1st Edition

American Sports An Anthropological Approach

Edited By Alan Klein Copyright 2008
    274 Pages
    by Routledge

    274 Pages
    by Routledge

    This collection illustrates the expansiveness of an interdisciplinary approach to the study of sport. While rooted in anthropology, these essays consider American sports in their social, economic, cultural and political aspects, charting their evolution. The book draws from history, sociology, and political science; as well as considering the relationship between the developed and developing world; and culture and masculinity.

    The first part of the book considers the local and global interplay of professional baseball, covering:

    • Major League Baseball’s impact on the Dominican Republic
    • nationalism and baseball on the Mexican/US border
    • the globalizing forces of baseball as an industry.

    The second part of the book is concerned with the cultural examination of the responsiveness of masculinity to social and cultural forces, examining:

    • the exaggerated world of bodybuilders in Southern California
    • the cross-cultural comparisons of male behaviour on a bi-national baseball team in Mexico
    • the historical examination of Jews in American sport.

    This book was previously published as a special issue of Sport in Society

    Introduction….

    Part One: Nationalism, Transnationalism, and Globalization.

    Culture, Politics, and Baseball in the Dominican Republic.

    (Latin American Perspectives, Vol.22(3), 1995).

    Forging a National Industry: Baseball in the Dominican Republic.

    (In: Baseball and Globalization, Edited by George Gmelch; University of Nebraska Press, 2006).

    Borderline Treason: Nationalisms and Baseball on the Texas-Mexican Border.

    (Journal of Sport and Social Issues Vol.20(3), 1996).

    When Will There Be a Real World Series? (In: Growing the Game: Globalization and Major League Baseball, Alan Klein; Yale University Press, 2006).

    Progressive Ethnocentrism: Culture Issues in Regulating Transnational Sports Leagues. [NEW]

    Part Two: Culture, Bodies, and Masculinity.

    Comic Book Masculinity and Cultural Fictions. (In: Little Big Men: Bodybuilding Subculture and Gender Construction, Alan Klein, State University of New York Press, 1993.)

    Massing Muscle on the Popular Front: The Rise to Respectability of Bodybuilding. (In: The Muscular Ideal: Psychological, Social and MedicalPerspectives, Thompson and Cofri Editors, Sage Publishing, 2005.)

    Culture and Masculinity on the Tecos. (In: Baseball on the Border: A Tale of Two Laredos. Alan Klein, Princeton University Press, 1997).

    Anti-Semitism versus Anti-Somatism: Seeking the Elusive Sporting Jew.

    (Sociology of Sport Journal, Vol.17(3), 2000.)

    Conclusion: Traversing Disciplinary Boundaries in a Global Sport World.

    [NEW]

    Biography

    Alan Klein