Friday, April 2, 2010

Two sports cultures—the "top-down" and the "bottom-up"—compete for the public's leisure time and money. The top-down sports culture features entertainment by the athletically gifted for non-gifted consumers, whose vicarious participation is typically in an "us-vs.-them" sense. The bottom-up sports culture involves anyone of any age, sex, or physical condition testing his or her endurance, strength, or flexibility, or simply trying to maintain good health, and not always in competition against others. But how will economic conditions, social attitudes, technology, and globalization influence the relative prevalence of these two sports cultures in the coming years? Explore their futures with Ken Harris in the third trans-cultural thematic issue of FUTUREtakes, available at

http://www.futuretakes.org/SpringSummer2009/vol8no1/article_004.html

FUTUREtakes brings professions, disciplines, and cultures together to explore future scenarios and the cross-cutting implications of social trends, technology advances, and policy decisions. Past thematic issue authors have included educators, think tank staff, and diplomatic staff.