Books

Running, Identity and Meaning

Over the last few decades, running has grown from a niche sport for a relative handful of committed club athletes into one of the Western world’s most popular and ubiquitous pastimes.

This rapid growth raises some important questions: What kinds of people have been drawn to running in such numbers? Why do they invest their time and money in the sport? And what does running’s popularity tell us about ourselves and the society we live in today?

My book, Running, Identity and Meaning addresses these questions, using large-scale survey data and in-depth interviews to explore running simultaneously as a technique of self-cultivation, a contested and congested social field in which forms of capital and status are at stake, and an important source of meaning and identity for millions of people across the world.

It also considers the great paradox of running: That despite its low cost of entry and inclusive ethos, the sport remains riven by inequalities. Gender, class, age and ethnicity all influence whether, how, and how successfully different groups participate in the sport. This book presents explanations for how these inequalities have emerged, how they are experienced and sustained, and how they are implicated in the reproduction of social structure, privilege and the search for distinction within – as well as far beyond – running itself.

Reviews

Writing as both a runner and a scholar of running, Baxter brings a unique perspective to this engaging and insightful study of running as a classed and gendered social practice… The book offers a clearly and engagingly articulated account that brings empirical data into dialogue with social theory in ways that will be of interest to those working in the fields of gender, class, sport and leisure studies, health, embodiment and social theory. And it is a must-read for anyone who has ever pulled on a pair of running shoes and hit the pavement, track or fell.
Dr Karen Throsby – School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Leeds

This is a theoretically sophisticated and beautifully written analysis of the field of running… This book is a joy to read. It holds intrinsic interest not only for sociologists of sport but also for those concerned with the way inequalities are reproduced and how Bourdieu’s ‘thinking tools’ can be used to understand the way running in particular, and sport more generally, shine a light on how social processes operate at the micro level to reproduce patterns of social distinction.
Prof. Nickie Charles – Professor of Sociology, University of Warwick, UK

Neil Baxter’s book is a comprehensive sociological study of the sport of running that
applies Bourdieu’s field analysis tools to identify styles of running analogous to
the social characteristics of different types of runners. This informative and accessibly
written book… is comprehensive in scope covering a breadth of issues related to the experience of running… will likely be of great interest to academic runners and academics with an interest in the historical development of running and the experiences of runners specifically.
Gillian Renfree, Senior Lecturer in Sport Development, University of Worcester, UK

This informative and accessibly written book uses the field of running in order to examine issues such as gender, class, taste and social identity… Particularly enjoyable was Chapter 3’s historical perspective which drew on Elias’ notion of the civilising process to chart the changes to running that have taken place in Britain over the last 400 years… a highly informative study that links forms of running to societal structures and identities.
Dr. Carl Mallett, Lecturer in Sociology, University of Northampton, UK

“Running, Identity and Meaning” is published by Emerald:

Emerald: Title Detail: Running, Identity and Meaning by Neil Baxter (emeraldinsight.com)

Available at Amazon: Running, Identity and Meaning: The Pursuit of Distinction Through Sport

Running Country

I’m currently researching and writing another running book, this time exploring the relationship between running, landscape and history.

My literary agent for this project is Curtis Brown.

Just follow me on Twitter or drop me an email for updates.