Sport, Medicine and Health : The medicalization of sport?

This book explores the complex and contradictory relationships between sport, medicine and health through a historically grounded analysis, informed by macro-social trends such as changing political economies and altered perceptions of the body.

Drawing upon literature in the sociology of sport, medicine and health, the book explores the underlying scientific discourse of physical activity health promotion to expose the broader political context in which medical knowledge and public policies emerge, and the incongruities between these policies and the supply of and demand for (sports) medicine. It examines the function medicine performs in the world of sport and the working practice of sports medicine personnel. At the local level, practitioners experience various context-specific barriers and forms of resistance which restrict the degree to which the profession is able to exert influence over sport. Through a series of case studies, the book explores the social construction of sports medical knowledge and the potential for medicine to create human suffering rather than well-being.

The relationship between sport, medicine and health in our society is becoming increasingly complex. This important and timely study explores this relationship through an analysis of changing political economies, altered perceptions of the body and science’s developing contribution to the human condition. Surveying the various ways in which medicine interacts with the world of sport, it examines the changing practices and purposes of sports medicine today.

Drawing on the latest research in the sociology of sport, this book investigates the scientific discourse underlying the promotion of physical activity to reveal the political context in which medical knowledge and public policies emerge. It considers the incongruities between these policies and their attempts to regulate the supply of and demand for sports medicine. Through a series of original case studies, this book exposes the social construction of sports medical knowledge and questions the potential for medicine to influence athletes’ well-being both positively and negatively.

Sport, Medicine and Health: The medicalization of sport? provides valuable insights for all students and scholars interested in sports medicine, sports policy, public health and the sociology of sport.