The Athlete as National Symbol: Critical Essays on Sports in the International Arena

by Nicholas Villanueva Jr. (Editor)

Overview

 Examining the phenomenon of nationalism in the world of sport, this collection of new essays identifies moments when athletes became national symbols through their actions on and off the field. Since the break-up of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, and related global events of the 1980s and 1990s, scholars have explored how race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality shape and are shaped by nationalism and national participation.

Topics include: race, golf and the struggle for social justice in South Africa; sport as a battleground within the Israel/Palestine conflict; multiculturalism and the Olympic Games; and white privilege in sport. These case studies explore the strength (and fragility) associated with national identity, and how athletes become icons for their nations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476638355
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	01/17/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	228
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Nicholas Villanueva, Jr., is an award winning author and an associate chair of undergraduate studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He serves as the director of critical sports studies, a discipline that examines sports and their social, cultural, historical, and economic contexts.
Nicholas Villanueva, Jr., is an award winning author and an associate chair of undergraduate studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He serves as the director of critical sports studies, a discipline that examines sports and their social, cultural, historical, and economic contexts.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part One: Race, Gender and Social Justice
Land of the Free? Sporting Nationalism and White Privilege
in the United States (Nicholas Villanueva, Jr.)
Diversity and Organizational Productivity: Examining
the Role of Race and Gender in U.S. Olympic Team Success
at the 2012 London Games (Jomills H. Braddock II, Christina Sanchez Volatier, ­Adrienne Milner, Ashley B. Mikulyuk
and Marvin P. Dawkins)
Part Two: Sport and National Identity
“Damn!—welly good white man’s game”: Race, Golf
and the Struggle for Social Justice in South Africa,
c. 1890–1991 (Hendrik Snyders)
National Heroes or Disgusting Nazis? Soccer Patriotism,
German National Identity and the “Gaucho Gate” Incident
After the FIFA World Cup 2014 (Yannick Kluch)
National Identities and International Sport: What About
the Women? (Ali Bowes)
Part Three: Athletes and the Global Spectacle A Fatwa for German Soccer (Bruce S. Burnside)
A Cause Without a Rebel: In Search of a Palestinian Sporting
Hero (Jon Dart)
Part Four: Media ­Re-Presentation of Nationhood and Sport
Team Orders: Mass Media Complicity with State Nationalisms
Expressed Through Motorsport (Zachary T. Androus)
Taking Our Ball and Staying Home: Nationalistic Exceptionalism and Cultural Imperialism in U.S. Sports Coverage and Leagues (Jared Bahir Browsh )190
About the Contributors
Index