Sport presents one of the most advanced cases of 'globalisation,' arguably because there are fewer cultural and political obstacles to the development of trade and international power in sport than there are in other fields. Thus there has been a change in the nature of the politics of sport since the end of the Cold War; the subject must be rewritten to acknowledge a twenty-first century world in which international sporting organisations and transnational corporations have become far more important than states. The Global Politics of Sport presents a range of essays examining the emerging global political issues in twenty-first century sport including: · The role, and power of organisations such as FIFA and the IOC · The influence of US exceptionalism · The construction of global sports heroes · Tensions developing within traditionally 'alternative' sports in a global commercial culture The Global Politics of Sport presents new and fresh exploration of different conceptions of sport as a purely commercial activity and as an activity as embodying 'higher' social and ethical values.

The globalizing influence of professional sports Professional sports today have truly become a global force, a common language that anyone, regardless of their nationality, can understand. Yet sports also remain distinctly local, with regional teams and the fiercely loyal local fans that follow them. This book examines the twenty-first-century phenomenon of global sports, in which professional teams and their players have become agents of globalization while at the same time fostering deep-seated and antagonistic local allegiances and spawning new forms of cultural conflict and prejudice. Andrei Markovits and Lars Rensmann take readers into the exciting global sports scene, showing how soccer, football, baseball, basketball, and hockey have given rise to a collective identity among millions of predominantly male fans in the United States, Europe, and around the rest of the world. They trace how these global—and globalizing—sports emerged from local pastimes in America, Britain, and Canada over the course of the twentieth century, and how regionalism continues to exert its divisive influence in new and potentially explosive ways. Markovits and Rensmann explore the complex interplay between the global and the local in sports today, demonstrating how sports have opened new avenues for dialogue and shared interest internationally even as they reinforce old antagonisms and create new ones. Gaming the World reveals the pervasive influence of sports on our daily lives, making all of us citizens of an increasingly cosmopolitan world while affirming our local, regional, and national identities.

Examines the shaping of sports by both the fascist and communist institutions of Europe during the interwar period. It shows how sports were used as an instrument of propaganda and psychological pressure by major political and sporting nations.

This book explores the significance of sport in the understanding of past and current societal dynamics in the Arab world. It examines sport in relation to cultural, political and economic changes in the Arab World, including nation-state building, the formation of national identity and international relations in post-colonial context.

Written by one of the leading international authorities on the sociology of race and sport, this is the first book to address sport′s role in ′the making of race′, the place of sport within black diasporic struggles for freedom and equality, and the contested location of sport in relation to the politics of recognition within contemporary multicultural societies. Race, Sport and Politics shows how, during the first decades of the twentieth century, the idea of ′the natural black athlete′ was invented in order to make sense of and curtail the political impact and cultural achievements of black sportswomen and men. More recently, ′the black athlete′ as sign has become a highly commodified object within contemporary hyper-commercialized sports-media culture thus limiting the transformative potential of critically conscious black athleticism to re-imagine what it means to be both black and human in the twenty-first century. Race, Sport and Politics will be of interest to students and scholars in sociology of culture and sport, the sociology of race and diaspora studies, postcolonial theory, cultural theory and cultural studies.

Sport in the Middle East has become a major issue in global affairs. The contributors to this timely volume discuss the intersection of political and cultural processes related to sport in the region. Eleven chapters trace the historical institutionalization of sport and the role it has played in negotiating "Western" culture. Sport is found to be a contested terrain where struggles are being fought over the inclusion of women, over competing definitions of national identity, over preserving social memory, and over press freedom. Also discussed are the implications of mega-sporting events for host countries, and how both elite sport policies and sports industries in the region are being shaped. Sport, Politics and Society in the Middle East draws on academic disciplines from the humanities and social sciences to offer in-depth, theoretically grounded, and richly empirical case studies. It employs diverse research methodologies, from ethnography and in-depth interviews to archival research, to make a lasting contribution to this critical subject.

Exploring the role and significance of sport in international politics, this volume discusses issues including the impact of international organizations on domestic sport policy. It focuses on an analysis of the global infrastructure of sport and the significance of international sports events.