Dear all,
This is the penultimate newsletter of the Spring semester. I’ll have more to say next Monday, so, until then, last week saw the following items published on idrottsforum.org (see below; language and publication dates, YYMMDD, in brackets). Click on the red headings to go to content. Utilize the Google Translate service to turn Scandinavian language pages into (some sort of) English.
Have a great week,
Kjell Eriksson
Editor
Research Articles
Paavo Nurmis succé i Norge och Sverige 1923 [Paavo Nurmi’s success in Norway and Sweden in 1923]
Paavo Nurmi was born on June 13, 1897. He is one of the world’s greatest Olympians of all time. He was a Finnish middle and long distance runner who won nine golds in three Olympics: 1920, 1924 and 1928. Paavo Nurmi was born in 1897 and died in 1973. He is a great national hero in Finland. In this article by Peter Dahlén and Kalle Virtapohja, Paavo Nurmi’s competitions in Norway and Sweden a hundred years ago, in 1923, are described. (Published in Swedish 230613; English abstract available.
A New Kind of Black Man: Muhammad Ali’s Political Conversion to the Nation of Islam
Ezra Beinart shows that Muhammad Ali’s conversion to the Nation of Islam in 1964 outraged sports journalists, boxing promoters, civil rights leaders and millions of White boxing fans. It provoked them because his new faith signified not just a religious identity but a political one. As Ali detailed in a 1967 letter to his wife, his embrace of the Nation of Islam (NOI) and rejection of Christianity represented a rejection of what he saw as the slave master’s religion, forced upon Black Americans to keep them submissive. (Published in English 230616
Book Reviews
Early Specialising Aesthetic Performance: An investigation of conceptualisation, motivation, and context, by Charlotte Downing
Charlotte Downing’s doctoral research project Early Specialising Aesthetic Performance: A investigation of conceptualisation, motivation, and context is situated within the wider debate of talent development in so-called early sports, where early specialisation is often normalised. Joe Baker was the external reviewer, and he was kind enough to rewrite his review at the public defence into a book review for idrottsforum.org. He was also very pleased with Downing’s dissertation. (Review in English, published 230613.)
Sports Charity and Gendered Labour, by Catherine Palmer
Catherine Palmer’s new book, Sports Charity and Gendered Labour (Emerald Publishing), explores a series of questions about the meaning and politics of physical activity, and notions of gender, labour and responsibility. Solveig Straume has read Palmer’s book, and her review expresses a special appreciation for the analysis of gendered labour in sport settings. She also likes the light writing style, but she found the book to be repetitive as a result of the logic of the book lacking in stringency. (Review in English, published 230614.)
Football Nation: The Playing Fields of German Culture, History, and Society, by Rebeccah Dawson, Bastian Heinsohn, Oliver Knabe & Alan McDougall (eds.)
Over the past century, the impact of football on Germany has been manifold, influencing the arts, political debates, and even contributing to the construction of cultural memories and national narratives. This is the subject of the edited collection Football Nation: The Playing Fields of German Culture, History, and Society by Rebeccah Dawson, Bastian Heinsohn, Oliver Knabe, and Alan McDougall (Berghhahn Books). Mats Franzén provides us with an insightful review ending with a warm recommendation. (Review in English, published 230615.)
Professional Team Sports and the Soft Budget Constraint, by Rasmus K. Storm, Klaus Nielsen & Zsolt Havran (eds.)
Exploring why professional team sport clubs are almost always able to survive despite severe financial problems, Professional Team Sports and the Soft Budget Constraint, edited by Rasmus K. Storm, Klaus Nielsen & Zsolt Havran (Edward Elgar) looks at the soft budget constraint theory, SBC. We asked economics historian Giuseppe Telesca for a review and in his knowledgeable assessment of the book, he concludes that the SBC works well to explain the phenomenon under study in this fascinating book. (Review in English, published 230616.)
New Issues of Scholarly Journals
(We rely heavily on journal publishers delivering on their promises of new issue alerts. Sometimes they don’t.)
- Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal, Volume 31, 2023, Number 1 (230613)
News items (calls for papers, vacancies, etc.)
- Call for Papers | ”Inkluderande och hållbara praktiker inom sports coaching, tränarskap, Idrott och hälsa samt fysisk aktivitet och hälsa”, SVEBI:s årliga idrottsvetenskapliga konferens | Göteborgs universitet, 23–24 november 2023 (230612)
