Reconsidering edgework theory: Practices, experiences, and structures

Author ORCID Identifier

Jeffrey L. Kidder: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5426-9353

Publication Title

International Review for the Sociology of Sport

ISSN

10126902

E-ISSN

14617218

Document Type

Article

Abstract

This article clarifies and revises the sociological theory of voluntary risk taking known as edgework. The concept has three distinct aspects: material practices, embodied experiences, and supporting structures. I first provide a critical summary of these aspects as they exist in the current literature. Second, I advocate for an approach to edgework through the analysis of symbolic practices. I argue that researchers can best understand the meaning of voluntary risk taking by studying how individuals discursively frame their actions. Given the ascendency of neoliberal ideology in contemporary Western societies, there is an increasing importance for research into risk (especially as it relates to the study of sports), and a cogent sociology of edgework can be an important component to such an intellectual endeavor.

First Page

183

Last Page

200

Publication Date

3-1-2022

DOI

10.1177/10126902211009448

Keywords

edgework, lifestyle sports, modernity, risk, vocabulary of motive

Department

Department of Sociology

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