Learning from history and acting politically: The threats and opportunities facing the sociology of the sport community

This article reflects on the history of the International Sociology of Sport Association and the International Review for the Sociology of Sport, and the words and deeds of previous editors, to illustrate both the perennial challenges and future prospects facing the sociology of sport. In light of neoliberal higher educational trends, and the interplay of the politics of language and knowledge in ‘post-truth’ societies, it explores how the sociology of sport may respond to the contemporaneous crisis in sociology. It argues that despite notable challenges ahead, there is considerable scope for sociologists of sport to exert agency and thus build on the opportunities presented to, and the many existing strengths of, the field.