C. L. R. James and the Race/Class Question

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68599/2/10.1177_030639687201400204.pd

'Concrete freedom' : C.L.R. James on culture and black politics

This article aims to provide a synoptic account of the cultural writings of the West Indian intellectual and activist C.L.R. James. I aim to make a case for greater recognition of his work among cultural sociologists. I go on to show how James’ original, historicising account of cultural forms relates closely to his wider political interventions including, specifically, his ground-breaking discussion of mid-twentieth century black politics in America

Od Toussainta L’Ouverture’a do Fidela Castro

Niniejszy tekst stanowi dodatek do klasycznej już analizy rewolucji na Haiti C.L.R. Jamesa. Autor w tym apendyksie do Black Jacobins porusza kwestię dwóch konstytutywnych jego zdaniem elementów dla gospodarki i społeczeństwa karaibskich wysp – uprawy trzciny cukrowej i czarnego niewolnictwa. Zagadnienia te są podejmowane w kontekście ruchów emancypacyjnych i rewolucyjnych od Toussainta L’Ouverture’a po Fidela Castro.Niniejszy tekst stanowi dodatek do klasycznej już analizy rewolucji na Haiti C.L.R. Jamesa. Autor w tym apendyksie do Black Jacobins porusza kwestię dwóch konstytutywnych jego zdaniem elementów dla gospodarki i społeczeństwa karaibskich wysp – uprawy trzciny cukrowej i czarnego niewolnictwa. Zagadnienia te są podejmowane w kontekście ruchów emancypacyjnych i rewolucyjnych od Toussainta L’Ouverture’a po Fidela Castro

Cricket, migration and diasporic communities

Ever since different communities began processes of global migration, sport has been an integral feature in how we conceptualise and experience the notion of being part of a diaspora. Sport provides diasporic communities with a powerful means for creating transnational ties, but also shapes ideas of their ethnic and racial identities. In spite of this, theories of diaspora have been applied sparingly to sporting discourses. Due mainly to its central role in spreading dominant white racial narratives within the British Empire, and the various ways different ethnic groups have ‘played’ with the meanings and associations of the sport in the (post-)colonial period, cricket is an interesting focus for academic research. Despite W.G. Grace’s claim that cricket advances civilisation by promoting a common bond, binding together peoples of vastly different backgrounds, to this day cricket operates strict symbolic boundaries; defining those who do, and equally, do not belong. C.L.R. James’ now famous metaphor of looking ‘beyond the boundary’ captures the belief that, to fully understand the significance of cricket, and the sport’s roles in changing and shaping society, one must consider the wider social and political contexts within which the game is played. The collection of papers in this special issue does just that. Cricket acts as the point of departure in each, but the way in which ideas of power, representation and inequality are ‘played out’ is unique in each

Celtic FC’s 1967 Lisbon Lions:Why the European Cup victory of the first club from Britain was a defining moment for the Irish diaspora in Scotland

In 1967, in Lisbon, Celtic Football Club, won the European Cup becoming the first club outside of Portugal, Spain and Italy to win it. The win was and is totemic for the Irish Catholic immigrant community in Scotland that has historically supported Celtic. We suggest the significance of the win reveals intersections of ethnicity, religion, nationalism, and the politics of ‘sectarianism’ in Scotland. During a period of discriminatory practices and attitudes towards Irish descended Catholics in Scotland, this iconic win for a Scottish based club born of Irish Catholics personified for this diaspora that (on one level) their day had arrived. This article explores the socio-cultural significance and legacy of ‘Lisbon 67ʹ for insider and outsider groups in Scotland. We reveal that soccer remains a central component of group memory connecting the past, present and future. We suggest Celtic’s win offered confidence and hope to a marginalized group within Scotland

The making of English cricket cultures: Empire, globalization and (post) colonialism

The aim of this article is to understand how English cricket cultures have been made, negotiated and, ultimately, resisted in the context of (post) colonialism. I draw upon research undertaken with white and British Asian cricketers in Yorkshire to identify the place and significance of cricket within the everyday lives of British Asian communities. Over the last decade the number of British Asian cricketers progressing into the upper echelons of the game (mainly the English County Championship) has increased. Many within the game (mainly white people) have used these figures to argue that English cricket is now 'colour blind'. However, I argue that representation is not the equivalent to acceptance and integration, and present evidence to suggest that racial prejudice and discrimination, not to mention inaccurate and essentialized cultural stereotypes of British Asian cricketers, remain firmly and routinely embedded in aspects of the sport at all levels. I argue that the ability of British Asians to resist the hegemonic structures of white 'Englishness', by asserting their own distinctive post-colonial identities in cricket, is paramount to their everyday negotiations of power and racism. © 2011 Taylor & Francis

Sport, peacemaking and conflict resolution: a contextual analysis and modelling of the sport, development and peace sector

International audienceIn recent years, a wide variety of organizations (notably the UN and nongovernmental ones) have used sport as an interventionist tool to nurture peacemaking across divided communities. This paper examines and theorizes these peacemaking initiatives across the expanding 'sport, development and peace' (SDP) sector. I begin by locating SDP projects within their historical contexts, and as significant elements within the emerging 'global civil society'. I then set out three ideal-type models of SDP project; namely, the 'technical', 'dialogical', and 'critical'. Each model is examined through a set of common social heuristics, such as its core objectives and paradigmatic methods. The models may be employed to analyze other peacemaking and development fields. The first two models are most influential among existing SDP projects; the potential benefits of the 'critical' model are also outlined

Od Toussainta L’Ouverture’a do Fidela Castro

Niniejszy tekst stanowi dodatek do klasycznej już analizy rewolucji na Haiti C.L.R. Jamesa. Autor w tym apendyksie do Black Jacobins porusza kwestię dwóch konstytutywnych jego zdaniem elementów dla gospodarki i społeczeństwa karaibskich wysp – uprawy trzciny cukrowej i czarnego niewolnictwa. Zagadnienia te są podejmowane w kontekście ruchów emancypacyjnych i rewolucyjnych od Toussainta L’Ouverture’a po Fidela Castro