Full Description
Given China's investment in sport, success in international competitions and recent hosting of high-profile events, there is no doubt the country is a rising power in the realm of global sports. Encouraging readers in other international settings to consider this topic from their own cultural contexts, this collection addresses the question of why China has so tightly embraced modern sport. How does this interact with China's mediated ability to play and compete with the west?
The first English collation of works from both established and emerging sociological scholars on sport culture in China, this collection analyses how sport is seen as a channel of observing global, political and economic challenges. Bringing a foundational Chinese context to each chapter, contributors analyse topics including traditional sports, nationalism, football fandoms, commercialisation and esports. Offering critical insights into 'glocalized' sporting cultures and political hegemony, authors dig deep into common sociological theories to address issues around mediating power and China's sport culture. Examining the relationship between sport and social transformation, contributors also reflect on how we might research the sociology of sport in China going forward.
Exploring how sporting cultures, practices and attitudes differ across cultural settings, The Mediating Power of Sport demonstrates how China has created new forms of influence through sport and considers what this might mean for how we think about soft power, international prowess and the deeper role sport can play on the world stage.
Contents
Introduction - The Mediating Power of Sport: Global Challenges and Sport Culture in China; Nicholas Wise and Enqing Tian
Chapter 1. Embodied Turn? Reviewing and Reflecting on the Study of Chinese Traditional Sports Culture; Zhen Zhang
Chapter 2. Chinese Sports Heroes and Nationalism at Mega-Sporting Events; Gen Li
Chapter 3. Debates on Football and Chinese National Identity; Kaixiao Jiang and Jinyu Liu
Chapter 4. Chinese Football Fandom: Growing with the Changing Chinese Society; Kaixiao Jiang and Liam O'Callaghan
Chapter 5. The Commercialisation of Chinese Professional Football: Transition and Evolution; Yang Ma
Chapter 6. Jack and the Visiting Giants: The Development of Chinese Baseball; Xiaoqian Richard Hu
Chapter 7. From an Expatriate-Only Sport to an Asian Games Sport: The Development of Cricket in China; Boyang He, Dominic Malcolm, and Chunyang Xu
Chapter 8. Esportisation: The Inclusion of Esports in the Hangzhou Asian Games; Jianping Hong and Jiandong Yi
Chapter 9. Running Culture in China: Conceptualizing Notions of Power and Self; Zhanbing Ren
Chapter 10. Challenges in Reforms of Chinese Elite Sports: Towards a New Development Mode; Dehao Ma and Liu Ji
Chapter 11. From "Imported" to "Local": Framing Foundations on the Sociology of Sport in China; Qiang Gao and Le Zhou
