A “provocative, disturbing, important” look at how society’s obsession with athletic achievement undermines African Americans (The New York Times). Very few pastimes in America cross racial, regional, cultural, and economic boundaries the way sports do. From the near-religious respect for Sunday Night Football to obsessions with stars like Tiger Woods, Serena Williams, and Michael Jordan, sports are as much a part of our national DNA as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But hidden within this reverence—shared by the media, corporate America, even the athletes themselves—is a dark narrative of division, social pathology, and racism. In Darwin’s Athletes, John Hoberman takes a controversial look at the profound and disturbing effect that the worship of sports, and specifically of black players, has on national race relations. From exposing the perpetuation of stereotypes of African American violence and criminality to examining the effect that athletic dominance has on perceptions of intelligence to delving into misconceptions of racial biology, Hoberman tackles difficult questions about the sometimes subtle ways that bigotry can be reinforced, and the nature of discrimination. An important discussion on sports, cultural attitudes, and dangerous prejudices, Darwin’s Athletes is a “provocative book” that serves as required reading in the ongoing debate of America’s racial divide (Publishers Weekly).

Argues that the prominence of African American athletes provides fuel for sterotypes.

Traditional research methods textbooks tend to present an idealized and simplistic picture of the research process. This ground-breaking text however, features leading international sport researchers explaining how they actually carried out their real life research projects, highlighting the practical day-to-day problems, false starts and setbacks that are a normal part of the research process. This book focuses on ten pieces of research that have made a distinctive and valuable contribution to the study of sport. For each one the author of that research explains how the project was conducted and the issues that they faced. In addition, each piece of research has a commentary from a leading sport scholar outlining why it is regarded as being an important contribution to the discipline of sport studies and how that research can inform studies being carried out today. Contributors to the book describe how in their own real life research projects, they initially conceptualized and defined their research projects secured funding and/or sponsorship from relevant bodies handled enforced changes to the research plans confronted/overcame obstacles presented by outside bodies managed inter-personal/emotional relationships in the research encounter managed possible threats to their personal safety or physical integrity managed good luck, bad luck and serendipitous findings dealt with favourable and hostile media reaction to research findings. Doing Real World Research in Sport Studies enables students and researchers to develop a more realistic understanding of what the research process actually involves. It charts the development of key research projects in sport and should be essential reading for any sport research methods course.

′...a welcome addition to the literature in the rapidly expanding field of sports studies. It is up to date, comprehensive, and well and clearly written. Though primarily sociological in its orientation, it will help students -postgraduate and undergraduate alike and their teachers as well - to establish connections between the various sub-disciplines and guide them to sources which will enable them to probe issues more deeply... It is a beautifully crafted book and is sure to be a hit with students and their teachers. It would not surprise me in the least, however, if it appealed to sports lovers more generally... It is a tour de force and I recommend it unreservedly′ - Eric Dunning, Professor in Sociology, The Centre for the Sociology of Sport, University of Leicester Sports studies is one of the fastest growing fields in higher education today. The SAGE Dictionary of Sports Studies brings a timely, much-needed and comprehensive tool for all students in this multi-disciplinary field. Each entry provides a basic definition, a guide to research themes and a clear account of the relevance of the concept in understanding sport. Not only indispensable for quick clarification of terms, it will give students a springboard for more in-depth research and critical analysis. It offers: " Cross referencing to assist critical thinking " A list of key readings for each entry " Expert definitions drawn from sociology, history, psychology, economics, management and business, politics and policy, physical education and health, and research methods. " Concise, student-friendly and authoritative entries. Covering sociology, history, psychology, politics, business, physical education, health and research methods, The SAGE Dictionary of Sports Studies provides the first one-stop reference guide for all students who study the social aspects of sport.

The popularity and globalization of sport have led to an ever-increasing migration of Black athletes from the global South to the United States and Western Europe. While the hegemonic ideology surrounding sport is that it brings diverse people together and ameliorates social divisions, sociologists of sport have shown this to be a gross simplification. Instead, sport and its narratives often reinforce and re-create stereotypes and social boundaries, especially regarding race and the prowess and the position of the Black athlete. Because sport is a contested terrain for maintaining and challenging racial norms and boundaries, the Black athlete has always impacted popular (white) perceptions of Blackness in a global manner. The Black Migrant Athlete analyzes the construction of race in Western societies through a study of the Black African migrant athlete. Munene Franjo Mwaniki presents ten Black African migrant athletes as a conceptual starting point to interrogate the nuances of white supremacy and of the migrant and immigrant experience with a global perspective. By using celebrity athletes such as Hakeem Olajuwon, Dikembe Mutombo, and Catherine Ndereba as entry points into a global discourse, Mwaniki explores how these athletes are wrapped in social and cultural meanings by predominately white-owned and -dominated media organizations. Drawing from discourse analysis and cultural studies, Mwaniki examines the various power relations via media texts regarding race, gender, sexuality, class, and nationality.

This book observes the idea of race as a false representation for the cause of disease. Race-based medicine, an emerging field in pharmacology, aims to create a specialty market based on racial groups. Within this market, the drug BiDil set a precedent in this area of medicine targeting African Americans as its first racial group. Consequently, selecting African Americans as a “starter group” led to ethical questions regarding the motive behind race-based medicine within the context of the larger treatment of blacks in American medical history. This book therefore links medicine and American eugenics, examines race-based medicine’s influence on the perception of the black body, traces the influence of BiDil’s approval on the resurgence of race-based medicine, and assesses the black church’s response to race-based medicine using black liberation theology as a means to social justice.

"Sport and Recreation in Canadian History is a comprehensive textbook which provides an examination of events, documents, and pivotal moments that contributed to the development of sport in Canada. Content ranges from indigenous recreation, and the integration of British culture. It moves to the emergence of organized sport and national sport organizations, and their impact on how sport is viewed across the country. Amateur and professional sport is covered in detail and finally the globalization of Canadian sport and its expansion and position on the international stage"--