The UVic-UCC and Solent University publish a book on sport, globalisation, and national identity

This Friday, the book entitled Sport, Globalisation and Identity. New Perspectives on Regions and Nations (Routledge, 2020) will be published, an academic work that reviews some of the most controversial aspects of the relationship between sport and politics in times of globalisation and reformulation of national identities. The book was edited by senior lecturers Jim O'Brien and Xavier Ginesta, and Russell Holden, director of In the Zone Sport and Politics Consultancy, and is the result of the partnership between the University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia (UVic-UCC) and Solent University, Southampton (UK). It also has the participation of UVic-UCC lecturers Raúl Martínez, Sergi Solà, Jordi de San Eugenio, and Toni Sellas in the Faculty of Business and Communication Studies; Albert Juncà, lecturer in the Faculty of Education, Translation and Human Sciences; and Adrià Soldevila, a former Journalism student at the UVic-UCC and current editor of Cadena SER.

Some of the written contributions to the book were made by world-renowned research experts in the fields of communication and sport. These include Raymond Boyle, Professor of Communications and Director of the Centre for Cultural Policy Research at the University of Glasgow (UK), and Alina Bernstein, a lecturer at Tel Aviv University (Israel) and an expert in the intersection of gender politics, communication and sport. According to the book's editors, "sport can be a vehicle for the expression of identity, and also a factor in its formation. The book explores the complex interrelationships between nations, regions and states within the framework of contemporaneity, with a particular focus on how these relationships shape identities”.

Fourteen contributions from research experts in sport and politics

The book consists of fourteen contributions in chapter format, divided into three sections. In the first section, entitled “International sport: states, nations and identity”, Raymond Boyle analyses how the Scottish constitutional crisis as a result of the 2014 independence referendum has impacted professional sport in the country; professors David Storey and Mike McGuinness explore how football has influenced the shaping of the national identities of Ireland and Kosovo; and Russell Holden reviews the globalisation of cricket, a sport deeply rooted in British culture.

The second section is entitled "Politics, power and sports events." Here Bernstein reflects on the relationship between sport and motherhood, with a particular focus on tennis player Serena Williams, athlete Nia Ali and softball player Jennie Finch. Lecturers Max Mauro and Raúl Martínez-Corcuera analyse the racist and xenophobic language of the Spanish La Liga Classic sports broadcasts; Christopher Faulkner reviews the territorial sense of belonging of migrant professional basketball players. Finally, Matteo Monaco and Joaquín Marín-Montín offer a critical review, from the perspective of political relationships and organisational capacity, of the host countries of two major events: the 1960 Rome Olympics and the Rio de Janeiro Olympics of 2016.

The third section, entitled "Contemporary perspectives on International sport: governance, ownership and sporting cultures", addresses the interrelationship between the sports industry and politics. Richard Irving's chapter criticises the "neoliberal" evolution of the football industry, which distances it from the co-governance models of clubs with their members and affiliates. Jim O’Brien, Xavier Ginesta and Albert Juncà compare the commercialisation of football and the resistance to this trend in the Spanish La Liga and the English Premier League. Xavier Ginesta, Jordi de San Eugenio and Adrià Soldevila reflect on the formation of “entertainment multinationals”: ​​the commercialisation of football brands and their role as paradiplomatic agents. Lecturers Toni Sellas and Sergi Solà analyse how sports broadcasts in Catalonia have helped to forge identities and, finally, Maria José Carvalho and Marisa Sousa take a look at the organisation of professional sport in Portugal, focusing on the actors, governance and disciplinary regime.

The book, published by British publishing house Routledge, represents another step in the internationalisation of the UVic-UCC, and is one of the academic results arising from the 1st International Conference on "Regionalism, Nationalism and Contemporary International Sport", held at the UVic-UCC in 2017. The book has also been made possible thanks to the help of Consultori Bayés de Vic, through a knowledge transfer project led by the research groups TRACTE and the LMI at the UVic-UCC.