Sport and communities: an introduction

Abstract

While there has been considerable academic and popular coverage of the perceived importance of community identity in the lives of ordinary citizens, such analysis is problematical due to a conceptual and theoretical deficiency around the very use and understanding of the term. There has been a failure to fully operationalize and thus objectify (for measurement) some of the contributing elements of this term, which is of concern to sports scholars as it is often sport that is used as a proxy measurement of the precise strength of a community's vibrancy and connectedness. The latter part of this introductory piece details common themes and issues of note that emerge throughout the course of the ensuing compendium of published works, which essentially cohere around issues of sport in society, volunteerism and identity.