This innovative collection convincingly argues that modern sport can be characterized by unequal and problematic power relations that are inextricably linked to issues of violence, harm, deviance, and punishment.

On the one hand, sport is a mainstay of community building, an expression of solidarity, and a means to mental and social health. On the other, there is the star player who commits sexual violence, the trans athlete whose achievements are dismissed as fraudulent, or the racist and abusive nationalism of the impassioned sports fan. From drawing connections between head trauma and athletic violence to exploring the social meanings of sport in prison, contributors to this volume reimagine sport as an important unit of analysis for critical criminologists.

Messages about crime, violence, and punishment in sport mirror broader relations of power that exist off the field. Situated at the intersections of sport, sporting culture, and crime, Power Played blows the whistle on the harm, violence, and exploitation embedded within.

Derek Silva is associate professor of sociology at University of King's College and is the coauthor of Power Played: A Critical Criminology of Sport.

Derek Silva's profile page

Liam Kennedy is emeritus professor of history, Queen's University Belfast, and a member of the Royal Irish Academy.

Liam Kennedy's profile page

"Taken together, this volume provides a comprehensive outlook on how (critical) criminology can inform our understanding of deviancy and crime within sports, and it does so through a myriad of ways."

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