The importance of a critical understanding of space in contemporary social scientific enquiry is increasingly recognised as fundamental for the analysis of the development, enlargement and experience of modern capitalism. In particular, the concentration of forces and relations of production, circulation and consumption, of people, commodities and services, is progressively appreciated as achieved through the creation and exploitation of urban space. The thesis presents a critical examination of a variety of theories of space and spatial theories as a foundation for the analysis of urban modernity. These include the works of Henri Lefebvre, David Harvey, Michel Foucault, Michel de Certeau and Georg Simmel. The syncretic adaptation of these formative theoretical analyses provides a conceptual framework for the subsequent substantive analysis of a case study of specific forms of modern urban social space. That is, an exploration of the processes by which the origins and development of what came to be integral features of the landscape of the modern city were produced, namely, the creation of the social spaces of public parks. The growth and increasing importance of the city in the 19th century had important social as well as economic and political consequences for the development and administration of the infrastructure and experience of the urban environment. The physical and mental, medical as well as moral consequences of city development led to campaigns to improve the condition of the urban population that provoked a response by the local state. One prominent aspect of this municipal commitment was the development of urban public parks as an ameliorative response. Glasgow’s experience of rapid industrialisation and urbanisation in the 19th century and the particular conditions that arose led to a specific form of municipal government that produced a network of public parks that was unrivalled by any other city. The investigation and analysis of the production of municipal public parks in the city of Glasgow in the period from the early 1850s to the late 1970s gives detailed consideration to a large number and variety of empirical sources to deliver an historical, sociological and geographic account of the complexity involved in the analysis of such commonplace everyday spaces as public parks. As such, the investigation of parks as social spaces constructed, depicted and used for leisure and recreation contributes to the understanding of the development and experience of urban modernity, as well as to contemporary socio-spatial analysis.

This thesis draws from a bi-national comparative study on the importance of ‘winning’ within university sport in England and the United States, in two institutions, University College Worcester (UCW) and the British University Sport Association (BUSA) in England and Northwest Nazarene University (NNU) and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. The thesis focuses on perceptions and attitudes related to the ‘amateur’ – ‘commercial’ ethos of winning, specifically of administrative personnel, coaches and athletes within these systems. In order to provide a contextual setting, the socio-historical development of sport culture generally and in universities in particular was examined in both countries. This context also provided an informed rationale for ‘participants’ perceptions and attitudes selected for this study. A multi-method approach for data collection was utilised comprising questionnaire and interview instruments supported by a comprehensive underpinning literature review including participant observation and analysis of primary and secondary documentation in a comparative dimension. The study’s findings suggest that the extent of the importance of winning within university sport in England and the United States is influenced by a range of shaping factors. BUSA’s central goal emanates from an ‘amateur’ approach that includes features such as ‘mass-participation’ and recreational enjoyment for the student-athletes participating. The NCAA is a business-run organisation that operates on financial budgets into the millions. Inter-collegiate sport serves as a major form of entertainment in American society, with ‘commercial’ pressures driving a ‘winning’ attitude on all levels. However, the empirical evidence and participant observations do suggest an emerging blurring of perceptions, especially amongst the athlete groups at both UCW and NNU. The evidence reveals features, which challenge accepted orthodoxy on the nature and extent of the ‘amateur’ – ‘commercial’ ethos continuum in both university systems.

This thesis explores the performative enactment of identity and embodiment through an online ethnography of the online game Final Fantasy XIV. It is argued that online identity must be viewed as performative, that is, enacted through speech and action, and embodied via the avatar, which acts as a body project for the player. The avatar identity is also constrained by the notion of authentic identity, which denotes how a single body is expected to hold a single identity. The thesis makes contributions to three areas. Firstly, in substantive terms, the thesis contributes original sociological knowledge of online social interaction, drawn from an online game and its related spaces, which remain under-researched sociologically. Secondly, the thesis makes a theoretical contribution through a theoretical framing of how online, embodied identity is achieved in an online game in a performative fashion, which is centred on the body of the avatar, coupled with the speech and actions of the player. Finally, the thesis also offers a methodological contribution through its original use of photo elicitation in online interviews, and furthers the debates around (online) ethnography. An 11 month programme of fieldwork was undertaken, comprising 36 asynchronous, image elicitation interviews, extensive participant observation of the game over the 11 months, and observation of the official forum lasting nearly six months. The thesis concludes that online identity and embodiment in these spaces are heavily constrained by norms drawn from everyday life, such as heteronormativity, and racism. The game design is also influenced by the developers‟ norms and values, such as the avatar appearance. The possibilities for performative identity and embodiment are severely constrained by the community, who reify the game space as separate from “real” life and reject the inclusion of non-normative avatars.

