Behind the spectacle of entertainment, sport is a subject with political issues at every level. These issues range from the social, with divisions created along gender and class lines, to the use of sport to pursue diplomatic and statecraft goals. In addition, some sports are positioned and promoted as national events both in public opinion and in the media. This book seeks to explore some aspects of the notion of power in sport in south Asia and among south Asians abroad. The first two chapters deal with the internal societal dimensions of the politics of sport; the next three relate to the politics inside the sporting world in the subcontinent and its bridge with the broader arena of the society through the media, while the last five relate to the use of sports in statecraft, consensus building and international politics. This book was based on two special issues of the International Journal of the History of Sport.

This original collection demonstrates the importance of sporting practices, spaces and leisure affiliations to understanding issues around identity, (post-) migration, diaspora and transnationialism for global South Asian populations. The chapters provide a critical (re-) examination of the roles that sport plays within and in relation to South Asian groups in the diaspora, and raises a series of pertinent questions regarding the multifarious relationships between sport and South Asianness. The chapters range across a wide variety of disciplines, regions, sports and identifications. They are in conversation with each other while showing the particularity of each diasporic context and relationship to sport. The book encompasses a number of global contexts from the "homeland" (India, Pakistan, Afghanistan) to the diaspora (Fiji, Norway, the US, the UK), and addresses a broad range of sporting contexts, including basketball, boxing, cricket, cycling, field hockey, soccer and golf. The chapters combine a range of qualitative methods, including ethnography, auto-ethnography, participant observation, memoir, interview and textual analysis (film, television and print media). This collection comprises the latest cutting edge research in the field, and will be essential reading for scholars and students both of sport and South Asian diasporas. This book was published as a special issue of South Asian Popular Culture.

A detailed study of sports' arrival, spread and advance in colonial and post-colonial South Asia. A selection of articles addresses critical issues of nationalism, communalism, commercialism and gender through the lens of sport. This book makes the point that the social histories of South Asian sport cannot be understood by simply looking at the history of the game in one province or region. Furthermore, it demonstrates that it would be wrong to understand sport in terms of the exigencies of the colonial state. Drawing inspiration from C.L.R. James' well-known epigram, 'What do they know of cricket who only cricket know?' the findings suggest that South Asian sport makes sense only when it is placed within the broader colonial and post-colonial context. The book demonstrates that sport not only influences politics and vice versa, but that the two are inseparable. Sport is not only political, it is politics, intrigue, culture and art. To deny this is to denigrate the position of sport in modern South Asian society. This volume was previously published as a special issue of The International Journal of the History of Sport.

This is the first book to offer a comprehensive overview of the history, development and contemporary significance of sport in Asia. It addresses a wide range of issues central to sport in the context of Asian culture, politics, economy and society. The book explores diverse topics, including the history of traditional Asian sport; the rise of modern sport in Asia; the Olympic Movement in Asia; mega sport events in Asia; sport governance and policy; gender, class and ethnicity in Asian sport, and Asia’s sporting heroes and heroines. With contributions from 74 leading international scholars, it offers a new perspective on understanding Asian sport and society, telling the story of how sport in this mega-region is coming together and reshaping the world in the process. It also provides readers with a wide lens through which to better contextualise the relationships between Asia and the world within the global sport community. The Routledge Handbook of Sport in Asia is a vital resource for students and scholars studying the history, politics, sociology, culture and policy of sport in Asia, as well as sport management, sport history, sport sociology, and sport policy and politics. It is also valuable reading for those working in international sport organisations.

The Making of Sporting Cultures presents an analysis of western sport by examining how the collective passions and feelings of people have contributed to the making of sport as a ‘way of life’. The popularity of sport is so pronounced in some cases that we speak of certain sports as ‘national pastimes’. Baseball in the United States, soccer in Britain and cricket in the Caribbean are among the relevant examples discussed. Rather than regarding the historical development of sport as the outcome of passive spectator reception, this work is interested in how sporting cultures have been made and developed over time through the active engagement of its enthusiasts. This is to study the history of sport not only ‘from below’, but also ‘from within’, as a means to understanding the ‘deep relationship’ between sport and people within class contexts – the middle class as well as the working class. Contestation over the making of sport along axes of race, gender and class are discussed where relevant. A range of cultural writers and theorists are examined in regard to both how their writing can help us understand the making of sport and as to how sport might be located within an overall cultural context – in different places and times. The book will appeal to students and academics within humanities disciplines such as cultural studies, history and sociology and to those in sport studies programmes interested in the historical, cultural and social aspects of sport. This book was published as a special issue of Sport in Society.

