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Sport and Social Inequalities
Author(s) -
Spaaij Ramón,
Farquharson Karen,
Marjoribanks Timothy
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
sociology compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 31
ISSN - 1751-9020
DOI - 10.1111/soc4.12254
Subject(s) - sociology , social stratification , social inequality , hierarchy , inequality , race (biology) , social hierarchy , social mobility , gender studies , mythology , reproduction , social reproduction , social science , political science , ecology , social capital , biology , mathematical analysis , philosophy , mathematics , theology , law
This article reviews recent research on the relationship between sport and social inequalities, focusing on gender, race, nation and social mobility. Through an engagement with these areas of research, we highlight how sport reflects and reinforces broader hierarchical structures; how it serves as a site for both inclusion and exclusion, but in ways that work unevenly; and how sport is ultimately a site for social reproduction of hierarchy and social stratification. We argue that the gender, racial and national hierarchies that sport is embedded within interact to largely prevent sport from being a site for social mobility, despite popular myths to the contrary.