In A Theory of Justice (1971) John Rawls attempted to solve the problem of distributive justice by combining self-interest, ignorance and risk-aversion. He argued that if self-interested persons in a situation of uncertainty imposed by a veil of ignorance were choosing principles for the basic structure of society, then they would be risk-adverse and choose two principles – The Principle of Equal Liberty and the Difference Principle. Critics have argued against this risk-adverse element of Rawls’ theory but those critics as well as Rawls made certain presuppositions about risk-aversion, risk-taking and gambling. This thesis also examines the risk-aversion in Rawls’ theory but addresses the previous shortfall by exploring the issue of risk and gambling in two interrelated ways. It applies a Foucauldian approach to the history of risk and gambling in order to contextualise the current views and then investigates the contemporary meaning by drawing on research leading up to the UK Gambling Act 2005. Drawing on these findings it argues that not only might risk-taking occur in the original position but that different types of participants could show different degrees of risk-taking behaviour. By exploring the theoretical debates between essentialism and anti-essentialism, it further argues that it is unlikely that the veil of ignorance would be able to screen out those differences. It then employs theories of identity and difference in the work of Heidegger, Deleuze and Lyotard in an attempt to overcome that weakness in Rawls’ theory but finds that this may not be possible. After highlighting a connection between impartiality and gambling, it concludes, in contrast to Rawls, that risk-taking rather than risk-aversion lies at the heart of social justice. The implication of this reversal is that it may have an impact on policy-decisions in other areas of the justice system.

This thesis examines the state-supported system for elite-level sport in Scotland and considers whether or not that system is effective in terms of delivery to athletes and coaches and assesses the extent to which it was fair and equitable in terms of outcomes. The study is set within a feminist cultural studies framework that is enriched by qualitative study and based on the distinctively Scottish cultural and historical experience of the nature of sport. The thesis comprises of two major studies and the findings are based on original material collected from three main research methodologies: documentary evidence, quantitative and qualitative analyses. Study one sets the historical and policy context in which the main focus of the research can be understood. An historical account of state involvement in the elite sport sector is followed by a critical evaluation of elite sport policy agenda during the first session of the Scottish Parliament (1999-2003). The aim of this study was to identify and review the institutional and financial frameworks set up to guide the decision-making process for the delivery of the Scottish elite sport agenda. Study two was designed to gather demographic and socio-economic information on Scotland’s elite athletes and to measure the level of athlete satisfaction with the administration, effectiveness and equity of the Lottery-funded Talented Athlete Programme (TAP). The first, predominately quantitative, phase of the study, was conducted by means of a postal questionnaire. Significant issues raised during this phase were followed-up and explored in more depth in the second, qualitative phase. Information from athletes was enhanced by the data gathered from interviews with officials, coaches and administrators who are vital to the implementation and success of the elite sport programmes currently in place in Scotland and at the UK level. Where appropriate, interview data is put into some context by with data collected by the researcher from various sources, including TAP press releases, annual reports and official documents. The key findings of this research suggest that there are too many gaps in the present system of support for talented and elite athletes to be able to claim that Scotland is “a country where sporting talent is recognised and nurtured” (Scottish Sports Council, 1998b, pp.7). Clearly, there is much still to be done it this vision is to be realised for all Scotland’s talented athletes, irrespective of their gender, cultural or socio-economic background. Only then, can Scottish sport genuinely claim that “nothing is left to chance” and Scotland can be considered “a country achieving and sustaining world class performances in sport” (Scottish Sports Council, 1998b, pp.7).

This ethnographic study explores the ways in which a group of social actors participate in the everyday life of a woodland nature reserve, the relationships they establish with each other, the way they engage with the nonhuman materiality of the woodland and how they are affected by this engagement. An autoethnographic approach was taken which was based on the researcher’s immersion in the research setting. This made possible a deep understanding of the affective experiences of the research participants and facilitated an appreciation of the meanings of the woodland materiality for informants which were often ‘beyond words’. The study focussed on a group of staff and volunteers and the everyday practical tasks that they engaged in which were mainly coppicing the reserve’s ancient woodland and ecological surveying and monitoring of its woodland and wildlife. These activities are central to the everyday life of the reserve and take place in the context of the environment and wildlife conservation cultural fields. They are conceptualised as core activities and generate fulfilment for those who engage in them. The analytical framework used brings together the concepts of habitus (Bourdieu, 1997), dwelling (Ingold, 1993), and ‘becoming with’ (Despret, 2004; Haraway, 2008) and allows an understanding of how informants’ habitus (both general and specific) derived from the cultural fields they experienced during childhood and in employment, shape not only their participation in the everyday life of the reserve but also how this participation is experienced and their ways of being-in-the-woodland. These last are analysed as occupying a spectrum from an instrumental relationship, through becoming with and dwelling fleetingly to dwelling. Dwelling is associated with a woodland habitus. One of my key findings is that involvement in the practices of wildlife conservation immerses social actors in a nonhuman woodland world that for most transforms their way of being-in-the-world.

