Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Sport and Leisure

Despite the mythology of sport bringing people together and encouraging everyone to work collectively to success, modern sport remains a site of exclusionary practices that operate on a number of levels. Although sports participation is, in some cases at least, becoming more open and meritocratic, at the management level it remains very homogenous; dominated by western, white, middle-aged, able-bodied men. This has implications both for how sport develops and how it is experienced by different participant groups, across all levels. Critical studies of sport have revealed that, rather than being a passive mechanism and merely reflecting inequality, sport, via social agents' interactions with sporting spaces, is actively involved in producing, reproducing, sustaining and indeed, resisting, various manifestations of inequality. The experiences of marginalised groups can act as a resource for explaining contemporary political struggles over what sport means, how it should be played (and by whom), and its place within wider society. Central to this collection is the argument that the dynamics of cultural identities are contextually contingent; influenced heavily by time and place and the extent to which they are embedded in the culture of their geographic location. They also come to function differently within certain sites and institutions; be it in one's everyday routine or leisure pursuits, such as sport. Among the themes and issues explored by the contributors to this volume are: social inclusion and exclusion in relation to class, 'race' and ethnicity, gender and sexuality; social identities and authenticity; social policy, deviance and fandom. This book was published as a special issue of Sport in Society.

Thomas Fletcher is a Senior Lecturer within Carnegie Faculty at Leeds Metropolitan University. Thomas's research interests include: 'race'/ethnicity, social identities, heritage, and equity and diversity in sport and leisure. Thomas's book, Sports Events, Society and Culture (co-edited with Katherine Dashper and Nicola McCullough) is due to be published by Routledge in early 2014. Katherine Dashper is a Senior Lecturer within Carnegie Faculty at Leeds Metropolitan University. Her research interests include gender, sexuality, social identities and human-animal studies, and she specialises in rural sport, leisure and tourism. She has two edited books - Sports Events, Society and Culture (with Thomas Fletcher and Nicola McCullough) and Rural Tourism: An international perspective - due for publication in 2014/15.

1. Introduction: Diversity, equity and inclusion in sport and leisure Section 1: Inclusionary politics and active recreation 2. Can we make a difference? Examining the transformative potential of sport and active recreation 3. The Civilised Skateboarder and the Sports Funding Hegemony Section 2: Sport, Policy and inclusion 4. Sports clubs and civic inclusion: Rethinking the poverty of association 5. Sports-based intervention and the problem of youth offending: a diverse enough tool for a diverse society? Section 3: Gender and sexuality 6. Enter the discourse: exploring the discursive roots of inclusivity in mixed-sex martial arts 7. Not a job for 'girly girls': horseracing, gender and work identities 8. The Concepts Underpinning Everyday Gendered Homophobia Based Upon the Experiences of Lesbian Coaches Section 4: Race and ethnicity 9. Marketing Strategies Within an African-Brazilian Martial Art 10. The making of an ethnically diverse management: contested cultural meanings in a Dutch amateur football club 11. Sport Controversy, the Media and Anglo-Indian Cricket Relations: The 1977 'Vaseline Incident' in Retrospect Section 5: Supporting and watching sport 12. Social Inclusion through Football Fandom: Opportunities for Learning-Disabled People 13. Intolerance and joy, violence and love among male football fans: towards a psychosocial explanation of 'excessive' behaviours 14. The Role of Mediated Sports Programming on Implicit Racial Stereotypes