American Sports : An Anthropological Approach

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