Playing as if the World Mattered: Illustrated History of Sports Activism - Perfect for Activists, Athletes & History Buffs
$6.23
$11.34
Safe 45%
Playing as if the World Mattered: Illustrated History of Sports Activism - Perfect for Activists, Athletes & History Buffs
$6.23
$11.34
45% Off
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Estimated Delivery: 10-15 days international
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SKU: 69349168
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Description
The world of sports is often associated with commercialism, corruption, and reckless competition. Liberals have objected to sport being used for political propaganda, and leftists have decried its role in distracting the masses from the class struggle. Yet, since the beginning of organized sports, athletes, fans, and officials have tried to administer and play it in ways that strengthen, rather than hinder, progressive social change. From the workers’ sports movement in the early 20th century to the civil rights struggle transforming sports in the 1960s to the current global network of grassroots sports clubs, there has been a glowing desire to include sports in the struggle for liberation and social justice. With the help of numerous full-color illustrations—from posters and leaflets to paintings and photographs—Playing as if the World Mattered makes this history tangible and introduces an understanding of sports beyond chauvinistic jingoism, corporate-media chat rooms, and multibillion-dollar business deals.
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Reviews
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Verified Buyer
5
This is a potted history of activism in pro and amateur sports. At 158 pages, it’s as slim as the end of a snooker cue, and contains short essays on movements, organizations, heroes and key moments in sports activism. The usual suspects are here – Jesse Owens, Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali – but Kuhn also crosses borders to look at movements in Apartheid South Africa, Indonesia, Europe and elsewhere.He highlights several stories that are in danger of slipping out of collective memory, e.g. the Silver medal winner Peter Norman's support for the Black Power salutes of John Carlos and Tommie Smith at the Mexico Olympics, and the soccer player Socrates's stand against the military junta running Brazil.Near the end, Kuhn writes, “What would an ideal world of sports look like? There would be no more superstars, no more billion dollar contracts, no more endless hours of televised sports …” (p. 155) Impossible to imagine? So was the end of slavery. So was women’s suffrage. This book makes you question how elite sports are run and what they really stand for.
