Sport facilities are instrumental in keeping the population fit and healthy. Governments worldwide are thus engaged in devising policies, programs and projects for building such facilities, with the aim of providing citizens with opportunities for a healthy lifestyle. This feature is prominent in...

This chapter looks at how globalization has affected and shaped the domestic elite level male football cultures of Scandinavia since the game turned more professional in the region. By drawing on empirical examples from the recent histories of Norwegian, Swedish and, to a lesser extent, Danish ...

Every now and then - but with surprising regularity - small nations break through to the international level in sports and attract the attention of the global sports world. This paper focuses on two such occasions in men's international football: the Norwegian national team in the 1990s and...

The Sámi are the indigenous people of the North Calotte, living in Sápmi (land of the Sámi, which covers the north parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and north east of Russia). This paper examines the role of Sámi sport with reference to the Nordic model - centred on the welfare state and social...

This volume examines the interrelationships of sport, outdoor life and society across the Nordic region. The aims for putting together this volume are twofold: (1) to advance knowledge of Nordic sport and outdoor life, as important fields of social activity in their own rights; and (2) to enhance...

The four papers in this issue deal with public oppositions to the staging of the 2012 London Olympic Games and fans' resistance to the modernization and commercialization of football in Italy, Norway and Brazil.

Why are Scandinavian countries so committed to the cause of anti-doping? In this paper, we propose that the Scandinavian mentality, formed by paternalistic welfare models, is a useful framework for understanding anti-doping. We focus on anti-doping policy and work in Norway and Denmark. We start...

The progressive commercialization of football in Brazil has been accompanied by the emergence of social movements that seek increased visibility and power over decision-making processes in the sport industrial complex. These groups are responding to rapid changes in the political economy of...

International and Nordic studies indicate that women still receive less than 10% of routine newspaper coverage. Lack of gender diversity in sport media coverage seems therefore to be as persistent in the Nordic welfare states, ranked among the most gender equalized in the world, as in other...

This article examines the diverse forms of public opposition, protest, criticism, and complaint in the United Kingdom on the staging of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games in London. Our discussion draws heavily on empirical research, primarily fieldwork and interviews in East London with local...