The Politics of South African Cricket / Edition 1

by Jon Gemmell

Overview

The Politics of South African Cricket analyses the relationship between politics and sport, in particular cricket, in South Africa. South African Cricket embraces an ethos that is symbolic of a wider held belief system and as such has distinctive political connotations in the region.
Sport in South Africa is certainly influenced by forces beyond the playing field, but politics too can be influenced by the social and economic force of sport.
Focusing on the sports boycott as a political strategy, Jon Gemmell analyses the relationship between sport and politics through a historical analysis of South African cricket. He employs case studies to explore the relationship between politics and South African cricket and argues convincingly that cricket assisted the reform process by undermining the legitimacy of the apartheid regime.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780714653464
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	05/06/2004
Series:	Sport in the Global Society
Pages:	276
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Jon Gemmell received his BA in Social and Economic History and his PhD in Politics from Leicester University and currently teaches sociology and history at Kennet School, Thatcham, UK.

Table of Contents

Introduction, 1 The Problems of Defining 'Political Science' 2 The Ties that bind: The Relationship between Sport and Politics 3 On a Sticky Wicket: The Ethos of Cricket 4 Programme and Practice: Apartheid and Sport 5 Banishing Tradition, or Prejudice? Politics and the Winding Road to Multiracial Cricket 6 'No Normal Sport in an Abnormal Society' 7 Isolating the Disease: International Politics and the Arguments for Sanctions against South Africa 8 Isolation (of Sorts): South Africa's Withdrawal from the Commonwealth 9 A Defining Moment: The Basil D'Oliveira Affair 10 Cricket and the Actual Institution of Politics: The 1970 South African Tour to England 11 Treachery and Despair: The Rebel Tours 12 Conclusion: The Role of Sport in Influencing Change in South Africa