Over the last 40 years, Sport for All policies – aiming at encouraging the sports participation of all citizens, regardless of age, sex, social class, ethnic origin, etc. – were implemented in a number of European countries. This study examines the extent to which a democratisation of club-organised …

As the state retracts further in the Netherlands, the role of civil society increases. Only now the impact becomes visible due to changing arrangements in the social domain. Since enormous cuts in the welfare budgets have been implemented; creative innovations by civil initiatives are much needed to …

Paper presented at the 31st European Seminar in Ethnomusicology ESEM, Limerick (Ireland), 18/9/2015. This paper presents a case study of ‘Belinda’, a Dutch woman in her early sixties who considers herself at the same time as ‘un-musical’ and musically hyper-sensitive. She is neither an ‘outstanding performer’ …

How to define succesful citizens' initiatives? A professional perspective.In the backdrop of depopulation and the participation society, citizen initiatives in rural areas are expected to contribute to community liveability by maintaining various types of facilities in the area. Studies on which factors …

Social changes have been influencing determinants for sports participation since the introduction of the Sport for All ideology in the early 1970s. Consistent with Crum’s sportisation theory, today’s modes of sports practices, as well as the network of sport services, have diversified and de-traditionalised. As …

This research paper explores the role of women talk (schmoozing) and the gender gap in urban sociology. In the discussions concerning the changing face of the Dutch inner cities, there is an increasing tendency for attention to be paid to ethnicity, without a concomitant analysis of the impact of gender …

By supporting creation of protected areas, conservation projects are known to bring economic prosperity to the local communities, but also incite criticism. A common theme in the critique of conservation organizations is the proximity to neoliberal agencies seeking to capitalize on environment, which …

Abstract for the European Association of Sociology for Sport conference in Dublin on the development over time of social impact evaluations in the Netherlands. In total 33 sport events were included that were held between 1980-2015 in the Netherlands. The events were selected to vary in fixed vs. mobile, …

The goal of my PhD is to analyse socializing practices of peers from 4-8 in after school centers en study the role of caretakers in the socializing practices. My main focus is on how children socialize each other whithin a setting that is changing every day. When we know more of the children’s social …