Why do Americans transform every type of play into competitive contests? Americans have institutionalized sport and recreation as an embodiment of national values. The nexus of these values is the Protestant ethic which emphasizes moral asceticism, rational labour, goal directed behaviour, and competitive achievement. This ethic has engendered the spirit and creed of American sport, labelled the American sport ethos. This ethos which has influenced many different sports with the result that Americans work at their play and imbue their feats with moral import.

Steven Overman explores the concordant values of the Protestant ethic, capitalism, and sport by applying German scholar Max Weber's seminal thesis. Weber demonstrated a relationship between the Protestant ethic and a form of economic behavior he labeled the ôcalling of capitalism.ö

This book looks at sport not just as recreation, but as an integral part of contemporary culture, with connections to industry, commerce and politics. It explores the history and theories of sport, and touches on more controversial issues.

"This volume provides an analysis of the nature of competition in contemporary American sport. This work traces American sport from American culture to the influence of the 1960s counterculture and the resulting rise of a post-Cold War ethos that continues to reinterpret competitiveness as a relic of a misbegotten past and anathema to American life"--Provided by publisher.

Written from the contrasting yet complementary perspectives of sociology and philosophy, this book explores the far-reaching ethical consequences of the runaway commodification of sport, focusing on those instances where commodification gives rise to morally undesirable consequences. The authors consider three main areas of concern for participators and observers alike: the corrosion of the core meanings and values of sport, the increasing elitism of access to sporting commodities, and the undermining of social conditions that support sporting communities. Unique in its focus on the ethical dimension of the powerful economics of today’s sport, this book will be of interest, not only to those in the fields of sports studies and ethics of sport, but also to academics, researchers and students in philosophy of morality, sociology, and the ethics of globalization as viewed through the ultimate globalized phenomenon of modern sport.

Handbook for Religion and Social Institutions is written for sociologists who study a variety of sub-disciplines and are interested in recent studies and theoretical approaches that relate religious variables to their particular area of interest. The handbook focuses on several major themes: - Social Institutions such as Politics, Economics, Education, Health and Social Welfare - Family and the Life Cycle - Inequality - Social Control - Culture - Religion as a Social Institution and in a Global Perspective This handbook will be of interest to social scientists including sociologists, anthropologists, political scientists, and other researchers whose study brings them in contact with the study of religion and its impact on social institutions.

Professional football is one of the most popular television 'genres' worldwide, attracting the support of millions of fans, and the sponsorship of powerful companies. In A Game of Two Halves, Sandvoss considers football's relationship with television, its links with transnational capitalism, and the importance of football fandom in forming social and cultural identities around the globe. He presents the phenomenon of football as a reflection postmodern culture and globalization.Through a series of case studies, based in ethnographic audience research, Sandvoss explores the motivations and pleasures of football fans, the intense bond formed between supporters and their clubs, the implications of football consumption on political discourse and citizenship, football as a factor of cultural globalisation, and the pivotal role of football and television in a postmodern cultural order.