Head in the game
Sociocultural analyses of brain trauma in sport
Edited by Stephen Townsend, Murray G. Phillips, Gary Osmond and Rebecca Olive
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- Format: Hardcover
- Pages: 336
- Price: £90.00
- Published Date: June 2025
- Series: Globalizing Sport Studies
Description
Head in the game brings together international scholars from multiple humanities, social science, and scientific disciplines to critically examine one of the most vexing issues in global sport: concussion. It argues that science and medicine alone cannot solve the concussion crisis: sociocultural factors must also be considered. This edited collection draws attention to the ways that social, cultural, historical, political, literary, philosophical, and legal factors have shaped the concussion crisis in sport. Head in the game is essential reading for those who want to understand how the concussion crisis came to be, and provides guidance for developing ethical and evidence-based solutions in the future.
Reviews
'Head in the game provides illuminating insights that could come only from a diverse group of experts. Each chapter offers a nuanced analysis of oft-overlooked dimensions of sports concussion. Timely and important, this book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the cultural and social dynamics contributing to a health issue that is increasingly framed as a crisis in sport.'
Professor Kathryn Henne, The Australian National University
Contents
Introduction: (Re)Setting the field: Understanding brain trauma in sport - Stephen Townsend, Gary Osmond, Murray G. Phillips & Rebecca Olive
Part I Cultivating brain trauma in sport
1 Chronic Traumatic Masculinity: A disorder in Canadian men's hockey - Andrew Ivan Brown and Aryn Martin
2 "I guess that's why you wear a helmet": A social understanding of concussions in competitive women's road cycling - Suzanne Ryder
3 Concussion in action sports - Nikolaus A. Dean
4 Indigenous sport concussion: Death, morality and Maori masculinity - Brendan Hokowhitu
5 Concussion and East Asian sporting culture - Tao Yi-Che
Part II Knowing brain trauma in sport
6 The social construction of sport-related concussion as a social issue- Dominic Malcolm
7 Mixed feelings: Understanding emotion in media coverage of sport-related traumatic brain injuries - Matt Ventresca
8 Sports-related concussion and gender: Preliminary thoughts - Matthew Nesbitt, Katie Liston & Conor Heffernan
9 The animal within: The ethics and epistemics of bio-inspired solutions to sport's concussion crisis - Greg Hollin, Nicole L. Ackermans & James Smoliga
10 Reading the silences: History, concussion and Australian sport - Murray G. Phillips & Stephen Townsend
Part III Resisting brain trauma in sport
11 Is concussion bad for the social good?: Framing public health problems across two crises in US American football - Emily A. Harrison & Kathleen Bachynski
12 Brain games on trial in American courts: Cold War to present - Stephen T. Casper
13 From league of denial to league of deferment: The NFL's evolving management of the concussion crisis - Brett Siegel
14 Casting the safety net wider - using systems thinking to guide concussion management in high school level rugby union - Marelise Badenhorst & Simon Walters
Conclusion: Flagging the future: What will brain injury mean for sport? - Stephen Townsend, Murray G. Phillips, Gary Osmond and Rebecca Olive
Editors
Stephen Townsend is a Research Fellow in Sport Sociocultural Studies at The University of Queensland
Murray G. Phillips is a Professor of Sport History at The University of Queensland
Gary Osmond is an Associate Professor of Sport History at The University of Queensland
Rebecca Olive is a Vice Chancellor's Senior Research Fellow at RMIT University
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Head in the game
Edited by Stephen Townsend, Murray G. Phillips, Gary Osmond, Rebecca Olive
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