EMBODIED PRACTICES: SUBSTANCE USE, SPORT, AND LEISURE

The Division Embodied Practices: Substance Use, Sport, and Leisure of the Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP) seeks to advance critical, interdisciplinary, and socially engaged scholarship on the relationships between the body, social life, power, identity, health, and inequality. Recognizing the body as both a site of lived experience and a product of social, cultural, economic, and political forces, the Division aims to examine how substance use, sport, and leisure shape and are shaped by individual identities, collective experiences, and broader social structures.

With a primary focus on the United States, the Division seeks to understand how embodied practices intersect with race, class, gender, sexuality, age, disability, and other dimensions of social difference. It encourages critical inquiry into the commercialization and professionalization of sport, the politics of recreation and leisure, the overdose crisis, alcohol and other substance use, harm reduction, addiction, recovery, and the social determinants of health and well-being. Particular attention will be given to the influence of public policies, healthcare systems, media, digital technologies, corporate interests, and community institutions in shaping access, opportunities, risks, and inequalities. The Division also recognizes sport and leisure as potential resources for social inclusion, resistance, collective belonging, empowerment, and community development.

The Division welcomes diverse theoretical, methodological, and empirical approaches, including sociology, public health, cultural studies, gender studies, criminology, psychology, and allied disciplines. It seeks to create an inclusive intellectual space where established scholars, early-career researchers, students, practitioners, and community advocates can exchange ideas, challenge dominant assumptions, and develop innovative perspectives on embodied social life.

While grounded primarily in American social realities, the Division embraces comparative and global perspectives, with particular interest in South Asian experiences. The region offers valuable insights into the intersections of traditional and contemporary sporting cultures, yoga and other bodily practices, gendered access to leisure, substance-use stigma, community recreation, and the influence of caste, religion, class, and rapid social change. These perspectives can enrich international dialogue without overlooking the distinct historical and institutional contexts of different societies.

Ultimately, the Division aspires to foster scholarship that connects critical sociological understanding with meaningful social action. By examining substance use, sport, and leisure as interconnected dimensions of embodied experience, it seeks to advance social justice, reduce stigma, challenge structural inequalities, and contribute to healthier, more inclusive, and equitable communities.

Division mission statement written in October 2026 by Sanjay Tewari, Indian Sociological Society and Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Embodied Practices: Substance Use, Sport, and Leisure Division Co-Chair 2025-2027; and Leslie L. Wood, York Technical College, Embodied Practices: Substance Use, Sport, and Leisure Division Co-Chair 2026-2028.