ABSTRACT

My starting point in this chapter is that ‘sport’, as has been adopted by some sport sociology scholars, can be a narrow and restrictive concept, particularly in the USA where the influence of, and focus on the college and professional athlete has been pervasive. My central research interest, action/lifestyle sports sit on the margins of what has been conceptualized as sport. They are activities that take place predominantly in unbounded, unregulated and shifting spaces outside of institutional control, traversing the boundaries of play, games, leisure, sport and art.