Sport in Latin America and the Caribbean

Edited by Joseph L. Arbena, David G. LaFrance

Publication date:

01 May 2002

Length of book:

241 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

ISBN-13: 9780842028202

Sport in Latin America and the Caribbean is the most comprehensive overview to date of the development of modern sports in Latin America. This new book illustrates how and why sport has become a central part of the political, economic, and social life of the region and the repercussions of its role.

This highly readable volume is composed of articles on a wide variety of sports-basketball, baseball, volleyball, cricket, soccer, and equestrian events-in countries and regions throughout Latin America, including Mexico, the Caribbean, Costa Rica, Peru, Brazil, Cuba, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic. Broad in scope, this volume explores the definition of modern sport; whether sport is enslaving, liberating, or neutral; if sport reflects or challenges dominant culture; the attributes and drawbacks of professional versus amateur sport; and the difference between sport in capitalist and socialist nations.

Other subjects that are addressed as they pertain to modern sport include: diffusion and globalization/internationalization; hegemony, dependency, and nationalism; politics and the state; culture, ethnicity, and race; economic class; gender; commercialization, modernization, and professionalization; health, morality, crime and vice; economics and labor productivity; and the media.

Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 The Catholic Church and the Origins of Soccer in Costa Rica, 1904-1921
Chapter 3 The Case of Soccer in Early Twentieth-Century Lima
Chapter 4 Soccer Madness: Futebol in Brazil
Chapter 5 Soccer Conspiracies: Maradona, the CIA, and Popular Critique
Chapter 6 Three Kings Day in Consuelo: Cricket, Baseball, and the Cocolos in San Pedro de Macorís
Chapter 7 Labor, the State, and Professional Baseball in Mexico in the 1980s
Chapter 8 Charreada: Performance and Interpretation of an Equestrian Folk Tradition in Mexico and the United States
Chapter 9 Hosting the Summer Olympic Games: Mexico City, 1968
Chapter 10 Sport in Cuba: Castro's Last Stand
Chapter 11 The Failure of Caribbean Integration: Lessons from Grass Roots Basketball
Chapter 12 Sport in Nicaragua, 1889–1926
Chapter 13 The History of Peruvian Women's Volleyball
Chapter 14 In Search of the Latin American Female Athlete
Chapter 15 Suggested Readings

Joseph Arbena is unquestionably one of the world's leading authorities on Latin American sports. He and David LaFrance have put together a collection of essays that range from speculations on the political views of Argentine soccer idol Diego Maradona to shrewd sociological comments on the exploits of Peruvian female volleyball players. For those curious about Latin American and Caribbean sports, this is a fine place to begin.