Skateboarding and Religion [electronic resource] /
O'Connor, Paul.author.
This book explores the ways in which religion is observed, performed, and organised in skateboard culture. Drawing on scholarship from the sociology of religion and the cultural politics of lifestyle sports, this work combines ethnographic research with media analysis to argue that the rituals of skateboarding provide participants with a rich cultural canvas for emotional and spiritual engagement. Paul O’Connor contends that religious identification in skateboarding is set to increase as participants pursue ways to both control and engage meaningfully with an activity that has become an increasingly mainstream and institutionalised sport. Religion is explored through the themes of myth, celebrity, iconography, pilgrimage, evangelism, cults, and self-help.
1. Introduction. 2. Skateboarding, Religion, and Lifestyle Sports -- Part 1. Observation -- 3. Origin Myths -- 4. Skate Gods -- 5. Iconography -- Part 2. Performance -- 6. Video Journeys -- 7. Pilgrimage Spots -- 8. Ritualised Play -- Part 3. Organisation -- 9. A Vehicle for Faith -- 10. DIY Religion  -- 11. Self-help -- 12. Conclusion.
This book explores the ways in which religion is observed, performed, and organised in skateboard culture. Drawing on scholarship from the sociology of religion and the cultural politics of lifestyle sports, this work combines ethnographic research with media analysis to argue that the rituals of skateboarding provide participants with a rich cultural canvas for emotional and spiritual engagement. Paul O’Connor contends that religious identification in skateboarding is set to increase as participants pursue ways to both control and engage meaningfully with an activity that has become an increasingly mainstream and institutionalised sport. Religion is explored through the themes of myth, celebrity, iconography, pilgrimage, evangelism, cults, and self-help.
Sports-Sociological aspects.
Religion and sociology.
Skateboarding
Skateboarding.
Skateboarders
Sociology of Sport and Leisure.
Sociology of Culture.
Sociology of Religion.