Building Bodies. Transnational Historical Approaches to Sport, Gender and Ethnicities

Item does not contain fulltextThis article frames this Yearbook’s special issue through a look at transnational and historical approaches to sport and sporting bodies: their transgressing practices, representations and impacts on femininities, masculinities and ethnicities. It investigates and critically reviews the historiography on these themes, both in Europe and the us, adding an oftenneglected focus on the Netherlands. Despite growing academic interest for particularly the history of competitive sport, sport is still the ‘great undiscovered country of the historical world’, although its transnational character and immense popularity have affected people and society across the globe. The article aims to inspire discussions in both gender and diversity history and global history by arguing that these fields can gain insights from including sport-related themes. If anything, sport represents a global, even deterritorialized domain and its history should therefore be approached as transnational and interconnected. Through introducing the articles of this issue, it also argues that historical analysis has the potential to impact persisting features of the gendered and ethnicized contexts of sports. As such, a historical focus should be a key aspect of contemporary sport studies, particularly those focusing on social inclusion and exclusion.15 p