Playing and watching sport can teach us a great deal about wider social issues. This book looks at how identities are constructed and reinforced in sport, exploring notions of race, class, sexuality and nationalism. With contributions from international experts, this book is key reading for students of sociology and sports studies.

This book examines the complex ways in which girls and women experience football cultures in Britain. It extends current debate surrounding women and football (namely, how gender has functioned to shape women’s experiences of playing the game), by focusing on organisational, administrative and coaching practices, alongside the particular issues surrounding sexuality, ethnicity and disability (not only gender). The book analyses football and gender to reveal the subtle forms of discrimination that persist. It is important to highlight the many challenges and transformations made by girls and women but more importantly to consider the ways power continues to operate to devalue and undermine girls and women involved in the game. The UK-based authors make use of their recent research findings to offer critical debate on girls’ and women’s current experiences of British football cultures. Overall the book reveals the present day complexities of marginalisation and exclusion. This book was published as a special issue of Sport and Society.

This book is the first comprehensive collection focusing on the hosting of sports mega-events within Asia and their impact on the politics, economics, and culture that shape, and are shaped by, the local idiosyncrasies of host cities and countries across this most culturally diverse continent. From the Olympic Games and single sport World Cups, to the Asian Games and their sub-regional variations, an increasing number of Asian countries have rapidly developed their capacity to host and mobilize large-scale sports events as a cornerstone of their economic growth, national identity formation, and international prestige. This book sets out to fill a gap in the literature and will be of particular relevance to those who are interested in globalization, sports studies, political economy, cultural studies, event management and policy, sociology, media studies, and Asian studies

Despite a widely held, and not entirely erroneous, view that the cultures of East and Southeast Asia commonly favour the mind over the body or, at least mental activity rather than physical endeavour, this collection of essays sheds light on the wide range of diverse ways in which sport and body cultures feature in that part of the world. Contributors to the collection work in many different countries but are united in their shared interest in increasing our understanding of the social role of sport and body cultures which is manifest in their work. The countries that are discussed are Indonesia, the People’s Republic of China, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, and the former Netherlands New Guinea. Themes considered in these chapters are the implications of hosting sport events, the focus on sport and the body by a group of Buddhist monastics, belly dancing in the lives of women in Taiwan, the sociopolitical role of the scouting movement in a colonial setting, and issues relating to the functioning of sport clubs. The chapters were originally published in Asia Pacific Journal of Sport and Social Science.

Praise for the First Edition: "Barrie Houlihan's astonishingly ambitious and skilfully assembled collection examines the relations between sport, social policy and the social context that underlies the two. Organized around such themes as exclusion, commercialism and international comparisons, the book allows the reader to understand not only the centrality of sport to contemporary society, but the often perplexing policies that contrive to encourage or deny participation, promote or deter public sector involvement and support or undermine physical education. Importantly, Houlihan never prioritises the general over the particular, always striving to find detail amid the bigger picture." - Ellis Cashmore, Professor of Culture, Media and Sport, Staffordshire University "The most comprehensive study of contemporary issues in sport by leading international scholars. Houlihan's book is the answer to sports students' prayers, full of information, statistics, tables and figures, extensive guides to further reading and, most important of all, challenging ideas. A weighty vademecum for the early 21st century." - Jim Riordan Honorary Professor of Sports Studies, University of Stirling, Professor Emeritus at University of Surrey, and President of the European Sports History Association Fully updated and revised, the Second Edition of Barrie Houlihan's ground-breaking book provides students and lecturers with a one-stop text that is comprehensive, multi-disciplinary, accessible, international and engaging. Sport and Society allows students to: Approach the study of sport from a multi-disciplinary perspective. Understand the importance of social structure, power and inequality in analyzing the nature and significance of sport in society. Address the rapid commercialization and regulation of sport. Engage in comparative analysis to understand problems clearly and produce sound solutions. Expand their knowledge through chapter summaries, guides to further reading and extensive bibliographies. This Second Edition contains five brand new chapters, which reflect recent concerns with: young athletes and human rights, sport and the city, sport and violence, sport and health, and sport and Islam. A superb teaching text, it will be relished by lecturers seeking an authoritative introduction to sport and society and students who want a relevant, enriching text for their learning and research needs.