Understanding sport off the field: Two Cal State East Bay Professors contribute to “Sociology of Sport”

Cal State East Bay Professors of Kinesiology put their pen where their passions are. Matthew Atencio, Co-Director of the Center for Sport and Social Justice, and Becky Beal contributed to the newly released 12th edition of Sociology of Sport, a popular and comprehensive textbook that takes a critical approach to the subject, focusing, in particular, on issues of power and inequality.

The authors note that the book, published by the University of Oxford Press, which targets undergraduate students of kinesiology, sociology, sport studies and sport management, is guided by key questions including: "Are sports free of racism and sexism?" and "Who pays for, and who benefits from, sports?". This version of the book also focuses on the environmental impacts on sport, while at the same time, addressing how sport impacts the environment. 

Atencio and Beal want readers to use a sociological imagination or “lens” to approach the evolving sporting world. 

“We want students to understand that sporting institutions have the power to construct what is considered normative and acceptable in terms of participation and identities,” said Atencio. “Looking ahead, how can we envision sports in a more humane, inclusive and ecologically aware manner?”

The authors revised each of the 15 chapters to reflect current issues and elements in the sporting world including climate change, environmentalism, technology and social justice. This edition is also focused more on the context of the United States while making comparisons between the United States and other global contexts and conditions. 

“There have been many recent issues, activities and events in sport that need to be understood, ranging from athlete activism to new activities that are gaining popularity and audiences from around the world,” said Atencio. 

Many questions are thus emerging and will need to be dealt with: How can we make sense of increasingly popular activities such as esports? What are the new practices and meanings around formerly subcultural or “alternative” sports that are now considered mainstream? What is the future of amateurism in collegiate sport?  How is sport being used for grassroots community development purposes? Then, the advent of global climate change must be taken into account when considering the future of sport — thus, how can sport become more ecologically sustainable, at all levels of practice?