The publisher and the University of California Press Foundation gratefully acknowledge the generous support of the Fletcher Jones Foundation Imprint in Humanities. Th e Anthropology of Sport This page intentionally left blank Th e Anthropology of Sport bodies, borders, biopolitics Niko Besnier, Susan Brownell, and Th omas F. Carter university of california press University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu. University of California Press Oakland, California © 2018 by Th e Regents of the University of California Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Besnier, Niko, author. | Brownell, Susan, author. | Carter, Th omas F., 1967– author. Title: Th e anthropology of sport : bodies, borders, biopolitics / Niko Besnier, Susan Brownell, and Th omas F. Carter. Description: Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2018] | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Identifi ers: lccn 2017023360 (print) | lccn 2017026172 (ebook) | isbn 9780520963818 (ebook) | isbn 9780520289000 (cloth : alk. paper) | isbn 9780520289017 (pbk. : alk. paper) Subjects: lcsh: Sports—Anthropological aspects. Classifi cation: lcc gv706.2 (ebook) | lcc gv706.2 .b48 2018 (print) | ddc 306.4/83—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017023360 Manufactured in the United States of America 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 contents List of Illustrations vii Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 1 Sport, Anthropology, and History 11 • 2 Sport, Colonialism, and Imperialism 39 • 3 Sport, Health, and the Environment 71 • 4 Sport, Social Class, Race, and Ethnicity 97 • 5 Sport and Sex, Gender, and Sexuality 127 • 6 Sport, Cultural Performance, and Mega-events 158 • 7 Sport, Nation, and Nationalism 197 • 8 Sport in the World System 228 • Epilogue: Sport for Anthropology 255 Notes 259 Selected Bibliography 305 Index 313 This page intentionally left blank illustrations 1. Model of ball game with spectators, Nayarit, Mexico, ca. 100 bce–250 ce 2 2. A young Senegalese wrestler strikes a pose before his fi ght 8 3. Th e Nemean Games Revival in 2012 15 4. “Spear throwing contest of Igorrote Warriors,” 1904 world’s fair 20 5. A beach cricket game on a lazy Sunday aft ernoon, Trinidad 57 6. Fijian boys learn to handle rugby balls from the earliest age 69 7. Practicing tai chi on a river bank, Guilin, China 87 8. A member of Fiji’s rugby sevens national team avoids a tackle by a British player at the Rio Olympics 114 9. Angelina Huang, 2017 US novice ladies’ fi gure skating champion 122 10. Tamara Press (USSR) in the women’s discus throw fi nal, Tokyo 1964 132 11. Th e Fijianas, Fiji’s national women’s rugby sevens team, at the Rio Olympics 145 12. Turkish oil wrestling at the Kırkpınar festival in Edirne, Turkey 147 13. Every soccer game in Buea, Cameroon, begins with a prayer huddle 167 1 4. Senegalese wrestling star Modou Lô with his mystique arsenal, Dakar 168 15. Diagram of MacAloon’s ramifi ed performance theory as applied to the Olympic performance system 171 16. Mini-Olympics, schoolchildren with torch, Deyang, Sichuan, China 177 17. Competing for the goat carcass in a buzkashi game, Panjshir valley, Afghanistan 190 vii