This study examines how backpacking, an activity originating from Western societies, is perceived and practised by the post-1980s generation in China. By locating backpackers’ travel experiences within the context of the circumstances of their life and relating it to wider society, this study not only illustrates the changes and diversity of backpacker culture by providing empirical evidence from China, but also shows how the younger generation living through substantial social transformation reflect on themselves and wider society. This research employs qualitative methods, exploring Chinese backpackers’ characters and life choices, as well as the emergence of backpacking within China. There are two key questions for this study: firstly, how is backpacking perceived and practised by young Chinese people? Secondly, are there any differences among young backpackers regarding travel motivations and life attitudes? Yunnan Province is the primary fieldwork site, and two field trips were conducted there in 2014 and 2015. Thirty semi-structured in-depth interviews with backpackers were conducted in order to examine young backpackers’ travel experiences, as well as their personal life attitudes. Participant observation was also employed as a way to investigate backpackers’ interaction and travel behaviours. Six focus groups, made up of non-backpackers, offer comparative perspectives regarding backpacking from young people who share similar social circumstances and cultural context with travellers. This study reveals that the popularity of backpacking can be understood as primarily due to how the activity represents ‘freedom’ and ‘independence’ within the context of China. Backpacking is not merely a consumption-led mobility, but also widely employed as a process of reflexive awareness by young Chinese people. Four types of backpackers, namely the amateur, the dreamer, the escaper and the alternative seeker, are identified by this study, indicating the diversity of backpacking in China. The amateur and the dreamer acknowledge the vital role of home and consistent and stable employment in their lives; as a result, backpacking is adopted as a way to escape from the daily routine and find self-fulfilment through a meaningful activity. However, the escaper and the alternative seeker tend to question mainstream values and the traditional expectations and conventions; accordingly, their journeys seek to examine the self and help find a personal way to measure success and happiness in lives. Particularly, alternative seekers find life on the road more interesting than a stable life in a city. Accordingly, they extend backpacking to a way of living and develop their own individual routines. Backpacking becomes a debate amongst young people regarding the norms and values of a worthwhile life, and reflects the profound cultural and social change taking place within contemporary China. Traditional expectations and conventions, namely stages within one’s life, such as getting a job, settling down in a city, getting married and having children, are questioned and challenged. Most participants in this study are understood to possess respect for backpackers who pursue freedom and their dreams, as ‘freedom’ is perceived to represent strong individual capabilities and critical thinking. However, they also realise that anxiety consistently accompanies this freedom, particularly within an individualised society such as China’s. In general, the conflict between individual interests/desires and the family/social obligations is highlighted by participants. As a result, the term ‘staged individualism’ is coined by this study, demonstrating how the Chinese path of individualism may force the young generation to separate their lives into different stages, defining different purposes for each stage, as a way to balance individual interests/desires and family/social obligations.

In the long history of Olympic urbanisation, the creation of an “Olympic Park” where various Olympic facilities are concentrated has been favoured by both host cities and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), due to the regenerative opportunity it presents and its management advantages during the Games. Yet the usages and financial viability of such an approach after the Games were questioned by past Olympic cities, such that turning the post-Olympic Park into a multifunctional “mixed-use” urban precinct rather than a mono-functional sporting quarter was the approach taken in Sydney and London. This thesis explores the evolution of the mixed-use vision, its governance and integration into the wider urban tissues in the pre-bid, post-bid and post-Olympic phases, through the cases of the Sydney and London Olympic Parks, and highlights the evolution from Sydney to London. This long-term analysis shows that the vision of the mixed-use Olympic Park originated as a mixture of the existing urban socio-economic aspiration and the specific spatial demands of the Olympic Games. This evolved in different planning climates, along with changes in the governance of the Olympics and legacy planning. I argue that while in the case of Sydney the governance of the legacy in each phase was confined within the designated planning timeframe and focused on the vision within the Olympic Park, London’s approach was more overlapping and extended beyond the boundary of the Olympic site, which created a considerable difference in terms of the realisation of the initial mixed-use vision and integration with adjacent neighbourhoods. Although the thesis traces the evolution from Sydney to London, it also suggests how these cities shared the limits of their entrepreneurial urban governance through the application of the public–private partnership model to legacy planning and challenges in satisfying both local and regional political aspirations for the post-Olympic Park.