Sport and Society in Latin America: Diffusion, Dependency, and the Rise of Mass Culture

176 Pages·1988·60.03 MB·English

by  Joseph L. Arbena, ed.

SPORT AND SOCIETY
IN LATIN AMERICA
Diffusion, Dependency,
and the Rise of Mass Culture
Edited by
Joseph L. Arbena
.i
Learning "~lI-'t.!.'rces Center
Owensboro nlty College
4800 New Hart· ad
Owensboro, f<:! 42 1899
Contributions to the Study of Popular Culture, Number 20
Greenwood Press
New York • Westport, Connecticut • London
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sport and society in Latin America: diffusion, dependency, and the
rise of mass culture / [edited by) Joseph L. Arbena.
p. cm. - (Contributions to the study of popular culture,
ISSN 0198-9871 ; no. 20)
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-313-24774-9 (lib. bdg. : alk. paper)
I. Sports-Social aspects-Latin America. I. Arbena, Joseph.
II. Series.
GV706.5.S696 1988
306' .483'098-dcI9 87-32271
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available.
Copyright © 1988 by Joseph L. Arbena
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be
reproduced, by any process or technique, without the
express written consent of the publisher.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 87-32271
ISBN: 0-313-24774-9
ISSN: 0198-9871
First published in 1988
Greenwood Press, Inc.
88 Post Road West, Westport, Connecticut 06881
Printed in the United States of America
The paper used in this book complies with the
Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National
Information Standards Organization (Z39.48-1984).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 I
Copyright Acknowledgments
The editor and publisher gratefully acknowledge permission
to use portions of the following:
Joseph L. Arbena, "Sport and the Study of Latin American
History," in the Journal of Sport History 13:2, Summer 1986.
Janet Lever, Soccer Madness, University of Chicago Press, 1983.
With love to Scott and Robin and to all young people of the Americas!
May they fmd in the worlds of sport and letters the enjoyment and satis
faction that I have been fortunate to experience.

Contents
Acknowledgments lX
1. Sport and the Study of Latin American Society: An Overview
Joseph L. Arbena
2. Bicycles, Modernization, and Mexico
William H. Beezley 15
3. Forging the Regional Pastime: Baseball and Class in Yucatan
Gilbert M. Joseph 29
4. The Case of Soccer in Early Twentieth-Century Lima
Steve Stein 63
5. Sport in a Fractured Society: Brazil under Military Rule
Janet Lever 85
6. SOCrates, Corinthians, and Questions of Democracy
and Citizenship
Matthew Shirts 97
7. Sport in Revolutionary Societies: Cuba and Nicaragua
Eric A. Wagner 113
8. Sport as Dramaturgy for Society: A Concluding Chapter
Robert M. Levine 137
Bibliography 147
Index 155
About the Contributors 161

Acknowledgments
My deepest personal gratitude to Alan Schaffer, Joe Turner, and Bill
Mclelland, whose imagination, determination, and generosity respectively,
made possible the four annual Clemson University Conferences on Sport
and Society (1981-1984), the last of which included the discussions around
which this volume was constructed. Special thanks also to Mike Sutton
for his assistance, in the face of great obstacles, in putting the manuscript
on computer.
---------------------------------
Sport and Society
in Latin America