central argument presented is that a model of Sporting Capital - with its three domains of physiological, social and psychological attributes - provides a missing framework, creating a new impetus for sustained growth in community sport by joining up the levels at which sports development is planned and implemented. Touching on important issues such as youth sport, public health, volunteering, disability, ethnicity and social inequality, it examines patterns of sports participation in relation to age, gender and social class and offers recommendations for strategic policy improvements that can be implemented by practitioners working on the frontline of community sport. Sporting Capital: Transforming Sports Development Policy and Practice provides valuable insights for all those interested in sports development, youth sport, community sport, or sport and social policy.