Quest for Excitement: Sport and Leisure in the Civilizing Process

Why do people choose to spend their leisure time in sports which verge on violence? What impulses are involved? Does the violence in and around sport, and the group behaviour sport gives rise to, reflect social and psychological trends? What role does sport play in the creation of masculine identities? Drawing on Norbert Elias's work on the civilizing process, this book reviews aspects of sport in society through the ages, and develops a theory of leisure which encompasses sociological, psychological and biological perspectives.