Social Issues in Esports

This book provides important new insights into social issues in the rapidly growing field of esports, filling a gap in the literature that has, until now, been dominated by business and management perspectives.

Anne Tjønndal is Head of the Department of Leadership and Innovation and Head of RESPONSE - Research Group for Sport and Society at Nord University, Norway. She is also Visiting Professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).

Part I: Setting the scene, 1. Introduction to social issues in esports, 2. Social issues in esports: Current and emerging trends in research, Part II: Gender, 3. The representation of women in Hearthstone esports, 4. Leadership and gender inclusion in esports organisations, 5. The importance of female characters in esports: A quantitative analysis of players' perceptions of gendered character representations in sports video games, Part III: Mental health and integrity issues, 6. Stress and coping in esports, 7. Doping in esports, 8. 'Virtually cycling': The impact of technology, cheating, and performance enhancement in bicycle e-racing, Part IV: Diversity and inclusion, 9. Understanding the potential for esports to support social inclusion agendas, 10. The Olympic Movement and esports governance: Finding the right way of cooperating for diversity, equity, and inclusion, Part V: Conclusion, 11. Conclusion: Moving forward in research on social issues in esports