Theorizing Race and Sport

Race matters to sport. It influences opportunities, experiences, attitudes and behaviors; impacts on the production, consumption, and management of sport, and has decorated the sociocultural histories that lie at the heart of our understanding of sport. This is the first book to survey the wide array of conceptual frameworks that explain this relationship, to comprehensively theorize race and sport, and to re-imagine its conceptual basis. Examining the experiences of African-Americans in depth, the book also explores sport and race on a global level. With real cases and examples provided throughout, this is important reading for anyone working in sport, sociology or cultural studies.

Part 1: Introduction 1. Introduction – Race and Sport: Contours, Meanings, and Matters Part 2: Theorizing Race: Conceptual Re-imaginings 2. A League of Their Own: Theorizing Race, ‘Place’, and Black Sports 3. A ‘Meaningful and Critical Functional Conflict’: Theorizing the Sociology of Race and Sport 4. ‘Black Like Me Too’: Race, Self-Theories, and Sport 5. Aesthetics of Blackness: Theorizing the Social Psychology of Race and Sport 6. Silenced in Essentiality… Ain’t I a Woman: Theorizing the Racialization of Gender 7. ‘Black’ Ceilings and Stained Glass Doors: Theorizing Race and Sport Management 8. ‘Ballin’ in the Dark’: Theorizing Race, Blackness, and Sport Participation 9. Racially Conspicuous Sport Consumption: Theorizing an Afrocentric Model. 10. Theorizing the ‘Conceptual Fuzzies’ of Race: Multicultural Perspectives 11. Race in the Global Sport Arena: Theoretical Implications 12. ‘Race’ Research Matters! Theorizing Intellectual Diversity Part 3: Conclusion 13. Conclusion: Race and Sport - New Epistemological Envisionings

Ketra L. Armstrong is a Professor of Sport Management in the School of Kinesiology and an Affiliate Faculty in the Department of Afroamerican and African Studies at the University of Michigan, US. Her primary research focus is on race and the sport behaviors and experiences of individuals of African descent. She is a Research Fellow in the North American Society for Sport Management, and her research has been featured in numerous journals including Journal of Sport Management, Sport Marketing Quarterly, Journal of Sport and Social Issues, Journal of Sport Behavior, Innovative Marketing, Journal of Black Psychology, Journal of Black Studies and Western Journal of Black Studies. She serves on numerous journal editorial boards and was the Guest Editor for the Journal of Sport Management’s special issue on race and ethnicity. She is a ‘race’ consultant to sport organizations and a member of Wharton’s Black Scholars Roundtable.