Sports Studies in India

Description

Sports Studies uses the realms of sports as the arena within which to explore social relations, community relations and identity formation. The sociology of sports is a vibrant field of study globally. In India though, there has been sporadic literature on it (mainly in the work of cricket historians). This volume comprises of an eclectic list of contributors from across academia and popular media who write on sports as a sociological unit of analysis; they use ethnographic and sociological tools and methods of enquiry to explore social, economic and political relations in society as reflected through the microcosm of the field of sport. Using such varying perspectives, the essays raise important questions about society in a post-Independent India: they raise questions of gender, culture, caste and class distinctions, role of market and economy, urbanism, nationalism, media, role of government and State, of hierarchies and colonial legacies. The book endeavours to show sports as organized activity with a structure and rules, but also as a phenomenon that impacts Indian society, culture and politics and is in turn affected by the environment external to it

About the author:

Padma Prakash is Chief Editor, e-socialsciences journal; Meena Gopal is Professor, School of Development Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai

Table of contents

Introduction : A Sporting Engagement
Padma Prakash and Meena Gopal

I. Sports and Sports Studies: Expanding the Field, Breaking Boundaries
1. The Struggle for Sports Commons: The South Asian Context
S. Janaka Biyanwila
2. Ethnicity, Class, Leisure and Aspirations: Football in Mumbai's Sociospatial Dynamics
D Parthasarathy
3. India's Olympic Encounter: Sport, Identity and Nation
Boria Mazumdar
4. Indian Volleyball: From Local Contexts to Global Realities
Bino Paul
5. Sherpas and Himalayan Mountaineering: Identity, Labour and Power in Sport
Vrinda Marwah
6. Women's Cricket in India: Expanding the Inclusionary Possibilities of Sport
Raadhika Gupta
7. Testing the Limits of Science: Sex Difference and Athletic Ability in Elite Sport
Madeleine Pape

II. Reflections on Sports Studies: Transcending Disciplines
8. A Sociological Understanding of Sport in India
Elizabeth C.J. Pike
9. Labours of Care in Sport: Reflections on Feminist Practice in Athletics
Meena Gopal
10. Perspectives on Sports History in India: Present Challenges and Future Directions
Kausik Bandyopadhyay

III. Nurturing Sports: Crucibles of Growth

11.. A City and a Sport: Hockey in Calcutta
Nikhilesh Bhattacharya
12.. Goa's Football Story: Of Unity and Hegemony
Frederick Noronha
13. Local Clubs and Sports Culture in Kerala: Community at the Centre
S. Mohammed Irshad
14. Nurturing Sports Talent: What Role Do Academies Play?
Pulasta Dhar

Section IV: State, Sports and Development : Policy and Regulation
15. The Uneven Development of Sports Policy: Legal Regimes, Legislation and Governance
Kruthika N.S. and Sarthak Sood
16. Mega Sport Events, Development and Tourism
EQUATIONS
17. Doping : Ramifications for Indian Sports
K P Mohan
18. Performance Enhancing Substances in Sports: Towards Country-specific Harm Reduction Strategies
Kaveri Prakash
19. Sports for Development and Peace: From Global to Local
S. Ananthakrishnan
20. Reimagining Play: Football, Muslim Women and Empowerment
Sabah Khan

Section V: Movies, Media and Technology
21. The Nationalist Imaginary in the Bollywood Sports Film
Nissim Mannathukkaren
22. The Sports Celebrity and the Biopic
Pramod K. Nayar
23. Breaking into the Press Box and After: A First Person Account
Sharda Ugra
24. State, Market and Media in Indian Cricket
Avipsu Halder
25. Who Watches Cricket? The New Spectator in the Sporting-Entertainment Complex
Vidya Subramaniam