Transnational Mobilities in Action Sport Cultures

This book offers an in-depth sociological examination of the global phenomenon of action sports. It argues that trends in contemporary action sport cultures raise important questions about the changing nature of sport in the 21st century. Adopting a global ethnographic approach and engaging multiple theoretical perspectives, it examines how transnational action sport corporations, mega events and media spectacles, the international travel patterns of athletes, tourists and migrants, and the high use of social media among participants, are contributing to the emergence of a transnational imaginary within and across action sport communities. This book contributes to recent debates in the fields of transnationalism, mobilities and migration scholarship, by revealing both the macro structural features of transnationalism and the everyday lived experiences at the local level. Each chapter offers case studies and site-specific vignettes from an array of action sports and around the world. Ultimately, this book illustrates how corporeal, virtual and imagined mobilities and connections across borders are influencing not only how youth are practicing and consuming sport and physical activity, but also how such processes are informing their sense of space, place, identity, politics and belonging.

Holly Thorpe is Senior Lecturer at the University of Waikato, New Zealand. She has published widely on the topics of sociology of sport, social theory, physical youth culture, gender, and action sports.

1. Transnational Mobilities and Action Sport Cultures: Conceptual, Theoretical and Methodological Considerations
PART I: TRANSNATIONAL ACTION SPORT CULTURAL NETWORKS
2. Producing Transnational Networks: Action Sport Companies, Media and Events
3. Digital Media and the Transnational Imaginary: Virtual Memorialization of Global Action Sport Stars
PART II: ACTION SPORTS MIGRATION AND TRANSNATIONAL MOTILITIES
4. Corporeal Mobilities in Action Sport Cultures: Tourists, Professionals and Seasonal Migrants
5. Pleasure, Play, and Everyday Politics in Transnational Action Sport Destinations
6. Transnational Action Sport Career Migration: Reflections from Home and Away
PART III: ACTION SPORTS (IM)MOBILITIES IN DISRUPTED AND CONFLICTED SPACES
7. Action Sports and Natural Disaster Immobilities: Arrhythmic Experiences in Christchurch, New Zealand
8. The Emergence of Action Sports in the Middle East: Imagining New Mobilities with Parkour in Gaza
9. Transnational Connections and Transformation: Action Sport for Development and Peace Building