ABSTRACT

The field of sport history is a relatively new research domain, situated at the intersection of a number of disciplines and sub-disciplines.  This interdisciplinarity has created interesting avenues for growth and fresh thinking but also inherent problems of coherence and identity.   Making Sport History examines the development of an academic community around sport history, exploring the roots of the discipline, its current boundaries, borders and challenges, and looking ahead at future prospects.  Written by a team of world-leading sport historians, with commentaries from scholars working outside of the sport historical mainstream, the book considers key themes in the historiography of sport, including:

 

  • The relationship between history, sport studies and physical education
  • Comparative analysis of the role of historians in the writing of sport history
  • Modern and post-modern approaches to sport history
  • Race, gender and the sport historical establishment
  • The role of scholarly organisations, conferences and journals in discipline-building

 

Presenting new perspectives on what constitutes sport history and its core methodologies, the book helps explain why historians have become interested in sport, why they’ve chosen the topics they have, and how their work has influenced the wider world of history and been influenced by it.  Making Sport History is essential reading for any advanced student, scholar or researcher with an interest in sport history, historiography, or the history and philosophy of the social sciences.

part I|58 pages

A child with different mothers

chapter 1|26 pages

Sport historiography?

An overview through the eyes of a physical educator

chapter 2|30 pages

Historians and the history of sport

An interdisciplinary and critical survey

part II|41 pages

In search of a paradigm

chapter 3|10 pages

History and sport studies

Some methodological reflections

chapter 4|29 pages

Sport history

Modern and postmodern approaches

part III|47 pages

Establishing a scientific community

chapter 5|31 pages

Building a sport history community

Scholarly organisations and congresses

chapter 6|14 pages

Finding the path

Academic journals in the field of sport history

part IV|55 pages

White male sport history

chapter 7|19 pages

Mixed fortunes in an academic environment

The institutional gendering of sport history

part V|31 pages

Commentaries

chapter 9|9 pages

Making sport history

A commentary

chapter 10|8 pages

Making histories

Sport, science, medicine

chapter 12|7 pages

Epilogue – From looking back to moving forward

The evolving scope of sports history in the 21st century