What do you think?
Rate this book
Sport and Society
Sports in the Western World
To find more information about Rowman and Littlefield titles, please visit www.rowmanlittlefield.com.
368 pages, Hardcover
Published October 1, 1982
1 person is currently reading
12 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 21, 2020
William J. Baker’s Sports in the Western World is a comprehensive text on its eponymous topic, but one that centers its narrative on a teleological development of sport from Greece. While this is not surprising given the book’s title, the author makes it clear from the beginning that it was his belief in western sport’s pre-eminence in the modern era that led him to write. While he does acknowledge contributions from places such as China and the Muslim world, they come off (at least in the 1988 edition) as perfunctory references to pre-empt criticism, rather than genuine appreciation of sport’s multifarious origins. As such, the work’s value lies more in its comprehensiveness than its academic depth.
While each does revolve around a single theme, it is more useful to summarize the book at the level of its five “parts”, rather than its 20 chapters individually, because the latter is often more descriptive and focuses on micro-arguments. The first part engages sports “beginnings”, where Baker aligns with the conventional theory of his time by claiming that the impulse for sport emerged in prehistoric times through activities required for survival, such as hunting. After touching briefly upon traditions around the world, he begins his narrative in earnest by examining how the Greeks brought organization to “games” and built upon their ritual past. Romans, followed by the people of the medieval ages, kept this spirit alive through various means and in a reduced from.
Part two examines how these traditions were maintained between the Renaissance and the Industrial Revolution, which the author outlines as a rocky time in the history of sport, where the survival of its historical continuity was in doubt. It persisted only in the care of political and religious elites, which often led forms that did not suit their purposes (including those of other colonized cultures) to be dispensed with. Sport was thereafter distilled from something of concern to the upper echelons of society into a practical tool to mold the “masses” through the inculcation of certain values instilled into physical culture. Part three chronicles how the people wrested control of team sports from these elites and made them their own, negotiating the original didactic intent with their increasing desire for, and access to, leisure. Baker outlines the cultural and economic reasons for the development of the most popular sports, in addition to looking into the ways in which more individually-minded sports fit themselves into these new systems.
Part four continues the narratives from part three and feels more like a temporal break than a thematic one. It does, however, highlight the emergence of the global tournament, most notable through the paradigm of the modern Olympics. There was also a growing awareness, despite claims to the contrary, that sport was a political realm, with large events increasing the temptation to utilize sport as a vehicle for ideology. This idea bridges the gap between parts four and five, with the former ending with the defeat of fascism and the latter beginning with the emergence of communism. Naturally, this also entails a deeper look into the economics of sport.
Overall, Sports in the Western World contains one major argument, which is stated in the first sentence of the introduction: “virtually every competitive sport in the modern world is a refinement of physical contests originating in ancient and medieval times.” As the book proceeds, the argument is refined into a claim that “modern” sport derives from the western world and can trace its lineage, however erratically, back to the Greeks. On the whole, given its emphasis on comprehensiveness, this text reads more like a textbook, or perhaps a contextualized encyclopedia, than a flowing academic argument, as it is less concerned with making and defending its thesis than it is with chronicling everything about its topic. Its topic, however, is the western world, and thus what it can address and to what depth is limited ultimately by its geographical scope. As such, someone reading this book from cover to cover is likely to be overwhelmed by its myriad details, which in turn limits retention. I would recommend, therefore, that Baker’s work be referenced like a textbook, one that provides a strong, thorough foundation for understanding a particular topic within its aegis.
While each does revolve around a single theme, it is more useful to summarize the book at the level of its five “parts”, rather than its 20 chapters individually, because the latter is often more descriptive and focuses on micro-arguments. The first part engages sports “beginnings”, where Baker aligns with the conventional theory of his time by claiming that the impulse for sport emerged in prehistoric times through activities required for survival, such as hunting. After touching briefly upon traditions around the world, he begins his narrative in earnest by examining how the Greeks brought organization to “games” and built upon their ritual past. Romans, followed by the people of the medieval ages, kept this spirit alive through various means and in a reduced from.
Part two examines how these traditions were maintained between the Renaissance and the Industrial Revolution, which the author outlines as a rocky time in the history of sport, where the survival of its historical continuity was in doubt. It persisted only in the care of political and religious elites, which often led forms that did not suit their purposes (including those of other colonized cultures) to be dispensed with. Sport was thereafter distilled from something of concern to the upper echelons of society into a practical tool to mold the “masses” through the inculcation of certain values instilled into physical culture. Part three chronicles how the people wrested control of team sports from these elites and made them their own, negotiating the original didactic intent with their increasing desire for, and access to, leisure. Baker outlines the cultural and economic reasons for the development of the most popular sports, in addition to looking into the ways in which more individually-minded sports fit themselves into these new systems.
Part four continues the narratives from part three and feels more like a temporal break than a thematic one. It does, however, highlight the emergence of the global tournament, most notable through the paradigm of the modern Olympics. There was also a growing awareness, despite claims to the contrary, that sport was a political realm, with large events increasing the temptation to utilize sport as a vehicle for ideology. This idea bridges the gap between parts four and five, with the former ending with the defeat of fascism and the latter beginning with the emergence of communism. Naturally, this also entails a deeper look into the economics of sport.
Overall, Sports in the Western World contains one major argument, which is stated in the first sentence of the introduction: “virtually every competitive sport in the modern world is a refinement of physical contests originating in ancient and medieval times.” As the book proceeds, the argument is refined into a claim that “modern” sport derives from the western world and can trace its lineage, however erratically, back to the Greeks. On the whole, given its emphasis on comprehensiveness, this text reads more like a textbook, or perhaps a contextualized encyclopedia, than a flowing academic argument, as it is less concerned with making and defending its thesis than it is with chronicling everything about its topic. Its topic, however, is the western world, and thus what it can address and to what depth is limited ultimately by its geographical scope. As such, someone reading this book from cover to cover is likely to be overwhelmed by its myriad details, which in turn limits retention. I would recommend, therefore, that Baker’s work be referenced like a textbook, one that provides a strong, thorough foundation for understanding a particular topic within its aegis.
Displaying 1 of 1 review