We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Sport, Localism and Social Capital in Rural Western Australia.
- Authors
ATHERLEY, KIM M.
- Abstract
Whilst there has been some research conducted on the role of sport in Australian rural communities, to date there has been little detailed discussion by social scientists and geographers on the association between sport and social capital. This paper identifies elements of social capital, at a community and regional social scale, which have been expressed through the activities and adaptive strategies of twenty-five sporting clubs from the wheatbelt region of Western Australia. Most of the adaptive strategies are a direct result of the clubs being exposed to the processes of rural restructuring and include amalgamation and the spatial reorganisation of sporting competition locations. The importance of localism in rural communities is also examined through the issues of trust and distrust within a regional hierarchy context. The paper illustrates how sport is not only an important part of rural life but also an activity which plays an integral role in the formation of bonding and bridging social capital.
- Subjects
WESTERN Australia; SOCIAL capital; SPORTS; ATHLETIC clubs; LOCALISM (Political science); SCALING (Social sciences); GROUP identity; VOLUNTEER service
- Publication
Geographical Research, 2006, Vol 44, Issue 4, p348
- ISSN
1745-5863
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/j.1745-5871.2006.00406.x