Each chapter showcases the merits of a geographic approach to the study of sport – ranging from football to running, horseracing and professional wrestling. Including cases from Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas, the book highlights the ways that space and power are produced through sport and its concomitant infrastructures, agencies and networks. Holding these power relations at the center of its analysis, it considers sport as a unique lens onto our understanding of space.
Truly global in its perspective, it is fascinating reading for any student or scholar with an interest in sport and politics, sport and society, or human geography.
Natalie Koch is Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography, The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, USA. Her current research focuses on state-making, nationalism, geopolitics, and authoritarianism, with a special interest in spectacle – both in urban landscapes and in events like national celebrations and sports. An elite cyclist herself, she has a long interest in the intersection between political geography and sport, and has published numerous articles in journals such as Political Geography, Urban Geography, Geoforum, Social and Cultural Geography, and Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers