Doping has become one of the most important and high-profile issues in contemporary sport. Shocking cases such as that of Lance Armstrong and the US Postal cycling team have exposed the complicated relationships between athletes, teams, physicians, sports governing bodies, drugs providers, and judicial systems, all locked in a constant struggle for competitive advantage.
The Routledge Handbook of Drugs and Sport is simply the most comprehensive and authoritative survey of social scientific research on this hugely important issue ever to be published. It presents an overview of key topics, problems, ideas, concepts and cases across seven thematic sections, which include chapters addressing:
- The history of doping in sport
- Philosophical approaches to understanding doping
- The development of anti-doping policy
- Studies of doping in seven major sports, including athletics, cycling, baseball and soccer
- In-depth analysis of four of the most prominent doping scandals in history, namely Ben Johnson, institutionalized doping in the former GDR, the 1998 Tour de France and Lance Armstrong
- WADA and the national anti-doping organizations
- Key contemporary debates around strict liability, the criminalization of doping, and zero tolerance versus harm reduction
- Doping outside of elite sport, in gyms, the military and the police.
With contributions from many of the world's leading researchers into drugs and sport, this book is the perfect starting point for any advanced student, researcher, policy maker, coach or administrator looking to develop their understanding of an issue that has had, and will continue to have, a profound impact on the development of sport.
"The handbooks in the Routledge series of International Handbooks are not only aimed at scholars. Rather, they are also directed at becoming an essential source of information for the general public and organizations dealing with the topics addressed. Deservedly, The Routledge Handbook of Drugs and Sport achieves these goals. It is not hyperbolic to refer to it as 'the bible' of drug use in sport ? Other books in the market attempt to summarize the cultural and social aspects of doping, but they are little more than that, a summary. The wide variety of approaches in the Handbook gives it a unique richness and variety unlike any other academic publication on doping to this date ? The book is a must-have for anybody interested in the cultural and social aspects of doping in sport." - Francisco Javier López Frías, Pennsylvania State University, Sport, Ethics and Philosophy
