Sports in Africa, Past and Present

"These groundbreaking sports studies essays demonstrate how Africans past and present have utilized sports to forge complex identities and shape Africa's dynamic place in the world. Since the late-nineteenth century, modern sports in Africa have both reflected and shaped cultural, social, political, economic, generational, and gendered relations on the continent. Originally intended as a means of "civilizing" indigenous populations and upholding then-current notions of racial hierarchies and "muscular Christianity," Africans soon appropriated these sporting practices to fulfill their own varied interests. This social history collection encompasses a wide range of topics, including women footballers in Nigeria, Kenya's world-class long-distance runners, pitches and stadiums in communities large and small, fandom and pay-to-watch kiosks, the sporting diaspora, sports pedagogy, sport as resistance and as a means to forge identity, sports heritage, the impact of politics on sport, and sporting biography"--
Through the prism of sports and from a range of scholarly perspectives, this anthology offers insight into the varied and shifting experiences of African athletes, fans, communities, and postcolonial states.
These groundbreaking essays demonstrate how Africans past and present have utilized sports to forge complex identities and shape Africa&;s dynamic place in the world.Since the late nineteenth century, modern sports in Africa have both reflected and shaped cultural, social, political, economic, generational, and gender relations on the continent. Although colonial powers originally introduced European sports as a means of &;civilizing&; indigenous populations and upholding then current notions of racial hierarchies and &;muscular Christianity,&; Africans quickly appropriated these sporting practices to fulfill their own varied interests. This collection encompasses a wide range of topics, including women footballers in Nigeria, Kenya&;s world-class long-distance runners, pitches and stadiums in communities large and small, fandom and pay-to-watch kiosks, the sporting diaspora, sports pedagogy, sports as resistance and as a means to forge identity, sports heritage, the impact of politics on sports, and sporting biography.