The Politics and Culture of Modern Sports

Sheldon Anderson

This study examines the role of modern sports in constructing national identities and the way leaders have exploited sports to achieve domestic and foreign policy goals. The book focuses on the development of national sporting cultures in Great Britain and the United States, the particular processes by which the rest of Europe and the world adopted or rejected their games, and the impact of sports on domestic politics and foreign affairs. Teams competing in international sporting events provide people a shared national experience and a means to differentiate “us” from “them.” Particular attention is paid to the transnational influences on the construction of sporting communities, and why some areas resisted dominant sporting cultures while others adopted them and changed them to fit their particular political or societal needs. A recurrent theme of the book is that as much as they try, politicians have been frustrated in their attempts to achieve political ends through sport. The book provides a basis for understanding the political, economic, social, and diplomatic contexts in which these games were played, and to present issues that spur further discussion and research.

Lexington Books

Pages: 408 • Trim: 6 x 9⅛

978-1-4985-1795-9 • Hardback • December 2015 • $127.00 • (£85.00)

978-1-4985-1797-3 • Paperback • July 2017 • $54.99 • (£37.95)

978-1-4985-1796-6 • eBook • December 2015 • $51.99 • (£34.95)

Subjects: History / Modern / 21st Century, Political Science / International Relations / General, Sports & Recreation / Sociology of Sports

The Politics and Culture of Modern Sports

Hardback

Paperback

eBook

Summary

This study examines the role of modern sports in constructing national identities and the way leaders have exploited sports to achieve domestic and foreign policy goals. The book focuses on the development of national sporting cultures in Great Britain and the United States, the particular processes by which the rest of Europe and the world adopted or rejected their games, and the impact of sports on domestic politics and foreign affairs. Teams competing in international sporting events provide people a shared national experience and a means to differentiate “us” from “them.” Particular attention is paid to the transnational influences on the construction of sporting communities, and why some areas resisted dominant sporting cultures while others adopted them and changed them to fit their particular political or societal needs. A recurrent theme of the book is that as much as they try, politicians have been frustrated in their attempts to achieve political ends through sport. The book provides a basis for understanding the political, economic, social, and diplomatic contexts in which these games were played, and to present issues that spur further discussion and research.

Details

Lexington Books

Pages: 408 • Trim: 6 x 9⅛

978-1-4985-1795-9 • Hardback • December 2015 • $127.00 • (£85.00)

978-1-4985-1797-3 • Paperback • July 2017 • $54.99 • (£37.95)

978-1-4985-1796-6 • eBook • December 2015 • $51.99 • (£34.95)

Subjects: History / Modern / 21st Century, Political Science / International Relations / General, Sports & Recreation / Sociology of Sports

Author

Sheldon Anderson is professor of modern European history and international studies at Miami University.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: British Sports and National Identity in Nineteenth Century Europe
Chapter 2: Sports and Construction of American National Identity, and the Export of Baseball Abroad
Chapter 3: Sports in the Service of Fascism and Communism in the Interwar Period.
Chapter 4: Sports and the Cold War
Chapter 5: Communist Sport Rivalries and the Role of Sport in the German Question
Chapter 6: Sports and the Reconstruction of Postwar Western Europe and Japan
Chapter 7: Sports, Decolonization, and Nation Building
Chapter 8: Globalization and Competing Sporting Identities
Chapter 9: The Politics and Economics of Hosting International Sporting Events

Reviews

Given the tremendous cultural, economic, and political impact of sports, it is surprising how little sport is analyzed and taught. . . .Employing a historical framework, Anderson begins with the origins of modern European sport and its eventual transmission to former colonies, including the United States. He then discusses more recent phenomena: Cold War competition, nation building, race and ethnicity. In the closing chapters, Anderson examines the impact of globalization, competing and hybridizing conceptions of identity, and the politics and economic development aspects of hosting major sporting events. This well-researched book is a useful first resource for scholars and students of sports and politics, though Jarvie offers more systematic discussion of a wider number of issues and Markovits and Rensmann’s argument is clearer and more ambitious. Depending on the particular needs and intentions of readers or teachers, this book may certainly provide the happy medium. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers.
— CHOICE

Ambitious, wide-ranging, and lucidly written, Sheldon Anderson’s The Politics and Culture of Modern Sports is an impressive survey of sport history in myriad of global and historical contexts. From Pelé to Putin, this book will enlighten many readers about the complicated relations among sport, politics, and diplomacy. Sports, of course, are not simple, idle diversions. Anderson skillfully reminds us that they have long been fraught with political implications and are often deeply significant in terms of our cultural lives.
— Daniel A. Nathan, Skidmore College, former President of the North American Society for Sport History

A fascinating and highly interpretative study that provides important insights on the role of sport from both a national and global perspective. Thoroughly researched and nicely written, the book is a must read for anyone wanting to know more about the impact of sport on identity formation and domestic and international politics.
— David K. Wiggins, George Mason University

The Politics and Culture of Modern Sports is a fine contribution to the study of international sport. In engaging and thoughtful prose, and sampling a wide array of sporting histories from around the world, Sheldon Anderson not only delves into the reasons why sports have become such a global force but also presents a convincing assessment that contrary to governmental efforts in many countries, sport seldom helped advance political, cultural, ideological, and economic agendas. Anderson’s is a good book for any student interested in learning about sport history.
— Christopher Elzey, George Mason University

The Politics and Culture of Modern Sports skillfully integrates a study of major developments in global sports and significant international events over the past 150 years. Through an analysis of the modern Olympics, the soccer World Cup, and other international competitions, this work shows how sports impact and reflect global events. Written in an accessible style, this book would serve as a useful text for thematic modern world history classes or as a supplemental text for international relations courses.
— Tom Taylor, Seattle University

The Politics and Culture of Modern Sports

Sheldon Anderson

The Politics and Culture of Modern Sports

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