Research and scholarly publications on sport in Africa have increased over the last decade. It has acknowledged both its local and global character. Yet, there is a need for a deeper understanding of how African sports are expressed in transnational contexts. This special issue aims at exploring both the concrete (inter)connections, linkages and transfers between different locations across the world. These relations continue to shape sports in Africa as well as comparative perspectives on sport on the continent and across multiple sites.
We welcome abstracts on different sports and regions in Africa. Topics may include (the history of) sport migration (of which the movement of soccer players and track athletes have generated important work) and transnational organisations involved in sports. Recent cases of doping and/or corruption around FIFA and the International Association of Athletics Federation have demonstrated once more, how much sport is an international and transnational endeavour. Many connections can be considered in terms of flows of capital, investment and money.
Moreover, we are interested in proposals on sport exchanges, travel/tours and delegations. Sport has been used as a tool for international and development politics. It has played an important role in Cold War politics, but also in different South-South relations, within Africa (such as expressed in different regional competitions), between different African and Asian countries (from Chinese sport delegations to North Korean investments in African football stadiums for example), and between Africa and South America (such as the naturalisation of Brazilian and Colombian football players in Equatorial Guinea). In addition, proposals could include issues related to knowledge transfer and sport and the role of the media in African sport amongst others.
Please submit proposals of up to 500 words by 15 December 2015 to
- Susann Baller, University of Michigan/University of Basel, susann.baller@unibas.ch, and
- Chris Bolsmann, California State University Northridge, chris.bolsmann@csun.edu
Authors will be notified of acceptance of proposals by 31 December 2015.
Completed papers are due 15 March 2016.
