A recent release from Routledge’s editorial board is titled: “Leveraging Disability Sport Events: Impacts, Promises, and Possibilities”. This practical book explores the ins and outs of disability sport events, covering everything from policy and planning to execution. It’s based on real-world research, comparing various international sporting events. These include integrated events, where athletes with and without disabilities compete together, and non-integrated events, where athletes with disabilities compete separately but in the same place.
Using a critical perspective on disability studies, the book emphasizes how these events can drive social change, influencing community participation and shaping attitudes toward disability. It also challenges assumptions about the positive impacts of these events and suggests a more comprehensive planning approach.
This book is essential reading for students, researchers, and scholars in sport policy, sport development, disability sport, sport management, disability studies, and event studies.
Table of Contents:
- Introduction to Disability Studies and Sport
- Sport Events and Social Change
- Conceptualizing Disability Events: Structure and Processes
- Policy Perspectives of Disability and Events
- Communicating Parasport Events: Marketing and Media
- Organizational Management Perspectives and Opportunities
- Attitudes and Disability Sport Events
- Future of Parasport Events: Separate but Equal?
About the Authors:
Laura Misener is an Associate Professor at the School of Kinesiology, Western University, Canada. She advises the Ontario Parasport Collective and contributes to the International Paralympic Committee Impacts and Legacies Working Group. Her research critically assesses the purported positive impacts of sport events on community development and social inclusion.
Gayle McPherson holds a Chair in Events and Cultural Policy at the University of the West of Scotland, UK. She advises the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development on Global Events and Local Development and is involved in various cultural and diplomatic initiatives. Her research focuses on the societal impacts of large-scale events.
David McGillivray is a Chair in Event and Digital Cultures at the University of the West of Scotland, UK. He explores the contemporary significance of events and festivals as markers of identity and drivers of economic, social, and cultural change, particularly in the digital age.
David Legg is a Professor at Mount Royal University, Canada, specializing in sport management and adapted physical activity. He also teaches at KU Leuven, Belgium, and has served on the International Paralympic Committee’s Sport Science Committee.
More information: https://www.routledge.com/Leveraging-Disability-Sport-Events-Impacts-Promises-and-Possibilities/Misener-McPherson-McGillivray-Legg/p/book/9780367520267