A collection of eight original essays by distinguished scholars, this book examines the role of sports, particularly soccer and baseball, in Latin America from the late 19th century to the present. The first study of its kind, Sport and Society in Latin America vividly demonstrates the ways in which sport can be used to study various historical and social processes and expands our understanding of sport as a major form of social behavior in Latin America. The contributors analyze the relationship of sport to foreign penetration and cultural imitation, urbanization and the rise of mass society, social divisiveness and social integration, class conflict, politics, and nationalism and revolution.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“A very exciting collection that explores sport in itself and also as a cultural phenomenon. In unexpected ways, bicycles are linked to modernization in Mexico, baseball takes on socialist overtones in the Yucatan, and the political outlook in Cuba and Nicaragua is explained in terms of their emphasis on sports. This reviewer especially liked Lever's article on Brazil, in which she demonstrates that "sport helps complex modern societies cohere." Spanning a time period from the turn of the century to the present, the seven essays offer dramatic insights into Latin American societies; Robert Levine's conclusion presents comparisons with sports in the US. This new entry into the growing field of sport and social analysis is highly recommended for college and university libraries.”–Choice
“Arbena's edited volume is a first-rate contribution to the study of sport and society in Latin America. Starting with the assumption `that the academic study of sport no longer requires extended justifications or apologies' (p. 1), Arbena has assembled a collection of well-written and well-documented, interesting, and, for the most part, jargon-free essays. The contributing scholars seem to thoroughly enjoy their research. . . . The reader is given a fascinating glimpse of Latin American societies through the lens of sport. . . . The book should be of interest to students of popular culture in Latin American and essential reading for the growing number of scholars who are interested in the role of sports in society. It would serve as a useful textbook for an undergraduate course on the subject.”–HAHR
“Sport and Society in Latin America offers one the chance to probe the world of Latin America sport and its historical relationship to economics, politics, and society in a comprehensive and theoretical way. This timely and important anthology is the outgrowth of four annual conferences held at Clemson University, 1981-1984. The volume consists of eight chapters written by some of the pioneer scholars in the field. . . . The editor also has included a useful bibliography. . . . This is a highly suggestive and provocative volume, and, as such, tantalizes the reader. . . . The work raises many questions yet, given the newness of the field, the answers are often only tentative at best. For example, what exactly is the connection between pre-and post-industrial sport? The mere introduction of a sport by foreigners is not enough to explain its adoption and widespread dispersion in a new culture; what other factors are involved? How and why did sports in most countries start out as elitist and then become part of the lower classes? If sport can be both liberating/integrative and manipulative/repressive, what factors, besides one's perception, determine the dominate mode at any given time? What about the impact of increasing literacy and leisure, radio and later television, and professionalization? This anthology is necessary reading for anyone interested in the new but rapidly growing study of sport in Latin America. Nevertheless, as Levine asserts in the concluding chapter, `the next generation of analysts of Latin America sport must dig deeper into untouched archives and other sources' in order to answer these and many other key questions.”–Inter-American Review of Bibliography
“Arbena's edited volume is a first-rate contribution to the study of sport and society in Latin America. Starting with the assumption `that the academic study of sport no longer requires extended justifications or apologies' (p. 1), Arbena has assembled a collection of well-written and well-documented, interesting, and, for the most part, jargon-free essays. The contributing scholars seem to thoroughly enjoy their research. . . . The reader is given a fascinating glimpse of Latin American societies through the lens of sport. . . . The book should be of interest to students of popular culture in Latin American and essential reading for the growing number of scholars who are interested in the role of sports in society. It would serve as a useful textbook for an undergraduate course on the subject.”–
“Sport and Society in Latin America offers one the chance to probe the world of Latin America sport and its historical relationship to economics, politics, and society in a comprehensive and theoretical way. This timely and important anthology is the outgrowth of four annual conferences held at Clemson University, 1981-1984. The volume consists of eight chapters written by some of the pioneer scholars in the field. . . . The editor also has included a useful bibliography. . . . This is a highly suggestive and provocative volume, and, as such, tantalizes the reader. . . . The work raises many questions yet, given the newness of the field, the answers are often only tentative at best. For example, what exactly is the connection between pre-and post-industrial sport? The mere introduction of a sport by foreigners is not enough to explain its adoption and widespread dispersion in a new culture; what other factors are involved? How and why did sports in most countries start out as elitist and then become part of the lower classes? If sport can be both liberating/integrative and manipulative/repressive, what factors, besides one's perception, determine the dominate mode at any given time? What about the impact of increasing literacy and leisure, radio and later television, and professionalization? This anthology is necessary reading for anyone interested in the new but rapidly growing study of sport in Latin America. Nevertheless, as Levine asserts in the concluding chapter, `the next generation of analysts of Latin America sport must dig deeper into untouched archives and other sources' in order to answer these and many other key questions.”–
About the Author
JOSEPH L. ARBENA is Professor of History at Clemson University.
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