Capitalism and sport

Politics, protest, people and play

Michael Lavalette (ed), Bookmarks, 266 pages, paperback, £9.99

Millions of working class people across the globe talk about, watch or participate in sports. For some it is a way out of poverty and obscurity, for others it is a positive distraction from the drudgery of modern life.

And yet, as this book shows, sport is shaped by the drives and contradictions of capitalism. It is dominated by big business, it abuses both “sports workers” and fans, it often divides working people against each other, it can be laden with nationalist rhetoric and symbolism, and it reflects and reproduces all the social divisions prevalent in the modern world.

But these contradictions also create a space where resistance can develop. The essays in this collection focus on the politics of, and politics in, sport. They cover football, athletics, rugby, cricket, cycling, boxing and tennis; look at the origins of sport regulation, the impact of globalisation and the place of individual and collective resistance within the world of sport.

When Muhammad Ali repeatedly pounded Ernie Terrell in their 1967 boxing bout while shouting “What’s my name fool?” it said something very important about the nature of society, racism, rebellion and resistance. Terrell had refused to call him anything but Cassius Clay in the run up to the fight.

Order online at: www.bookmarksbookshop.co.uk