Sport and democracy in the ancient and modern worlds / Paul Christesen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Christesen, Paul, 1966- author.

Series:

Sport and democracy in the ancient and modern worlds

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sports--History.

Sports.

Sports--Sociological aspects.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xvii, 309 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

Sport & Democracy in the Ancient & Modern Worlds

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This book explores the relationship between sport and democratization. Drawing on sociological and historical methodologies, it provides a framework for understanding how sport affects the level of egalitarianism in the society in which it is played. The author distinguishes between horizontal sport, which embodies and fosters egalitarian relations, and vertical sport, which embodies and fosters hierarchical relations. Christesen also differentiates between societies in which sport is played and watched on a mass scale and those in which it is an ancillary activity. Using ancient Greece and nineteenth-century Britain as case studies, Christesen analyzes how these variables interact and finds that horizontal mass sport has the capacity to both promote and inhibit democratization at a societal level. He concludes that horizontal mass sport tends to reinforce and extend democratization.

Contents:

1. Introduction

2. Terms and concepts

3. Previous work positing a causal relationship between sport and democratization

4. Congruence between society and sport

5. Sport as a school for democracy

6. Sport as an impediment to democratization

7. The cumulative effect of horizontal mass sport on democratization

8. Sport and society in early iron age Greece

9. Sport and society in sixth- and fifth-century BCE Greece

10. Sport and democratization in sixth- and fifth-century BCE Greece

11. Sport and society in Britain from 1800 to 1840

12. Sport and society in Britain from 1840 to 1870

13. Sport in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Germany

14. Sport and society in Britain from 1870 to 1900

15. Sport and democratization in nineteenth-century Britain

16. Mass sport in the United States

17. Conclusion.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-139-57941-X

1-139-88739-4

0-511-99850-3

1-139-57339-X

1-139-56903-1

1-139-57084-6

1-139-57259-8

1-283-71628-3

1-139-56993-7

OCLC:

813844851