What did Marx have to say about sport? What contribution has or could Goffman's work make in our social understanding of sport and how can post-structuralists and postmodern positions be approached in this important sphere of social activity? In this innovative and exciting collection, the contributions of major social theorists towards our critical understanding of modern sport are brought together in a single volume. Contributions are provided by an international team of leading sports analysts and include: Classical theorists - Marx, Weber, Durkheim and Freud Marxist and critical theory strands - Adorno, Gramsci and Habermas North American theorists - Merton, Mills, Goffman Post-dualists approaches - Giddens, Elias, Bourdieu Postmodern and post-structuralist - Foucault and Baudrillard Students and researchers in sport studies will find an invaluable chapter-per-theorist overview of critical approaches, while social theorists will find a lively and accessible venue for developing and testing conceptual claims.