Playing on the Edge : Sport, Society and Culture in Asia and Oceania

Contemporary global sport is in constant, sometimes bewildering flux. This book goes beyond orthodox globalisation theory, deploying the metaphor of ‘playing on the edge’ in analysing the dynamic process of making and remaking sport culture in Asia and Oceania. Beyond sport’s traditionally dominant centres in the West, here the edges of the sport and media fields are vividly exposed, re-positioned, blunted and sharpened, revealing many points of tension – racial, ethnic, gendered, classed, sexual, cultural, linguistic, national, etc. – and in many combinations. This embraces many dimensions of the sport-society nexus relating to subjects including association (soccer) and Australia rules football, cricket, esport, casual and urban community sport, the Gay Games, and sports diplomacy. Playing on the Edge engages with the socio-cultural implications of this relentless sporting movement in considering the extent to which the Occidental may, in some respects, be becoming incidental.

Playing on the Edge is an exciting contribution to understanding the complexities, specificities, multidirectional nature, and unevenness of sport and globalization. It makes a convincing case for widening analytical horizons and frames of reference as sport cultures in Asia and Oceania influence and perhaps represent the future of world sport.

-Professor Toni Bruce, University of Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand

Focusing on the unconventional geographical pairing of Asia and Oceania, Playing on the Edge offers a fresh perspective on globalization and sport. In addressing enduring concerns with the social, cultural and political dimensions and emerging issues in gender, technology, and intellectual property, the authors illuminate world sport’s complex, edgy connections.

-Professor Younghan Cho, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, South Korea