Social Class, Physical Education, and Community Sport: Theoretical Perspectives
About this ebook
Compared to other markers of social identity in academic analyses of physical education and community sport (such as gender, ‘race’ and ethnicity, sexuality, and disability), discussions of social class have often been relegated to a secondary consideration. However, social class has shown to continually intersect with other markers of identity in shaping opportunities, patterns of participation, and social trends in physical education and community sport.
This collection illustrates the importance of social class relations within contemporary sociological analyses of physical education and community sport. Each chapter draws upon a specific theoretical perspective to explicate the salience of social class within the domain of physical education and community sport, offering an opportunity to critically examine a range of case studies and empirical data.
Social Class, Physical Education, and Community Sport re-centres social class as a key consideration for the sociological study of physical education and community sport. It will be of particular interest for students, researchers, and practitioners working across sociological, sports, and leisure studies.
About the author
Michael Roy Hobson is a Senior Lecturer in Physical Education, Sport, and Youth Development at St Mary’s University, Twickenham. Michael’s recent outputs include ‘A gown called malice: undergraduate PE students’ belonging in university, social class and race’ (2025) and ‘Social class and the cultivation of capital: undergraduate PE students’ socialisation in sport and physical activity’ (2024).
Stuart Whigham is a Senior Lecturer in Sport, Coaching, and Physical Education at Oxford Brookes University. His research interests in the sociology and politics of sport focus on national identity and nationalism in sport, the politics of the Commonwealth Games, the sociology and politics of Scottish sport, and social class in sport and PE. He is co-editor of Critical Issues in Football: A Sociological Analysis (2023) and editor of Sport and Nationalism: Theoretical Perspectives (2024).
Izram Chaudry is a Lecturer in Sociology and Criminology at the University of Bradford. He has a PhD from the School of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Leeds. Izram is also the author of BrAsian Family Practices and Reflexivity: Beyond the Boxing Ropes (2024).
