Routledge Handbook of Sport and Politics

Sport is frequently considered to be an aspect of popular culture that is, or should be, untainted by the political. However, there is a broad consensus among academics that sport is often at the heart of the political and the political is often central to sport. From the 1936 Olympic Games in Nazi Germany to the civil unrest that preceded the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, sport and politics have remained symbiotic bedfellows.

The Routledge Handbook of Sport and Politics goes further than any other book in surveying the complex, embedded relationships between sport and politics. With sections addressing ideologies, nation and statehood, corporate politics, political activism, social justice, and the politics of sports events, it introduces the conceptual foundations that underpin our understanding of the sport-politics nexus and examines emergent issues in this field of study.

Including in-depth case studies from North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, this is an essential reference for anybody with an interest in the social scientific study of sport.

Introduction to Part I

1    Governance and governmentality of sport
Jonathan Grix and Spencer Harris

  2    Sport policy-making
Barrie Houlihan

  3    Sport as a foreign policy and diplomatic tool
Udo Merkel

  4    Sport and political ideology
Alan Bairner

PART II
Sport, politics and ideologies

Introduction to Part II

  5    Sport and fascism
Daphné Bolz

  6    Sport and communism: the examples of North Korea and Cuba
Jung oo Lee and Alan Bairner

  7    Sport and conservatism
Lincoln Allison

  8    The social criticism of sport: a “radical” liberal approach
William J. Morgan

  9    Sport and the Sedish elfare state
Susanna Hedenborg and Tomas Peterson

10    Feminist politics and sport
Mary Louise Adams

PART III
Sport, nation and statehood

Introduction to Part III

11    Sport and politics in the Arab orld
Mahfoud Amara

12    Football and identity politics in Ghana
Paul Darby

13    Sport and politics in the United States
Michael Butterworth

14    Sport and language politics in Canada
Christine Dallaire and Jean Harvey

15    Their skin in the game: the Basques, the Catalans and the ‘body politic’ of the Spanish national football team
Mariann Vaczi

16    Sport in a divided Northern Ireland: past and present
David Hassan

17    Sport and politics in Great Britain
Kevin Jefferys

18    Sport, the 2014 Commonwealth Games and the Scottish Referendum
Grant Jarvie

PART IV
Sport, corporate politics and the global community

Introduction to Part IV

19    Sport, spectacle and the politics of late capitalism: articulating the neoliberal order
David Andrews

20    The contemporary politics of sports mega-events
John Horne

21    FIFA: “For the game. For the world”? The world governing body’s escalating crisis of credibility
Alan Tomlinson

22    Political issues in international sport
Thomas Zeiler

23    Western militarism and the political utility of sport
John Kelly

PART V
Sport, political activism and social justice

Introduction to Part V

24    Sport for development and peace: alignment, administration, power
Jacob Naish

25    The politics of sexuality and sport
Nigel Jarvis

26    Gender politics in sport for development and peace
Megan Chawansky and Hillary Kipnis

27    “Race”, sport and politics
Kevin Hylton and Alexandra J. Rankin-Wright

28    The implementation of indigenous knowledge and cultural practices within elite-level sport
Bevan Erueti

29    Sport and sustainability
Will Atkinson

30    Sport activism and protest
Mick Totten

31    ‘Countercultural’ sport
Paul Gilchrist

32    The politics of sport and social enterprise
Gavin Reid

PART VI
Politics and sporting events

Introduction to Part VI

33    The Berlin Olympics, 1936
David Clay Large and Joshua J. H. Large

34    Latin America’s first Olympics: Mexico 1968
Keith Brewster and Claire Brewster

35    The Rome and Munich Olympics, 1960, 1972
Eva Maria Gajek

36    The Moscow Olympics, 1980: competing in the context of the Cold War and state dirigisme
Olga Chepurnaya

37    Politics and sporting events: Beijing Olympics, 2008
Dong Jinxia

38    The politics of sports mega events in South Korea: a diachronic approach
Jung Woo Lee

39    Brazil, politics, the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup
John Horne and Gabriel Silvestre

40    How does a loser win? Taiwan and global sport
Tzūhsuan Chen

41    The politics of the CommonWealth Games
Stuart higham

42    The politics of international cricket
Dominic Malcolm and Devra aldman

Index